Ray Muzyka Drops Some Interesting Mass Effect 3 Gameplay Details

[Spectral Jester]

BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka has played through the entirety of Mass Effect 3, and so consequently, he's had a few things to say about the game to Kotaku, revealing some salient details regarding the planet mining mini-game, the process of desicion making, the whole 'galactic readiness' deal and balancing the RPG and shooter elements to give players the best of both worlds.

 

With the first Mass Effect tipping the scales more towards the guise of pure RPG, Muzyka observed that Mass Effect 2 leaned more towards the realm of out and out shooter. "The second one was aimed more at the action or shooter side. This one is both. Both sides have been amped up really well," he said.

 

Muzyka then went on to comment on the impact of your decisions in Mass Effect 3, something that'll be even more significant apparently. "It's like Decision-making with a capital D," Muzyka commented. "Every time there was a big decision - when something bad happens and or good - something impactful happens with consequence when you make a decision. There's lots of them through the game, they all feel like, ‘Yeah that was appropriate, but holy ****! That was expected, but boy, that was hard. I'd still make the same decision, but boy that was interesting. That was compelling.' There are kinds of moments in the game that I think people will talk about years from now. It's a significant game in that respect."

 

You'll also be able to mod and customise your weapons at designated weapon benches, and the progression system has been refined too, as has the time-consuming mining mini-game from Mass Effect 2. "The mining experience… using it to find materials that are required for quests. It links together really well."

 

Then there's that oft-mooted 'galactic readiness' that you'll be able to boost in the game's Galaxy at War co-op multiplayer mode too. "The multiplayer, the way it's integrated in and the seamless way it helps amp up your galactic readiness and gives you more resources to build your fleet, your alliance against the Reapers. They're very thoughtful the way they're apportioned and is building on a foundation from ME 1. I think it's really taking the best of what we've seen and added significant elements of innovation too."

 

There's also a chance to scan planets to gain additional side quests too it seems. "The exploration in this game is really cool. The system involves a Reaper threat," Muzyka affirmed. "The Reapers are on the edge of the system. By scanning the worlds, the Reapers actually get engaged more and more. You have to scan the planets to find key objectives, to find away-team missions, to find resources that actually solve RPG quests back on different planets."

 

Engaging in these additional quests - some of which will be fetch quests - will enable you to enlist more people to help you, and Reapers will pick up on your scanning activity, which means you'll actually have to evade them as you navigate your way through systems, travelling from planet to planet.

 

You're not limited in your mining scans and probes any longer either. "There's no limit on scans now," Muzyka added. "There's no limit on probes. That's not a constraint anymore."

 

Finally, galactic readiness is something that'll be a continuing concern to address as the war against the Reapers escalates throughout Mass Effect 3. It'll link seamlessly between single-player and co-op, enabling you to earn galactic readiness points as you strive to keep the various allied races sweet. "It [galactic readiness] shows the state of the galaxy, what resources you've got at this point, which regions are controlled and which ones aren't. It gives you a sense of where to go," Muzyka explained. "You can go back and talk to the admiral and get some more feedback. ‘How are the Krogan feeling?' ‘OK, I've got to spend a little more time on them.' ‘Are Cerberus allies?' 'I gotta get some more of those.' I started really getting engaged by the moment-to-moment anticipation, but the decisions would also weigh on me after the fact. For me, it really struck me that, as great as Mass Effect has been to this point - and we're very proud of it - I think this is the best of the franchise. And I think it's a game people will talk about afterwards in a very fond way for years to come."

 

Big words there from Dr. Muzyka, but when you're talking about something like Mass Effect 3, throwing big words around is fair game