BioWare Montreal is hard at work putting the finishing touches on next year’s Dragon Age III: Inquisition, but many fans are eagerly awaiting news about the teams next venture: The still-untitled Mass Effect project in production. Yesterday evening, studio director Yanick Roy took to twitter to offer the following update on the game’s status:
First pass at Design Document for the next Mass Effect! #sorryforthetrees pic.twitter.com/EMG2QS4lie
— Yanick Roy (@YanickRRoy) June 18, 2013
He then followed up by responding to fan concerns that the title is still a long way’s off by providing this additional detail:
@chris23651 @shinobi602 Yes, since we share engine, we can start from some of DA3's core systems instead of from scratch.
— Yanick Roy (@YanickRRoy) June 19, 2013
Roy further elaborates that the team started working on the project “a while ago,” and that a lot of the game’s systems will be “borrowed” from Dragon Age III.
The interesting news to take away here is that the new Mass Effect game won’t be as far off as we initially thought. Which specific game mechanics or core framework the team will be carrying over from Dragon Age III remains to be seen, but considering both titles are action-RPGs, the similarities aren’t all that hard to point out. I imagine whatever new dialogue-tree system is in place, or at least being refined, for the upcoming Mass Effect title will mirror that in the Dragon Age three-quel. We’ve heard before that both titles will be running on the latest Frostbite 3 engine, so we know what physics system is in place for each game. If they share anymore similarities beyond the engine and dialogue mechanics, my guess would be that both titles will feature a similar gear system; both in regards to customizing characters and loot-drops.
It’s nice to know the “first pass” at the latest Mass Effect design document is finally hammered out, as it means that substantial work on the new game can finally begin. While nothing has been said at this point, it’s not a far stretch to expect the game will be coming to next-gen platforms sometime in 2015. Dragon Age III: Inquisition, on the other hands, is headed to PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC sometime in 2014.
Are you folks looking forward to hearing more about the latest Mass Effect game? What new features would you like the team to implement for the first next-gen, ME experience? Which direction should the story go in now that Commander Shepard’s arc has come to a close? Let us know in the usual place, and don’t forget to like IGXPro on Facebook, follow us onTwitter, or give us the ‘ol +1 on Google+. If you can’t get enough of my shenanigans, (who could blame you?) you can check me out @GamingsNirvana, or add +VinnyParisi to your circles.
