Gaming Just Gets Better And Better...

22 Feb 2010 at 00:00:00 by Bill Vaughan

After Christmas, I realised I had some annual leave to use up, so I randomly picked a week to take off. I had no plans, only an assumption that I'd spend my time playing one MMO or another. My poor Shaman in World of Warcraft, who seems doomed to stay level 31 forever, could have received my attention, or perhaps my winged Aion Gladiator, and not forgetting my liberated Borg in Star Trek Online – so many choices.

However, half way through January that decision was made for me as I stared, open-mouthed, while Tim, whose envious job it was to review the game, played through the first few minutes of Mass Effect 2 here at work. Now, just to give you some background, I don't normally play shooters, or games on consoles. I'm a PC fangirl through and through, but having been assured that the ME games would be best experienced on the Xbox, I got myself a copy of both the original and the latest addition to the series and prepared to explore the Mass Effect universe from my sofa as opposed to my office chair, during my week off.

In the last seven days, I've only left my living room to hastily grab some food, use the bathroom or maybe get a few hours of shut-eye. The rest of my time has been spent glued to my TV as I guided Shepard, the Normandy and her crew through their various missions. I finished ME2 last night, and I'm not going to talk about the game(s), Tim did an excellent job of that in his review, but wow, I was simply blown away by the whole experience.

You know when you go to the cinema and you see a film that takes your breath away, and you're walking out afterwards feeling like you actually took part in the events you just witnessed? Or you've just finished a wonderful book series or sat through a gripping DVD box set – playing this game has left me with the same emotions. I'm missing it already, and planning my next play-through. Hell, I even had a conversation wheel pop up in my head with paragon and renegade options during a chat with my sister earlier. Yup, I'm officially obsessed, the game got to me that much.

It's not just Shepard and co. that's had this affect on me though, BioWare's other recent game Dragon Age: Origins did something similar, and I've heard Andy, our assistant editor, say very good things about Sony's Heavy Rain too. Games have moved on so much in the last few years, they're at least on a par with the best films Hollywood can offer in terms of emotional involvement now. Maybe more so, because often you can actually make decisions, change the outcome, even go back and do it all over again if you don't like the ending.

It's frustrating that, despite all this, gaming is still often thought of as geeky, something that's just for kids, or the pass-time of losers and lay-abouts in many circles. I know plenty of people with this backward opinion, but thankfully it's clear that attitudes are slowly changing.

Another frustrating factor is that, as primarily an MMO gamer, I don't often get to experience this thrilling type of gameplay. I can see why, of course. Your characters can't make galaxy-changing decisions in a game where thousands of people are playing in the same galaxy. You do get to make some choices in MMOs, but they can only affect your character or your group. This is why I'm curious about BioWare's upcoming MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic.

As a huge WoW fan, I've followed the development of SW:TOR with growing interest, but since experiencing Dragon Age and now the ME games, I'm dying to find out how BioWare is going to tackle an MMO. The developers have promised intricate storylines and choices that will alter things permanently for characters, but how will that mix with online game mechanics? Part of DA:O and ME's appeal is the total immersion you experience while playing; will SW:TOR be able to keep players immersed when you've got a gold seller or “DarthVadorxx” jumping up and down beside you as you're trying to have a conversation with an NPC? Will we see more instancing or will other players be 'blanked out' while we're talking to plot characters? Will BioWare's infamous sex scenes be replaced with 12+ friendly cuddles?

If BioWare manages to put all of its RPG magic into its upcoming MMO, I think the gaming community is in for one hell of a treat. Unfortunately we still have over a year until we find out what they're doing with it. I just hope the DA:O and ME2 DLC keeps coming in the meantime.

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