Hammer Rant: BioWare

Game developer BioWare, which spawned the magnum opus KotOR, and the “epic” Mass Effect is renowned for having wonderful story. However what they have in story will not make up for the awful gameplay and the apparent unoriginality. I will admit that KotOR is the ONLY RPG I’ve ever truly enjoyed, and it is definitely the only RPG I became immersed in. Part of it is due to my being able to choose the stories pace and I could recruit people to my party in any order I wished. Amazingly, none of KotOR is useless grind. Normally RPGs, especially ones like Borderlands and Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 pour on the grind until the player is submerged in it. Apparently BioWare’s recent penchant for adding grind to games is part of some genius scheme to cash in on the MMORPG craze. MMORPGs are ALL samey grind with useless NPCs giving every player the same quest to kill the same enemy and collect upgrades or experience or cash or whatever. BioWare’s recent release, Mass Effect 2, is blighted by grind. BLIGHTED! The game REQUIRES that you go to random planets, scan them from orbit for resources and then send down probes to extract said resources. This MANDATORY part of the game is just about as fun as it sounds: NOT AT ALL. Horribly, it is the only way that you can get the best weapons and armor and even the best ending. Are they kidding? That turned me off Mass Effect 2 entirely. While the story is (occasionally) brilliant enough to get me playing it again, the gameplay makes me want to stop again. The second an enemy even gets a target lock on Shepard (the protagonist of Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2) he goes diving for cover. I know that BioWare tried to be “realistic” by doing this but all trace of realism flies right out of the game the second I defeat said enemy by using my Adept powers to pull them towards one of my squad mates who promptly shoots them in the face.