When Mass Effect was initially released, as the biggest space-based role-playing game in years and with the perspective of a trilogy looming over it, Microsoft labeled it as being an Xbox 360 exclusive.
The PC version was out six months later, following the tradition of other
BioWare videogames like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire.
Now, the development studio is saying that it has learned enough from that split launch in order to make sure that Mass Effect 2 comes out at the same time on the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and on the PC and that the game delivers the exact same experience on both platforms, apart from the way it is being controlled.
Jesse Houston, who is an associate producer on
Mass Effect 2, stated that “We learned a lot from building the PC version before, and having built it six months later, there was a big difference. So we actually took what we learned from PC and put it back into 360. Fundamentally, we want you to have the same gameplay experience, but just with the difference in controls. This time around, doing it at the same time for a sim-ship, we can control the differences much more smoothly because it’s the same team building it now.”
Initially, BioWare said that it would have Mass Effect 2 out by Christmas 2009 but now the game is slated to come out before the end of the fiscal year for publisher Electronic Arts, which means before March 31, 2010.
The sequel will be chockfull of improvements, including better combat, more options in dialogue, a complex story line and a new cast of supporting characters. BioWare is also saying that an option to import the
Commander Shepard character from the first game will mean that all options made count in Mass Effect 2.
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