Bioware - Are Their Games Actually That Good?

[Kelverin]

Yet, it's their most successful game.

Quality baby, not $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[Volourn]

NWN's quality is top notch. Sure squashes KOTOR, BG1, BG2, JE, ME, SS, and MDK2. Put together. And, I love most of those games. NWN1 is their most succesful game in so many ways it's ridiculous not just in $.

[Arkan]

Yet, it's their most successful game. R00fles!

 

Best. game. evar.

Vologic at its best

[Arkan]

NWN's quality is top notch. Sure squashes KOTOR, BG1, BG2, JE, ME, SS, and MDK2. Put together. And, I love most of those games. NWN1 is their most succesful game in so many ways it's ridiculous not just in $.

Sure, as a construction set, it was great (I guess), but as a game that you buy and play, it was rubbish.

[Tigranes]

Woooow, I'm not touching Vologic, no way.

 

I think eventually, most people got their money's worth out of it, little by little from the variety of functions offered.

[Humodour]

Well, sure. After I'd bought the two X-packs.

 

NWN1 was an engine without a game.

[Tigranes]

True enough, if it didn't have multiplayer or toolset, it would have been like buying Beyond Divinity or Lionheart: a piece of crap.

 

But then, I think their success is easy to overlook - it wasn't an easy and guaranteed task to make such a relatively easy, competent, polished toolset and mod-installation systems available, spawning all those mods; multiplayer wasn't much of a hassle either, compared to some of the other games around.

[Dark_Raven]

NWN's quality is top notch. Sure squashes KOTOR, BG1, BG2, JE, ME, SS, and MDK2. Put together. And, I love most of those games. NWN1 is their most succesful game in so many ways it's ridiculous not just in $.

LOLZ! You lose!

 

Game Over!

[Moatilliatta]

Haha, yeah, I'd have to agree; NWN1 was the lowest point in Bioware's history.

As an aside to our little mod discussion in the other thread: NWN is one of the only games where I've been able to truly enjoy the good mods as there is no question how well they mesh with the original game, as they don't need to, they are their own game.

 

It was also the only actual roleplaying game that I've played online and enjoyed.

[Sand]

Ah, Volourn is being Volourn again. If you judge NWN1 and its expansions solely on its technical aspects and post release support, Volourn's assertion on NWN1 would be accurate, but one needs to also take in account the stories woven in its OCs, which were, to put it mildly, severely lacking in quality compared to their work in Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, Jade Empire, KotOR 1, and Mass Effect (their best game, period).

 

1) Mass Effect

2) Baldur's Gate 1

3) Baldur's Gate 2

4) Jade Empire

5) KotOR 1

6) NWN 1

Edited April 27, 2008 by Sand

[Humodour]

Haha, yeah, I'd have to agree; NWN1 was the lowest point in Bioware's history.

As an aside to our little mod discussion in the other thread: NWN is one of the only games where I've been able to truly enjoy the good mods as there is no question how well they mesh with the original game, as they don't need to, they are their own game.

 

It was also the only actual roleplaying game that I've played online and enjoyed.

 

Never played any mods, never played it online. =/

 

But Diablo 2 is sweet online

[Sand]

I actually was a part of a group that RPed in NWN1 with full DM control and adventuring. It was quite fun. I had to bow out of it because my PnP moved to that day of the week. It was the most fun I had with that game. Far more entertaining than the OCs were.

[Arkan]

Ah, Volourn is being Volourn again. If you judge NWN1 and its expansions solely on its technical aspects and post release support, Volourn's assertion on NWN1 would be accurate, but one needs to also take in account the stories woven in its OCs, which were, to put it mildly, severely lacking in quality compared to their work in Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, Jade Empire, KotOR 1, and Mass Effect (their best game, period).

 

1) Mass Effect

2) Baldur's Gate 1

3) Baldur's Gate 2

4) Jade Empire

5) KotOR 1

6) NWN 1

 

 

ME's that good, huh? What's so good about it (in short)?

[Sand]

It is a well written and smart science fiction CRPG done in cinematic styling with top notch voice acting. It has the right balance of story, action, and technical capability that easily makes it one of the best games I have played and is Bioware's best game yet. Also it has a few twists and turns that actually surprised me, which I won't post here due to spoilers.

 

The drawbacks are texture popping, a limitation due to the use of the Unreal 3 engine combined with the XBox 360's hardware, and the Uncharted Worlds tend to be a bit sparse and samey. Another drawback is the Simon Says minigame when using the Decryption and Electronic skills. The first drawback should be taken care of with the PC version, hopefully, and the latter is being worked on through DLCs and hopefully ME2 will have more fully fleshed out uncarted worlds to visit. The use of electronics and decryption has been completely changed with a new GUI for the PC.

 

 

To break it down into points...

 

Graphics: 17

Voice Acting: 19

Music: 19

Story: 18

Gameplay: 19

 

Overall Grade: 92% (A-)

 

If you are unsure, its definitely worth renting if you have an XBox 360.

Edited April 27, 2008 by Sand

[Arkan]

That's the problem....no 360

[Sand]

Ah, well, if you liked Bioware's past games, especially KotOR and Jade Empire, then get Mass Effect for the PC. It may sound strange but I plan on getting the PC version even though I already have the 360 version. Yeah, I'm a shameless fanboy. In case you are wondering here are the minimum and recommended technical specifications for the game:

 

Minimum System Requirements for Mass Effect on the PC

 

Operating System:

Windows XP or Vista

 

Processor:

2.4+GHZ Intel or 2.0+GHZ AMD

 

Memory:

1 Gigabyte Ram (XP)

2 Gigabyte Ram (Vista)

 

Video Card:

NVIDIA GeForce 6 series(6800GT or better)

ATI 1300XT or better (X1550, X1600 Pro and HD2400 are below minimum system requirements)

 

Hard Drive Space:

12 Gigabytes

 

Sound Card:

DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card and drivers

----------

 

Recommended System Requirements for Mass Effect on the PC

 

Operating System:

Windows XP or Vista

 

Processor:

2.6+GHZ Intel or 2.4+GHZ AMD

 

Memory:

2 Gigabyte Ram

 

Video Card:

NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX or higher.

ATI X1800 XL series or higher

 

Hard Drive Space:

12 Gigabytes

 

Sound Card:

DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card and drivers

Edited April 27, 2008 by Sand

[Arkan]

Hmm...the minimum specs require a 2.4ghz intel? What about dual core? My PC exceeds all the recommended specs easily except for the processor. Mine is a 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo. It shouldn't be a problems, I'd wager, since Bioshock runs like a hot knife through butter for me.

Edited April 27, 2008 by Arkan

[Hurlshort]

I'm pretty sure any dual core exceeds a single P4 processor. I don't know what the equation is though.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Personally, I thought the original Neverwinter Nights (NWN), once it got its expansions, was a decent game - and the addition of the toolset and the large community has only improved the situation. Maybe I need to stop being so nostalgic and move on, but I still play NWN, or rather a NWN module, at least once a week and have even delayed the upgrading of my graphics drivers so that the game can run (the newest Nvidia drivers do not get along with the game). Also, I am actively helping update/debug older mods and I am beta-testing the sequel to one of the highest-ranking campaigns on the NWNVault.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Ah, well, if you liked Bioware's past games, especially KotOR and Jade Empire, then get Mass Effect for the PC. It may sound strange but I plan on getting the PC version even though I already have the 360 version. Yeah, I'm a shameless fanboy. In case you are wondering here are the minimum and recommended technical specifications for the game:

 

Minimum System Requirements for Mass Effect on the PC

 

Operating System:

Windows XP or Vista

 

Processor:

2.4+GHZ Intel or 2.0+GHZ AMD

 

Memory:

1 Gigabyte Ram (XP)

2 Gigabyte Ram (Vista)

 

Video Card:

NVIDIA GeForce 6 series(6800GT or better)

ATI 1300XT or better (X1550, X1600 Pro and HD2400 are below minimum system requirements)

 

Hard Drive Space:

12 Gigabytes

 

Sound Card:

DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card and drivers

----------

 

Recommended System Requirements for Mass Effect on the PC

 

Operating System:

Windows XP or Vista

 

Processor:

2.6+GHZ Intel or 2.4+GHZ AMD

 

Memory:

2 Gigabyte Ram

 

Video Card:

NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX or higher.

ATI X1800 XL series or higher

 

Hard Drive Space:

12 Gigabytes

 

Sound Card:

DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card and drivers

[Sand]

Hmm...the minimum specs require a 2.4ghz intel? What about dual core? My PC exceeds all the recommended specs easily except for the processor. Mine is a 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo. It shouldn't be a problems, I'd wager, since Bioshock runs like a hot knife through butter for me.

 

The rest of your computer probably can pick up the slack if you have a good enough system otherwise.

[babydol]

I would, the discussion of Bioware isn't so much about whether they make good games, because they do. The discussion centers around whether their games can be called masterpieces, something which can easily be contested, whether true or not.

 

FINE, then. Mass Effect and KotOR were Masterpieces. Jade Empire wasn't.

[Tale]

Ahh, so Mass Effect can be recommended to people who like KOTOR and hate Jade Empire? Sand's comparing it to Jade Empire was making me second think my interest in it.

[Hurlshort]

ME is definitely more akin to KotOR.

[babydol]

Ahh, so Mass Effect can be recommended to people who like KOTOR and hate Jade Empire? Sand's comparing it to Jade Empire was making me second think my interest in it.

 

No, Mass Effect kicks *ss. And a lot of the stuff in it reminds me of KotOR - the Galaxy map on your ship, for one. And the setting is sci-fi futuristic, as opposed to old Japanese dynasty. And you can have 2 party members along again. And customize your character's appearence again.