BioWare- Is All The Hate Justified?

GB: "For a long time now, BioWare has been counted amongst not only the top RPG developers in the gaming industry, but the top game developers period. They’ve delivered several games that simply took our- and many others’- breath away, like the Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2, Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights and more recently, the Mass Effect series and Dragon Age: Origins.

However, in light of recent events, BioWare have started receiving more hate than respect, more disgust than love. Dragon Age II, people say, was the beginning of BioWare’s downfall, and that even with the Mass Effect series, they’re trying to attract the “Call of Duty” crowd. But is it fair to “hate on the”, as we say, after all BioWare has done in the past many years?"

[Rowland]

not hate, just lost respect as they've sold their soul to the casual gamer by seriously compromising what once made them great.

Look at what Bethesda are about to do with Skyrim - they've made their flagship RPG more accessible yet retain all the complexity, open worldness and non-linear gameplay that keeps their games & The Elder Scrolls in particular leagues above anything else every time one is released - puts Bioware to shame.

[ReservoirDog316]

Exactly. It's not hate, it's just unease. It feels like the great developer we all loved is slipping away from us slowly.

[EVILDEAD360]

LMAO @ a few PC rpg elitists who went at Dragon Age 2 on Metacritic considered as a sweeping hate for Bioware as a whole..newsflash it isn't. It's simply one game that wasnt recieved as well from a segment of fans and critics.

But DA2 has nothing to do with other games under the Bioware umbrella.

I'll use Mass Effect 2 since the author pretends that somehow people thought it was pretending to attract the Call of Duty crowd? WTF?? Talk about a statement not even close to the truth.

Mass Effect 1 was amazing for it's time, but Mass effect 2 blew the lid off of the series and nothing comes close to replicating what Bioware pulled off with ME2.

Who cares if you have few haters, you don't have Mass Effect 2 reaching a metacritic score of 96 with 98 reviewers if the game sucks.

Who cares if you have a dozen haters who have 10 accounts of 3 websites. Who cares if a few fan bloggers come at Bioware for a game that tried to appeal to a wider fan base. As long as Bioware keeps making amazing games and franchises then millions of fans like will still continue to suppport their titles for a long time to come.

Evil

[BattleAxe]

Well since I'm more focused on bashing John Carmack for being stupid today, I'll just say no, the hate isn't justified.

[Abriael]

LOL. Blind fanboy article is blind fanboy article.

While I appreciate past Bioware games, they called the negative reaction upon themselves. This is what happens when a developer decides that the fanbase that brought them where they are now isn't that important anymore.

And honestly, saying that CD Projekt has nothing on Bioware is as laughable as it comes. The Witcher 2 blows any game Bioware made recently out of the water without much trouble. Skyrim looks like another example of a game that will put Bioware to shame.

Less fanboy glasses, please.

[Baka-akaB]

Cd projekt was always miles ahead . the article is ridiculous , they embarrassed Bioware themselves with their own glitchy and buggy aurora engine for the first Witcher game . And while they took time , dragon age was in dev limbo for as long , for a much inferior result , in story , gameplay and aesthetic .

It's ok to deend them but dont try trashing great studios in the process .

As for the real meat of the debate , they do deserves the flames a bit .

I remember them being so smug and arrogant . Enough to even trashfinal fantasy and the jrpg genre in general .

Well here we are with DA2 as their "own FFXIII" , and not nearly as many fans still there to defend and like the game . Nor even the same sales figures

[limewax]

Well to be honest SE are worth so much they would have a hard timing going out of business before they corrected their mistakes.

Bioware on the other hand are much more frail as a company, And the arrogance they bring with them doesn't really help them. Mass Effect will always be my favourite game they made and not the sequels. Bioware actually openly admit they are taking it the opposite direction

[Tony P]

The funny thing is, The Witcher and ME aren't all that different. My dissatisfaction is not about the RPG elements or the complexity of the story or any of that.

It's really about the customers.

While CDProjekt has bent over backwards to satisfy its fans, BioWare has decided it's fine to leave a fraction (the original supporters more or less) out in the cold.
And all the while, they brag arrogantly that everything they do is right, only stopping to offer condescending apologies that blame the customers when their games get bad reviews or sales.

As a long time fan, I still like their games mostly. But I put very little stock in anything they say these days.

[WarMachine539]

Dragon Age: Origins 2 was a sacrilege. Poor gameplay, poor graphics . . . . . . . . just unquestionably poor. Talk about resting on your laurels.

[pctrollv4]

oh bioware, you are just dead in my books. MP is me3, mp is da3 will happen, da2 was shit and the way you milk your costumers...witcher 2 blows da2 out of the water anyday and it was only a dx9 8 million dollar game made by 20 ppl...carmack, bioware, crytek and epic. Once considered GODS in the pc market and gaming industry have sunk so low in order to get to "COD" numbers.

[TheOtherTheoG]

Not really, to be honest there was very little of it before Dragon Age II, and whatever there was before it tended to be quashed fairly readily. Dragon Age II wasn't a good game, that's for sure, and in many ways it reflected pretty much every thing wrong with the gaming industry today, but their other games, ME2 included, were fantastic, and pretty much everyone saw them as that, until DA2 came out and now everyone's turned on their past work as well.

So is in unjustified? Possibly, as long as they don't proceed to repeat the mistakes they made with DA2 in future titles, then we have something serious to worry about, and hence people are feeling uneasy, but that isn't a reason to discredit ME3 or any of their past work as immediately being bad.

[WhiteLightning]

ME was amazing...it was a unqiue RPG styled game with TPS elements.

Dragon Age Origins had amazing RPG elements in the game which took you on a long and epic quest which was a great game to have for any RPG fan....Bioware really delivered on this one

ME2 was pretty good athough they moved away from what made ME so amazing and added the same old boring TPS elements. They even got rid of the unqiue cool down weapon system which added a little bit of strategy to battles....as your weapon cools down you have to relie on your chosen team mates and your own biotics, in ME2 because of the thermal clip system you didn't even need to use your team mates, heck you didn't even need to choose the right ones to fit your chosen class. It was basicaly follow story, battle...bang, bang, bang, reload, bang, bang, bang, battle over...rinse and repeat. People let it slide though....oh Bioware will make up for it in ME3 and add these things back in

DA2 looked promising when it was revealed but in the end really dissapointed the fans. It was like they just cared more about a new audience then the ones they already had. How can you ruin a game like this where you could of improved on the things people nit picked about the first game.

ME3 looks good but again despite Bioware saying they ahve RPG elements in the game, all the footage we've seen for it looks even more action packed then the second game....it's basicaly now a FULL ON TPS, and yet they still couldn't give us a choice between the ammo and the cool down weapon system. I mean with the thermal clips it went againts all of the games logic of why it was invented and used....then we have the fact that any class now can use all weapons......does this sound like they've brought back RPG elements, I don't think so. Even grenades and melee combat has been added which makes the battles even more fast paced, that little bit of strategy he first game had is completly gone. Then they include Multiplayer......I mean just wow, I was really lost for words with this one.

Can you see how as each game passed the way Bioware has changed becomes more noticeable like the way how they care more about this accessible approach and the casual audience then the loyal fans who have been there from the start.

[Morbius420]

They wouldn't have gotten away with all the crap they pulled in ME2 if they did it in the first game but since it's a sequel and ppl want to see where the story goes and what influences thier decision from the previous games have in the sequels they can make it as 'Call of Duty' as they like.

[PirateThom]

BioWare had Mass Effect come out as one of the best RPG games of the gen, with a competent shooting element for combat.

That series has progressed further and further towards shooter with some light RPG elements and a fancy map system.

With ME2, I felt NOTHING of the sense of exploration I felt on ME1. The MAKO wasn't perfect, but actually getting onto planets and finding they were more often than not deserted was a bigger deal to me than any number of "corridor planets" in ME2.... the Citadel should be indicative of the problem with the series.

Not that ME2 was bad, but it was just a complete dumbing down of the gameplay, linearity over exploration. Game needed adjustments, not an overhaul.

[danielle007]

I think whatever ill feelings people are feeling towards BioWare are justified. They're veering away from everything their core audience loves, and it's expected that that same audience is going to be upset. I don't see how it could go any other way.

I hope they reverse their current trend, and get back on the correct track.

[Morbius420]

At the rate they're going maybe BioWare will be signed on to make the next Call of Duty game.

[Nerdmaster]

Well, since I hate almost every game that Bioware has ever made (including Sonic Chronicles, I had high expectations for that one), I'm more surprised that people actually like Bioware.

The only game I ever liked from them is Dragon Age: Origins. But then I started to play DA II, had the same disappointment every one else had, and I assumed that they just got lucky with the first one.

[Noticeably_FAT]

I didn't realize anyone hated Bioware?
I think I see a drop in production and some rushed games since they are owned by EA now, so I guess I can see some people being angry with them. I much preferred there work on games like KOTOR, Jade Empire and the original Mass Effect, since then there is a slide, but I definitely don't hate them.

[kaveti6616]

I kind of hate Bioware not because of the games they've made in recent years, but because of their neglect of the Kotor series.

I didn't like RPGs until I played Knights of the Old Republic.

Then for some reason Obsidian, a studio that I hate with the force of a thousand winds, was tasked with making Kotor 2? WHY WHY WHY?

And now, after many years of me waiting for Bioware to making a proper Kotor sequel, Bioware has decided to add insult to my injury by developing an MMO called The Old Republic.

So, that's why I don't like Bioware. I can't hate Bioware for making the games they make because if I don't like those games I don't have to play them.

[gravemaker]

bioware is a thing of the past, move over people, theres next rpg gods now: Bethesda and CD project
we need more freedom, not more coridors

[outwar6010]

how i lover bethesda and cd projects :)

[outwar6010]

what annoys me is ALL their games offer sooo much promise with thewir dlcs and whats carried over in dao i put in sooo many hours intodiff characters making diff choices just to see how it would turn out in the next game and got da2 which wasn't horrible but it wasnt dragon age origin 2 it was esentually a stand alone game and with mas effect the dlc are pricey and offer like an hour or twos worth of gamelplay and dont feel like they offer anything in terms of the bigger picture of the game series sorry for lack of punctuation its late

[Darkfiber]

Yes. Mass Effect 3 will be my last Bioware game, just to finish the story. Anything else...meh. The company as a whole, and all of their games, are moving in a direction that I do not wish to follow. "Casual". Ugh, the word sickens me!

[earbus]

No hate just the usual whinners ,dont touch my games or change them just give me HD remakes of games , lmao listen to yourselves just epic crybabies about everything in gaming its a wonder you guys still have time to play games at all between tears.

[DARK WITNESS]

whats wrong with starting a new IP, sticking to it's roots but improving upon it in every way and making it overall bigger ?

Assassins creed managed to pull it off going from AC1 to AC2. Look at how the new Bioshock is coming along compared to the first (not counting bioshock 2 from a different dev).

it's not that we don't want our games to evolve, we just want them to evolve in the right direction.

Taking something that was a unique rpg and turning it into a more generic tps shooter is not change for the better And YES, I would rather they left it and not change anything, then take something that great and change it for the worse.

[HALE2K]

I agree with most everyone here there should be no MP in Mass Effect 3, but anyone who thinks that Mass Effect 2 isnt as good as Mass Effect 1 is on some serious drugs ME2 was better in every way, Graphics, Controls,the Gun play how fluid the game runs and rechargeing health which is a must so yeah I love Mass Effect 1 but Mass Effect 2 has better graphics and plays better hands down the storys are equal though.

[CAPSLOCKFURY]

I'm a borderline Bioware fanboy and even I can follow the decline in the quality of their games since the EA buyout. Bugs present in Leliana's Song and Awakening would never have been released prior to being under EA, let alone left unpatched. Dragon Age 2 was horrific. It's probably the only Bioware game I've ever played that I have not bothered playing a second time. Varric was a diamond in the rough, though. He needs his own game.

While I won't say they deserve the absolute rage I've seen some people posting on their forums, they do deserve the criticism for the direction their quality has gone.

[HALE2K]

Am I the only one who is not over reacting here dude in no way is Dragon Age 2 horrific, did you even play the game because I love it I played through it at least 5 times, I got the Platinum and still kept playing its just a smooth fun game man look me up PSN NHALE, got the Plat in both Dragon age games there just a shit ton of fun man, people just need to end the hate Skyrim looks good yes but will it play good, we will see!

Now playing
Resistance 3
Mass Effect (again)
Mass Effect 2 (again)

[CAPSLOCKFURY]

Compared to the quality of games prior to their buyout, yes it is horrific. They didn't even bother camouflaging the blocked doors in the recycled dungeons.

[Pintheshadows]

The hate that Bioware have been getting would be warranted if they had commited war attrocities. They haven't though so no, I don't thinks it's fair.

[CryWolf]

First of all, Bioware sold out the RPG hardcore gamers for money from EA, now facts Mass Effect 1 was beyond better then ME2 and your right bioware was once the champions of amazing RPG games like Baldur’s Gate, Baldur’s Gate II, Kotor, Kotor 2, Mass Effect and Dragon Age, but they made a deal with devil and now there taking shortcuts with most of there games unlike CD Projekt RED these developers didn't have much money to Publisher The Witcher 2 but they didn't sell us out to a big company for money like bioware did. What CDPR done is to use the internet for help to save there game a pretty good strategy that most of these developers need to take a lessons for these days.

[OdinFallen]

After reading these comments I feel immensely less intelligent. So many of you just have no idea what's going on and you are just generalizing your opinions and own views to the rest of the gamer population. I need to go solve a physic problem after reading all this stupidity.

[InTheLab]

DA2 was probably the worst game of the year. The reason being is that it was clearly a cash and that took advantage of loyal fans. Sure there were worst games out there like Thor...but was anyone expecting Thor to be good? DA2 was a sure thing...but turned out to be a pile.

Because of DA2, I'm now worried about ME3. ME2 was already a step down in gameplay, sporting some of the worst corridor/cover rinse repeat gameplay I've ever played. What saved it was the story of Shepard, the ME universe, and relationships with other characters. The gameplay was ass.

Lastly, I'm more than annoyed how almost a whole generation has passed and we've heard nothing of a Jade Empire sequel. Bioware has abandoned that franchise and that just pisses me off.

And then there's the non-stop defense of the dumbing down they've done to their most recent franchises, with them going so far as to tell us(traditional RPG gamers) that they gave us the deep experience we wanted while making the game accessible enough for casuals. I call bulls*** and Shenanigans on that.

With that said, I don't hate Bioware. I just don't place them in the elite category anymore. They been replaced by CD Project with the Witcher franchise, and are nowhere near the brilliance of From with Demon's/Dark Souls.

Bioware is obsolete.