Mass Effect 3 confirmed to run on Unreal Engine 3

"BioWare chose UE3 for the Mass Effect because they wanted to make an immersive shooter," says Rein

The next installment of the Mass Effect trilogy will be powered by Unreal Engine 3, Epic vice-president Mark Rein has said.

The popular Unreal Engine 3 has built up a sizable base of licensing support since its 2006 release. The engine stands apart from its predessesors by way of numerous capability advances, including renderer support covering several complex techniques like HDRR, per-pixel lighting and dynamic shadows.

After using it for the first two Mass Effect titles, UE3's impressive tech has convinced Canadian studio BioWare to use it as a base for the upcoming Mass Effect 3.

"BioWare chose UE3 for the Mass Effect trilogy because they wanted to make an immersive third-person perspective shooter game with sci-fi environments," Epic VP Mark Rein told Develop, in a feature outlining the use of the Unreal Engine in Mass Effect 2.

[Dance]

Thank you captain obvious

[JsonHenry]

I thought they used UE2.5 or something of the like for the first two ME games. But I guess I am wrong.

NEVER MIND! I was thinking of Bioshock.

[Raf1k1]

I'd love to see what they could do with CryEngine 3.

[Redempteur]

It's funny

Even them selves are saying that's it's a shooter rpg
"they wanted to make an immersive shooter,"

yet from time to time you'll find some m**ons claiming that mass effect is not a shooter ...

as for the rest of the article , everything was kinda obvious

[RagTagBnd445]

@ Above
ME1 was an RPG.
ME2 was an RPG-Shooter Hybrid.

[ProjectVulcan]

http://media.ebaumsworld.co...

[raztad]

@tobelech

I've only played ME1 which I agree is a RPG.

Judging by Bioware representative words ME2 is a shooter with RPG elements. How does it compare to Bioshock for example?

[sukru]

It's actually RPG with heavy shooter elements.

I've played both, and all two are very different from standard shooters. Yes the combat and leveling/upgrading is streamlined, however it's much more story driven, and the game becomes very tactical on Insane mode (you cannot play it as a shooter).

[GR8 1]

Obvious choice Unreal Engine 3 is Head & Shoulders above what ever ps3 First Party Devs use for their games. Take for instance GOW3 Engine it doesn't even manage to run at 60fps it can only mange to run at 720p & 20fps and then u get the pop ups now and then.

Killzone 2 another Engine which runs at a 720p & 20fps which at sometimes makes the game unbearable to play.

Uncharted 2 Engine does have it's ups and downs runs at 720p & 30fps but with screen tearing graphics are bright colors like cartoon nothing mind blowing but it's getting there.

[hoops]

LOL. The Unreal 3 engine old now..unless it is heavily modified, it is no way above the other game engines as of now. As for your claims of 20 fps for those PS3 games...Do you even HAVE a PS3 to make that claim? You are obviously a troll. Please you're just as bad as Saaking and Real killer and the rest. You just give the Xbox36o reach arounds.

[zaz12]

I have taken his last bubble

[mrv321]

Screen tearing? When playing Gears of War 2 I though my disc drive drive broke the textures looked BAD... and even after 30 second and the textures to load I waited some more and realised that's it. C'mon 8gigs of data, your not of floppies use the damn space.

Unreal Engine<Guerilla Engine.

Just fact, doesn't ME2 suffer from screen tearing and framerate issues to?

[BigPappaPump]

stop talking like you play ps360 titles. you own neither system. all you do is troll talking pure crap on subjects you know nothing about. N4G comment is your personal GOTY.

[Mo0eY]

It's truly amazing that this kid and I have the same amount of bubbles. Then again, most bots hate me because I'm an intelligent troll. With that and the multiple accounts, I can see how I went from 9 to 1 over the course of three months :D.

CRY MOAR BOTS.

[astar123456789]

keep smoking what you got!!!

[Pennywise]

Seriously... pass it here. I want to visit lala land.

[theunleashed64]

wow and i thought xbots couldn't get any dellusional then this well i guss i was wrong

[GiantEnemyCrab]

This guy speaks for himself and doesn't represent Xbox gamers. His rants are so idiotic that I'm thinking that it's actually not an Xbox owner at all.

[Pennywise]

He is the type of fool that keeps bad blood between the camps.

I think he is a paid employee. Why else would someone be so dedicated to stupidity?

[sofocado]

It would make no sense to use another engine. SC should of used UE3 or Evolution Engine instead of of UE2. Oh well maybe next time.

[Major Kanimo]

uses a heavily modified engine of Unreal 2.5 it is barley the same engine so is me1's and me2's engines i cant wait to see what they can do with unreal 3

[Gun_Senshi]

I was hoping CryEngine3

[Raf1k1]

Yeah that would be amazing. I hope they use it on a future project.

[pwneddemocrat]

is that a good thing ?

[maxcer]

not according to fanboys, apparently UE3 is out dated.

[DelbertGrady]

Judging from Mass Effect 2 I'd say it's a good thing. No one knows if they could do better things with another engine but Mass Effect 2's graphics are more than satisfying imo.

[Corrwin]

UE3 has held up well over the years, and in the right hands manages to hide it's many problems (texture pop, loading screens).

[Deadman64]

exactly. Why waste time on outfitting a new engine for your needs. Make what improvements graphically you can from ME2 and spend most of your time defining the story and gameplay.

Mass Effect 2's graphics are perfect as is

[joydestroy]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! UE4 PLEASE!!!

[hoops]

Would have thought it would have been the Unreal 4 engine. I assume thats for Gears of war3 i assume

[TheIneffableBob]

Unreal Engine 4 isn't coming out for a long time. Epic said that UE4 isn't arriving until next-gen consoles hit (sadly, Epic are targeting consoles first then PC).

[sid4gamerfreak]

Hell, I don't really care if Mass Effect 3 is utilizing the ue3 engine. What happened to gameplay, everyone seems to have forgotten that? As long as Mass Effect 3 has engaging gameplay mechanics, I'm sold. As for the graphics, it would have been nice for me 3 to use ue4 or whatever but honestly that doesn't bother me.

[jay2]

Make your own engine. you've made enough money.

[RagTagBnd445]

They have done that, they made 3-4 engines as far as i remember. The Dragon Age engine was their own work. Unreal engine is just the better choice when you are going for multiplatform, own engine is better for exclusives.

[jay2]

They have done that, they made 3-4 engines as far as i remember. The Dragon Age engine was their own work. Unreal engine is just the better choice when you are going for multiplatform, own engine is better for exclusives.

What a stupid comment, so is what you're trying to say is that no one else (Apart from Epic) can make a multi-plat engine that they'd also use for their own game?

Ofcause Bio could do this, heck they could even sell it like Epic did.........

[RagTagBnd445]

I'm saying that most companies would not do that, Epic has a whole team, dedicated to creating engines, so does Crytek. Creating an engine for all tree platforms takes time, and as Bioware are not know for creating the best of the best engines, then they would made little to no money on it.

[thief]

And also easier to port it over to the PS3. Which. admittedly, is as unlikely to happen as Bioshock, Lost Planet and Ninja Gaiden.

[Bubbles_Kitty_Cat]

Aren't PS3 owners getting tired of playing inferior versions of multiplatform games?

[PotNoodle]

Aren't 360 owners tired of playing inferior multiplatform games while us PC owners get vastly superior games?

See, i could play that game too. I won't, because its stupid. But you can't take the higher ground, because.. well you can't.

[Bubbles_Kitty_Cat]

Why so testy, DeathroW22? (Sounds like I touched a nerve)

My question was a serious one.
The vast majority of multiplats perform better on the 360, so limiting yourself to just a PS3 and wishing for more multiplats does not make much sense to me.

I own both consoles, so I have all my bases covered.

[PotNoodle]

Because that hasn't been true for a while now. The vast majority of console multiplatform games are more or less even, the differences are unnoticeable. It is just two or three multiplatform games that end up being considerably better on the 360 that get the attention, other than that - its not really an issue any more.

But really, i ask people who say there is a noticeable difference, if you get worked up over such small differences, how can you even tolerate the graphics on console games? How do you tolerate low resolutions, framerates, lower AA, AF and texture detail?

If you lot really cared about those differences, you wouldn't be gaming on a console, you'd be gaming on a PC.

[e-p-ayeaH]

well said sir.

[Ninji]

Now the graphics will look like even shinier plastic!

[ELite_Ghost]

and you wont get to jump again!!! :D:D:D:D:D

[sofocado]

Epic Games is just going to give BioWare an update version of the UE 3. wich I think is going to look better. I think mass effect 2 looks better the the first one but that is because they are using an updated verion of the UE3. Mass Effect looks beautiful to me the way it is.

[jmd749]

*then rolls eyes"

[divideby0]

dugh...is all I can say

[BeaArthur]

I don't know if I like this or not but I have faith in Bioware so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

[green]

It will take tremendous work to build ME3 from scratch on a new engine. Also have to consider importation of your previous saves files that ME3 will utilize because how will your UE3 built commander Shepard get imported if it is to shift to say Cry Engine 3? Its not as if it can't work but building the game from scratch will delay the games release schedule from 18 months to something close to 3 years minimum. I am not patient enough to wait 3 years to finish the trilogy.

IMO Mass Effect 2 looked great and with the added improvements to UE3 that Epic will add, then we all know that ME3 will look better. In fact, graphics is at the bottom of my lists of improvements i will like Bioware to make. ME2 had more watered down RPG elements compared to its predecessor and i would like those old rpg features to be brought back. Also that planet mining section is boring.

@ Giant Enemy crab: so are you trying to say that long load times, pop-ins, on screen enemy count in Mass effect 2 was an issue for you? Was it even an issue at all? Go to Bioware forums for Mass effect 2 and you will not see a single complaint about what you mentioned above.

And the last time i checked, ME 1&2, Gears 1&2, Batman:AA, Rainbow Six vegas, Lost Odyssey, Unreal Tournament 3, 50 cents blood on the sand, APB, Borderlands, XMEN origins wolverine and Bioshock all had native resolutions of 720p and they are all UE3 games. So what where you complaining about again?

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Expect long load times, some pop-in, not many enemies on screen at once and nothing in a native HD resolution. UE tends to cripple games like that.

@Green

Yes, the game suffered from those things.

1. Load times - Lots of loading screens in ME2. Before it was elevator rides and now it's straight load screens. Why are other engines able to stream and load textures in the background so they are masked? UE is capable but usually the performance is so maxed it's hard to do both.

2. Pop-In - ME suffered horribly and so does Gears(the engine creators own game). Greatly improved in ME2 but it's still there. Now Epic tries to mask it by blurring the textures into frame. It's less harsh than the "pop" but it's noticeable.

3. Not one of those games you listed is Native 720p, on consoles at least. If you have data to back up they are native then I will concede that point.

ME2 is great and gorgeous but I feel they would benefit more from a proprietary engine.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Oh and if anyone one of these disagrees actually wants to prove me wrong please go ahead.

[RagTagBnd445]

@ Above
Both mass effect games are 720p native, according to wikipedia. Some guy on the bioware forums did also confirm it.

[green]

Giant Enemy Crab you are just being Naive.

"Load times - Lots of loading screens in ME2. Before it was elevator rides and now it's straight load screens." Did you even play the game?

You get long load times before and after you finish the missions. The only other load times are on the Normandys elevator and they are bearable.

"Not one of those games you listed is Native 720p, on consoles at least. If you have data to back up they are native then I will concede that point."

- Mass Effect = 1280x720 (2xAA, transparencies and effects not AA'd)
- Mass Effect 2 = 1280x720 (2xAA, transparencies and effects not AA'd)
- Rainbow Six Vegas 2 = 1280x720 (2xAA)
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine = 1280x720 (2xAA)
- Batman: Arkham Asylum = 1280x720 (2xAA)
- 50 Cent = 1280x720 (no AA)
- Bioshock = 1280x720 (no AA)
- Bioshock 2 = 1280x720 (edge blur filter)
- Unreal Tournament III = 1280x720 (2xAA ala Gears...)
http://forum.beyond3d.com/s... . Those are the native resolutions for the 360 versions of all the games mentioned.

[Foxgod]

Lots of people say that unreal engine games all look the same.

However, Bioware showed that it aint true, Mass effect got an unique look.

[Inside_out]

It's up to the developer to produce a good game...Bioshock , Gears, ME, Batman, lost planet...lots of examples of great games using Unreal tech...of course some bad ones too...Depends on the developer, great developers make great games...PERIOD...Crytek unproven on consoles BUT it does look promising...

[green]

People hate UE3 and I think that's just stupid. hate the devs that use UE3 to make a bad game not the engine it runs on. UE3 has proven to be very versatile and can be used to make games in any genre without breaking the bank of a game developer.

Engines like Cry Engine 3 look great without a doubt. But no one bothers to ask how easy it is to use, how cheap it is, amount of resources required and what are the cost implications of utilizing CE3 over UE3 for a smaller game development studio.

[Blacktric]

As long as they bring back the inventory system with few tweaks and lots of loots it's fine by me. I'm sure as hell that story will again kick ass so I'm not concerned about it. And I think Mass Effect looks good with Unreal Engine.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

That seems rather obvious.. I love the style of ME but one thing it could defiantly use is a new engine. So sick of the UE engine, all the games have that same crippled tech feel to them. You can see devs try to push and the engine just causes performance nightmares. Greatness in and garbage out with the UE engine.

"BioWare chose UE3 for the Mass Effect because they wanted to make an immersive shooter,"

Shooter? LOL that's all this guy thinks about.. It's an RPG Rein you used car salesmen.

[DeeZee]

Of course they aren't going to change up the engine for the final game!!! What a worthless statement...

[corneliuscrust]

"ue3 sux0rz wish they used ue4"

If you did any research or know anything about UE tech, UE4 is a LOONNNGGG way off. UE3 still has life in it no matter what the haters say. Is it bleeding edge? No, but you can still make great looking games and epic is continuing to add features and updates to UE3 to keep it competitive in the market. Those teaser infos on Gears3? Still UE3. People thought UE3 was not so hot in ME, when ME2 videos started to drop people kept saying how great it looks. Same engine. Cmon ppl

[Wii360BeatsPS3]

Mass effect 2 has better character models than Uncharted 2, so it's a good choice by Bioware. It also has a better story, lets just get it over with, it's a better game.

[BigPappaPump]

what the fuq are you smoking? unless you have taste for simpler graphics then more power to you.

[RagTagBnd445]

Ahh sorry mate, but as a big mass effect fan, i can say you are wrong. The models have a bit fewer polygons, and the game have too many low res textures.

[PotNoodle]

I don't agree with him, but i wouldn't say it is a completely stupid claim, since they are pretty good.

http://eugn.co.uk/MassEffec...
http://eugn.co.uk/MassEffec...
http://eugn.co.uk/MassEffec...

[KeiserSosay4788]

Bioware proved me wrong on my ue3 hate....none of the textures looked jellyfied in me2 and it looked really good...

[PotNoodle]

Mass effect 2 looked fantastic, at least on PC. Some screenshots i taken:

They don't look as sharp as in game due to the crappy JPG compression i used.. it is showing aliasing in places where it actually wasn't in game.
http://eugn.co.uk/MassEffec...

[cheapndirty]

I am waiting for a web browser or PC OS that runs on U3.

[xc7x]

so because ME & ME2 used the engine,they'll use it in ME3 right? that would make the whole series using the same engine right? wow,they can do that right? imagine that..

[hoops]

No Mass Effect did not suffer from screen tearing and frame rate issues like the first 1.

[DFresh]

I kinda wanna see what Mass Effect would look like if it were using the Cry Engine 3 but for what the past games in the series have used maybe an upgraded Unreal Engine 3 may not be such a bad idea after all.