BioWare: от Shattered Steel до Dragon Age — история студии и анализ ключевых проектов

BioWare: A Retrospective While it is universally considered an RPG studio, BioWare’s first title was, in fact, 1996’s Shattered Steel, a mech action game very much in the vein of MechWarrior. After that, however, the developer — founded in Edmonton by doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip — turned its attention to a shared interest in RPGs, on computer and pen-and-paper. This led to the creation of the Infinity Engine, which BioWare used to convince publisher Interplay of its potential with the popular Dungeons & Dragons licence. Success was achieved with the highly regarded Baldur’s Gate, with the engine also used by other developers with the licence for good effect, such as Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale. Further success was found with Baldur’s Gate II, while the studio also developed a game for consoles for the first time in 2000, the action title MDK2. After financial issues separated it from Interplay, BioWare went on to establish relationships with Atari, LucasArts, and Microsoft in the early to mid 2000s, furthering its reputation with Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Jade Empire. As BioWare returned to the forefront of RPG-gaming with Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins, it was snapped up by the behemoth Electronic Arts. The subsequent history of BioWare is very much defined by its relationship with its new owner. One can definitely see how the larger budgets afforded to it have helped make its storytelling and gameplay much more cinematic and visually impressive. However, those larger budgets have come with loftier expectations and some development hiccups, with many of the key players departing during the 2010s. Earlier releases in the partnership have been notable for quite aggressive DLC offerings, while Dragon Age II was the very picture of a rushed sequel, and its most recent titles are emblematic of the industry’s issue with live-service games in different ways. Given the recent purchase by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund and other partners, it remains to be seen if BioWare will have a continued place going forward. With that in mind, we have taken the opportunity to look back across BioWare’s RPG catalogue and remember the fascinating titles it has produced across the years. We hope you enjoy our brief tour across the studio’s history and invite our readers to share their favourite memories from its library. by Amaan Bhimani, Alex Fuller, Austin Langer, Robert Sinclair, and Sam Wachter Baldur’s Gate Available on: PC, Mac Enhanced Edition (created by Beamdog) released on PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android Released in 1998, Baldur’s Gate stands as the monumental achievement that put BioWare on the map, successfully translating Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules into a breathtaking digital format. Players create their own protagonist and are thrust into a sprawling epic across the Sword Coast to uncover a sinister conspiracy involving the region’s escalating iron crisis. The game’s narrative is expansive, defined by open-ended exploration, memorable companion encounters, and the foundational lore of the Bhaalspawn saga. The game’s greatest strength lies in this unmatched sense of epic scale and world-building, which established the template for computer role-playing games for decades to come. However, its mechanical foundation is infamously unforgiving for modern audiences. The real time-with-pause engine implements complex tabletop mechanics complete with obscure stats, THAC0 calculations, and brutal difficulty curves where a single unlucky die roll can wipe out your party. To the unfamiliar, watching characters constantly miss attacks or succumb to sudden death spells can feel baffling and impenetrable. Despite the steep learning curve, Baldur’s Gate remains a pillar of the genre. It captures the very soul of classic dungeon-crawling and tactical party management. The game showcases deep, uncompromising origins of BioWare’s legacy and is where its legend begins. — Austin Langer Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn Available on: PC, Mac Enhanced Edition (created by Beamdog) released on PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android Released two years after the successful Baldur’s Gate, Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn refined every conceivable element of its predecessor, expanding the scope into an unforgettable masterclass in high-fantasy storytelling. Players resume the role of the Bhaalspawn, starting in the torturous dungeons of the wizard Irenicus before spilling out into the vibrant, sprawling city of Athkatla. The game’s narrative is legendary, defined by morally grey antagonists, deeply reactive companion quests, and romantic subplots that set a new benchmark for character interaction in video games. The game’s greatest strength is its masterful pacing, rich quest design, and iconic party dynamics, featuring unforgettable characters like the unhinged ranger Minsc and his miniature giant space hamster, Boo. Like its predecessor, its mechanical foundation presents the same daunting hurdle. The continuation of AD&D rules means players must master multi-classing, spell counters, and high-level magic management to survive. For newcomers, navigating the sheer volume of spells and stats can quickly become overwhelming. Regardless of the intimidating complexity, Shadows of Amn is widely regarded as one of the greatest computer RPGs ever made. It perfects the isometric party-based formula. For anyone looking to see BioWare operating at the absolute peak of its classical storytelling powers, this is the definitive masterpiece. — Austin Langer Neverwinter Nights Available on: PC, Mac, Linux Enhanced Edition (created by Beamdog) released on PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android Neverwinter Nights shifted BioWare’s focus toward digital tabletop empowerment, set within the beloved Forgotten Realms city of Neverwinter amidst a devastating magical plague. The game’s true revolution was technical: the Aurora Toolset. By handing robust, user-friendly creation tools directly to the community, BioWare transformed Neverwinter Nights into a digital engine for Dungeon Masters, spawning countless legendary persistent worlds and custom modules. The game’s greatest strength is this unprecedented level of player creativity and flexibility, paired with a smooth transition of the Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition ruleset into a 3D perspective. Its mechanical and narrative foundations in the vanilla game and its official campaigns, especially the first one, feel dry and more like a tutorial for the toolset rather than an epic, unforgettable adventure. The official campaign traded the rich, organic companion chemistry of Baldur’s Gate for a more solitary, utilitarian adventure that often functioned as a showcase for the engine rather than a deeply emotional epic. Despite the relatively uninspired core campaign, Neverwinter Nights remains a monumental achievement in developer-community synergy. It proved that BioWare could build not just great games, but entire platforms for imagination. For anyone looking to understand the roots of community modding and digital tabletop gaming, this remains a fascinating milestone. — Austin Langer Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Available on: PC, Mac, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android Released in 2003, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) is a seminal role-playing game set four thousand years before the creation of the Galactic Empire. Players assume the role of a customizable protagonist caught in a galactic war between the Jedi and the villainous Darth Malak. The game’s narrative is legendary, defined by sharp dialogue choices, a deeply impactful morality system that charts the player’s path between the Light and Dark sides of the Force, and one of the most famous plot twists in gaming history. The game’s greatest strength lies in this masterful storytelling and character writing, which set the gold standard for cinematic RPGs. However, its mechanical foundation presents its biggest hurdle for modern audiences. The real-time-with-pause combat relies heavily on invisible d20 dice rolls, stats, feats, and skill checks derived from Dungeons & Dragons tabletop rules. To those more accustomed to direct visual hit-box correlation, watching a lightsaber visually pass through an enemy while the game registers a “miss” can be frustrating and unintuitive. Despite the aged combat, KOTOR remains an excellent introduction to BioWare titles. It perfectly encapsulates the studio’s core DNA: squad-based storytelling, rich lore, and meaningful player agency. For anyone looking to understand where BioWare’s modern formula truly found its footing, Knights of the Old Republic is where to do so. — Austin Langer Jade Empire Available on: PC, Mac, Xbox, iOS, Android Chinese mythology is uncommon in Western RPGs, and finding one that truly understands the mythos is even more challenging. With Jade Empire, BioWare clearly wanted to pay homage to traditional Chinese cinema and wuxia fiction. The story has a strong focus on magic and martial arts, with players making choices through a morality-based dialogue system that can affect narrative elements depending on their responses. Players take on the role of the last Spirit Monk, who is on a journey to save their missing tutor and quell the darkness that is plaguing the world. The morality system is neither good nor evil, but rather focuses on a specific type of philosophy, “Open Palm,” which is being altruistic, or “Closed Fist,” which focuses more on self-reliance. Jade Empire is very linear for a BioWare game, with the player selecting one of six story archetypes, with exploration done in third person, wherein players can pick up side quests along the way. The game’s combat is a third-person action RPG that takes place in real-time, giving the feeling of real hand-to-hand combat or of having attacks tied to a specific weapon type. The player can build their hero to be purely offensive, defensive, or even focused on magical energy known as “chi.” There is a lot of flexibility in Jade Empire’s combat, and it’s very fast and fluid, replicating the wuxia stories it pays homage to. Jade Empire is the game that many BioWare fans long for a remaster or remake of, simply because they want to see how the combat and story could be elevated on newer hardware. Sadly, Jade Empire sold well below expectations when it released on Xbox in 2005, but it got its due once it was released on PC in 2007. It’s a fine standalone RPG, and there still isn’t much out there in the RPG-sphere to compare it to. Jade Empire is a unique experience, and while the game will feel somewhat dated in look and feel, it’s impossible to deny how important a title it is in BioWare’s back catalogue, as it was a reminder of how creative this developer could truly be. — Sam Wachter Mass Effect Available on: PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One Sci-fi franchises have been renowned for generating great fanbases across the years, and BioWare established another one with Mass Effect. The game is set in a future version of the Milky Way where humanity has recently joined the society of space-faring species and cultures and sees players navigating the interesting politics that come with that while uncovering a larger potential threat looming in the background. Its version of the galaxy neatly skirts aspects of soft and hard sci-fi elements to create a galaxy full of fascinating peoples and solid internal consistency as players control Shepard, a candidate to become the first Human SPECTRE, effectively a special investigative agent with wide-ranging authority. Much of what makes Mass Effect so successful is shared by other BioWare games, and comes in much of the finer details of the setting. The lore and setup of the world provide lots of fascinating details for players to uncover, while the game characters and writing do a great job sucking players into the story and setting. The game also made significant changes to dialogue options and the good vs. evil, light vs. dark-side choice structure of many games. With Shepard always being a hero, players were instead able to decide what sort of hero: being more of a Paragon of virtue or a “get the job done by whatever means necessary” Renegade. Meanwhile, choices are handled by the highly effective dialogue wheel, which swiftly became a mainstay for the studio, and players are even given the options to interrupt scenes with special actions. Its story structure and approach to dialogue help to allow Shepard to be fully voiced and help make them stand out far and above among BioWare’s previous customisable protagonists. As with the following Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect ends up in a slightly awkward place combat-wise. The game is effectively a third-person shooter RPG, whereas BioWare’s previous sci-fi title, Knights of the Old Republic, used a full roll-based RPG system, and it falls in a slightly awkward place between it and a full shooter. As a result, damage is somewhat of a clunky mixture of player skill and character build, making for a bit of an awkward feedback loop. Planetary exploration was also a bit hit or miss; the fun of finding possible quests and secrets while bouncing around on the Mako was a bit undercut by the samey nature of the experience. Nevertheless, Mass Effect was an enormous success and gave BioWare an incredible setting to work with, and the improvements made with the Legendary Edition trilogy collection help with the onboarding. — Alex Fuller Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood Available on: Nintendo DS BioWare made a Sonic game? It’s an unexpected crossover, but it happened in 2008 on the Nintendo DS. The events of Dark Brotherhood take place after the 2003 Game Boy Advance title Sonic Battle, opening with the “death” of Eggman and Sonic being on vacation. Sonic receives a call from Tails, who informs him that Knuckles has been kidnapped by a group known as the Mauraders and the Chaos Emeralds have been stolen. Sonic teams up with Amy and Tails for a turn-based adventure to save Knuckles and the world. Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood was BioWare’s first handheld project, though it wasn’t well received by the critics. The game is a turn-based RPG that is divided into multiple chapters. Unfortunately, the game’s combat system is simple, with rhythm and timing elements that weren’t well designed. The game also received multiple complaints regarding its poor audio and easy difficulty, though it was praised for its graphics, likable characters, and cartoony vibes. It is worth the investigation if one is a long-time Sonic fan, but likely a very low priority for anyone exploring BioWare’s overall catalog. — Sam Wachter Dragon Age: Origins Available on: PC, Mac, PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 After successfully reviving sci-fi RPGs with Mass Effect, BioWare turned its attention back to high fantasy with the very ambitious Dragon Age: Origins. Looking to emulate the success it had with Baldur’s Gate II, BioWare was this time able to create its own fantasy world as part of that. The game starts out incredibly strongly with its emphasis on player choice with its eponymous Origins system, allowing players to select from six possible introductory acts based on the customised player character’s race and/or class. All of these origins ultimately lead to the same starting point, with players recruited into a group called the Grey Wardens, tasked with defeating creatures called Darkspawn, only to be left as the last line of defence following a spectacularly disastrous battle against the rampaging horde. However, it sets up the possibility for strong diverging events and outcomes based on the player’s actions going forward. Dragon Age: Origins marks the start of a period of transition for BioWare in terms of its fantasy combat that would be fully explored in its sequel. The game tries to continue along the lines of the real-time-with-pause tactical systems of the D&D games, but its controls didn’t necessarily translate effectively to console, necessitating less focus on micromanaging a full party in future. The combat is strong, and never shies away from giving players a challenge while providing the tools to overcome it, but it found itself in an awkward spot between adherents of the previous systems and newer console players. Where Dragon Age: Origins does succeed and stand out is through its introduction to the world of Thedas, through just a small part of it. It does a great job of introducing the world’s lore, as well as its societal and political conflicts, through a mixture of the events players experience. The agency of player choice is also excellently handled, with the state of the nation at the end or its individual characters being vastly different depending on player choices, with those choices also majorly impacting various scenes and sequences throughout the game in highly memorable ways. Much of its strong reputation stems from its great quest design and lore-building. The game also benefits from a bit of star power, with Kate Mulgrew, Claudia Black, Tim Russ, and the late Tim Curry among the notable names involved. Dragon Age: Origins is also notable for its DLC in a time when the concept was very much coming to the fore. Reception to the DLC itself is mixed, but it certainly wasn’t helped by its in-game advertising being awkward and distracting, even when the content was decent enough. The game also received the Awakening expansion, which also has a mixed legacy. The expansion draws some interest from its new cast, but doesn’t really do enough with them and feels a bit disconnected from the main game, ultimately feeling like a diluted version of the game. — Alex Fuller Mass Effect 2 Available on: PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo Wii U Although the first game was successful, Mass Effect 2 is where the series and BioWare really came into wider popularity. The game received a major overhaul to gameplay and story structure, ramping up its cinematic nature and bringing its combat much closer in line with third-person shooters. EA also spent a lot more effort on marketing for the game, including recruiting some big names (and faces) into its cast with Yvonne Strahovski, Martin Sheen, and Tricia Helfer. The result was the best-received effort of BioWare’s time under EA. Coupled with an impressive narrative that builds on the events of the first game while taking things in an interesting new direction, the game is readily considered one of BioWare’s strongest titles, bringing an army of new fans to the series. Such is the difference that many players will not see a need for newcomers to bother with the first game, the important events and choices of which can be covered in its opening. Interestingly, despite its more cinematic presentation, the game’s story is a bit more personal, focusing on the motley crew that players put together for its suicidal end goal. The game starts with a bang, and it grabs players right from the get-go. The gameplay is tight, the different classes vary your ways of tackling each engagement, and the story grabs you from the first scene and doesn’t let go. The recruits you get along the way are mostly compelling and feel like they have their own lives and agendas, and all the sub-stories really make the galaxy feel alive. It fully rewards players for building up relationships and earning their loyalty, giving substantial weight to player decisions. Mass Effect 2 effectively offers a much more streamlined experience that removes much of the RPG bloat of the first game. It still has some flaws: planet scanning gets tiresome, there’s not much variation in combat or character customisation, and decisions in the first game don’t carry a lot of weight. While some might be disappointed that some of the harder RPG elements are frozen out, the game is an outstanding title that gets remembered as one of the best of its era. — Robert Sinclair Dragon Age II Available on: PC, Mac, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Dragon Age II released a scant sixteen months after Dragon Age: Origins, and it absolutely shows that it was a game created within a very limited time frame. It takes players to the city-state of Kirkwall as Hawke, a refugee from Ferelden who rises to become known as the Champion of Kirkwall. Some choices players made in Origins can be carried into Dragon Age II, though they are ultimately for flavour rather than anything substantial. Dragon Age II was clearly built to garner more mass appeal and keep on board those who were turned off by the heavier RPG combat mechanics of Dragon Age: Origins. The game’s combat is much more streamlined and fits much better on console, taking what worked previously and finding ways to help improve the overall flow and excitement of battle, although the PC version retains some of the tactical full-party-control gameplay. However, the crunch development is made blindingly obvious by the game’s enforced reuse of environments and assets. Some repeated visits are entirely understandable, but many different areas look exactly the same and end up making exploration in the game very dull. In addition, it’s clear that the story only has one possible path to follow, and that the choices players make are thus less impactful than in the previous game. Some of the complaints were addressed in the Legacy DLC that connects the game more deeply to Dragon Age: Inquisition, though this arguably serves to highlight the initial rushed development. Where Dragon Age II mostly succeeds is in its character work, as the characters each have their own arcs that tie into Hawke and Kirkwall’s own story. Of particular note is its introduction of fan-favourite Varric Tethras (played by Brian Bloom), who is a standout character across the entire series, but the supporting cast all does an admirable job in making Hawke’s story worthwhile, and it provides some interesting expansions to the Dragon Age lore. Its emotion-centered version of the dialogue wheel introduced in Mass Effect also works well in giving Hawke more of a personality and building on the role-playing aspects of conversations. There are definitely some things to like about Dragon Age II, but it was always going to be majorly hampered by the unreasonable development time. — Alex Fuller Star Wars: The Old Republic Available on: PC, Mac Taking the foundation built by its predecessor, Star Wars: The Old Republic expanded the universe into a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Set three centuries after KOTOR, the game allows players to experience eight distinct, fully voiced class stories across both the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire. Built by a new team in Austin, but with significant support from Edmonton, it masterfully bridges the gap between single-player narrative depth and multiplayer world-building, essentially acting as eight standalone BioWare games wrapped into one online package. Though development was officially handed off to Broadsword Online Games in 2023 so BioWare could pivot back to its single-player roots, the game’s core identity remains deeply tied to its original creators. SWTOR’s absolute triumph is its emphasis on narrative and choice, a rarity in the MMO genre where story is often treated as an afterthought. The dialogue wheel lets players shape their character’s personality and make dark or light choices that affect their companion relationships. On the downside, the gameplay relies on traditional, tab-target “hot-key” combat. Depending on player preference, managing rows of ability cooldowns can either feel like a comforting, classic MMO experience or a dated, repetitive chore. Also, for fans looking for a deep MMO endgame experience, SWTOR may feel lackluster. Though the team behind the game has worked hard to address this concern since the game’s launch with dungeons and raids that drop high-level gear, the endgame loop is a mixed bag for seasoned MMO veterans. Because of its massive scope and free-to-play model, SWTOR is a surprisingly great alternative introduction to BioWare. It offers the classic storytelling and dialogue flexibility the studio is known for, but with a smoother, more modern user interface than KOTOR. It is an ideal gateway for players who want BioWare-style writing but prefer the open, ongoing structure of an online world. — Austin Langer Mass Effect 3 Available on: PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo Wii U Commander Shepard sets out to unite the galaxy and all life in it against an existential threat in the final game of the Mass Effect trilogy. Cinematic and conclusive, Mass Effect 3 feels like the fullest expression of RPG storytelling, with characters, plot points, and player choices from the first two games coming together for a tale of heroism and destiny that feels both larger-than-life in its conflict and personal through the player’s role in it. The cover shooter gameplay is faster and smoother, while each mission has a measurable impact on the story and world, keeping it from being as slow as Mass Effect and as disconnected as Mass Effect 2. However, its wholehearted approach to capping off the trilogy as thoroughly as possible means that longstanding conflicts between species are settled relatively quickly. Shepard is made into an unrealistically capable commander who is very easily able to corral a bitter, divided galaxy to arms against impossible odds, but it is that defiance and strength embodied by Shepard that makes its themes of hope, perseverance, and unity resonate. The game’s use of those themes meant the convenient solutions found in its story could be readily overlooked; however, its reputation suffered a significant hit as players found themselves underwhelmed by its original endings, later “fixed” through additional cutscenes in free DLC and the Legendary Edition. Without this, its finality would have been better appreciated and its reputation more favorable. Mass Effect 3 necessitates that players experience the previous titles to get the most from it, as it relies on the emotional payoff to make it what it is. While it includes RPG elements like skill trees, classes, and leveling up, its streamlined action gameplay also doesn’t require the kind of in-depth customization and familiarity with mechanics that classic BioWare games are known for. As a whole, it manages to steer the series towards a proper and grand conclusion after the first game planted the seeds for the main conflict and the second game expanded upon the world and characters to make them mean something. All three games are somewhat disconnected in tone and in their individual strengths, but the Mass Effect trilogy comes off as a very competent and cohesive series because of the closure provided by Mass Effect 3 and the bittersweet emotions that come with the end of all things good. — Amaan Bhimani Dragon Age: Inquisition Available on: PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One After Dragon Age II notably suffered from its short development time, the third game in the series received a notably longer development time, releasing in 2014. The result is the biggest game of the lot, with Dragon Age: Inquisition offering a huge amount of content for players to sink their teeth into. Like the other Dragon Age games, Inquisition has its own player-created protagonist, the survivor of a delegation that is wiped out with the emergence of a giant rift. Initially suspected of being its cause, their ability to fix rifts sees them appointed as the leader of the newly-formed Inquisition and tasked with resolving the new threat to Thedas. While it starts off linearly, Dragon Age: Inquisition soon opens up to offer a lot of freedom and expansive areas. It does suffer from the issue many games of the time had: a reliance on flooding points of interest across its maps, but Inquisition’s areas are pretty good at giving players freedom to do as much or as little as they please, even if it is easy to get caught up in completionism. The game’s combat is arguably the most successful of the series as well, furthering many of the improvements originally made in Dragon Age II, but ensuring that players have plenty of flexibility and tactical options within their party loadouts while keeping it fast-paced and exciting. The game once again demonstrates BioWare’s great strengths with character writing, with its great cast having something for everyone. Familiar characters from the previous two games quickly return – most notably Leliana, Cassandra, and Varric – with an array of new faces also quickly making themselves known. Perhaps the one argument against it is that the game doesn’t quite have the same level of internal conflict that the previous games managed, as characters remain fairly cordial even if they don’t agree with decisions made. The game is also perhaps when BioWare managed to hit its best stride in terms of making player decisions from the previous games have an impact on events. While none of the choices may make huge waves in terms of how things play out, it does the best job of the series in acknowledging those past choices and how they impact the characters involved. A lore-heavy story, outstanding cast of companions, and impressive villain who sticks around throughout the tale make Dragon Age: Inquisition a thoroughly engrossing experience. It perhaps isn’t for everyone; those who aren’t fans of taking time to explore large areas and marking off a lot of collectible objectives will likely dislike a fair bit of its day-to-day gameplay, but it remains a deservedly memorable title. — Alex Fuller Mass Effect: Andromeda Available on: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Mass Effect: Andromeda is an interesting example of something trying to make something new but failing to escape the shadow of its predecessor. The game itself was developed by a new team based in Montreal rather than the “main” team at Edmonton. Realising that the trilogy and its numerous choices would make staying in the Milky Way galaxy a giant mess, Mass Effect: Andromeda takes players to the titular neighbouring galaxy as many species of the Milky Way send out ark ships in case the fight against the Reapers ends in defeat. The game puts players in the role of the human Ryder as they seek to establish new homes in the unexplored frontier. Mass Effect: Andromeda felt like it was always going to be divisive, and various lead changes throughout development can’t have helped. It doesn’t help that the game’s weakest parts are its earliest ones, as it struggles to get out of the gate with its new premise. While returning focus to exploration and larger zones works to an extent, the game ultimately doesn’t do anything that hasn’t been done before. There are definitely rewards in sticking through it as the story picks up nicely, and the gameplay remains strong throughout despite a few technical quirks; the final product is still highly enjoyable, but it just doesn’t pack the same punch that the trilogy did. I ended up being a lot higher on it than most (or at least the most vocal) on Mass Effect: Andromeda. For me, it marked a welcome return to the more explorative aspects of the first Mass Effect, but it’s easy to see that it isn’t as cohesive an experience or as widely appealing as the original trilogy. Unfortunately, it looks very likely that Ryder and co.’s further adventures in Andromeda will go untold. The game did not perform as well as the paymasters at EA hoped, resulting in the series being paused while BioWare’s main team was sucked into the ruinous live-service black hole with Anthem. — Alex Fuller Anthem Defunct, but released on: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Hailed as part of a second coming of multiplayer online RPGs, Anthem was all hype and little substance. Anthem was everywhere leading up to its release in 2019, and it was a huge gamble on BioWare’s part given that it positioned itself as a third-person shooter with action RPG elements, keeping in line with the larger gaming industry’s attempt to hit live-service paydirt. Taking place in the world of Coda, players take on the role of Freelancers, adventurers who wear special exosuits that assist them in dealing with the elements. The Freelancers are tasked with safeguarding the city from all threats to protect the Anthem of Creation, a mysterious force that is responsible for all of the world’s technology, and trying to keep it out of the villainous Monitor’s hands. Anthem received tons of criticism when it launched, particularly for its dull, lackluster gameplay, terrible flight controls, and overall design shallowness in its design beyond its graphics. In 2020, BioWare attempted to address many of the issues raised by critics and the player base, but unfortunately, it was far too late to boost sales or its player population. In January 2026, the game was shut down and is deemed no longer playable. Ultimately, its legacy is just one more example of this period’s pivots to live-service proving ill-advised. — Sam Wachter Dragon Age: Veilguard Available on: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S Dragon Age: The Veilguard had a lot to prove when it released in 2024. The game experienced a long development cycle, likely partially steered by the failure of Anthem, as what was initially envisioned as a live-service game was ultimately reworked into a single-player title. BioWare had a lot riding on this title, hoping that, after the long stretch, Dragon Age fans would be ready to dive into a new adventure. Still, with so much riding on Veilguard’s shoulders, what fans received was ultimately a mighty fine game, but not enough to satisfy triple-A corporate demands and EA’s lofty expectations. Veilguard features a very streamlined experience from both a combat and narrative perspective, which led to mixed reviews amongst fans. Combat sees players taking on the role of Rook, the game’s protagonist, and they cannot directly control their companions. It’s heavy, action-based combat; however, it is quite robust, and depending on the class you select, there are tons of choices for Rook’s overall playstyle. It’s simple and intuitive, but compared to previous games in the series, it’s nothing to write home about in terms of the tactical choices available to players. In terms of the narrative, only three choices from the previous game, Inquisition, carry over, and even then, it’s mainly for how Veilguard’s overall world develops. The story stands on its own, with the Blight having run rampant across Thedas, and each one of the game’s many factions is facing unique struggles, from cults to climate change. The game offers one major choice per chapter, and there are clear consequences for the player’s actions. While previous Dragon Age games present plenty of conflict within the party, the companion characters in Veilguard are very supportive of one another and solve their problems like adults. However, there is some disappointment in how few characters from the previous games make their return in Veilguard. Still, while the game’s locations are not as grand as, say, Origins or Inquisition, there are still lots of exploration and side stories to be had. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a decent game that is getting its due well after its initial release. While its connections to previous games feel minimal, and the combat is very streamlined, there’s a lot to enjoy in this version of Thedas. While one would think having prior knowledge of the previous Dragon Age games would be important for this fourth installment, this is actually a great starting point, given the game’s recap of previous events and the fact that it isn’t too hyper-focused on past events. Veilguard frequently goes on sale, and it’s a decent game that stands on its own, even if it doesn’t feel truly connected to the Dragon Age series on the whole. — Sam Wachter We hope you enjoyed our deep dive into BioWare’s catalogue. Would you recommend a specific starting point? Join the conversation by dropping a comment below!