Why now is the right time for Mass Effect multiplayer

Cooperative multiplayer for Mass Effect 3 hasn’t exactly been received by fans with open arms, with many assuming the move will distract BioWare from the single-player campaign which draws to an end in Shepard’s third outing. However, BioWare is adamant now is the right time to introduce multiplayer gaming and insists its Edmonton and Montreal teams are focussed on making Mass Effect 3 a fitting finale.

Asked by VideoGamer.com why now is the right time to introduce multiplayer to Mass Effect, BioWare Edmonton studio general manager Aaryn Flynn said: “We’re getting that question a lot. Obviously, we’ve been thinking about multiplayer for a long time. It’s an industry trend, lots of games have multiplayer so it’s always been on our radar. As we worked through the first game it was a technical challenge, so we focused on the single-player campaign. The second game [was] more of a sequel. The third one though, we thought we had the time, and things had matured enough that we could take it on.

“The important thing, though, that we had to have before we did it – whether we could overcome the technical challenges or not – was the story hook. We had to have the right thematic representation of multiplayer. That’s where the Galaxy of War idea comes in. With the first one, where you’re Shepard, with multiplayer you’d kind of think, ‘Well why do we have [this]? It’s the story of Commander Shepard.’ The second one, assembling your forces – maybe we could give you multiplayer in there. But the third one, the idea is that with an entire galaxy at war, all trying to fight off the Reapers who are invading, that sets the story up for multiplayer. And what we decided on was four-player co-op with different characters.”

Flynn revealed that multiplayer had been discussed for Mass Effect 2, but the team decided against the idea.

“We did work it out on a whiteboard, once. We just said, ‘You know what? We can’t do it justice in this environment’. So we wanted to stick to the single-player campaign we did. It’s been discussed in the studio for years, but really it’s always been dipping our toe in the water a bit. But with this one, it was, ‘You know what, with this galaxy at war, with this setting, I bet we could do a pretty good multiplayer proposal’. And so that’s how we hashed it out in the team, got behind this idea of co-op multiplayer.”

Despite Flynn’s confidence in Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, he understands fan concern.

“The concern comes from that same place of passionate loyalty to the franchise, so I respect that. I have a hell of a deep respect for that, and I don’t want people to think that in any way, shape or form we’d sacrifice the single-player campaign so that we can do a tacked-on multiplayer campaign. This is the culmination of the whole design of the trilogy from the get-go.

“We’d never, ever want to disappoint fans with that single-player experience that’s bringing the story to conclusion. I hope they can trust us, and that they’ll pick it up, try it out and see that that the single-player campaign really is whole, really is something amazing, but also there’s this fun opportunity to play multiplayer with your friends.”

He added: “People are assuming that any moment we’re not spending on the single-player campaign – because we’re doing multiplayer, because we’re doing anything else – that must be a distraction. Well, I get that. But if you came to the studios in Edmonton and Montreal, you would know pretty quickly that no-one is distracted from the single-player campaign.”

Mass Effect 3 is scheduled for release March 9 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Flynn can reassure fans until he’s blue in the face, but many of Mass Effect’s hardcore fans won’t believe the single-player hasn’t been damaged by multiplayer until they get to experience it for themselves. You’ll find our early opinion of the Horde-like cooperative mode in our recent Mass Effect 3 hands-on preview