Gaming News: co-founders of Bioware to retire

Courtesy of kotaku.com (yes, I know. I too can't believe I'm using them as a "news source"), The co-founders of beloved videogame company Bioware, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk are retiring from the video game industry.


Bioware is a Action/RPG video game developer that is mainly located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They are famously known for Dragon Age, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: KOTOR ("Knights of the Old Republic), Jade Empire and most recently (since 2007) Mass Effect, which "finished" it's story earlier this year in March with the release of Mass Effect 3 for Windows PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.



While their games have met with critical acclaim, their most recent titles 2011's Dragon Age 2 and most recently, Mass Effect 3 have not only met with controversy but also reviews  have ranged from mixed to low scores.



Both Dr. Muzyka and Mr. Zeschuk have left notes on the company's site to thank both their recent and long-time fans and to talk about their post-Bioware careers:


Mr. Zechuk:

"After my departure I'm going to be spending significant time with family and friends, as well as pursing some personal passion-driven projects related to craft beer. The main project I will be working on is a web-based interview show called The Beer Diaries where I interview notable brewers and showcase their beers. If things go well, I'll work on other beer-related shows, apps and projects. If not, I'll have drunk a lot of tasty beers and may be back in games or even something else completely different. Ultimately time will tell."

Dr. Muzyka:

"I've largely personally achieved what I wanted in videogames; I now desire to take on a brand new entrepreneurial challenge. I believe strongly in the power of free enterprise to enable sustainable change, so my next 'chapter' will likely focus on an entirely new industry, something exciting, different and frankly downright scary -- investing in and mentoring new entrepreneurs, and more specifically, the field of social/impact investing. There's a good description of the goals of this form of entrepreneurship here. Impact investment, or social entrepreneurship, can range from simply thinking about social goals along with the usual business profit goals, all the way to a dedicated focus on a social entrepreneurship portfolio with the social impact defined as the primary goal. For me, getting involved in social impact investment stems from the simple hope of helping the world to be a better place. To that end, I'll also be spending time getting involved with more charities in education, health care, and animal rights, areas where my wife and I've typically focused our charitable donations in the past. I am also spending more time learning about the work being done to defend human rights and civil liberty across the world. Net, I am passionate about both entrepreneurship and social liberty, and I want to find a way to pursue both of them."

Like I stated before, both Dragon Age II and Mass Effect 3 were considered by some gamers and reviewers to be a complete letdown in both respective properties. While I'm still fearful with Bioware being a part of EA, myself and the others from the broken infinite wish both Dr. Muzyka and Mr. Zechuk well and successful futures. 

What do you guys think about this recent announcement? Leave your comments and thoughts in the comment box below.

Source:

- Kotaku


twitter:

- @kotaku


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MASS EFFECT INVASION REVIEW

Mass Effect Invasion Review

by Darryll YTC Carter

Story

 Mac Walters

Script

 John Jackson Miller

Art

 Omar Francia

Colors

 Michael Atiyeh

Lettering

Michael Heisler

Covers

 Massimo Carnivale

Publisher

 Dark Horse

Hey there Clashers, YTC is back. I have the privilege of delivering to you another MASS EFFECT review. I present to you, Mass Effect Invasion.

          MASS EFFECT Invasion follows Aria T’Loak, self proclaimed and self enforced queen of the Omega mining station. The story follows her fight against the Reapers and the hostile takeover of her citadel by Cerberus, a pro-human paramilitary group. Without giving too much of the plot away, Aria finds herself put in a place where she doesn’t want to be, (for those of us who played MASS EFFECT 3 we know where that place is) and she isn’t happy about it one lick.

        Invasion’s story is compelling and was a much easier and more compelling read than MASS EFFECT Evolution. Invasion has more action, less politics and uses Aria’s abrasively forceful personality as the vehicle behind the plot. Speaking of Aria’s personality, the captured it to the letter. I could hear Carrie Anne Moss swearing or yelling at those who had crossed her. Invasion does a great job of fleshing out and adding to her character, even if there isn’t more to it than fans of the game have already seen. The book explores some of her… more redeeming qualities.  General Oleg Petrovsky is an interesting supporting character. He plays the role of a tactical extraordinaire, the stalwart noble solider, who doesn’t care for needless bloodshed. Aria gets quickly irritated by his need to recite human literature and quotes, but it brings a certain level of personality to the character. He comes off somewhat like a warrior poet. I found myself hoping that he and Aria wouldn’t have to kill each other. And playing the game I knew Aria wasn’t going to six feet under.

        This time I have to take my hat off to Massimo Carnivale. The cover art work and colors for this limited series is spectacular. He captured Aria’s face with grace and accuracy. I would love to have every cover as a full length wall poster. Once again the creative team has captured every visual detail that is part of the MASS EFFECT universe; from the architectural illustration of Omega to the disgustingly grotesque visage of the Batarians.

        MASS EFFECT Invasion is a companion to MASS EFFECT 3 and a must have for MASS EFFECT fans. The story is solid, strong and stimulating. The art work is superb and they work together in a harmonious cohesion. While, the story was superb and hints at possible downloadable content for MASS EFFECT 3, it was the art work that made this book for me. I may as well have been reading a cut scene from the television transposed to page. 

       MASS EFFECT Invasion is Terra Forcing ahead with 4 stars out of 5.

# 35 - MASS EFFECT: EVOLUTION

Mass Effect: Evolution Review 

by Darryll Carter

Story: Mac Walters

Script: John Jackson Miller

Art: Omar Francia with Manuel Silva

Colors: Michael Atiyeh

Lettering: Michael Heisler

One of the great things about the Mass Effect series is while, other stories these days show humanity as wasteful, ignorant and malevolent, Mass Effect takes the time to remind us how amazingly awesome we are as well.

For those of you who do not know, Mass Effect is a series created by the critically acclaimed video game developer, Bioware. It is a space opera equipped with its own lore, history, and well rounded characters. The focal point of the series is, Commader Shepard of the Alliance Military and his quest to save the galaxy from an impending genocide at the hands of an alien sentient robot race known as the Reapers.

Due to the choices implemented in the games, for the most part Shepard isn’t included in the side stories that occur in the novels, graphic novels, and mobile games alike. Mass Effect Evolution’s protagonist is Jack Harper.

The Story **Spoiler Warning**

Mass Effect Evolution begins during the First Contact War, several years before the events of Mass Effect 1 (vg). Humans stumbled upon an ancient particle accelerator orbiting Pluto known as a Mass Relay. The Relay rockets them into deep space where they begin to set up colonies and step on the toes of the Turians, hence the war.

   Outmanned and semi-outgunned, the Humans put up a surprisingly good fight, thanks to the help of guerilla fighters such as Jack Harper.

    While tending to a Turian invasion on a Human colony, Jack and his small team (Ben and Eva) track and capture the Turian General Desolas Arterius. Through conversation and some subtle word choices on the General’s part it is revealed that the planet is holy ground, forbidden to be colonized, a prime reason the Turians have attacked. But Jack isn’t convinced that is their driving objective. They hack General’s datapad and discover the Turians’ true objective on their colony. They track the coordinates to a Turian ship wreckage. They enter the nearby cave and discover a glowing artifact. As they approach they are ambushed by two Turians, larger and stronger than the rest, altered by the artifact in some manner. After they manage to put their assailants down, Ben touches the artifact and is blasted with an overwhelming wave of electricity. Jack tries to pull Ben from his fate, but the energy current just passes through Ben to him. Ben “dies” on the floor and Jack fades out of consciousness with a new blue glow in his eyes.

    Jack awakens on a Turian lab table several weeks later with a glow in his eye and a fire in his heart. He learns that the Turians were studying him to determine why he did not transform like the hulking Turians and every other being that had direct contact with the device. In fact, they don’t find anything altered about him at all, save the Green Lantern effect. Here another important character to the Mass Effect universe shows up, Saren, the lead antagonist of Mass Effect 1 (vg). It is revealed that Saren is the brother of General Desolas. Saren interrogates Jack, but get nothing before he and Eva are traded for a plethora of Turian POWs. During the trade, Jack hears General Desolas speak in an ancient tongue and responds in the appropriate language. In a last ditch effort to learn from Jack, the General tries to reclaim Jack as his prisoner. However, the Alliance(Human military) general stonewalls him.

   Jack isn’t sure what happened to him but he has an inner sensation calling him to the planet Illium. Once on Illium, Jack discovers the whereabouts of the artifact and tracks it down. Upon reaching the loacation they are ambushed by Saren and his men. They were waiting for him, the General theorized that Jack would be drawn to the artifact by a subconscious drive placed within him.

   The Turians take Jack and the artifact to Palaven, the Turian homeworld. Here is where General Desolas’ plan is revealed. He has brought the artifact to a temple on Palaven in order to forge a new evolved race of Turians, the hulking blue glowing kind. With an army of those “husks” he begins to recruit unsuspecting Turians for his army.

   Locked away in a chamber within the temple, Jack uncovers in the deep recesses of his mind that the husks have been playing Desolas’ all along and seek to wipe out the entire Turian race. With some help from the knowledge placed in his mind and some ancient Turian glyphs on the temple wall, he has a revelation. The artifact is a “booby trap”. It alerts the creators (the Reapers) of intelligent life and turns sentient species into mindless husk that they can control. The unsettling news rattles Saren. He and Jack crash the temple’s genocide party, where Desolas gets tackled into the artifact. Saren pulls his brother out of the torrent much like Jack did for Ben earlier (segue way to the events of Mass Effect 1). Jack walks off with a wounded Eva wishing Saren luck. Saren destroys the artifact, the remaining husks, the temple and his brother within with an orbital cannon strike. The story ends with Saren vowing that his brother will be avenged and a denouement from the Ellusive Man, Jack Harper.

  The story was solid but, left me questioning Jack’s skill level with the situations he allowed himself to walk into. It was interesting to see how the Illusive Man and Saren came about. The tale provided a good amount of exposition for the Mass Effect games and the beauty of it is that it can stand alone. While having played or read other Mass Effect tales would certainly enrich the experience of Evolution, it is in no way required.

The Art

   The art team did a great job of bringing the graphics of the game to the panels of the graphic novel. The Turians were drawn accurately and well. The individuality between Saren and Desolas was apparent. You could even tell the difference between individual Turians from time to time. The Illusive Man is inspired and voiced by Martin Sheen in the game. I’m happy to report that the resemblance carries over well. Michael Atiyeh does a great job with the colors and portraying illuminating objects.

The Hype Factor

   There are a few things to note under the Hype Factor, but most stem from already being versed in Mass Effect story and lore. The appearance of Saren as Desolas’ brother was eye widening, as I had no idea he was connected to the Illusive Man. Finding out the Illusive Man’s real name, Jack Harper, was also a joy buzz, as you go through the entire game without any real inclination of who he is. More importantly, you find out the base source of the Illusive Man’s knowledge, the artifact and how he got those awesome eyes.

In closing, Mass Effect Evolution was a decent ride from start to finish. It provides more “ooos” and “ahhhs” for Mass Effect veterans, but still provides a strong and captivating narrative accompanied by good art for newcomers or fans of space fairing science fiction.

Mass Effect Evolution is Giga Blasting ahead with 3 stars out of 5.