Interview with BioWare producer Adrien Cho

We chatted with BioWare producer Adrien Cho about how Mass Effect could change the videogame world.

360: Considering how much impact the original Mass Effect will have on the second game, has it been a challenge to build an underlying narrative to fuel the sequel?

Adrien Cho: Well, the core theme of Mass Effect 2 is getting this dirty dozen; collecting this group to go on this suicide mission. The game really depends on you getting enough people – the right people – and making sure they’re loyal to your cause. That can have a huge impact on how the game turns out. I’ve been watching the game and things happen and I’m like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe that happened!’ It’s really worth it to seek all the side characters and get them on your team.

360: So can missing some characters result in a very different experience?

AC: Yeah, without doubt. Thane, a new character we’ve mentioned in the past, really looks amazing. He’s a Drell assassin and he’s super-detailed. A friend of mine on-team modelled him, and the time and care he put in was crazy. There’s been a lot of tweaks he’s had to make to get him right. Of course, a lot of times in Mass Effect there’s this grey area. We think back to things like 24 where you have to do something unscrupulous to get the job done. It’s not always black or white, good and evil. You’ve got to do some controversial things to ultimately get your task done. Your team can affect that.

360: Despite its obvious brilliance, Mass Effect was certainly not the perfect article. Have you listened to the criticisms aimed at the first?

AC: We’ve listened to a lot of feedback from [the original] and have a lot of target fixes to approach in 2. And we take the jokes too, you know. We know the long elevators! It has been a few years and we’ve become really good with the Unreal Technology – honestly, this game looks fantastic. I think it rivals any of the Unreal games out there… Click here to view the rest of the interview.

Check out issue 61 of 360 for the full eight-page feature on Mass Effect 2. The mag goes on sale tomorrow and you can buy it from here