BioWare is on fire.
Already highly respected by gamers and critics, the company is smack in the middle of a hot streak of epic proportions, between last fall’s acclaimed Dragon Age: Origins and the upcoming Star Wars MMO The Old Republic.
But it’s not unreasonable to suggest that today’s release of Mass Effect 2 could top them both. Reviews are over-the-top good. We’ve already got a Game of the Year candidate on our hands.
Jordan Ivey, a graduate of the Sound Design for Visual Media program, was one of five VFS alumni on Mass Effect 2‘s audio team. (It’s fair to say VFS grads were an influential part.)
That’s pretty special in its own right, but when the project at hand is a well-reviewed sequel to one of the best-liked RPGs of recent years, from a developer renowned for its innovative approach to interactive narrative… it’s something else altogether.
Jordan, taking time out of a well-deserved vacation to share his thoughts on the release, says the team’s overwhelming focus was on immersion. ”Be it a powerful biotic or the blast of a shotgun, the places you visit, or the creatures you battle, our goal is to make it as real and believable as possible,” he says. “To make you feel powerful when you’re taking on a swarm of enemies or panicked when alarms and lights start flashing while your ship is under attack.”
That is to say, for a sound designer who wants to be challenged – by scope, by subject matter, by complexity – the Mass Effect 2 team was the place to be. For Jordan, who also worked on Dragon Age, it was also a welcome change of pace. Then often get paired on bookshelves, but for a sound designer, the fantasy and sci-fi genres are polar opposites. “Being able to work in a world of elves, mages, warriors, and dwarfs and then jumping to the outer reaches of space allows us to work in nearly every type of environment conceivable. It’s as varied a palette as you could have, and it’s a fantastic balance to have,” he says.
Mass Effect 2 is epic. At upwards of 30 hours of gameplay, almost one hundred voice actors, a sweeping plot full of galactic action, drama, and intrigue, and a narrative system that’s been described by reviewers as “the future of storytelling in video games”, the game has what Jordan calls “an incredible amount of material,” which might be putting it lightly.
That means the audio team needs to be large, talented, and on-the-ball. Most of all, they need to be involved in the big picture. ”We work quite closely with all the departments across BioWare,” Jordan explains. “I think it’s part of that interaction that helps us create the kinds of games that we do. I speak to designers every day to make sure that I’m as in the loop as possible for any changes that might come down the pike.
The buzz, the excitement, and the early reviews – that’s gravy. “Watching the reviews come in and watching the excitement grow on the forums over the months is awesome,” he says. “It’s very a very rewarding experience to be able to be part of something like this.”
In fact, if anything, the biggest challenge might be meeting the colossal expectations that come with any project bearing the BioWare logo. ”The bar [for audio] on ME2 was set very high,” says Jordan. “But that’s true of all departments.”
“We know that the fans expect a lot from our games. There’s a lot to live up to with each release, but we have such a great group of people here that have really made something special.”
“We take what we do seriously, but we have a lot of fun doing it as well.”
Mass Effect 2 is in stores today. For more, visit the official site. To find out more about the other VFS alumni who worked on it, check this post.