Mass Effect: Andromeda: The Cost of Bad Graphic Design.

BioWare has put out some great games over the years. I played through the original Dragon Age and fell in love with Dragon Age: Inquisition. I also really enjoyed playing the Mass Effect games so when Mass Effect Andromeda (MEA) was announced I immediately jumped on the hype train. But before the official release the internet blew up with criticism of the facial animations in game. Not only were people complaining, they also harassed a woman who was thought to have worked as lead animator. It got so bad that BioWare had to respond denying her involvement with the title.

Crazy internet trolling aside the complaints got me thinking, as a consumer how do I justify spending $60 on a product with clear faults?

When you make a purchase of anything you expect the best quality money can buy. If you buy a toaster that does not work, you send it back. If you buy a shirt that is ripped you send it back. But when you buy a game that is graphically broken you keep it?

 The old adage “you get what you paid for” seems to be a reality for most goods but for some reason when it comes to video games, this could not be farther from the truth. Indie titles from little known studios are released all the time. Most deliver great games for a cheaper price then MEA or any other triple-A title. I paid $20 for Night in the Woods, a fun and thought provoking indie game that was crowdfunded on Kickstarter. I did not find a single technical issue during my entire play through. Granted the art style did not require 3D animation that MEA uses but is that really an excuse? No. In theory paying more for a game should end in a better product, regardless of how demanding the development of 3D graphics is. A more expensive toaster is better a quality, a more expensive game should be the same.

The thing is this really is not BioWare’s fault. Video game consumers (like yours truly) are willing to throw $60 at any new title from household names like BioWare. A consequence of this is that big game developers are less likely to innovate and take risk, and instead, sell us the same product with minor tweaks. (See Call of Duty/Madden) It means that BioWare will feed us MEA with graphics that have changed very little since ME3 was released all the way back in 2014.

 In defense of BioWare, game development costs a lot of money and one bad game release can really damage a studio. But there is also a cost to selling loyal fans the same product over and over again, especially one with graphics problems.

With all that being said I have enjoyed my time playing Mass Effect Andromeda. The facial animations are obvious but they certainly do not hinder the base game play. In fact most of my issue with MEA comes from their poorly designed menu system and side quests, but I will write about that in a future post. When it comes down to it, we as consumers are willing to forgive, forget and buy again. Hopefully BioWare has learned their lesson but if we want to ensure the next Mass Effect game has better facial animations we need to make sure we learn to make better purchasing decisions.