The leak was discussed by Muzyka and fellow BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk at a lecture at BAFTA in London. The developers were unsure if the high-profile leak of the game would generate extra interest in Mass Effect 3.
”In the big picture, some more stories are generated around it and more interest in the game. We’re really proud with how it’s shaping up. It’s going to be the best Mass Effect yet. It’s hard to say something like that having a positive benefit, but if it gets more people to check out Mass Effect 3 that would be a positive benefit, and I think they should, because I think it’s a great game.” said Muzyka.
The beta of Mass Effect 3 was accidentally released to gamers who’d been selected to beta-test the upcoming Fall Dashboard Update. Muzyka said of both leaks, ”It is hard on a team when they see their work revealed in an early form like that. It was a pre-release demo. The script was certainly not intended to be released in that form and that early. Here it is! It’s not even out yet, but you can read through it. It’s a summary.”
Muzyka also warned fans that many of the story spoilers are misleading, partly because the script is out of context, and the story is constantly being tweaked. ”You edit it continually.” said Muzyka. ”It’s a living process to build a game and it’s also a living experience to play through it. You’re seeing the graphics, you’re seeing the choices, you’re seeing the characters. Words alone on a page, they’re not delivered in voice over, they’re not delivered in the interface, they’re not delivered as your character, with your choices up to that point imbuing them with meaning and purpose and identity, the emotion part of it.
“A lot of the art now in video games is developed in an interesting way where subtle expressions and facial animation, a tilt of the head, the way the camera is positioned, the lighting in a room, they can set the tone and the mood, the sound effects, the layer of audio that’s put over the top of a scene, that stuff is really important.
Muzyka added that part of the fun of the game was having a fresh experience. ”What I would suggest to the fans is, we’re going to make sure we deliver an awesome experience as we have in prior Mass Effect games. Don’t spoil the story. The fun of the story is uncovering things and exploring and finding new points to adventure in. I hope they don’t lose that joy of discovery.”
Mass Effect 3 will be released on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in March 2012.
