The Mass Effect series is one of the most storied RPGs in the games industry. Its inventive universe and deep characters have found many fans, and the recent remaster of the first three Mass Effect titles was very well received by critics and fans alike for how it helped preserve the classic games and update them for modern hardware. The release of the remaster also renewed the fan base's interest in other Mass Effect titles like the less positively received Mass Effect: Andromeda from 2017 and the still in development Mass Effect 4.
However, fans of the series are anxiously waiting for more news on the title, as many fans were disappointed by Mass Effect: Andromeda attempting to continue the series after the conclusion of Commander Shephard's story. Players did start revisiting the game after the success of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, but many still found that its story, characters, and new galaxy did not live up to the high bar set by the original trilogy. Thankfully, recent news suggests that Mass Effect 4 could be using Unreal Engine 5 rather than the Frostbite engine that was used for Mass Effect: Andromeda. This may seem like a small change but would likely have a very big impact on the new title's development.
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Mass Effect's Previous Use of Unreal Engine
The first three Mass Effect games were all developed using Unreal Engine 3, which the developers at BioWare have spoken very positively about in the past. In particular, they praised the engine for how it enabled them to create larger open spaces that didn't have to compromise on the amount of detail that the studio's artists could put into them. Around the release of the original trilogy, the developers spoke extensively about wanting the series to feel as cinematic as possible. This included full cutscenes, believable and deep characters, and animations that helped the player interact with the world and feel properly rooted in the setting, which they have also said was all helped by the use of Unreal Engine 3. With how much Mass Effect's fans love its characters and stories it seems that the team was very successful.
Interestingly, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition also stayed with Unreal Engine 3 instead of upgrading to Unreal Engine 4, despite the newer engine being readily available for the developers to use. BioWare's project director Mac Walters explained before the game's release that the move was intended to maintain the original feel of the trilogy. Walters said that moving the game over to Unreal Engine 4 would not have captured the movement, physics, and controls of the original games and that the team was determined to help keep the "2000s" feel of the trilogy when they went into development. While there are many benefits that the game could have gotten from making the jump to Unreal Engine 4, it is undeniable that the decision helped Mass Effect: Legendary Edition maintain the spirit of the original releases.
BioWare's History With Frostbite
The Frostbite engine was built by the studio DICE for its flagship Battlefield series. The engine is capable of some truly incredible visuals, which is why publisher EA started offering it to other studios across its portfolio to help improve their visual fidelity and level of detail in new titles. The first game that BioWare developed using the engine was Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2014. BioWare chose to use the engine to help shape the future of Dragon Age but eventually found the engine to be incredibly difficult to work with. This stemmed primarily from the fact that the engine was built from the ground up to work for Battlefield titles, aka first-person shooters and multiplayer. Obviously, Dragon Age: Inquisition is very far from being an online shooter.
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Then the studio moved on to Mass Effect: Andromeda and continued using the engine only to find further issues and struggles. The struggles with the engine ended up resulting in numerous planned features being cut from the game, as well as many of its developers, such as designer Manveer Heir, openly criticizing how difficult Frostbite is to work with. Many of the developers paint a similar picture of Frostbite handling things like combat well but making it extremely difficult to do anything else with. This led to Mass Effect: Andromeda improving on some aspects like the series' combat, but taking steps back in others such as its worlds, characters, and animations.
What Mass Effect 4 on Unreal Engine 5 Could Look Like
Using the Frostbite engine reportedly caused such issues for the teams working on Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem that, combined with mismanagement, the majority of the games had to be built in the year leading up to its full release. If the news that Mass Effect 4 is using Unreal Engine 5 is true, it will likely have a massive impact on the game's development. Many developers have come out and voiced support for how adaptable Unreal Engine 5 is, and the move away from Frostbite should alleviate many of the troubles the studio has had before with implementing new technologies and systems into the series.
The move will also allow the game to take advantage of the engine's impressive new features. Unreal Engine 5's tech demos have looked incredible thanks to its nanite and lumen technologies, and a new Mass Effect title could look breathtaking if it takes full advantage of them. The engine also features a new World Partition system to help create expansive worlds, which could make Mass Effect 4's planets bigger than anything players have seen in the series before.
There are also new animation and sound effect tool kits in Unreal Engine 5 that could come in handy for the developers to make the game's worlds and characters feel more alive than ever, especially when it comes to the designs of alien races. Fans have a lot of hopes and theories about Mass Effect 4, but hopefully, the rumor of its jump to Unreal Engine 5 is true. Either way, it will be very interesting to see where BioWare takes Mass Effect next. Hopefully, fans don't have much longer to wait for some official news on the title.
Mass Effect 4 is currently in development.
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