Page 28 - 3D World - October 2017

FEATURE
Game changer

Game

chanGer

Natalie Denton catches up with BioWare’s Christopher Cao to

discover how Mass Effect: Andromeda’s characters were created

and how a patch may have saved it from earlier criticisms

ass Effect: Andromeda, from its fans. One source of the different audience has appreciated
M the eagerly awaited criticism was for the character art, the game’s art. “We had our fair
fourth instalment of
share of criticism at the beginning
with the figures slammed as being
the sci-fi role-playing ‘dead in the eyes’, ‘too robotic’, as artists for our work, as character
videogame, had a lot to whilst others cited multiple cases of artists, environment artists, concept
live up to following the commercial imperfect lip syncing during scenes. artists, but we’ve also had amazing
virility and critical acclaim of the In fact the backlash became so feedback. The biggest feedback we
original trilogy, not to mention the fervent it snowballed into an online got was from the art community and
fervid expectations of its hardcore witch-hunt, resulting in zealous that has been the most positive that
fan base when it launched this keyboard warriors targeting a female we had. Everyone at first was hating
spring, five years after the last EA employee, who according to on the facial animation but once we
release. Yet disappointingly for its reports wasn’t even responsible for released the characters, concept art
developer BioWare Montreal, the the artwork. and environments, it has been really
response thus far has been distinctly Christopher Cao, a senior good, everybody has been loving
tepid, as the game failed to entice character artist at BioWare, claims our work, and that to me is the most
strong ratings from the press and it that while the gaming community’s important thing, to be well received
has secured only a mixed response response was largely lacklustre, a within the art community.”

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