BioWare is working on a new system for loading in Mass Effect 2, which hopefully means we can say goodbye to awkward minute-long elevator rides with Wrex.
Aside from featuring one of the more publicized sex scenes in recent videogame history, one of the things Mass Effect was most infamous for was its abundance of elevator rides. These rides, which were used to mask loading times, sometimes lasted nearly a minute. Being so drawn out, they replicated the real world awkwardness of standing in a metal box with someone you know but don’t really know for longer than is comfortable pretty well.
But people play videogames to imagine themselves as badass space soldiers doing cool things like shooting rifles, not as badass space soldiers waiting for an elevator to finally get to their floor. BioWare’s more than aware of this, and they’re trying to fix it for Mass Effect 2. Asked by MTV Multiplayer what they were improving for the sequel, BioWare’s Ray Muzyka said that they were working on “small things…like reducing the elevator speed times.”
Maybe Muzyka was joking or maybe he literally means that elevator rides will be shortened. Either way, the developer is working on new loading solutions that’ll make ME2 a smoother experience. “We have a completely new system to handle transitions between areas that speeds the load times and turns the loads themselves into part of the game experience,” executive producer Casey Hudson said. “It’s one of many points of feedback we’ve heard and directly responded to in enhancing the gameplay in Mass Effect 2.”
Guess you’ll have to find somewhere other than the elevator to get to know your squadmate Wrex. Maybe ask him out for a cup of coffee or something?
