BioWareis a game company with a hugely rich history in creating unique combat within its games that has gone on to inspire the creation of many other legendary titles. Beyond all of its great storytelling and game design,BioWareis consistently known for having excellent combat systems throughout its gaming history.
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FromBaldur’s GatetoMass Effectand many other incredible games in between, the consistent history that BioWare has with action and combat in games being of high quality is impressive, to say the least. Over nearly thirty years, BioWare has continued to create and innovate with its games.
6Baldur’s Gate 2
Baldur’s Gate 2is one of the mostfamous BioWare games ever to exist. The world ofDungeons & Dragonsthat it is set in helped it to become legendary in the gaming industry. But the complexities involved in attempting to learn the combat system ofBaldur’s Gate 2also contribute to making the game legendary, and difficult.
Baldur’s Gate 2is considered one of the greatest games in history and a huge part of this is due to the combat, which is based on the D&D turn-based style of engaging enemies. This is a classic, tried, and tested method that works in a variety of board games but was rarely emulated in video games so perfectly prior toBaldur’s Gate 2, which helped revolutionize the idea.
5Mass Effect 3
In spite of the fact thatMass Effect 3is often complained about by fans of the franchise for the controversial ending and the lack of moral choices that could be made throughout, one element that was not regarded as being any less than the previous entries was the combat system, whichactually improved upon the first two games.
Mass Effectcombat features players taking on the role of Commander Shepard battling in real-time, with the use of various guns and weapons, but usually inMass Effect 3, players are also accompanied by AI characters into combat. These NPCs can be ordered into certain positions to help Shepard make it through the combat, which was a huge advantage and made for much more tactical combat than traditional real-time RPG combat uses.
4Dragon Age: Origins
If players are looking for more dark, heroic fantasy in their game style, then theDragon Agefranchise is a great place to look. BioWare, having become known for this style due to theBaldur’s Gategames, managed to create something original with a similar fantasy world feel to it. Players got to play as a Grey Warden, joined by a group of elite fighters who sought to defeat “The Archdemon” and save the world.
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With a somewhat traditional fantasy RPG feel to it,Dragon Age: Originshad to set itself apart from what was quickly becoming a pretty popular style and sub-genre. With a real-time style of combat, tactics menus that could help control the AI companion characters, and a feel similar to games likeWorld of Warcraft,Dragon Age: Originsmanaged to create somethingwonderful and completely new to BioWare games, which helped turnDragon Ageinto a franchise.
3Jade Empire
In 2005,Jade Empirewas ahead of its timein many ways as a wuxia RPG. Players took control of a character dubbed the Spirit Monk who must save their master and defeat the evil Emperor Sun Hai. This game was the first BioWare RPG with a completely original story, and while it didn’t sell enough copies on release to warrant a sequel, the combat throughout was excellently oriented.
Featuring a real-time combat style,Jade Empireallowed the Spirit Monk to use a variety of normal, heavy, and area attacks while dealing with a wide variety of enemies. The Spirit Monk was always accompanied into combat by a follower, helping to add more strategy to the format, and both blocking and dodging were options that gave full usage of the Xbox controller to players in combat.
2Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic
Released in 2003 and originally considered as an option for a tie-inAttack of the Clonesgame,Knights of the Old Republicwas a massive success for BioWare and is commonly listed as one of the greatest video games ever made. Not only is thisdown to the mass of excellent lorethat was introduced through this game but also because of the combat system.
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It seems an unusual idea to have focused on a game where players get to be a Jedi on turn-based combat and even stranger that this form of combat should work so well. But BioWare had just learned how to perfect this style in a video game after their work onBaldur’s Gate 2, and they made theKnights of the Old Republiccombat even better as a consequence.
1Mass Effect: Andromeda
While the earlierMass Effectgames may have a lot overAndromeda, there is no denying that the nuanced style of combat produced for this final (thus far) entry in the franchise was something else entirely. BioWare executives were so impressed with the combat system that they used it foranother of their successes,Anthem.
The success of the various additions to the combat system from the previous games sadly couldn’t saveAndromeda, whichdisappointed critically and among fans, but BioWare isn’t likely to forget the style of combat that upped their game for this andAnthem.
