Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

‘Mass Effect 4’ and ‘Dragon Age 3’ will embrace the next-gen consoles with next-gen graphics

By
Dragon Age 3
Image used with permission by copyright holder

BioWare, Electronic Arts’ role-playing game mill, has its nose to the grindstone with the next round of sequels to its most recent series. Mass Effect 4 is on the way (only it won’t really be Mass Effect 4). Dragon Age 3: Inquisition has been in a variety of production stages over the past two years, and all that’s clear is that EA and BioWare want to tailor it to whatever customers say they want. What consoles will these games be on, though? Maybe PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, maybe the PlayStation 4 and Next Xbox, definitely PCs? Definitely the latter three based on word from BioWare.

The next Mass Effect game and Dragon Age 3: Inquisition will both run on DICE’s shiny new Frostbite 3 engine. Those games didn’t put in an appearance at GDC 2013 when DICE debuted Battlefield 4, but the studio’s new general manager Aaryn Flynn confirmed on Twitter that those sequels will use the same tech. 

Recommended Videos

“For everyone who’s been asking after the BF4 reveal, DA3 and the next Mass Effect are also using Frostbite 3,” said Flynn, “It’s awesome.”

Related

Prior to Flynn’s announcement, all that was known was that these sequels would use a new engine. Dragon Age 3 at least started out using Frostbite 2, though. “We are working on a new engine which we believe will allow us to deliver a more expansive world, better visuals, more reactivity to player choices, and more customization,” said producer Mark Darrah in December, “We’ve started with Frostbite 2 from DICE as a foundation to accomplish this.”

If the engine technology has changed yet again, it’s questionable whether or not these games will make it out to current consoles after all. One thing, at least, seems like a guarantee. Mass Effect 3 on Wii U won’t be followed by the next Mass Effect game. DICE confirmed for Eurogamer during a GDC interview that the Frostbite 3 engine does not support Nintendo’s new console. “The biggest problem we have right now is we don’t want to back down from what we see as our low spec machines,” said DICE’s Patrick Bach, “We right now don’t have support for the Wii U in the Frostbite engine. The reason for that is it takes development time.” That’s bad news for the Wii U’s future prospects, as Epic Games also confirmed to us that the Wii U would not run Unreal 4 either.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Anthony John Agnello
Anthony John Agnello
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
Nintendo confirms that Switch 2 and a June Direct are coming
A Nintendo Switch Red and Blue system.

Nintendo has finally confirmed two important things that people were speculating about. First off, we learned that another Nintendo Direct showcase will be taking place this June. More importantly, Nintendo finally confirmed that it is working on a Nintendo Switch successor and said we'd learn more about it within this fiscal year.

This all came from a statement by President Shuntaro Furukawa on Nintendo's corporate X (formerly Twitter) account. "We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015," the post confirms. "We will be holding a Nintendo Direct this June regarding the Nintendo Switch software lineup for the latter half of 2024, but please be aware that there will be no mention of the Nintendo Switch successor during that presentation."

Read more
Microsoft closes the Bethesda studios behind Hi-Fi Rush, Redfall, and more
Chai points a finger gun at a robot in Hi-Fi Rush.

Microsoft has just announced massive job cuts and studio closures for the Bethesda portion of its gaming business. They impact the teams that made excellent games like Hi-Fi Rush.

IGN revealed these studios' closures had happened and shared an internal email about them written by Matt Booty, the head of Xbox Game Studios. The four studios impacted are Redfall's Arkane Austin, Mighty Doom's Alpha Dog Studios, internal development studio Roundhouse Games, and Hi-Fi Rush's Tango Gameworks.

Read more
How to unlock all weapons in Hades 2
Hades 2 key art from its first trailer.

Hades 2's Melinoë is a very different main character from the first game's Zagreus in terms of personality and in how she fights. Being a witch, magic is core to her moveset, but she still wields all sorts of new weapons. You won't find the standard sword or spear here, as she starts off with just a witch's staff . You'll need to unlock the rest in traditional roguelike fashion. Each item requires you to gather up different materials, but most have some overlap so you will need to be selective about which one you craft first. We're still in the early access period, but for now, here are all the Nocturnal Arms in the game and how you can unlock them.
How to unlock every Nocturnal Arm
Ignoring the Witch's Staff, which you start with, there are four additional weapons to unlock.
Sister Blades
These fast, close-range melee daggers are the easiest to unlock and cost one Silver.
Umbral Flames
This is a medium-range weapon that prioritizes magic and fire attacks for three Silver and three Cinder.
Moonstone Axe
The heavy Moonstone Axe is your big, but slow damage dealer. It will cost you 15 Silver to pick up, so you will need to save up a bit.
Argent Skull
This si an explosive casting weapon that won't be available to unlock until you reach a certain point in the game that we won't spoil here. It will cost you two Glassrock and one Bronze to make.

Read more