Getting To Know: BioWare

If you've been playing a lot of role-playing games on the PC, then you definitely must be familiar with the work of BioWare.

BioWare is a gaming company (or more appropriately, an electronic entertainment company), based in Alberta, Canada, which has, for over 10 years now, been the creator of some of the most highly-praised and commercially successful computer role-playing games of all time.

Being a huge Dungeons and Dragons geek myself, I've been taken by most of their games. In fact, my love affair with BioWare started when the first Baldur's Gate (1998) game came out- and totally revolutionized the way role-playing gaming for the personal computer: for the very first time, the table-top RPG mechanics of 2nd edition D&D actually translated very well on a PC platform.

Then more D&D games for the PC came out: Planescape: Torment (1999)- developed by Black Isle Studios, made use of BioWare's Infinity Engine, followed by the first Icewind Dale (2000) game, then the even-more-improved sequel to Baldur's Gate- Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000) and its expansion, Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (2001), finally culminating in the release of Neverwinter Nights in 2002.

BioWare helped usher in that new golden age for computer role-playing games. I've been fortunate enough to play all those games, and each one that came out were epic in scale- with gripping storylines, memorable characters and challenging battles.

Everything was well-made- the voice-acting was spot on, the musical scores were perfect, and game was so seamless, all you could think about was finishing one more quest or heading to one more town, before finally catching 2 hours of sleep before heading for work later that day.

Games by BioWare

• Shattered Steel (1996)
• Baldur's Gate (1998), and its expansion, Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast (1999)
• MDK2 (2000)
• Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000), and its expansion, Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (2001)
• Neverwinter Nights (2002) and its expansions: Shadows of Undrentide (2003), Hordes of the Underdark (2003) and Kingmaker (2005)
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic ("KotOR") (2003), which first came out for the Xbox before finally seeing a version on PC.
  
• Jade Empire (2005), also came out for the Xbox first.
  
• Mass Effect (2007), came out for the Xbox 360 first, before releasing a version for the PC.
  

Third party games using BioWare engines

• Planescape: Torment (1999)
• Icewind Dale (2000) and its expansions Heart of Winter (2001) and Trials of the Luremaster (2001)
• Icewind Dale II (2002)
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (2004)
• Neverwinter Nights 2 (2006), and its expansion Mask of the Betrayer (2007)
• The Witcher (2007)

Games Currently in Development

• Mass Effect 2 (in-development)
• Mass Effect 3 (pre-development)
• Dragon Age: Origins (2009)
• Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (2008)
• an Untitled MMORPG using the HeroEngine
• a Knights of the Old Republic MMO
• another game in development yet to be announced
  

Right now, I'm playing Mass Effect for the PC. My friends who've had a go at it on the Xbox 360 swore it was a great game- and they were absolutely correct. Never have I been sucked into a game like this since, well, Neverwinter Nights 2 or KotOR II: The Sith Lords.

I hope to write a review in a bit. I've already hit level 25 after almost 14 straight hours of playing, and I don't think I've even hit the halfway mark of the story. Yes, it's that epic.

Check out more on BioWare on their entry on Wikipedia, or check out the official BioWare website.

Cheers, everyone.