BioWare - Mass Effect 3 and Beyond

IGN catches up with Biodoc Ray Muzyka about the success and future of the Mass Effect franchise:

IGN: There's a renewed focus on the shooter aspect for Mass Effect 2. Was there a concern that it would put off BioWare's more traditional RPG fanbase?

Ray Muzyka: The RPG features are still there. A lot of the reviews I've read are very interesting and accurate, because at first glance the RPG features are not as strong, but keep playing and you can see that they're there in a different fashion. For example, you can grab weapons off the rack when you send your team off on away missions, and you progress your ship, which is almost a character – that you're adding research modifications to increase your chance of surviving the final battle. That's a progression mechanic in its own right, and it's pretty satisfying and deep.

And there's lots of new tactics and abilities, all embedded in the squad command wheel now. It's not an inventory management system now as much as your commander's quarters – you can change your armour, appearance. And then ammo and other things like that, you break down on your squad command wheel, so it's done tactically in the heat of battle, so you can change from incendiary to freezing to disruptor ammo and so on.