Highlights
- BioWare has created beloved and critically acclaimed games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age , but some of their earlier titles have been overshadowed.
- Shattered Steel , BioWare's first game, featured mech simulations in a post-apocalyptic future and received moderate success.
- Neverwinter Nights and Jade Empire were successful fantasy RPGs that received positive reviews, but a sequel or remake for Jade Empire has yet to be made.
BioWare is a big name in the video gaming industry, having been behind the creation of some of the most popular video games to date since the founding of the company by Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip in 1995. These include classic BioWare franchises like Mass Effect, as well as others that have won countless Game of the Year awards, like Dragon Age: Inquisition, back in 2014.
Although these titles are easy to recall owing to their massive impact on video gaming, there are some BioWare games that have been forgotten over time, not necessarily because they were bad or unsuccessful games, but simply because they might have been overshadowed by large BioWare franchises such as Mass Effect, Star Wars, and Dragon Age.
6 Shattered Steel
The first BioWare game ever made was Shattered Steel, released in 1996. The game is a mech simulation game that allows the player to travel to five different planets in a post-apocalyptic future where human beings have gone extinct.
The single-player story campaign features around 20 missions on each planet, with the player fighting aliens that look vaguely like different types of insects in a "planet runner" - a large machine-like vehicle with two legs that can run and shoot. The game was a modest success, with fairly average reviews, and was available on MS-DOS and macOS.
5 MDK2
BioWare's second sci-fi game, MDK2 was released in 2000 for Dreamcast, Windows, PlayStation 2, and the Wii console. The game is a third-person shooter that features three playable characters named Kurt, Hawkins, and Max. Depending on which character the player chooses, one gains certain strengths and weaknesses.
The story of MDK2 is a classic sci-fi one - aliens invade Earth and the three heroes - in the form of an intelligent dog, an alien-looking creature, and a scientist - need to stop them. The game was very well received, and even won an Editor's Choice award for its beautiful art direction, fun boss fights, and great level design, which features a lot of puzzles and not only straightforward shooting.
4 Baldur's Gate
Owing to the very successful Baldur's Gate 3, which was released recently and gained the status of being one of the highest-rated games of all time, many are familiar with the franchise. However, many might have forgotten the original game, which was developed by BioWare and not Larian Studios.
The first Baldur's Gate was released in 1998 for Windows and in 2000 for Mac. Even at that time, the game was praised for revolutionizing computer role-playing games and was the first to use the Infinity Engine for its graphics. It was well-received all around and was heralded as one of the best RPGs of its time.
3 Neverwinter Nights
Another successful fantasy RPG, Neverwinter Nights, was developed by BioWare and released in 2002 for Windows, and later on other platforms, including Linux and macOS, as well as on various consoles in 2019. At the time, the game won a few Best Role Playing Game awards and received good reviews all around.
The game is based on the Dungeons and Dragons third edition rules and was an MMORPG that could host up to 64 players at a time on a single server. The game uses the popular third-person isometric perspective and included three game modes, a story campaign and multiplayer mode being among them. The sequel for the game was not developed by BioWare, but was equally successful.
2 Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood is the only Sonic game ever developed by BioWare, and it is the only Sonic the Hedgehog game that is an RPG. The game was published by Sega in 2008 for the Nintendo DS console and was unfortunately not adapted for other platforms like many other BioWare games were.
The game was met with mixed feelings and reviews owing to the story and music of the game, as well as being shrouded in some controversy regarding copyright issues. Nevertheless, it was a unique entry in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and it showed the potential of what a Sonic RPG could be like even though it did not seem to get it right completely.
1 Jade Empire
Jade Empire was released as an Xbox exclusive in 2005 but was later adapted to run on Windows PC and Mac. It is an RPG that is set in a fictional world that is vaguely based on Chinese mythology. The player is the last surviving Spirit Monk, who tasks themselves to defeat the corrupted Emperor Sun Hai along with their tutor, Master Li.
Interestingly, Jade Empire was BioWare's first RPG that was not set in an existing fictional universe, such as that of Star Wars or Dungeons and Dragons. This game too received critical acclaim from most of the industry and was another success for BioWare. Unfortunately, to date, a sequel or remake for the game has never been realized, despite its notable success.