With an average score of 96 on Metacritic, one would be justified in believing Mass Effect 2 has little room for improvement. An overwhelming majority of so-called game critics have weighed-in, predictably showering Bioware’s latest RPG with roses and garlands.

Bioware is one of a select number of game companies that receives a +3 modifier in review scores. So take an average game that would normally receive a 7, add Bioware’s name to the box, and oila! Instant 10. While this may be great for Bioware’s bottom-line, it’s actually a grave disservice to the company and gamers, not to mention a glowing example of everything that is wrong in game journalism; criticism specifically.

Having played and finished Mass Effect 2, I can safely say, without reservation or hesitation, that Bioware’s latest RPG is a complete mess, from top-to-bottom and not a product worthy of Bioware’s heritage.

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A long time ago, in a world of video games far, far away, Star Wars games were awesome. Whether LucasArts was was producing excellent space combat sims like X-Wing and its sequel or solid first-person shooters like Dark Forces, LucasArts could apparently do no wrong.

Then…everything sucked.

Some of this can be attributed to LucasArts farming out games to 3rd-party developers. Some of this is a total lack of quality control (remember Rebellion? Ooopha). Some if it can be related to a lack of focus and mismanagement. However you want to slice it, Star Wars games are a ghost of their former glory.

Is there hope for the future? Well, Bioware making an MMO is a great first step as Bioware is one of the few 3rd-party developers to “get” Star Wars.

For further illumination on the issues involved in developing a Stars Wars games, Developer magazine visited LucasArts and spoke with the people in charge.

“Rather than being timid in anyway, very early on we really shot for the moon and then let those in charge tell us what we can’t do,” says producer Cameron Suey, who is part of the group expanding The Force Unleashed with new DLC and a special Sith Edition release.

“We went for everything we could think of and said ‘pull us back’, which I think was a huge advantage for the development of The Force Unleashed, because thematically it was all about things gamers have never seen before. We actually started with pre-visualisation animations, and took that straight to licensing and to George and asked if we could go with what we had. It was actually surprising they said yes, because we really had gone big with Force Powers and such. However, we’d followed the concept of the big Force Powers shown in the original 2D Clone Wars TV series. What we were doing wasn’t completely unprecedented, and it was probably respect to other new elements of the canon that had helped us so much.”

It’s a process that the licensing department seems open to, and the spirit of daring to push what the Star Wars universe can play host to is by no means exclusive to the Force Unleashed team.

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Dragon Age is a superb RPG from Bioware, a game made even better by the recent arrival of the Dragon Age toolset, the exact toolset used at Bioware to create the game. This editor presents budding game designers with an incredible amount of power, allowing them to create completely original campaigns and modules however they see fit. On the downside, the toolset has the uncanny ability to completely break the standard Dragon Age campaign, as I so rudely discovered over the weekend.

I knew something was amiss when I started a new game and a few hours in I noticed that NPCs who should have been joining my party weren’t. Worse, cutscenes depicted conversations between invisible people. Sensing something amiss, I restarted a new game and soon discovered that all NPCs thought my male character was female, which was quite funny for a few minutes.

Doing a little snooping around, I soon discovered the cause of these problems: the Dragon Age Toolset.

If you’re planning on exploring the toolset, I highly recommend you wait until a new version is released, as all manner of things will go wrong if you don’t.

From Bioware Toolset Wiki:

Verison 1.0 of the Dragon Age toolset has a subtle but potentially devastating bug. Put simply, the core plot resources that were included with the toolset had different internal identification numbers (GUIDs) than the versions that were used when the retail version of the game was created. The result is that whenever a core plot file is exported it overrides the plot in the preinstalled main campaign, and then none of the other resources in the game are able to reference it any more. The game’s scripts and conversations are unable to determine the state of the affected plots, and are unable to update the state of the plot.

Let’s say you didn’t listen too me or your disovered this post too late. Is there was a way to fix your game without reinstalling from scratch? Indeed.

The first thing you’ll need to do is to remove the faulty exported plot files from your core override directory. You will find them here:

My Documents\Bioware\Dragon Age\packages\core\override

Delete the contents of this directory. Once they’re gone the game will revert back to using the resources that were originally included with the retail version.

If you have saved your game between exporting those core resources and now, the savegame will have faulty plot ID numbers recorded in it and remain broken. The savegame can be repaired manually but it will take a bit more work; if you’ve only lost a few hours of gameplay it may be simplest to just go back to a previous save and work from there.

Oh boy, another “collector’s edition”. As if you’re going to find a single collector’s edition on some far-future episode of Antique’s Roadshow. Despite my overall hostility to collector’s editions and the strange people who find value in these marked-up wastes of cash (night-vision goggles? Seriously?) these products just keep selling and so they will keep being produced.

The latest announcement is for Mass Effect 2, which will have a collector’s edition that includes the following:

A worthless tin-case.

48-page hardcover artbook you’ll look at once and misplace.

Issue 1 of the Mass Effect Redemption comic book.

Bonus DVD with “making of” footage you probably will never watch.

Exclusive in-game weapons and armor that should have been in the standard version.

Yippee.

PR Zombie Speak:

Edmonton, Alberta (November 5, 2009) – Recruit your crew and fight for the lost! Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced that the internationally acclaimed Shooter RPG Mass Effect™ 2 will also be released as a Collectors’ Edition in limited quantities. Available on January 26 in North America (Jan 29 in EU) alongside the standard edition, the Collectors’ Edition of Mass Effect 2 comes in a premium, tin case and includes the full version of the game, a 48-page hardcover “Art of Mass Effect 2” book, Issue 1 of the Mass Effect Redemption comic book, and a bonus DVD with behind-the-scenes and making-of videos. In addition, the Mass Effect 2 Collectors’ Edition will include unique in-game weapons and armor that can only be obtained by purchasing this version. With its larger-than-life hero Commander Shepard, intense shooter action, nuanced characters and a rich storyline, Mass Effect 2 is one of the most anticipated titles of 2010.

“We’re really excited to roll out this Collectors’ Edition featuring so many unique items, including special Collectors’ Edition armor and weapons and content that will surprise Mass Effect fans,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder, BioWare and Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group of EA. “The limited edition comic book and bonus DVD will really enhance and expand the overall Mass Effect 2 experience.”

The Mass Effect trilogy is an emotionally charged science fiction adventure set in a vast universe filled with dangerous alien life and mysterious, uncharted planets. In Mass Effect 2, players will once again step into the role of the heroic Commander Shepard, commanding their crew of some of the most dangerous operatives from across the galaxy on a mission so challenging that it’s potentially suicidal. Featuring intense shooter action, a rich futuristic storyline, space exploration and emotionally engaging character interaction, the game delivers an unparalleled cinematic experience.

Mass Effect 2 will be available on the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system and PC. The Mass Effect 2 Collectors’ Edition will retail at an MSRP of $69.99 on Xbox 360 and $59.99 on PC. Mass Effect 2 assets are available at info.ea.com. Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/masseffect2. For more information on Mass Effect 2, go to http://masseffect.bioware.com/.