Dirty Dozen

Another scrap of information has emerged about the upcoming Mass Effect 3: It would seem that the crew numbers in ME3 will be smaller than that in Mass Effect 2.

I'm disappointed by this to say the least. I really enjoyed the large crew in ME2 and felt it was one thing that really made ME2 stand out as an RPG. To enlarge the crew from six to twelve (ten in game + Zaeed and Kausmi) was a great move - therefore going back to six seems more like a backward step in more ways than one.

As said before, ME2 was for me gaming's equivalent of the Dirty Dozen: You take twelve characters and you spend the majority of the game forging them into a fighting unit. And along the way, you learn a lot about each of them in turn - indeed, the loyalty missions were a masterstroke on Bioware's part, allowing the gamer to find out about each of his crew and taking them on a mission which changes them forever.
Now some may say that small cast would offer more focus when compared a large cast that may prove to be unwieldy - indeed, the only other RPG I can think of with a cast number in double figures would be Final Fantasy 6 (14) - but it is indeed a credit to Bioware that they put a lot of attention to each of the Loyalty mission and make sure the player actually cared about those people who's come to fight beside Shepard.
Also the large cast also adds variety in selection - indeed too often does it happen in RPGs that the player just picks the same party members each time. Indeed, it's fun to see different combinations in different battles. Likewise, the large crew also expands the interior of the Normandy - I heard someone think the Normandy became over-crowded but I don't think so: The large crew with their own areas made the ship look big and well-populated.

Still, no matter how much complaining I'm willing to do, there's no denying that Bioware have their hands on the wheel and we're all just going for the ride.
Damn....

I mean if I knew this was going to happen, then what was the bloody point of me going to the trouble of having everyone alive by the end of ME2?!