If Mass Effect's Turning Into A Shooter, Bioware Better Hope The Action's Up To Snuff.

But overnight, EA boss John Riccitiello said the delay was instead intended to tweak the game's gameplay in order to reach a "larger market".

"Essentially, step by step, [BioWare is] adjusting some of the gameplay mechanics and some of the features that you'll see at E3 that can put this into a genre equivalent of shooter-meets-RPG, and essentially address a far larger market opportunity than Mass Effect 1 did and Mass Effect 2 began to approach," he said.

Of course, this isn't the first time Bioware's tried to appeal to a larger market. Dragon Age II alienated most of its fanbase by dumbing things down, leaving Mass Effect fans decidedly nervous right now.

The emphasis on shooting that Riccitiello's hinting at worries us too. Shooting is just not what is fun about the franchise. Unless Bioware's seriously overhauled ME2's mechanics and miraculously turned it into a fun shooter, we'll remain concerned.