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Mass Effect 3 Has A Multiplayer Trailer!
Mass Effect 3 coming to three major systems March 6!
Mass Effect 3′s Multiplayer Gets a Trailer!
Here is the trailer!
Mass Effect 3 will have a cooperative multiplayer element. The mode is called “Galaxy at War,” and what players team up and do within it will actually affect the outcome of the single player campaign. Completing the missions will supposedly give players higher odds of attaining a perfect ending for the game.
It’s not mandatory, but it looks like skipping the multiplayer mode entirely will affect your single player experience. I’m not sure how to feel about that.
You’ll play brand new characters here, as no one from the campaign is playable. Although, as the trailer above shows, at least Commander Shepard will make a cameo in the multiplayer mode.
BioWare’s Patrick Weekes, Senior Writer for Mass Effect 3, wrote up a blog post to accompany the multiplayer trailer. In it, he takes time to lay out a step by step gameplan for playing with a Vanguard on your team. Having one in your party, according to Weekes, dramatically changes the way battle scenarios should be played.
It’s an interesting read that sheds some light on the tactical nature of the multiplayer experience in Mass Effect 3.
You’ll be able to try the multiplayer side of this game when the title’s demo launches on February 14th. Mass Effect 3 will officially drop for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC platforms on March 6th, 2012.
Mass Effect 3 Is Much Easier to Understand
Will you be understanding this new game?
If you played Mass Effect 2 without playing Mass Effect 1 (like me), then you’ll be able to attest to the fact that certain moments in the game simply didn’t make sense. For me, and playing the second without playing the first came down to a matter of free time, reading story summaries and fan wikis didn’t account for every plot detail referenced throughout the sequel’s campaign.
Of course, I never once complained about the references to the original. It was my fault for skipping the first, and I fully welcomed BioWare‘s decision to reward players that completed Mass Effect in its proper order.
For Mass Effect 3, however, BioWare aims to eliminate this problem for brand new gamers. Nick Clifford, who’s responsible for Product Marketing on Mass Effect 3, spoke with IGN about handling new players with the third beat in this trilogy:
“In all honesty, we didn’t do a really good job of new player orientation…If you didn’t play the first game then 2 was pretty jarring for the first half hour…
…If I’m a new player and some guy walks up to me and is like ‘Ohhhh Shepard! Remember that one time?’ I would be like ‘No. I don’t remember that one time’…So we wanted to make sure that there aren’t those moments that the player is like, ‘Who is this? What’s going on? What are they talking about?’”
According to IGN, BioWare will accomplish that by including a “story so far narrative” in the game for those that play without previous Mass Effect save files; they don’t detail the feature much more beyond that.
I will say this: having played the sequel without playing the original, I can’t possibly fathom jumping into the trilogy at its conclusion. So much happens between the first two games that starting off with the third doesn’t make much sense. If money and time are your enemies, then maybe I can see doing it. Otherwise? Play the games.
Mass Effect 3 drops for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on March 6th, 2012.
Mass Effect 3 Has Kinect Operation, and a Launch Date!
Mass Effect 3 coming to three major systems March 6!
EA and BioWare announced today that a Mass Effect 3 demo will be made available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC platforms on February 14th, 2012.
“The extensive demo will allow players to experience the all-out galactic war against an ancient alien race known as the Reapers from multiple fronts, including the mind-blowing opening attack on Earth that kicks off the single-player campaign. Players will go deeper into the campaign and also get a taste of the franchise’s new co-operative multiplayer mode as they preview the epic story, adrenaline-pumping action and deep customization options that lie ahead when Mass Effect 3 launches on March 6, 2012.” (EA and Bioware press release)
Xbox 360 gamers with the Kinect add-on in operation alongside their console will also be able to sample the voice control features touted back at Microsoft’s E3 conference. Gamers will be able to give voice commands to companions in battle as well as use their voices to select dialogue options when those moments approach.
This is the first pre-launch demo to support full Kinect voice recognition functionality, according to a blip in the release.
Mass Effect 3 will launch for all three platforms on March 6th, less than two months from today and one month from the demo.
Final episode? What do you think we will see in the final game?