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Silver Becomes GOLD! For Mass Effect 3 Gamers…..
Silver is the new GOLD!
If you’re an Xbox 360 gamer with a Silver account on Xbox LIVE, you now have a brand new reason to download the demo for Mass Effect 3. This demo includes with it a glimpse into both the single player campaign and the multiplayer side of the game.
Normally, Silver members wouldn’t be able to access the multiplayer features on a demo as that’s limited to Gold account levels. However, in order to make the demo fully playable, Microsoft will upgrade any Silver account that downloads the Mass Effect 3 demo to Gold until the game releases on March 6th. The demo releases on February 14th.
So, that means that by downloading and playing the Mass Effect 3 demo on your Xbox 360 with a Silver account, you’ll effectively get almost a full month of Gold access for free.
Gold access will let you play games with friends and give you the chance to use premium apps; Netflix, Hulu Plus, Facebook (does anyone use this on their Xbox 360?) and access to the Deal of the Week (which, right now, is Bastion for half-off its normal price).
The same demo will be made available for both the PlayStation 3 and PC platforms, but nothing special happens upon downloading or playing it with either system. Both platforms offer free ways to play games together, so this whole upgrade business isn’t necessary.
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.