Mass Effect 3

[JonCole]

Not to mention the fact that Shepard notably and publicly died only to be revived by a pro-human terrorist organization guilty of forced genetic experimentation, kidnapping of young biotics, and sabotage of relations between human and alien governments.

Yeah.

[mikemariano]

Apparently there was some massive demo and story leak for Mass Effect 3, and if I wanted to learn all the game's secrets I could find it online.

*shrug*

But what does concern me is that Mass Effect 3 will apparently have three modes of play:

1. Easy Mode
   
2. Normal Mode
   
3. Normal Mode where you don't have to talk.
   

If this is true, it's an incredibly cowardly move on Bioware's part. They made "guns and conversation" a household phrase! Their dialogue wheel has influenced games across genres! Now they want give players the option to throw that out?

Hmmm, but if the shooty-guy mode means EDI will launch her own probes, than maybe that's a trade worth making....

[Sno]

I'm more bothered by the rumors stating that you have to participate in their co-operative PvE meta-game thing to get the best ending in the SP campaign.

Everything i've been hearing about Mass Effect 3 just makes me cringe.

I have never been so disinterested in a game i want to play.

I just want to see my personalized narrative through to completion and be done with it.

[Nappi]

1. Normal Mode where you don't have to talk.
   

Hahaha.. What?

I'm more bothered by the rumors stating that you have to participate in their co-operative PvE meta-game thing to get the best ending in the SP campaign.

Jesus Christ.

[Noyb]

I'm more bothered by the rumors stating that you have to participate in their co-operative PvE meta-game thing to get the best ending in the SP campaign.

So 3-5 years down the line when EA shuts down their servers to save money, no one will be able to normally get the best ending?

[Gwardinen]

I don't have a specific link to go to, but every interview I've seen regarding coop as it relates to singleplayer has said you do not need to do coop to get the best ending, it's just that you can contribute to your singleplayer ending with coop. Obviously everything is subject to change and these interviews were conducted just as the coop feature was being unveiled, but since BioWare guys made a point of saying that it seems like they understand it'd be a bad move to do otherwise.

[Roderick]

Everything I've heard and read so far about this game here is based on either speculations or features that we don't know the meaning/context/details of.

Let's postpone fierce judgements until we've actually played the game. Everything else feels dangerously close to getting swept up by populist sentiments and pooping on a game before it's even clear what it will be.

[twmac]

Totally agree. I am just going to poop on this game because it is a sequel to two games that I didn't like very much.

*Poops*

[mikemariano]

Everything i've been hearing about Mass Effect 3 just makes me cringe.

I have never been so disinterested in a game i want to play.

I just want to see my personalized narrative through to completion and be done with it.

I don't even want that. I'm willing to give up on my Shepard if the game is terrible.

Luckily most of the terrible news relates to new features like multiplayer and "Action Mode", which won't necessarily affect the rest of the game. Mass Effect as we know it will still be there.

We'll see!

Let's postpone fierce judgements until we've actually played the game. Everything else feels dangerously close to getting swept up by populist sentiments and pooping on a game before it's even clear what it will be.

Postpone fierce judgements? Then why do we even have an Internet...?

In any case, I strongly disagree. We are judging the bad news, not the game itself. Yet.

[miffy495]

In the case of the co-op to single player thing, everyone IS reacting purely to rumour. In this case, a rumour that the developer has repeatedly said "well that would be a stupid thing to do. We're not doing that." So yeah, tempering your reactions here may be called for. I loved ME1 and 2, so these potentialities are distressing to me as well, but I'm waiting until the reviews start hitting to start judging it poorly.

[Orv]

Eurgh...

[Gwardinen]

Interesting choice to portray Shepherd as crosseyed.

[mikemariano]

Eurgh...

This Shepard looks a bit too lightweight to pull off Hale's world-weary voice, but this is actually the least appalling piece of marketing Bioware has put out in a while.

What's funny is that it is impossible to create a Shepard that looks anything like that using the character creator. There are plenty of pruny-face, square-jaw redhead Shepards out there. If only they could get make-up from Hot Topic, too!

[ThunderPeel2001]

Eurgh...

Nice to see she's got armor that accentuates her boobs. (She's got to look feminine on the battlefield, after all.)

[Brannigan]

It's called a breastplate for a reason, duh.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Wildly OT: I've never really thought about the fact that breastplates were mainly worn by men. Huh. Don't tend to think of men having breasts (no, please don't go there), I guess the word's meaning has changed over time?

(Sorry, can't sleep.)

[Brannigan]

[Gwardinen]

Wildly OT: I've never really thought about the fact that breastplates were mainly worn by men. Huh. Don't tend to think of men having breasts (no, please don't go there), I guess the word's meaning has changed over time?

(Sorry, can't sleep.)

Yeah, breast is basically synonymous with "chest" when not talking specifically about boobs. You'll probably notice it gets used a lot in older literature in that way, heart beating in his breast, anger roiling within his breast, etc. It just gets used that way a lot less these days, with the exception of anatomical holdovers such as the breastbone.

[Roderick]

Thunderpeel, calm yo titz.

I do not acknowledge this Shepard, because I play with the standard dude on the box. He is the only real Mass Effect. That's his title, right? Shepard the Mass Effect.

[Gwardinen]

I do not acknowledge this Shepard, because I play with the standard dude on the box. He is the only real Mass Effect. That's his title, right? Shepard the Mass Effect.

I can't believe that it's only now that I've realised how great a range of fat jokes there are surrounding the title Mass Effect.

[miffy495]

Thunderpeel, calm yo titz.

I do not acknowledge this Shepard, because I play with the standard dude on the box. He is the only real Mass Effect. That's his title, right? Shepard the Mass Effect.

I've played through both as Lady default and Man default. Lady is superior.

[mikemariano]

Here is our monthly dose of rage against Bioware concerning Mass Effect 3:

BioWare VP Zeschuk added that multiplayer “makes the whole experience better” for a game like Mass Effect 3. The upcoming RPG will feature an optional cooperative mode called Galaxy at War, in which you can team up with other players to fight off marauding Reapers, earning bonuses and unlocking areas that you’ll be able to access in your single-player campaign.

A commenter with a Manny Calavera icon asks below:

So there is single-player content locked unless you play the "optional" multiplayer?

How is that "additive"? How does that make my "whole experience better"?

That may not be what Zeschuk actually means, but it's certainly one way to interpret it.

I don't mind all this "bad" news about Mass Effect 3, but I would like to have something to get excited about.

[mikemariano]

Hey, the

is on YouTube!

And there's also 20 minutes of some random mission!

Luckily, it looks like more Mass Effect! Yay! All of the crazy co-op and Action Mode discussion can be swept away and we can just crouch and shoot monsters as we wanted to.

I wonder why we only see one biotic blast in that entire opening sequence. How "reset" are Shepard's powers?

The fact that Earth is under attack is handled about as well as it can be, if that's what they want their plot to be. There's still hope, even if

dopey-eyed boys end up dead

.

So yeah, this game probably won't be completely terrible.

[Kolzig]

I was going to try the demo, but as it requires Origin no deal.

Should someday maybe try out the first two as well. Are there existing demos for Mass Effect 1&2?

[brkl]

Isn't it likely the game will require Origin as well?