Hello Mr. or Mrs. Shepherd! Oh, how we are awaiting your company.
As every big game releases we feel anticipation like no other, and Mass Effect 3 is no different from any blockbuster. Also, with every big game comes more hype, over-the-top content, and expectations made by fans and creators alike. Just looking at all the pre-planned DLC packages, ultimate editions, and special deals (like a free month of XBLA Gold with the ME3 demo), of course we are going to look like dogs chasing their tails when EA and BioWare unveils their next masterpiece this March 2012. Let’s use the available demo to read through the tea leaves about what we can expect at launch. FYI the demo is not Kinect ready so you won’t be doing much with your extra hardware, yet.
Luckily, some of our thirst can be satiated by an early demo of ME3, which was released earlier this month, but does it give us any clue what we will experience? Now you know the company in charge is not going to let any unwanted cats out of the bag, but BioWare does want to show us how Mass Effect 3 will surpass the older ones. Snap! It will try to be the next big game surpassing anything else on the market.
Fans of the series that try the demo will see right off the bat the familiar symbols and button layouts to ease comfort into your new Mass Effect. You have an option to change your first name, history, facial details, and classes like ME/ME2, or you can go with trusty John or Jane Shepherd. The story throws you into the mix of some estranged events after fighting off the Reapers from the last two games. Eventually, you wade through some aliens and you are escorted off a battle torn Earth; and not without a Lethal Weapon like exchange where you get your duties back. You are also given an extra mission later in the game from the story campaign involving familiar faces from your past.
What you also see are some slight changes from the traditional ME experience. For starters, before you make a choice on who you want to be, you receive an option as to how you want the story to be told. You can choose your standard ME “Role-Playing” style that is how you normally make decisions in the preceding incarnations; ya know, choosing dialogue and story important decisions that change results in what you experience. This is the only way us Mass Effect players know how to play the game, and why this series, and developer, is so awesome.
You are given two other options: “Story” customizes your characters and interacts without difficult combat; and “Action” allows combat difficulty to be adjusted while the conversations play as cutscenes. Action mode will allow you to fight and make important decisions but maybe the story plays out in a generic, which might tell the absolute story without direct influence of player. Maybe you are still given this power of choice because this is what BioWare games namely stake their identity on, BUT it would be cool to see what the story is “supposed” to be. Almost like when Lui Kang wins Mortal Kombat, it’s the only true way to progress the story without changing the overall plot of the series.
It makes me think that maybe these options, Action mode in particular, are ways to disarm certain players that aren’t accustomed to Mass Effect. I truly believe ME3 is going to be biggest game as its popularity of the series brought over a late ME2 port for PS3 and now shares a release date with all three platforms. You don’t have to pour over dialogue and really read or think, you can just watch the game like a movie and then blast around the galaxy. But that’s not my only theory why I think this game is made for the masses and not a select group.
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