Mass Effect 3 Demo Impressions

Earth is really taking a pounding, people are dying left and right, buildings are collapsing all around and explosions are shaking the ground and lighting up the sky. This could only mean one thing: The Reapers have found us; ships are dropping from the sky and drop pods are crashing into the ocean and buildings around you. Our only hope is that the crew of the legendary Normandy can pull off the impossible one last time.

The Mass Effect demo starts off with the traditional Mass Effect character customization; however, BioWare has stated (as in ME2) you can import your character from the previous title. You select which class you wish to save Earth with and then that’s where things get a little different. Rumor has it on the internet that BioWare distributed “Private Beta Codes” instead of the normal “Demo Code”, and like I said…it was on the internet, so it has to be true.

Here is where Mass Effect 3 breaks from the norm of its franchise. You are given the option to choose what type of game mode/type/experience you wish to have. Your three choices are:

Action Mode – For those who want to emphasize action and combat and minimize story management. Action Mode will set automatic responses and a normal difficulty.

Story Mode – For those who want to emphasize story immersion and minimize combat pressure. Story Mode will set manually-selectable replies in conversation and a minimal combat difficulty.

RPG Mode – For those who want to explore both realms of story and combat. A more traditional Mass Effect experience.

 

When pictures and speculation first arose on the web, BioWare made a comment on the game types.

One feature that is present in this early build is a set of game play modes that are in development. In the beta mode they are referred to as “Action Mode”, “Story Mode” and “RPG Mode”. We want to stress that these features are still in the early stages of development and will receive considerable iteration and refinement. These modes are designed to give players an even finer degree of control over their game experience than ever before. Mass Effect 3 will support all of these options, we will have more info in the days ahead.

So with my first run through, I selected the traditional Mass Effect experience of the “RPG Mode”. My character class was that of the solider, which is normally what my first play through is on any RPG. The beginning of the demo starts with you being summoned from your comfy little apartment that the Council has stuffed you away in after doing everything they can besides discharging you. On your way out the door you run into none other than Admiral Anderson and he’s not happy to see you. I’m not going to spoil the demo for you by telling you the entire plot or situation that you find yourself in – just bits and pieces. After a brief conversation, all hell breaks loose; one minute you’re talking, the next you’re dodging an enormous deck flying across the room.

The game play alone is fantastic. Graphics are what you would expect from Mass Effect, life-like facial features and stunning textures. It’s almost like you were watching a movie. However, I did have a few incidents where I would be in mid conversation and the person I was talking to would stop moving their mouth, but the words kept flowing out of it. I was able to move in and out of cover, popping up or around corners to send precision Incendiary rounds to the Reaper bastards. After I fought my way through the waves of Reapers with nothing but a pistol, I signaled the Normandy for evac. It was then when I was pinned down with little to no ammo until I found a rifle with what seemed to be 15 rounds; we held them off until Joker saved our asses. Then, one of strongest cut scenes I’ve seen in Mass Effect took place; it actually surprised me, as I didn’t expect to see something like that. But you’ll have to play the demo to see what exactly it is.

The second part of the single player demo had an interesting twist to it also. You find yourself attempting to land of the home planet of the Salarians and Sur’Kesh. Apparently, this part of the demo takes place sometime after the initial attack and BioWare makes that clear in the loading screen supposedly you are at Sur’Kesh to retrieve a certain someone in hopes of saving their race – basically you’re there to round up some tail for one of your crew members. But to me what was more interesting was the people who were attacking you, Cerberus. Now I might have missed something in the Mass Effect 2 DLC, but honestly, I don’t know where to start. Did The Elusive Man go rogue? But anyway, you get to interact with members of you crew on this mission. The ones that are helping you secure the booty – I mean bounty are Garrus, Wrex and the third depends on what choice you make in the beginning. You fight your way through four floors of Cerberus soldiers until you reach the top and are met face to face with a mech. It took me several….several tries to get past this one, mainly for the fact that I kept running around like an idiot.

The multiplayer part of this game is what blew me away. I had little faith that they could pull a solid multiplayer experience off with Mass Effect, without turning it into a mini MMO so to speak. But they nailed it. The only mode available on the demo reminds you of the infamous “Hoard” from Gears of War. BioWare added their own twist to it by putting objectives in about every other round – everything from downloading data, eliminating key targets or taking down enemy communications; players have to do all of that with the constant barrage of bullets and grenades coming from the waves of enemies. I know it’s a demo and they likely throttled the ranking system a little bit, but I like it. It’s grinding, you don’t just blow through the first 10 levels in 30 minutes. You earn “Credits” for completing the objectives given to you. You in turn use those credits for various priced “Goodie Bags” that are filled with weapon upgrades, weapons, new character skins, armor, armor upgrades…..basically anything you can think of that will relate to your character leveling up.

Overall in my opinion, the Mass Effect 3 demo is amazing; I absolutely love everything about it. It had me hooked from the very beginning of the single player and now the multiplayer will have me occupied for quite some time to come. I can only imagine what the final version of this game will hold. I for one cannot wait.