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The time has come for Bioware to give gamers the demo they’ve been waiting for, Mass Effect 3. An action & role-playing game made by Bioware, the makers of Dragon Age, and published by the powerhouse Electronic Arts (think about the Madden series), the Mass Effect series prides itself on having over more than 1,000 possible combinations of actions and choices in the series that will affect the outcome as the trilogy of games progress closer to the end.
ME 3 opens with your customizable character Commander Shepard on trial for what happened in the last downloadable content pack (DLC) for Mass Effect 2 called “Arrival”. During these opening events in ME 3, a race called the “Reavers” which are feared throughout the Mass Effect universe attack Planet Earth, and you character and your team escape Earth knowing that they can’t fight the Reavers without help, so you’re on a quest to form an alliance with other races to help combat the Reaver threat and stop them once and for all, while those that want you on trial or dead nipping at your heels.
With that said, you will be given the option to import your saves from Mass Effect 1 & 2, which is where the possibilities come into play. Not having any prior save files will not be an issue if Mass Effect 3 is your first installment, or you’ve done something foolish, like delete your saves, or NOT transfer to your new hard drive like a good boy. Mass Effect 3 will have 4 game modes, 3 of them are single player and consist of:
- RPG where you choose your dialogue responses, with normal game difficulty, and detailed leveling up characters, weapons, and abilities.
- Action, which has automated dialogue replies and normal game difficulty
- Story with dialogue responses you choose, and easy game difficulty.
The multiplayer co-op will let you play with up to 3 other players in separate, original missions where you and your friend’s actions can affect all of your single player campaigns.
The Mass Effect 3 demo is available now on Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Network, and the game launches in the U.S. on March 6th, 2012 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Windows.
Comicbookjockey is a guy with too many opinions, and too little time. He’s crass and articulate, always has on headphones, talks about nerdy stuff, and cleaning up after himself. Too see and hear more:
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A series that never fails to excite, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is out, and everywhere.
Campaign
The one player campaign for Modern Warfare 3 is surprisingly short, what with the history of the series. I finished it in a cumulative total of 5 hours, 38 minutes on hardened. Results, of course, may vary, but this general amount of time seems to be the standard for most.
Campaign mode starts off exactly where Modern Warfare 2 left off: Captain Price and Captain “Soap” MacTavish are being evacuated from the scene of the epic battle with the rogue General Shepard by their friend, Nikolai. It continues from there into a full scale World War 3, with some of the levels and scenarios in act 1 varying from a battle to take back New York City from occupying Russian forces, to a tactical battle on an airplane with an attempt to kidnap the President of the Russian Federation.
The set pieces and pacing of the action through the game are on par with a Michael Bay production. There are some very shocking, and touching moments in the campaign, and there’s a fair share of ‘holy shit’ scenes as well. It’s a short campaign, and yet the yet the story is refined and cohesive, and the globetrotting missions in this game come together well. This is all in sharp contrast to the general consensus of the last game in the series that held a very scattered story that disappointed many.
This particular series is being treated as a trilogy, with the story wrapping up, and wrapping up well by the end of the game. Even on the harder levels of difficulty, if one intelligently uses cover and the pop in/out aiming system, you’ll be able to blast foreign faces off with fast, fluid movement.
Special ops/Survival
Back from the past is the very popular special ops mode, where you can play in various maps from the campaign by yourself, or with a buddy to complete varying tasks and goals. There’s a great addition, too: online matches. Yes, spec ops online. You can search online to play with someone else to fight in special ops missions, ranging from quietly helping French Resistance fighters get to a rendezvous point, to collecting chemical weapon samples while wearing a near-impenetrable armor suit, to reigning fire from above in an AC-130 while your partner moves on the ground.
Survival is new to the series, and very welcome. Either solo, with a friend, or someone matched online, you battle endless waves of enemies, attack dogs, and helicopters, earning money after each wave to spend on weapons, attachments, equipment, and air/ground support. Once you start spec Ops or survival, it’s hard to put down (I won’t lie: This game had me ruing bathroom breaks. Oh how I long for the day when they sell these games with catheters! Why are they missing this important co-branding and upsell opportunity?!)
Multiplayer
Multiplayer is what the Call of Duty series is famous for. The bones are the same, but the muscle, and some of the skin has been changed.
The significant differences are being able to level-up your weapons, unlocking camp, attachments, and “proficiencies”, which are abilities tied to the specific weapon such as “kick”, which reduces recoil, or “impact”, which gives bullets out of the said weapon greater penetration. All weapon unlocks in this game are tied to leveling up each weapon, which gives you greater choice, and more decisions in what weapons you want to focus on using.
The killstreak system is now called “Strike Packages” which have 3 categories: assault, support, and specialist. Assault consists of attack-based killstreaks, like predator missiles, attack choppers, and donning a juggernaut suit with riot gear that makes you take at least 10 times the damage you normally could, along with a riot shield with a hole for your gun.
The Support class is for those who want to be a team player, with killstreaks like ballistic vests, UAV support, anti-aircraft missile turrets, and stealth bomber runs, where your opposing team won’t even see it coming.
Specialist package is nothing but perks that add on to what your currently using in your load out, with the potential to have 6 perks going at anytime, provided you keep your killstreak going. The important part of these is that assault and specialist, the kill counter resets when you die. Support class, the kills accumulate throughout the match, which makes it a great class to go with for those who aren’t death machines at Call of Duty, or those that believe in the team dynamic. Assault and specialist are more for the less team-oriented players, with assault having the most hard-hitting out of the 3.
80 levels of XP await you in multiplayer before the famed prestige levels, which also unlocks an additional strike package, veteran.
The value you get for your money in this series wrap-up is solid. A 6 hour campaign, a LOT of different ways to play multiplayer, 20 Special Ops missions, which you can earn up to 3 stars each for, and never-ending onslaughts of enemies care of Survival mode, either alone or with someone else. If you’re a fan of the series, or first-person shooters, give it a whirl. It’s as easy as 1,2,3.
Comicbookjockey’s rating: 3 out of 5
By Q101.com Blogga, Comicbookjockey, a guy with too many opinions, and too little time. He’s crass and articulate, and enjoys hot sauce, talking about nerdy stuff, and cleaning up after himself. To see and hear more:
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