For those who are wondering, there was no public demo of Mass Effect 3 as it was shown behind closed doors to the press. A thirty minute demonstration of the game was revealed to us and lots of new things can be expected.
As mentioned earlier by Bioware, Mass Effect 3 is the final chapter in the saga and according to the company’s lead designer, “it’s the best game in the series”. For gamers who played the first two Mass Effect games, Mass Effect 3 will be an epic conclusion of Commander Shepard’s quest in stopping the Reapers as they invade the Earth.
Between Mass Effect 3 and the first two games, there are slight differences that players can expect but nothing major. At my first glance at the live demo presentation, it may look that nothing has changed.
Today, we will talk about the new things that we’ve seen behind close doors on Mass Effect 3. When the game comes out early next year, the things that we will talk about will not be a total surprise at all.
1. Captain Anderson is one of your team mates
While Commander Shepard is attempting to escape Earth from the invading Reapers, he will be teaming up with Captain Anderson temporarily. In the demo that we’ve seen today, Commander Shepard and Anderson are on the job to rescue all Earthlings from the enemy. For those who played the Arrival DLC on Mass Effect 2, you should have an idea as to why he was sent to Earth. As of right now, it’s unclear whether Captain Anderson will be a part of Shepard’s crew or not but on the demo, he’s on Shepard’s party.
The part that was played to us was somehow vague as they didn’t want to spoil the game.
2. A New Melee Weapon
An Omni Blade is one of the new weapons that players can expect in Mass Effect 3. When Shepard manages to get the melee weapon, he can use it and knock enemies down. The Omni Blade is colored red and it reminds us of a Shuriken.
3. Weapons Customization
Another improvement on Mass Effect 3 is the Weapon customization. By using the credits that you will receive in the game, you can purchase mods on the weapons. The cool thing that I found in the weapons are that the appearance of them changes when they’re customized.
4. New Character Customization Interface
BioWare added some new things on the character customization interface of Mass Effect 3. When any of the characters levels up, players can see the abilities that they can unlock. A letter grade will be placed along the abilities name and therefore, players can know what abilities are worth unlocking.
5. Old Characters Will be Back
At some point in Mass Effect 3, players will be happy to know that Liara and Garrus will be making a come back. In the demo that was shown, Shepard teamed up with Liara and Garrus and some of their abilities are intact from the first two games. In addition to Liara and Garrus, Mordin Solis also made an appearance.
Please note that depending on what happened to the player’s Mass Effect 2 data, some of the characters might not appear. If Mordin died during the last mission in Mass Effect 2, he will then not appear! But hey, at least Liara is back!
