Mass Effect 3: Extended Demo Impressions

Mass Effect 3: Extended Demo Impressions
by Elizabeth DeLoria

I’m running across the remains of the collapsing Alliance Headquarters and I’m surrounded by enemies. I throw a biotic blast at the closest of my attackers and quickly drop behind a crate for cover. Peeking out, I fire into the distance, taking down the weakest opponent. I wait for my character’s abilities to recharge. Another enemy quickly approaches and I dispatch it with a second use of my biotics.

In reality, I’m in a bar in Sydney, Australia, where Electronic Arts is presenting an hour-long playable demo of the upcoming sci-fi RPG Mass Effect 3. My playing has attracted a small crowd of roughly 15 spectators. A woman I’d befriended earlier in the night leans over and comments on something in the game. Gunfire and my adversaries’ battle cries drown her out.

Not only have I nearly finished this level in record time, but my skills are being admired and judged by my growing audience. The stakes could not be higher.

As I try to vault over cover, I fumble with the controls and roll into open fire. I die.

Mass Effect 3 has a lot of radical changes compared to its predecessors, but the controls are definitely the most noticeable. I’ve played through Mass Effect 2 at least 10 times and if you’re anything like me, you will no doubt find the changes jarring to the point where you’re clumsily rolling around and struggling to switch weapons.

The new rolling ability is foreign at first, but it eventually becomes a natural reflex, allowing you to get to cover faster and avoid crossfire. Scalable surfaces are one of the smallest additions but they add variation and dimension to the levels, which Mass Effect 2 occasionally lacked.

Accessing your journal and ability list is now accomplished by pressing the start and select buttons at the same time. It’s a big distraction when you’re in the middle of the game’s fast-paced and chaotic combat.

While many of these changes are apparent in the demo available to the public, the extended press demo really shows them off. To series veterans, these alterations are shocking but with some practice, you realize they actually facilitate faster combat and more intricate strategy.

A more grating change, however, is the way that your abilities, namely, your biotics, behave in comparison to previous games. I usually play as a biotic class and it’s frustrating to have to rework old habits. I felt like I was wasting time relearning how to angle a shot, only to discover they’re not as effective. And since Mass Effect 3 features competitive online multiplayer, I definitely have my work cut out for me.

A later part of the demo took place on Mars and demonstrated Mass Effect 3’s style of dialogue. Mars itself is just about as visually pleasing as a planet made up of red rock can be. It’s a dusty, red and orange landscape peppered with evidence of human life and occupation. The interactions with squad mates were rich in depth, and it didn’t take long for the consequences of choices made in Mass Effect 2 to show themselves.

Another surprising and welcome improvement is the silky smooth renegade and paragon interruptions — the in-conversation ability to occasionally interrupt another character with a chivalrous or heinous action. There’s almost no delay between triggering the interruption and the following chatter and this vastly improves the flow of conversations.

Mass Effect 2 came out two years ago. The series has taken us across the far reaches of the galaxy, from the ancient world of Ilos to the arid stretches of Mars, forcing players to constantly switch squad mates and allegiances. Mass Effect always switches it up from one game to the next and Mass Effect 3 seems to boast some of the biggest changes yet.