Mass Effect 3 Hands-on Preview

The revelation of Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer wasn’t exactly met with open arms (The choice comment from community member guyderman: “There are times when MP should just F**K OFF!!!”). Despite half a year’s worth of rumour, the announcement still came as a surprise – not least to EA and BioWare. It’s not exactly clear how Aussie magazine PC Powerplay ended up breaking the news on its front cover, but it’s safe to say that the reveal wasn’t handled with EA’s typical levels of PR precision.

In any case, the genie can’t go back in the bottle, and since the leak we’ve had a flurry of reassuring statements from publisher and developer alike, while playable code made its first appearance at EA’s winter showcase, held last week. We’ll never know if this was always the plan or if EA felt that its hand was forced, but the build on show was certainly an early, fragile beast. Still, even with the frequent technical issues, it was easy enough to get a sense of what the co-op multiplayer mode, Galaxy of War, will be like.

As some of you predicted, what we have here is more or less Mass Effect: Horde Mode, with five players teaming up to take on increasingly tricky waves of enemies. Naturally you’ll be fighting against the Reapers some of these encounters, but you’ll also square off against Cerberus – the fascist military types who may or may not be the intergalactic descendants of Nick Griffin. Most of you recall that Commander Shepard was more or less working for Cerberus in the last game, but don’t worry – apparently that was just a phase. (S)he’s turned over a new leaf now, so expect to find a dedicated Alien Diversity room aboard the Normandy, a place where everyone hugs and eats space lentils.

Naturally Shepard won’t be making an appearance in person. Instead players take on the role of one of the many troops battling the Reaper invasion, with the option to play as a human, Asari, Turian, Salarian, Krogan or, somewhat controversially, a Drell. Each of the races has unique characteristics which then feed into the handling of the player classes – so far only Soldier and Vanguard have been confirmed.

The action itself feels almost identical to Mass Effect 2, with its familiar slow movement and emphasis on cover and tactical re-positioning. The biggest single change is to the class powers, which are now permanently bound to set buttons; the usual selection wheels for weapons and powers appear to be M.I.A. More significantly, the cooldown for your abilities has been reduced considerably, allowing them to take an even more prominent role in combat. In the case of the Vanguard, this allows you use your Charge far more regularly than in ME2 – zipping in and blasting away at a few enemies (or knocking them down), then Charging at a more remote foe to get yourself out of trouble.

That aside, the action feels very much like Mass Effect 2. I only got to sample a handful of rounds, but on the basis of that limited taster I’d say that the multiplayer feels competent, but fairly unremarkable. As a single-player experience, the slower pace of Mass Effect’s combat is perfectly palatable, allowing you time to assess the situation and make strategic decisions on the fly; as a co-op venture, it simply feels a bit sluggish. There’s less to concentrate on, and in the wake of Gears 3’s revamped Horde I suspect that some gamers will find it a bit too slow.

There’s also the fact that Mass Effect’s combat partially works due to its context. As fun as it is to annihilate The Blue Suns with your fearsome biotic powers, it’s the bits in between battles – flirting with Kelly, headbutting a reporter, encouraging Mordin to sing – that make you love the world you’re exploring, the world you’re fighting to save. In Galaxy at War you’re supposed to be fighting as part of a last-gasp effort to save the universe, and via a campaign map you’ll be able to see exactly how your allies – the collective player community – have been faring on various fronts. If BioWare can convince us to believe in this backdrop, it may add some much-needed atmosphere to proceedings, but if it doesn’t it’ll be just another stat tracker.

Either way, at least there’ll always be the main campaign to fall back on, reuniting us with old friends and (supposedly) bringing a conclusion to the adventures of Commander Shepard. If multiplayer turns out to be merely a competent add-on, it won’t be the end of the world. Until the Reapers show up, at least.

Mass Effect 3 is due for release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on March 9.