The Mass Effect 3 demo arrived today and I’ve already sampled the Xbox 360′s single player mode. What does it taste like, you ask? Like the sweet, sweet nectar of bachelorhood. But no time for tears of loneliness and cartons of chinese food that can never fill the emptiness no matter how much we eat –– to my demo impressions!
Despite my Commander Shepard’s history of compassionate ass-kicking (Paragon!) in ME 1 and 2, the ME3 demo doesn’t load previous play throughs, instead requiring a fresh restart of the Commander’s backstory and appearance. I suppose it would have been too much for BioWare to reveal what happens when my two f*** buddies girlfriends run into each other, but I still expected to see some consequences from the dozens of choices I’ve made during previous adventures. Without a jilted lover throw down or commendations on my bravery (yes, I’m vain), the brief intro felt sterile and lonely generic.
Also disappointing were cinematics that feature painfully robotic body movements and choppy facial animations. In all fairness, I’ve been playing a lot of Star Wars: The Old Republic lately, and it’s a testament to ME3′s voice actor cast (many of whom are in both titles) that it stacks up audibly, but the facial textures in particular look blocky and mouths move far too quickly. If you’ve seen the creepy animatronic Chuck E. Cheese performers then you know what I’m talking about. Were the Mass Effect cut scenes always this robotic? Probably, but Bioware has raised the bar with SWTOR and even its other titles look terrible in comparison.
Fortunately, the opening sequence feels monstrously epic. The Earth’s military council is still a pack of cowards and the devastating Reaper onslaught quickly returns Commander Shepard into his/her customary role as Earth’s only hope. Watching the alien invaders raze skyscrapers and blast innocent civilians should be a stirring sight for anybody who calls Earth home.
With Captain David Anderson’s help, players are introduced to movement and basic combat mechanics, though the final introductory fight sequence lasts far too long for the meager amount of bullets I had. In the end I was forced to rely on Yo Mama jokes and my puny Biotic powers to peck away the Reaper attackers.
Players are given the option to jump straight into combat (Action), ease the fighting difficulty (Story), or play the traditional mix of both with the Role Play option. Veterans should be fine with any option, but I’d recommend newcomers to consider going with the Story mode because combat is no walk in the Citadel.
The second half of the demo skips players further into the game where they’ll need a firm handle on the cover system to survive. First timers don’t get much hand holding here. Dozens of points need to be allocated to boost squad mates’ abilities and talents, which can be a tough order for those who haven’t been introduced to the many different Biotic abilities and other power ups.
By the end of the demo, a towering mini boss has to be brought down alongside waves of grunts, and it’s imperative that players maneuver across the battlefield to flank enemies and find cover against heavy artillery. Blasting the bad guys from cover is fluid and fun, but I often found myself stupidly jumping into a field of bullets when I tried to reposition my camera angle. I’ve had similar issues with other shooters like Gears of War so the issue could be me, but it still felt far too easy to accidentally leave cover or get backed into a corner by one of my own squad mates.
Saving the world is a common gaming trope, but Mass Effect has managed to offer a fresh take thanks to its amazing cast of diverse characters. Only a handful of old allies make an appearance in the demo, but vets will be happy to see Garrus, Wrex and Liara rejoin Shepard in a fun cinematic that reminded me just how well BioWare can create a sense of camaraderie. It really does feel like the gang has gotten back together.
The Big Picture: Veterans of the series will be happy to see old friends return in some surprisingly challenging shoot outs that reveal just how much higher the stakes are this time around. Newcomers should consider lowering the difficulty, especially since the combat mechanics, while upgraded from earlier ME games, are still not quite as polished or reliable as in a true shooter.
