Mass Effect 3
Encyclopedia
Mass Effect 3 is an upcoming action role-playing game
developed by BioWare
and published by Electronic Arts
for Microsoft Windows
, Xbox 360
and PlayStation 3
. Officially announced on December 11, 2010, the game is scheduled for a March 6, 2012 release and will mark the final chapter in the Mass Effect trilogy of video games
, completing the story of Commander Shepard.
Gameplay in Mass Effect 3 will be influenced by decisions from Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2
and have settings throughout the galaxy, including Earth
and Mars
. Combat has been changed and refined; in particular, the cover system has been improved, there will be more options for moving around the battlefield, instant melee kills and more conventional grenades will be introduced as well as improved artificial intelligence
. A four player multiplayer co-op mode will also be available.
Mass Effect 3 will follow from the events of the Mass Effect 2 DLC expansion Arrival and follows Commander Shepard's mission to save the galaxy from the Reapers by rallying civilizations of the galaxy together, while also having to deal with Cerberus, who have decided to turn against him/her.
option that allows players to continue playing after the main story ends or start again with their finished Shepard and collect items they missed the first time around.
Mass Effect 3 will have three pre-set campaign modes: Action Mode, Story Mode, and RPG Mode. In Action Mode, conversations will have automatic replies and a normal combat difficulty. In Story Mode, conversations will have manual replies and a minimal combat difficulty. In RPG Mode, conversations will have manual replies and a normal combat difficulty. This last mode is reflective of the typical Mass Effect series experience. Overall, the RPG elements in the game have been improved over those in Mass Effect 2, with a more detailed leveling up system and increased weapon customization. To level up characters, players will have skills that start along a single path and then eventually splinter into two branches where they can select only one upgrade or the other along a sequence of possibilities. Players will also be able to customize their weapons with different scopes, mods, barrels and ammo types. There will be 25 weapon mods total — five per weapon type — and each of them will have multiple power levels to collect. The game will include mini-games (although planet scanning is unlikely to return) and Hammerhead and Mako missions. To select dialog options, players can use Kinect to speak their choices instead of selecting them with a controller.
As of August 23, 2011, BioWare has confirmed the return of previous characters Liara T'Soni, Kaidan Alenko or Ashley Williams, Miranda Lawson, the Illusive Man, Garrus Vakarian, Legion, Samara, Morinth, Tali'Zorah, Urdnot Wrex, Jack, Mordin Solus, David Anderson, Zaeed Massani, Kasumi Goto, Kelly Chambers, Thane Krios, Jacob Taylor and Ambassador Donnell Udina from Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. Some characters will not return if they were killed at any point during the previous games. The number of characters available as permanent squad mates will be smaller than in Mass Effect 2 for the purposes of deeper relationships and more interesting interplay, including same-sex relationships for both male and female Shepards. If players achieved a love interest in both Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, then both previous love interests will be vying for Shepard's attention in Mass Effect 3. This "love triangle" will be resolved by the end of the game. BioWare has also confirmed a new character called James Vega.
aspects to make the game more commercially viable. In a preview for IGN
, editor Arthur Gies went so far as to say the game "plays like a shooter" and that "combat-wise, Mass Effect 3 is in an entirely different space" from the first two games. In an article for bitgamer, Joe Martin gave a conflicting impression, noting that with regard to combat, "not a lot has changed".
The series' cover system has been improved so players no longer need to slide into cover and then hop over objects. Players will have more options for moving around the battlefield, including a refined sprint capability, combat rolling, and the use of climbable ladders. Players can also blindfire their weapons from covered positions, and have opportunities to shoot selected armor pieces and limbs off enemies. Verbal orders can be issued to move squad mates and use their powers with the use of Kinect. Moving and shooting, a previously "suicidal maneuver" in Mass Effect 2, will finally be a viable option because of a revised melee system. Players will be able to execute formidable punches and attacks, and instant melee kills will be introduced specific to each class; for example, by holding down the melee button, a soldier Shepard will deliver a killing blow with a tech-blade in his/her wrist armor. Actual, round, conventional grenades will also be available.
Mass Effect 3 plans to be the most difficult in the series, with increased artificial intelligence to challenge players and increase the sense of reward. Enemies no longer act as individuals as they did in the previous games, instead fighting and supporting each other in units. Enemies include 15-foot tall Cerberus mechs, assault troopers, and ninja-style shock troops, as well as Reaperized husks of all races and Reaper ships ranging from 500m to 2km long. Some changes will be made to already-existing class types; for example, Engineers will be able to build turrets.
s horde mode.
No characters from the single player campaign will be featured in the multiplayer mode. Players will create brand new characters for themselves and be able to play as members of non-human species, including asari, drell, krogans, salarians, and turians. Every race will have unique powers - such as a "Krogan Charge" for krogans and different movement options out of cover between drell and humans - and all classes will be playable. The maximum level that created characters will be able to reach is 20, and just like in the single player mode, leveling up will include skill branches.
Gameplay in the multiplayer mode will only allow for players to carry two guns at a time in their inventory, and there will be no ring menu to change weapons; instead, weapons will be changed by holding down a button.
crater, and a giant city on Earth representing the combination of Seattle and Vancouver
. Players will also return to Tuchanka — the krogan homeworld — and Illium, as well as the Citadel.
In an interview with PSM3 Magazine
, Casey Hudson said of the plot, "Mass Effect 3, in simple terms, is a little more like the first game. You're collecting pieces of a story, but the more you investigate and explore these themes, the more the game will unlock and you'll see the bigger picture. In a way, it's more of a traditional story where you're learning about things and the plot changes as you find things out." The game will complete the story of Commander Shepard and will mark Shepard's final appearance in the series.
. To design the game, BioWare made sure to use fan feedback, similar to what they did for Mass Effect 2. In particular, the game's development team paid close attention to past mistakes in the series as well as the critical failings of other BioWare titles such as Dragon Age II
. The team was able to devote most of their time to gameplay and storytelling because, according to BioWare Edmonton General Manager Aaron Flynn, they didn't have to worry about technology as it was "pretty maxed out". Initially, the game was predicted to be released at the end of 2011 or early 2012.
announced via Twitter
that she would be reprising her role from Mass Effect 2 as EDI, and had already started voice-recording sessions. Actor Seth Green
was soon to follow, announcing that he would be reprising his role from Mass Effect 2 as Joker.
The first detailed information regarding development of Mass Effect 3 started being released in April, 2011. On April 20, Belgian website 4gamers.be reported that BioWare were collaborating with Battlefield developer DICE in weapon development for the game. The same day, Game Informer
released the first-ever screenshots of Mass Effect 3 to help promote their May 10 cover story. On May 3, 2011, IGN announced that Mass Effect 3 would be presented and demoed by Electronic Arts at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo. The next day, BioWare announced that the game's release date had been pushed back to early 2012, in part so it could be tweaked to appeal to as wide a market as possible. On June 1, EA Games' online store uploaded artwork by mistake which revealed the game will have Kinect support. The artwork was later removed. At the 2011 E3 Convention, BioWare finally confirmed Kinect support in a gameplay video. The game's collector's edition, cover art
, a new teaser trailer and official release date of March 6, 2012 were also revealed. For the first time, fans were shown actual gameplay videos, including a 15 minute demo supervised by Casey Hudson. At Comic-Con
2011, fans were given an opportunity to play a demo version of the game. Hudson and lead writer Mac Walters were both in attendance, with Hudson sitting on the Legendary Pictures
panel to talk about the upcoming Mass Effect film and Walters sitting on the Dark Horse Comics panel. At Gamescon 2011, a new trailer was released demonstrating 50 seconds of combat gameplay. The game was also demoed at PAX Prime 2011.
On September 13, Casey Hudson posted to Twitter that the game was seeing signs of its final stage of production. A few days later, lead writer Mac Walters revealed that writing for the game was almost finished. Music started going into the game around the same time. On October 27, the development team transitioned into an "editing" stage where story elements were evaluated and key lines or scenes were re-written. Character lighting was being polished as of November 7.
On November 4, a private beta of Mass Effect 3 became available on Xbox Live
. The beta was only available to players who signed up to beta test a new version of the Xbox 360 Dashboard. In a response from Jesse Houston, it was revealed that the leak was the result of "human error" at Microsoft. Houston stressed that the leaked code was in a rough, unfinished state not intended for public release. Despite BioWare's quick response, some fan videos still made their way to YouTube. From the beta, some information was extracted from game files that represented rough notes from early story drafts. In an interview conducted shortly after the leaked script was removed, BioWare co-founders Ray Muzyka
and Greg Zeschuk
revealed that feedback from fans who read it might be used to tweak the story before the game was released.
. Mansell first stated he would be scoring the game during an interview with The Quietus
on February 9, 2011. Electronic Arts officially announced his involvement shortly thereafter with a Facebook
post. Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 composer Jack Wall
will have no involvement with the production of Mass Effect 3 due to undetailed and "complicated" reasons.
Mass Effect 3s weapon audio is being redesigned and refined. BioWare's audio team has been in discussion with other EA studios, including DICE, in order to improve their combat soundscape. The game will have 40,000 lines of recorded dialog; twice as much as the first game and almost twice as much as the second game.
deluxe edition, each of which will include bonus content and unlockable items; most notably, four exclusive weapons found in the N7 Arsenal Pack. The digital deluxe edition will be exclusively available through Origin, EA's rebranded PC game store.
BioWare has announced they will be adding the female version of Commander Shepard to the series' marketing. Often referred to as "FemShep", she will be featured in an upcoming trailer for the game and grace the cover of the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector's Edition. To help decide the official female Shepard model, BioWare let fans choose between five prototypes on Facebook. Eventually, the fifth prototype won and a new fan vote was held to decide its hair color, which ended up being red.
New copies of Mass Effect 3 will include an online pass
which, upon activation, allows buyers access to the online multiplayer mode. Buyers that purchase the game used will be required to pay an additional fee to obtain their own online pass if they want to play the game online. The online pass players receive from new copies of the game Battlefield 3
will also unlock early access to Mass Effect 3s online multiplayer demo.
GB Eye has signed the rights to produce official 2D and 3D posters, stickers, badges and temporary tattoos for both Bioware games Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age 3. Retailers such as Chips and HMV
stock GB’s posters. "Our goods can add value to other sales with minimal space," GB Eye’s licensing manager Max Arguile told MCV.
Action role-playing game
Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...
developed by BioWare
BioWare
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer founded in February 1995 by newly graduated medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip. BioWare is currently owned by American company Electronic Arts...
and published by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. Officially announced on December 11, 2010, the game is scheduled for a March 6, 2012 release and will mark the final chapter in the Mass Effect trilogy of video games
Mass Effect
Mass Effect is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows by Demiurge Studios. The Xbox 360 version was released worldwide in November 2007 published by Microsoft Game Studios...
, completing the story of Commander Shepard.
Gameplay in Mass Effect 3 will be influenced by decisions from Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2 is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on January 26, 2010 and for PlayStation 3 on January 18, 2011...
and have settings throughout the galaxy, including Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
and Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
. Combat has been changed and refined; in particular, the cover system has been improved, there will be more options for moving around the battlefield, instant melee kills and more conventional grenades will be introduced as well as improved artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
. A four player multiplayer co-op mode will also be available.
Mass Effect 3 will follow from the events of the Mass Effect 2 DLC expansion Arrival and follows Commander Shepard's mission to save the galaxy from the Reapers by rallying civilizations of the galaxy together, while also having to deal with Cerberus, who have decided to turn against him/her.
Gameplay
Players with saved files from Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 will be given the option of importing them into Mass Effect 3. If a saved file is imported, over 1,000 variables will be pulled that will help shape how the final chapter is experienced. If there are no saved files available, there will be no origin-story comic for new players to help them make quick decisions like there was in Mass Effect 2. Imported characters' appearance and class will be changeable, with more features and hair-styles included in the character creator than in Mass Effect 2. Commander Shepard will always start the game with some powers. Upon finishing the game, there will be a New Game+New Game Plus
A New Game Plus is an unlockable video game mode that allows the player to start a new game after they finish the game at least once, where certain aspects of the finished game, such as experience or items, affect the newly started game...
option that allows players to continue playing after the main story ends or start again with their finished Shepard and collect items they missed the first time around.
Mass Effect 3 will have three pre-set campaign modes: Action Mode, Story Mode, and RPG Mode. In Action Mode, conversations will have automatic replies and a normal combat difficulty. In Story Mode, conversations will have manual replies and a minimal combat difficulty. In RPG Mode, conversations will have manual replies and a normal combat difficulty. This last mode is reflective of the typical Mass Effect series experience. Overall, the RPG elements in the game have been improved over those in Mass Effect 2, with a more detailed leveling up system and increased weapon customization. To level up characters, players will have skills that start along a single path and then eventually splinter into two branches where they can select only one upgrade or the other along a sequence of possibilities. Players will also be able to customize their weapons with different scopes, mods, barrels and ammo types. There will be 25 weapon mods total — five per weapon type — and each of them will have multiple power levels to collect. The game will include mini-games (although planet scanning is unlikely to return) and Hammerhead and Mako missions. To select dialog options, players can use Kinect to speak their choices instead of selecting them with a controller.
As of August 23, 2011, BioWare has confirmed the return of previous characters Liara T'Soni, Kaidan Alenko or Ashley Williams, Miranda Lawson, the Illusive Man, Garrus Vakarian, Legion, Samara, Morinth, Tali'Zorah, Urdnot Wrex, Jack, Mordin Solus, David Anderson, Zaeed Massani, Kasumi Goto, Kelly Chambers, Thane Krios, Jacob Taylor and Ambassador Donnell Udina from Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. Some characters will not return if they were killed at any point during the previous games. The number of characters available as permanent squad mates will be smaller than in Mass Effect 2 for the purposes of deeper relationships and more interesting interplay, including same-sex relationships for both male and female Shepards. If players achieved a love interest in both Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, then both previous love interests will be vying for Shepard's attention in Mass Effect 3. This "love triangle" will be resolved by the end of the game. BioWare has also confirmed a new character called James Vega.
Combat
Combat in Mass Effect 3 has been changed and refined from Mass Effect 2, and further emphasis has been put on third-person shooterThird-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
aspects to make the game more commercially viable. In a preview for IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, editor Arthur Gies went so far as to say the game "plays like a shooter" and that "combat-wise, Mass Effect 3 is in an entirely different space" from the first two games. In an article for bitgamer, Joe Martin gave a conflicting impression, noting that with regard to combat, "not a lot has changed".
The series' cover system has been improved so players no longer need to slide into cover and then hop over objects. Players will have more options for moving around the battlefield, including a refined sprint capability, combat rolling, and the use of climbable ladders. Players can also blindfire their weapons from covered positions, and have opportunities to shoot selected armor pieces and limbs off enemies. Verbal orders can be issued to move squad mates and use their powers with the use of Kinect. Moving and shooting, a previously "suicidal maneuver" in Mass Effect 2, will finally be a viable option because of a revised melee system. Players will be able to execute formidable punches and attacks, and instant melee kills will be introduced specific to each class; for example, by holding down the melee button, a soldier Shepard will deliver a killing blow with a tech-blade in his/her wrist armor. Actual, round, conventional grenades will also be available.
Mass Effect 3 plans to be the most difficult in the series, with increased artificial intelligence to challenge players and increase the sense of reward. Enemies no longer act as individuals as they did in the previous games, instead fighting and supporting each other in units. Enemies include 15-foot tall Cerberus mechs, assault troopers, and ninja-style shock troops, as well as Reaperized husks of all races and Reaper ships ranging from 500m to 2km long. Some changes will be made to already-existing class types; for example, Engineers will be able to build turrets.
Multiplayer
Mass Effect 3 will offer a multiplayer co-op mode called "Galaxy at War". In the mode, players will be able to play alongside up to three other players in unique missions that can impact the outcome of the single player campaign. Each mission was designed specifically for multiplayer, and will involve taking over enemy strongholds. By completing these missions, players will give themselves a better chance of attaining a perfect ending in the single player campaign; although, they are not necessary to do so. The mode has been compared to Gears of WarGears of War
Gears of War is a military science fiction third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios...
s horde mode.
No characters from the single player campaign will be featured in the multiplayer mode. Players will create brand new characters for themselves and be able to play as members of non-human species, including asari, drell, krogans, salarians, and turians. Every race will have unique powers - such as a "Krogan Charge" for krogans and different movement options out of cover between drell and humans - and all classes will be playable. The maximum level that created characters will be able to reach is 20, and just like in the single player mode, leveling up will include skill branches.
Gameplay in the multiplayer mode will only allow for players to carry two guns at a time in their inventory, and there will be no ring menu to change weapons; instead, weapons will be changed by holding down a button.
Background
In Mass Effect 2, the Normandy is attacked by an unknown starship and Commander Shepard is killed. Shepard's body is recovered and (s)he is brought back to life by Cerberus, a human supremacist organization led by the Illusive Man. Shepard learns that the Reapers were responsible and working by proxy through an insect-like species called the Collectors, and that they are responsible for entire human colonies disappearing throughout the galaxy. Shepard recruits squad mates, earns their loyalty, and defeats the Collectors after traveling through the Omega-4 Relay.Setting
Locations in Mass Effect 3 will include the salarian homeworld Sur'Kesh, the asari homeworld Thessia, the turian homeworld Palaven, the quarian homeworld Rannoch, a human mining base in a MartianMars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
crater, and a giant city on Earth representing the combination of Seattle and Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
. Players will also return to Tuchanka — the krogan homeworld — and Illium, as well as the Citadel.
Plot
Mass Effect 3 will begin with Commander Shepard on Earth for trial as a result of events from the Mass Effect 2 DLC pack Arrival. During the trial, Earth is attacked by Reapers. Faced with insurmountable odds, Shepard is forced to flee the planet in order to gather support from alien civilizations and mount a counter-attack while also having to deal with Cerberus, who have decided to turn against him/her. It is possible for Shepard to lose to the Reapers.In an interview with PSM3 Magazine
PSM3
PSM3 is a video game magazine specialising in all Sony video game consoles and handheld gaming platforms. PSM3 is published by Future Publishing, a UK-based publishing company....
, Casey Hudson said of the plot, "Mass Effect 3, in simple terms, is a little more like the first game. You're collecting pieces of a story, but the more you investigate and explore these themes, the more the game will unlock and you'll see the bigger picture. In a way, it's more of a traditional story where you're learning about things and the plot changes as you find things out." The game will complete the story of Commander Shepard and will mark Shepard's final appearance in the series.
Origins
From the start, BioWare envisioned the Mass Effect series as a trilogy, with the first two games being a preamble to the third. For this reason, BioWare was able to begin production on Mass Effect 3 before Mass Effect 2 was even released. The game was directed by Casey Hudson, who previously led the production of the first two Mass Effect games and Star Wars: Knights of the Old RepublicStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by LucasArts. It was released for the Xbox on July 15, 2003, for Microsoft Windows on November 19, 2003, and on September 7, 2004 for Mac OS X. The Xbox version is playable on Xbox 360 with its...
. To design the game, BioWare made sure to use fan feedback, similar to what they did for Mass Effect 2. In particular, the game's development team paid close attention to past mistakes in the series as well as the critical failings of other BioWare titles such as Dragon Age II
Dragon Age II
Dragon Age II is a role-playing video game developed by BioWare's Edmonton studios, and published by Electronic Arts. It is the second major game in BioWare's Dragon Age franchise...
. The team was able to devote most of their time to gameplay and storytelling because, according to BioWare Edmonton General Manager Aaron Flynn, they didn't have to worry about technology as it was "pretty maxed out". Initially, the game was predicted to be released at the end of 2011 or early 2012.
Reveal
On December 10, 2010, Electronic Arts posted the official synopsis for Mass Effect 3 on their website, although the listing was later removed pending an official announcement at the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards. The following day, the game was confirmed for a "Holiday 2011" release and accompanied by a teaser trailer. On March 21, 2011, actress Tricia HelferTricia Helfer
Tricia Janine Helfer is a Canadian actress and former model, best known for her roles as Number Six in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, "Carla" on Burn Notice, and FBI Special Agent Alex Rice on Dark Blue, as well as for hosting the first season of Canada's...
announced via Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
that she would be reprising her role from Mass Effect 2 as EDI, and had already started voice-recording sessions. Actor Seth Green
Seth Green
Seth Benjamin Green is an American actor, comedian, voice actor, and television producer. He is well known for his role as Daniel "Oz" Osbourne in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Dr. Evil's son Scott in the Austin Powers series of comedy films, Mitch Miller in That '70s Show, and the voice of Chris...
was soon to follow, announcing that he would be reprising his role from Mass Effect 2 as Joker.
The first detailed information regarding development of Mass Effect 3 started being released in April, 2011. On April 20, Belgian website 4gamers.be reported that BioWare were collaborating with Battlefield developer DICE in weapon development for the game. The same day, Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
released the first-ever screenshots of Mass Effect 3 to help promote their May 10 cover story. On May 3, 2011, IGN announced that Mass Effect 3 would be presented and demoed by Electronic Arts at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo. The next day, BioWare announced that the game's release date had been pushed back to early 2012, in part so it could be tweaked to appeal to as wide a market as possible. On June 1, EA Games' online store uploaded artwork by mistake which revealed the game will have Kinect support. The artwork was later removed. At the 2011 E3 Convention, BioWare finally confirmed Kinect support in a gameplay video. The game's collector's edition, cover art
Cover art
Cover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
, a new teaser trailer and official release date of March 6, 2012 were also revealed. For the first time, fans were shown actual gameplay videos, including a 15 minute demo supervised by Casey Hudson. At Comic-Con
Comic-Con
Comic-Con, Comic Con or ComiCon may refer to any of the following Comic book conventions, none of them affiliated to any other:*San Diego Comic-Con International, annual fan convention in San Diego held since 1970, also known as Comic-Con or San Diego Comic-Con*Dallas Comic Con, annual fan...
2011, fans were given an opportunity to play a demo version of the game. Hudson and lead writer Mac Walters were both in attendance, with Hudson sitting on the Legendary Pictures
Legendary Pictures
Legendary Pictures is an American film production company, whose parent company, Legendary Entertainment, is based in Burbank, California and was founded by Thomas Tull in 2004...
panel to talk about the upcoming Mass Effect film and Walters sitting on the Dark Horse Comics panel. At Gamescon 2011, a new trailer was released demonstrating 50 seconds of combat gameplay. The game was also demoed at PAX Prime 2011.
On September 13, Casey Hudson posted to Twitter that the game was seeing signs of its final stage of production. A few days later, lead writer Mac Walters revealed that writing for the game was almost finished. Music started going into the game around the same time. On October 27, the development team transitioned into an "editing" stage where story elements were evaluated and key lines or scenes were re-written. Character lighting was being polished as of November 7.
Internal leaks and multiplayer
On October 3, a leaked South African advertisement hinted at multiplayer capabilities for Mass Effect 3. On October 10, multiple BioWare employees took to Twitter to announce that the game would have a multiplayer component. The announcement confirmed longstanding multiplayer rumors, stemming from a BioWare job listing in 2010 for someone to take Mass Effects "existing single player user experiences and make them multiplayer safe". On October 12, an official trailer for the multiplayer mode was released through BioWare Pulse. Soon after, it was reported that a demo for both multiplayer and single player modes would be released in January 2012.On November 4, a private beta of Mass Effect 3 became available on Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
. The beta was only available to players who signed up to beta test a new version of the Xbox 360 Dashboard. In a response from Jesse Houston, it was revealed that the leak was the result of "human error" at Microsoft. Houston stressed that the leaked code was in a rough, unfinished state not intended for public release. Despite BioWare's quick response, some fan videos still made their way to YouTube. From the beta, some information was extracted from game files that represented rough notes from early story drafts. In an interview conducted shortly after the leaked script was removed, BioWare co-founders Ray Muzyka
Ray Muzyka
Dr. Ray Muzyka is a Canadian entrepreneur. He is the CEO at BioWare Corp as well as a Senior Vice President and Group General Manager of the BioWare RPG/MMO Group of Electronic Arts at BioWare's parent company Electronic Arts.-Career:Muzyka co-founded BioWare in...
and Greg Zeschuk
Greg Zeschuk
Dr. Gregory P. Zeschuk is a VP and Group Creative Officer at BioWare Corp. and Electronic Arts. He co-founded BioWare in 1995 with BioWare’s other co-founder and Group GM/CEO, Dr...
revealed that feedback from fans who read it might be used to tweak the story before the game was released.
Audio
Mass Effect 3s music will be composed by Golden Globe-nominated composer Clint MansellClint Mansell
Clinton Darryl "Clint" Mansell, is an English musician, composer, and former lead singer and guitarist of the band Pop Will Eat Itself....
. Mansell first stated he would be scoring the game during an interview with The Quietus
The Quietus
The Quietus is a British online rock music and pop culture magazine, focusing on arts news, reviews, and features. The site is an editorially independent publication led by John Doran and a group of freelance journalists and critics, some of whom have worked for other media outlets...
on February 9, 2011. Electronic Arts officially announced his involvement shortly thereafter with a Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
post. Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 composer Jack Wall
Jack Wall (composer)
Jack Wall is an American video game music composer. He has worked on video game music for over 20 games including the Myst franchise, Splinter Cell, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect...
will have no involvement with the production of Mass Effect 3 due to undetailed and "complicated" reasons.
Mass Effect 3s weapon audio is being redesigned and refined. BioWare's audio team has been in discussion with other EA studios, including DICE, in order to improve their combat soundscape. The game will have 40,000 lines of recorded dialog; twice as much as the first game and almost twice as much as the second game.
Release
Numerous gaming websites have called Mass Effect 3 one of the most anticipated games of 2011, with IGN ranking it number one in their "Top 10 Xbox 360 Games of 2011" column. Following the 2011 E3 Convention, IGN nominated the game for Best Role-Playing Game and Most Anticipated Game, and EEDAR called it the most promising retail title of 2011. In an interview with Computer and Videogames, BioWare marketing director David Silverman went so far as to call Mass Effect 3 the "best game we've ever made".Marketing
Mass Effect 3 will be released in multiple editions. Alongside the regular edition, there will also be a collector's edition and a digitalDigital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
deluxe edition, each of which will include bonus content and unlockable items; most notably, four exclusive weapons found in the N7 Arsenal Pack. The digital deluxe edition will be exclusively available through Origin, EA's rebranded PC game store.
BioWare has announced they will be adding the female version of Commander Shepard to the series' marketing. Often referred to as "FemShep", she will be featured in an upcoming trailer for the game and grace the cover of the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector's Edition. To help decide the official female Shepard model, BioWare let fans choose between five prototypes on Facebook. Eventually, the fifth prototype won and a new fan vote was held to decide its hair color, which ended up being red.
New copies of Mass Effect 3 will include an online pass
Online pass
In the video game industry, an online pass is a form of digital rights management for video games with online functionality. Online passes are commonly in the form of a single-use serial code found in a game's manual . Although they are used to unlock content for a game, online passes are often...
which, upon activation, allows buyers access to the online multiplayer mode. Buyers that purchase the game used will be required to pay an additional fee to obtain their own online pass if they want to play the game online. The online pass players receive from new copies of the game Battlefield 3
Battlefield 3
Battlefield 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by EA Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released in North America on October 25, 2011 and in Europe on October 28, 2011 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and EA Mobile confirmed a port for...
will also unlock early access to Mass Effect 3s online multiplayer demo.
GB Eye has signed the rights to produce official 2D and 3D posters, stickers, badges and temporary tattoos for both Bioware games Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age 3. Retailers such as Chips and HMV
HMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...
stock GB’s posters. "Our goods can add value to other sales with minimal space," GB Eye’s licensing manager Max Arguile told MCV.