Mass Effect 3

[OmegaSlayer]

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.

This is one of the games I wait most.
Mass Effect 2 was totally brilliant and engaging.
Fun enough and with a really good story.
It sucks so much we PS3 owners were deprived of Mass Effect 1, but at least we can play part 3 that is going to rock and it has a quite cool multiplayer functions.
Also...it looks amazing!

[Lordwarblade]

Wow looks cool. I never played the first two though my brother has them on Xbox and is a big fan.
I keep meaning to play number 2 but never get around to it but this one i might have a go at seeing as it looks amazing.

[OmegaSlayer]

I had 3 complete playthroughs for Mass Effect 2, and each one rounds around 40 hours with all the side missions.
It's epic.
Doesn't count as GOTY since it has been technically released in 2010 on 360, but ME2 so far has been one of the best game I played this year, and one of the landmarks of this gen.

[OCK]

With the many games I have bought this year I completely forgot that ME2 was released in 2011, seems so long ago, guess I have to revise the top 5 I told you about lol. ME2 is another one of those games this year worthy of the title masterpiece and I expect very big things from ME3. Horde mode seems OK but this game is all about the SP experience

[RockSauron]

Can't wait either

However... It seems that someone leaked tons of spoilers about ME3. So, for your own sake... STAY AWAY from the main website, or hell, any other mass effect board. I haven't looked at anything myself but I saw someone else tell me so, so I won't ruin the story for me. Anyway, just a bit of warning, stay away from anything mass effect because some idiot is apparently leaking spoilers.

anywayz... ya, can't wait. ;o

[Rpg Maker]

Yea I am not reading anything on Mass Effect 3, I didnt for the previous games and I am really excited for it. All I need to know is the release date lol

[Rabid-Coot]

However... It seems that someone leaked tons of spoilers about ME3.

Someone being a Microsoft employee and spoilers being a private testing version. http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/11/...mass-effect-3/

[RockSauron]

Someone being a Microsoft employee and spoilers being a private testing version. http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/11/...mass-effect-3/

No, I mean besides the beta leak. Someone started leaking actual story files, so if you actually care about the story (and if you didn't you wouldn't be excited for Mass Effect 3), just stay away. FOR YOUR OWN GOOD

[Testudini]

I RAISE THEE THREAD TO LIVE AMONG THE LIVING ONCE AGAIN

So Merc convinced me to play through ME1 and ME2, so this game is now relevant to my interests. Any word on when the demo is coming out?

[SnipySev]

My love for Mass Effect dies piece by piece each time I see they made the game less RPG and more 3rd person shooter.
ME1 started off too much of a grind and with too many useless RPG elements that dragged the progression down... omni-gel, craploads o' biotic amps and weapon add-ons that made too little difference, sidequests relying too much on exploring desolate planets with the Mako, only about half a dozen "main" missions, etc. Then ME2 came out and the RPG half was reduced to simply having RPG elements. Having more action and excitement was nice, but not having to upgrade weapon proficiency and social/hacking skills? Reducing the skill points to a tiny 4x4 grid? Come on. This isn't a TPS/RPG hybrid, this has become a TPS with a few RPG elements.

Back when ME2 was about to come out, I saw trailers about the dialogue system, one vid presenting each class, and so on. And in the trailers for ME3 I only see shooting, shooting, shooting, shooting, stabbing with hologram-omni-tool-thingy, shooting. So I feel like it's getting even more dumbed down, which is disappointing. I'll still buy it because I'm a sucker for anything sci-fi that can fill the hole Star Wars has left in my soul, but my enthusiasm about this franchise isn't the same as when I heard ME2 was coming for the PS3.

[SnipySev]

I've been thinking how ME1 and ME2 compare story-wise. I hope ME3's story is more like the one of the first game rather than the second.

See, Mass Effect 1's story had it all. The mistery and intrigue about Sovereign's origin and Saren's role. The slightly Lovecraftian despair of facing off against forces much greater than ourselves, cosmic entities whose motives and nature we can't hope to understand. The drama caused by the brave sacrifice of a friend and fellow soldier. The slow but steady beginning of a romantic relationship with a fellow squad member. The shocking plot twist when we discover the Reapers' intentions of conquering organic life in an endless cycle. It was a perfect story.

Mass Effect 2 postponed the Reaper affair so we could fight their not-so-menacing minions. So much for the dread set up by the Sovereign in the first game. ME2's story could be summed up as "let's form a team of badasses, invade the enemy's base, shoot everything that moves, plant an effing bomb and escape just in time to watch an explosion that'd put Michael Bay to shame". Drama? Shepard's death stops mattering after the first half hour and the death of squadmates doesn't cause nearly as much impact as Kaidan or Ash dying in ME1. Romance? Instead of the much more developed and drawn-out relationships you had in ME1, you just get to bang any squad member of the opposite sex as long as you pick the right 3 or 4 dialogue lines throughout the game. And the best plot twist they came up with was the collectors' true origin.

Mass Effect 2's story is the tasteless and dry crackers to Mass Effect 1's rich and yummy cannelloni. I hope ME3's plot isn't dumbed down as the other aspects of the series have been.

[OmegaSlayer]

Demo in 2 weeks.

The more I grow old and the less I can play due to work, the more I appreciate no frills game, when you don't have to set up equip and stats in order to survive, and just play and rely on your skills.
I didn't play ME1, shame is not on PS3, I have it for PC but my portable PC hasn't got a supported video card (FUUUUUU) but I found ME2 totally enjoyable for the, imho, balanced time between RPG and action elements.

[SnipySev]

I'd recommned you to borrow a 360 or something to play the first game. I also had problems with playing it on my laptop, but it was something I had to do. It's not easy entering the convoluted ME universe without being properly introduced.

On one hand, ME1 is much more of a 3rd person shooter/RPG hybrid than ME2 is. You can carry whatever weapon you want but you have to evolve your skills with them to use them properly. One fun thing ME1 had (and similar to the original Deus Ex) was that at the beginning of the game you can't shoot a dishwasher 5 metres away, and by the middle of the game (if you evolved the respective weapon skill) you aim is flawless. The skill grid is enormous and you have to evolve weapon proficiency, social skills and hacking like in a proper RPG. And like in a proper RPG, you can't hope to evolve every skill so you have to choose very carefully because a character with too thinly spread skill points isn't any good.

On the other hand, ME2's combat is much better, much more action-oriented and without all the redundant stuff, but it's only considered an RPG because there's dialogue options and the progression is based on quests. The actual RPG part which is evolving and customizing your character is almost completely gone. Armor sets have been replaced by mere accessories, the big skill grid that offered freedom of choice is replaced by class-specific skills that will be fully upgraded by 3/4 of the game. Everything has been dumbed down.

If you like action oriented games, you'll like ME2 more. If you prefer action RPG's, you'll like ME1 more. Me, I just wish Bioware had removed ME1's boring and redundant mechanics but still preserved the RPG aspects.

[Testudini]

I'd recommned you to borrow a 360 or something to play the first game. I also had problems with playing it on my laptop, but it was something I had to do. It's not easy entering the convoluted ME universe without being properly introduced.

On one hand, ME1 is much more of a 3rd person shooter/RPG hybrid than ME2 is. You can carry whatever weapon you want but you have to evolve your skills with them to use them properly. One fun thing ME1 had (and similar to the original Deus Ex) was that at the beginning of the game you can't shoot a dishwasher 5 metres away, and by the middle of the game (if you evolved the respective weapon skill) you aim is flawless. The skill grid is enormous and you have to evolve weapon proficiency, social skills and hacking like in a proper RPG. And like in a proper RPG, you can't hope to evolve every skill so you have to choose very carefully because a character with too thinly spread skill points isn't any good.

On the other hand, ME2's combat is much better, much more action-oriented and without all the redundant stuff, but it's only considered an RPG because there's dialogue options and the progression is based on quests. The actual RPG part which is evolving and customizing your character is almost completely gone. Armor sets have been replaced by mere accessories, the big skill grid that offered freedom of choice is replaced by class-specific skills that will be fully upgraded by 3/4 of the game. Everything has been dumbed down.

If you like action oriented games, you'll like ME2 more. If you prefer action RPG's, you'll like ME1 more. Me, I just wish Bioware had removed ME1's boring and redundant mechanics but still preserved the RPG aspects.

Well, from what I read they're intending to merge ME2's action elements and ME1's RPG elements.

[SnipySev]

Oh how I rejoyce to hear that.

Now I only need to know if you can choose whatever weapon loadout independently of player class and the inclusion of weapon proficiency and I'll be 100% ecstatic about this game.