Mass Effect 3 - Multiplayer Roundup

It plays, no surprise, a bit like the Horde mode popularized by Gears of War, but with role-playing game leveling. There is no multiplayer conversation, no multiplayer morality decisions (and no multiplayer Mass Effect romance—I asked!). There is, however, all of Mass Effect's evolving, improving combat. You play in third-person, utilizing the kind of guns and powers you would in single-player Mass Effect. You gain experience points for kills and completion of objectives, and you can spend those points leveling up your character's powers just as you would Shepard and her squadmates in the single-player game. Each class has their own specialties. Each race has some unique abilities.

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Think, Left 4 Dead, but you don’t go anywhere, and you can’t pick up weapons, and, er, it’s got four players. The level we played was set on a fairly generic, grey-and-white multi-level platforms, interior and exterior. It was certainly unremarkable. But quickly the four of us – three games hacks and a BioWare employee – were being attacked by waves of Reapers and Geth.
Waves is the key here. It’s about surviving as many waves as you can, before your inevitable death. The more of them you survive, and the more you get done, the more points you get to carry over to your SP story. Which lends it the arcade-feel that ensures it knows its place.

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Whether you agree that premise justifies the inclusion of a fully-fledged four-player co-op multiplayer mode comes down to personal feelings. By focusing on the numerous races and classes of the Mass Effect universe – and excluding Shepard from the multiplayer action entirely – Bioware is at least ensuring that the new mode does not undermine the carefully crafted fiction and all important narrative of Mass Effect’s universe.

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Anthony Gallegos, PC Editor: I've heard people talk about how they wanted Mass Effect co-op gameplay, but I don't think that this is exactly what they had in mind. Granted, a campaign where two people are making decisions would probably be a nightmare to design, but this new mode focuses on the part of Mass Effect I've always enjoyed the least: the combat. The new melee attacks and tighter shooting helps, but I'm not sure how interested I'll be in sinking hours into a mode that's all about fighting. Am I being a bit too hard on it?

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But the 'Galaxy at War' mechanic doesn't just take place in the single-player. Instead, it appears to play out like one gigantic, universe-wide game of Risk - in essence 'framing' the solo adventure. The shots we were shown (but, sadly, weren't allowed to leave with) did bring to mind the classic board game, with green territories repre-senting captured assets, amber colours representing those hanging in the balance - and red pointing out Reaper/Cerberus-controlled zones.

"This is a concept that has never been done before in games, ever," reckons Hudson. "Not simply a story device, it's fundamental to the game. For the first time, wherever you go - online, mobile, on social networks - you'll be able to follow your progress. You'll never have to leave the Mass Effect experience."

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"It's a fun and novel way to increase that number and open things up by having a diverse range of experiences," Flynn explained. "At the same time, you don...More information.

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"It's a fun and novel way to increase that number and open things up by having a diverse range of experiences," Flynn explained. "At the same time, you don't need to. You can stick to the single-player campaign. I'm sure there are a lot of completists out there who want to do that. They'll have amazing experiences and they'll get to see all the cool stuff they want to see just by doing single-player stuff.

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Alrik Fassbauer said:

What's this "horde mode" of Gears Of War I often read about, actually ?

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