Mass Effect 3 Preview and Screenshots

Not only do we have eight new Mass Effect 3 screenshots to point you to over at PC Gamer, but there’s also a new three-page preview of BioWare’s threequel to sift through over at NowGamer.

Unlike Mass Effect 2’s unknown suicide mission, this time it’s clear what has to be accomplished, but that doesn’t necessarily make it any easier. Shepard is going to have to convince the rest of the universe that their only chance of survival is to come together in some sort of post-Star Wars Rebellion conglomerate.

With Earth in the firing line, the stakes couldn’t be higher and the connotations are clear: this is humanities extinction level event; this is death, and considering Shepard has both died and been resurrected once already, BioWare’s canvas is bigger and bolder than ever previously hinted at.

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Firefights are set to become more tactical affairs, with a spotlight on individual, logical weak points such as a mech’s glass cockpit. Shepard’s enemies human, alien and Reaper will exhibit the kind of AI that works as a collective unit, with class-specific enemies each performing unique roles in an attempt to flush Shepard into the open.

Just as Gears Of War 3 is shaking up its firmly established cover-based shooting by introducing dynamic enemies that deliberately use the environments to go against player’s expectation, Mass Effect 3 is hoping to surprise you.

The Reapers themselves are almost unfair in their ability to work together to combat Shepard and his team. Husks, which will act as ‘˜cover busters’, will pair up with others to act as suppressors, and before Shepard realises what’s happening, they’ll usurp his position. On paper, it sounds a lot more like the way Halo’s hierarchical A.I. works.