Mass Effect 3 Preview

RPGSite’s editor-in-chief Alex Donaldson had the chance to play Mass Effect 3 at GamesCom and lets us know his thoughts on BioWare’s sci-fi title in this hands-on preview, coming to the conclusion that Commander Shepard’s final adventure “seems to be edging closer to the first game more than the second”. Here’s a sampling:

The weapons and powers with which you can do that have been changed significantly from Mass Effect 2, with the notable decision being made to unlock all weapons for all classes. Previously only the soldier could wield all of the weapons on offer, but now every class can carry and use every type of weapon in the game.

Powers will still differentiate classes, but what will also show the differences in them is their melee attack. By holding B you can perform a cinematic takedown which is different for each class and has different effects on enemies depending on what you’re playing as.

We spoke a little about the upgraded powers in our E3 2011 preview, and nothing seems to have changed since that build. Rather than evolving once at the very end of the tree powers now evolve six times throughout that tree as you level up and pump your experience into them. A rep also told us that experience will be gained in a way more similar to the original Mass Effect rather than the mission-based experience of the second game, though we saw nothing to directly support that in the demo.

The deeper customization options in the powers come in the form of editing exactly how they do their job. Take the Soldier class-exclusive Adrenaline Rush power, which slows down time so you can pump shots into enemies. One branch in that tree sees the player having to choose between Dilation & Damage – how much extra damage you do while in the Rush and how much it slows time – and Hardening, which makes Shepard more immune to enemy damage while in Rush state.

Sentinel Players will face a choice between upgrading the Shield Boost and Increasing the Blast Radius of their Tech Armor power. Non-class powers and squad powers will have the same choices – Overload for example offers players the choice between a “Heavy Overload” and a “Chain Overload” variant at power level 3.