Mass Effect 3 Wii U Preview

I suppose there might be a few of our readers who are interested in grabbing a Wii U on launch or afterwards, and considering Mass Effect 3 seems to be one of the few role-playing games announced for it, it’s only fitting that we’d post about this hands-on preview of its Wii U port from Joystiq. Here’s an excerpt:

The Wii U version adds an exclusive weapon, the M-597 Ladon, to Shepard’s arsenal. It can target up to six enemies simultaneously (all marked in red on the HUD), and unleashes a barrage of devastating homing rockets once you pull the right trigger. The Wii U’s pad takes a few moments to get used to if you’re usually grafted to the Xbox 360 controller (the X button is where?), but once you’re up to speed you can glance down and use some of the new control options.

You can pause Mass Effect 3 to drag and drop icons from the weapon wheel, which encompasses all of the abilities you and your two squad mates can activate during battle, into a customizable set of eight hotkeys four on each side of the touchscreen. If you want to have Garrus send out a concussive shot, you just target an enemy and tap the appropriate icon as you play. Pressing an icon for Cryo or Disruptor ammo should also be a godsend if Shepard and co. retain their annoying habit of deactivating persistent powers every time they land somewhere new. Glancing down to find it can feel distracting, but I imagine you’ll be able to find the right spots without looking after some practice.