Ran through the Mass Effect 3 demo not too long ago.
It plays a lot like Mass Effect 2 from what I can see. Unfortunately for these large RPGs, a demo doesn't do it enough justice. It was mainly showcasing combat, which is essentially the same as Mass Effect 2. There was some leveling to be done but it's much better to see over the course of an entire game then throwing you a bunch of points at a random level.
You also can't transfer your ME2 save data here. You choose most of your basic characteristics though. Gender, backstory, and who died (you can choose Kaiden, Ashley, or numerous deaths if you lost members in the ME2 finale). There's also options for basically no dialogue options, everything is done in cutscenes, some middle option that I chose, and the "RPG option" when I obviously didn't. You can also choose class and I chose Vanguard.
First section was the intro to the game. It was basically the tutorial and it showed off the opening stage of the game. Since I'm assuming you all finished Mass Effect 2, I'll just not give a shit about spoilers. Basically Reapers touch down on Earth and after getting to the Normandy, you are sent to the Citadel to unite the alien races against them. I noticed you're introduced to Vega, the latest addition to the cast, but he's not really introduced. It's you and Anderson for the demo (no, Anderson is not a teammate, he's only on for the demo).
Second part is a bit farther into the game (they auto level you to level 12) where you're essentially getting one of the only fertile Krogan females to Wrex so he can rumpy pumpy with her. Talk about a wingman. But yeah, you go to a Solarian (spelling?) facility to retrieve her, only for Cerberus to attack. You get Garrus and Liara on your team, with Mordin being the scientist with the Krogan. You help Morgan transfer her to the ship, killing Cerberus troops along the way, eventually facing off with a mech. You also can level your character, which seems pretty basic. You get a bunch of different skills to level, from weapon proficiency to biotics. There's a skill tree for each skill, requiring certain points to level up that skill, and eventually splitting into two paths of your choice. You'll level up about twice in this section as well.
One thing I noticed was the lack of the Omniblade. They taught a basic melee attack with B and a stronger one that drains your shields by holding B. I saw no tutorial on Omniblade usage. Maybe I'm missing something or maybe it's class tied?
I really liked how the set up the experience though. It definitely feels more lively than ME2 and the original. The first level saw Reapers attacking in the background, buildings collapsing, stuff like that. It's not exactly Call of Duty but it feels a little more actiony, which I enjoy.
The multiplayer launches on Friday and all Xbox 360 players get access to Gold membership for a limited time because of it. I'll certainly be giving it a go with a few friends.
It plays a lot like Mass Effect 2 from what I can see. Unfortunately for these large RPGs, a demo doesn't do it enough justice. It was mainly showcasing combat, which is essentially the same as Mass Effect 2. There was some leveling to be done but it's much better to see over the course of an entire game then throwing you a bunch of points at a random level.
You also can't transfer your ME2 save data here. You choose most of your basic characteristics though. Gender, backstory, and who died (you can choose Kaiden, Ashley, or numerous deaths if you lost members in the ME2 finale). There's also options for basically no dialogue options, everything is done in cutscenes, some middle option that I chose, and the "RPG option" when I obviously didn't. You can also choose class and I chose Vanguard.
First section was the intro to the game. It was basically the tutorial and it showed off the opening stage of the game. Since I'm assuming you all finished Mass Effect 2, I'll just not give a shit about spoilers. Basically Reapers touch down on Earth and after getting to the Normandy, you are sent to the Citadel to unite the alien races against them. I noticed you're introduced to Vega, the latest addition to the cast, but he's not really introduced. It's you and Anderson for the demo (no, Anderson is not a teammate, he's only on for the demo).
Second part is a bit farther into the game (they auto level you to level 12) where you're essentially getting one of the only fertile Krogan females to Wrex so he can rumpy pumpy with her. Talk about a wingman. But yeah, you go to a Solarian (spelling?) facility to retrieve her, only for Cerberus to attack. You get Garrus and Liara on your team, with Mordin being the scientist with the Krogan. You help Morgan transfer her to the ship, killing Cerberus troops along the way, eventually facing off with a mech. You also can level your character, which seems pretty basic. You get a bunch of different skills to level, from weapon proficiency to biotics. There's a skill tree for each skill, requiring certain points to level up that skill, and eventually splitting into two paths of your choice. You'll level up about twice in this section as well.
One thing I noticed was the lack of the Omniblade. They taught a basic melee attack with B and a stronger one that drains your shields by holding B. I saw no tutorial on Omniblade usage. Maybe I'm missing something or maybe it's class tied?
I really liked how the set up the experience though. It definitely feels more lively than ME2 and the original. The first level saw Reapers attacking in the background, buildings collapsing, stuff like that. It's not exactly Call of Duty but it feels a little more actiony, which I enjoy.
The multiplayer launches on Friday and all Xbox 360 players get access to Gold membership for a limited time because of it. I'll certainly be giving it a go with a few friends.
