Mass Effect has arguably been one of the most influential franchises of the last few years. Combining an intergalactic soap-opera with intergalactic-shooting-people-in-the-face, it managed to tick everyone’s boxes, and aside from the reaction to its ending, the majority of fans were sorry to see it come to a conclusion.
The first choice for me was one of great importance. It could mean the difference between life and death, the destruction of a whole civilisation or the lives of my crew members. At least that’s how important it felt. The decision of course was whether I wanted to keep the original Shepard on the front cover of my Mass Effect 3 box or flip over to the rather sleek looking reversible FemShep cover on the other side. I may come across a bit of stick for this but I changed to the FemShep cover, I didn’t think I would but until I saw it with my own eyes I had all but dismissed how anyone could even look at her. And that’s the essence of Mass Effect really. You may have watched your friend play or seen video footage of the game but until you play and make the decisions for yourself and deal with the consequences in your own way you will never really have experienced what the game is all about and it will hold no personal meaning to you. …
A few days ago I got the chance to take an early look at the Mass Effect 3 single player demo and all the glory that came with it. An updated levelling system, sharp graphics and some heart pounding action were just some of the highlights. Having played it to death however, it was time to move onto the much discussed and awaited multilpayer side of the Mass Effect 3 demo which was made available on the 14th for anyone who owns a Battlefield 3 online pass and will be available on the 17th for everyone else. The demo consists of two maps, all six available classes, three challenge modes and includes access to Xbox Live Gold for use only with the Mass Effect 3 demo for a limited amount of time. Bioware have not confirmed how long the free Gold access will last but they have made it very clear that it will be available only within multiplayer portion of the Mass Effect 3 demo. …