Mass Effect 3's multiplayer offering - 12 January 2012

9:06:48 PM Mass Effect 3's multiplayer offering
Mass Effect 3's multiplayer offering -- at least from what we've seen and played -- consists of special co-op missions that can accommodate up to four players. Waves of enemies are dispatched, similar to Gears of War's Horde Mode, and it's up to your team to survive as you accomplish various cursory tasks. Taking cover. All six of Mass Effect's core classes are represented in co-op, and you'll be able to play as various races, too. Leaderboard competition isn't the only name of the game with Mass Effect 3's multiplayer, though. Multiplayer progress will somehow affect the single-player game, though exactly how remains to be seen apart from the possibility of shared experience points. In addition to being able to use familiar skills (my Soldier was outfitted with Adrenaline Rush, Concussive Shot and the like), players will be able to buff-out specialized multiplayer skill trees using earned experience points. I reached as far as wave five during my time with the game and was indeed able to upgrade categories such as Combat Mastery and Fitness. That's about all we know about Mass Effect 3's multiplayer right now, but since two of us were lucky to play it, we figured that a conversation about what it was like playing and what we did and didn't like would be more instructive than your typical catch-all preview. Below is a conversation that fleshes out the way we both feel about what we saw and played. Anthony Gallegos, PC Editor: I've heard people talk about how they wanted Mass Effect co-op gameplay, but I don't think that this is exactly what they had in mind. Granted, a campaign where two people are making decisions would probably be a nightmare to design, but this new mode focuses on the part of Mass Effect I've always enjoyed the least: the combat. The new melee attacks and tighter shooting helps, but I'm not sure how interested I'll be in sinking hours into a mode that's all about fighting. Am I being a bit too hard on it? Shepard battling, multiplayer style. Colin Moriarty, PlayStation Editor I don't think you are. Any sort of multiplayer in Mass Effect is the exact last thing just about anyone was clamoring for, and I was really hoping that BioWare would keep the sanctity of this being a single-player series, even in a world that seems to demand more and more multiplayer-centric features. To me, what we played reeked a bit of Mass Effect's version of Horde Mode from Gears of War 3, except not nearly as fun or fluid. The thing is, could what we saw and played actually have the potential to catch gamers by surprise? Is this something that Mass Effect fans are actually bound to enjoy? Anthony: Well, I think that they could; you and I walked away from it with mixed feelings, but I'd say we both had fun. It isn't the reason you and I would play Mass Effect 3, but it does serve a purpose. Each four-player mission has objectives, and completing the objectives yields valuable resources that your Shephard can make use of in the campaign. It definitely seems like a more entertaining way to do farming than scanning planets and launching probes, but ultimately I'm not sure the fun we had is enough to make us play it instead of one of the many other cooperative shooters. Besides, that would mean I'd have to tear myself away from the campaign mode. It's nothing personal, Colin, I just don't want to talk to anyone at all when I'm playing Mass Effect 3. That series has always been something I play alone and completely zone out with. I guess the thing that could make me change my mind about playing multiplayer is whether or not it feels necessary. For instance, the official website for Mass Effect 3 says that how you do in multiplayer will directly affect the outcome of your single-player game. If that's the case, I might play multiplayer to make sure I get the best possible ending. I would be pretty upset if they made multiplayer essential for something like keeping all your crew alive, but it would be enough to goad me into giving it another shot. A fierce firefight. Colin: Anthony, I think you hit the nail on the head when you talked about possibly having to play multiplayer to unleash what's best about Mass Effect 3's single-player campaign. Obviously, that's just conjecture right now, but you're right: if Mass Effect 3's multiplayer offering in any way affects the campaign other than perhaps some ancillary perks and things that don't really mean much to the overarching experience and narrative, that to me is a huge negative regardless of how good multiplayer may end up being. I also agree with your notion of not wanting to speak to other people when playing Mass Effect. That resonates with me, because I feel the same way. Mass Effect is about Shepard, it's about the story, it's about the characters and locations and the insanely-detailed fictional lore that permeates every aspect of the game. I just can't comprehend why this mode exists, but I'm willing to give EA and BioWare more time to show me what's what. But to be honest, I just wasn't that impressed with what we played. It's the "Galaxy at War" motif that BioWare is pressing that has me intrigued, because I suppose that there are stories to tell and battles to be fought away from Shepard and his crew. But if that's so, how could multiplayer in particular be wrapped back into the narrative and somehow become consequential? I just don't want an experience that's going to suffer if you don't give multiplayer a shot. It needs to be totally segregated, Uncharted 2 and 3 style. The galactic war brews in co-op. Anthony: Totally. I feel like the thing that was missing from ME3's multiplayer was more story. Maybe there's more to be seen, but what we saw gave us only the most basic premise and set us out on "missions." The missions, though, felt more like a kill everything that moves affair. Yes, objectives exist to complete, but all the sessions we played just had us fighting until we reached a terminal or other object that we would then hold X on. I play Mass Effect for the story sequences, those moments where I get to choose how I react to another character's dialogue. I know that Bioware can do multiplayer dialogue sequences -- just see their upcoming MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic -- so it'd be nice to see more story integrated into the missions down the line. We both had fun shooting, but that's in a situation where we were both playing it for this story. My first impression of the multiplayer remains positive in the sense of its combat mechanics, but ambivalent as far as how much I'm actually going to play. Am I missing anything, Colin? Colin: I don't think you're missing anything, though I think it's worth noting that you and I had a conversation last month right after playing it about the way the game actually felt. To me, it didn't quite feel like Mass Effect. There was latency issues, stuttering animations, questionable AI... kinks that definitely need to be worked out. I know you didn't quite agree with my assessment in this regard, but I think it's safe to say that on the technical front, there's work to be done here. Would you agree? I also can't help but wonder if it was this mode that was the reason Mass Effect 3 was delayed... or if EA did the smart thing and got it out of this especially heinous 2011 holiday season. Either way, I'm thankful that they pushed it out... I can barely find time to scratch my backlog. Anthony: Yeah, we experienced some technical issues, but I'm willing to give them a break on that since the game is still several months out. Besides, I don't think the technical issues would matter if it felt like something we just couldn't keep from playing. The original Mass Effect had technical issues, for instance, but everyone went with them because the gameplay was just too awesome. Ultimately, I think ME3's multiplayer is a wait and see affair, an extra mode that just doesn't feel essential yet.
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