Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 3's Kinect integration was a genuine 'wow' moment in Microsoft's keynote. The ability to bark orders at squad mates completely revolutionises the RPG's combat by stripping away the need for the Power Wheel without compromising any of its features. Now more than ever, Mass Effect 3's moments of action resemble those of a fully-featured third-person-shooter.

The behind closed doors demo at EA's E3 booth skipped these additions entirely and focused on features long term fans are more familiar with. With no Kinect in sight, executive producer Casey Hudson talked us through two new areas. Stage one involved an assault on a Reaper base, with Shepard's ultimate goal being to destroy the facility for good.

Short but sweet sums this one up: Shepard opened a giant vault doorway built into the ground before painting the facility beneath with a laser. Moments later the Normandy dropped a missile barrage into the gaping hole, seemingly obliterating whatever was inside. If only things were that easy...

Not only did the Normandy's airstrike fail to kill the Reaper lurking underneath but it angered Shepard's deadliest foe and created a blast powerful enough to knock our hero down to the ground too. Cue the Commander running through ravished environments while dealing with squads of cunning assault troopers as well as one very grumpy Reaper.

Combat looks better than ever, with plenty of tactical rolls and smart cover usage on display from both sides. There was a big focus on melee kills too: Shepard loves nothing more than to run in close to an enemy, clock him around the chin with a rifle butt and then stab him in slow motion - from behind, no less - with the new omni-blade. It's brutal but effective stuff.

The level concluded with Shepard, still being dogged by the towering Reaper, leaping up to what appeared to be a fixed turret. It was indeed fixed, only onto a vehicle that soon took off and zipped away from the devastation. Naturally the Reaper gave chase until Shepard's on-rail cannons won the battle - the Reaper's glorious demise as spectacular as the explosion-filled pursuit itself.

From there Hudson turned the clock back for the second level of the show: back to a scene plucked from near the beginning of the game. Shepard was on trial on Earth just as the Reapers invaded and had to battle his way out of a collapsing city and ultimately make it off-world before succumbing to the Reaper threat. Here he paired up with Anderson and took in a brief panorama of the burning buildings before making a bee-line for the extraction point.

The journey from rooftop to safety involved many more battles with husks, troops and new mutations the 'cannibals'. Weapons looked to have been refined yet again - something confirmed when Shepard set down his gun onto a table and the screen switched to that of a weapon customisation menu. There were only space for a couple of attachments, but even the smallest modification changed the weapon's stats. Equip special ammunition, meanwhile, and a small holographic icon attaches itself to the side of Shepard's gun to remind players of their limited costly rounds.

The opening scene wasn't quite as impactful as Mass Effect 2's beginning (to be fair it's nigh on impossible to top the Normandy's shock destruction) but did still try to play with our feelings. Half-way to safety, Shepard found a small boy cowering in an air vent. Despite offering to help the child the boy ran off, only to reappear a few minutes later while boarding a transport ship that was blown out of the sky mere seconds after take-off. As Shepard - newly reinstated to his Commander post by Captain Anderson - looked away in horror we pondered whether or not better dialogue wheel options would have spared the boy his fiery doom. If so, Casey Hudson wouldn't spill the beans when quizzed... So impressive was the showing that Mass Effect 3 received the only round of applause of the day - something it fully deserved too. Even without factoring in the exclusive Kinect features, BioWare seems to have saved Mass Effect's best 'til last. A definite contender for E3 2011's most exciting game.