Mass Effect 3 could be the most forgiving Mass Effect yet. Recognising that a hefty percentage of series fans aren't at all fussed about combat, and that a similarly hefty percentage couldn't give a monkey's for the on-going narrative, BioWare has cooked up "Action" and "Story" modes that let you streamline one or the other aspect of the experience.
It's a more flexible and accommodating, gentler breed of action-RPG than you may be used to. But just because it's potentially the most forgiving Mass Effect, doesn't mean it's not also the most punishing. Penetrate past the fluffier title options and you'll encounter the grim, wrist-shattering majesty that is BioWare's revamped Insanity Mode. As part of issue 82's hands-on, we spoke to lead designer Preston Watamaniuk about how Mass Effect 3's tougher difficulties will squeeze your lemons till the pips squeak.
Insanity, on the other hand, will hand you your arse on the point of an Omni-blade if you're fuzzy on the difference between Singularity and Carnage. When we reflected that there seemed to be more demand for powers during our hands-on, Watamanuik cautioned us: "you'll notice that if you play on Insanity, that sort of general rule of thumb is even harsher. You'd better be doing everything well, or you'll die."
Rather than simply fattening health, armour and shield bars, BioWare has come up with different, more elaborate and more testing AI models for Insanity players. The inspiration came partly from the audience, partly from Watamanuik's peers. "I had a lead designer for another game write to say 'make Insanity harder!' And I was like "OK!" This was a really well-known and respected guy, so I was like 'OK, I'll do my best.'
"We really thought about it hard. On Normal you'll be able to power your way through the game or shoot your way through the game, but when you try Hardcore or Insanity, you're not going to be able to do that any more."
Turning off auto power usage for allies may be advisable; nothing kills squad morale like finding your best Biotic has dropped a telepathic nuke on a single, wayward foe, leaving you to fight the remaining half-dozen using guns alone. "If you're just into pure mayhem, on Normal you can get away with that. I find that on Insanity, it's a little harder. Like, I wish I had Liara's Warp right now, but she's already cast something. So on Insanity I prefer to turn it off and keep full control.
If you're worrying that signing up to Insanity is obligatory to appreciate all that Mass Effect 3 has to offer, don't. Combat has become more tactical across the board, whether it takes you one shot to down a Cerberus trooper or 20.
Pecking at the opposition from cover, for instance, won't be as easily abused a trick as it was in Mass Effect 2. "We've tried to make it so that it just feels like if you're working the problem, using all your squad, all your powers, picking the right guns, you're going to get through that combat. It's not going to be 'I sat in cover and popped out five or six times to use powers and stuff'."
Mass Effect 3's Shepard is a nimble beast, as BioWare continues to learn lessons from other shooters. "There's all the cover mobility, there's increased mobility in and out of cover, like being able to Storm out of cover, roll into cover, roll out of cover, a lot more agility around that.
Weapon modifications, another new feature, will mesh with powers for the ultimate tactical payout. "We have more involved powers, power combos, mods and the mods interact with the powers. Being able to take a Claymore shotgun and put a shredder mod that allows you to penetrate through enemies, and then you put Cryo ammo on top of that, and all of a sudden you can pull the trigger once and blow four husks away."
"It's just real focus - we've had a guy full-time on the project doing nothing but working with cover animation from day one, making that feel really really good. And another guy full-time just on creatures, from day one. Those guys have worked on nothing else for the entire game, so it's really paid off."
Look out for more on Mass Effect 3 all through the week, including BioWare commentary on the new Normandy and Citadel, our thoughts on how returning Mass Effect characters will evolve, and pointers for the upcoming Mass Effect 3 demo.
14 comments so far...
Plamsa wing on 30 Jan '12 said:
"Recognising that a hefty a percentage of series fans aren't at fussed about combat, and that a similarly hefty percentage couldn't give a monkey's for the on-going narrative, BioWare has cooked up "Action" and "Story" modes that let you streamline one or the other aspect of the experience."
Hang on, don't care about the story? I'm sorry but if you don't care about the Mass Effect story then it really isn't a game for you. Why even have three separate modes?
As a big fan of Mass Effect and Bioware, i'm really starting to worry about the direction they're heading after the disappointment that was "Dragon Age" 2. I'm also starting to worry whether joining EA was a good idea too.
Organic Carrot on 30 Jan '12 said:
I honestly can't wait for this game to come out. ME 1 and 2 were both brilliant.
Bezza89 on 30 Jan '12 said:
I think they get the percentages from in-game as well, I played through ME2 around 4 times, but after my first playthrough I tend to skip a bit of dialogue to keep things moving along - unfortunately this probably makes them think that I don't care about dialogue - especially seeing as I've only been online since summer 2010 - not even getting my first playthrough into their data.
Anyway, it best be as awesome as Casey Hudson suggested that 'one time'
otherwise Snake is going to be my best friend indefinitely.
bamozzy on 30 Jan '12 said:
Is this my most eagerly anticipated and wanted game of 2012.... I think it is!!!!!!
On a separate note PLEASE sort out your video player!!!! I have to go to youtube to watch videos without them lagging or not even playing at all!!!!
Clanger67 on 30 Jan '12 said:
Surely an rpg series is all about on going narrative.How many people playing skyrim don't give a shit about the rest of the series and the stories that have been before.
bamozzy on 30 Jan '12 said:
Surely the STORY is the most IMPORTANT aspect of Mass Effect!!!! There are other games for combat!!!!
Personally I hope the Story mode is equivalent to playing the game on an 'Easy' mode and Action maybe like playing it on 'Normal' or even 'Hard' difficulty setting with better AI and maybe more enemies but still includes ALL the story and dialogue options!!!!
johnafirth on 30 Jan '12 said:
Yeah, that had me wondering too. Are CVG just cribbing from EA's memos?
Oh, and it's a game, not an "experience" CVG. Stop using buzzwords that mean nothing.
Bezza89 on 30 Jan '12 said:
Dude... oxm website!
OXM JamSponge on 30 Jan '12 said:
Experience is hardly a buzzword, John. The option to focus on action in Mass Effect 3 isn't about skipping the dialogue, it's about offering a mode where the game just chooses for you. I won't go anywhere near it, but know plenty of gamers who just want to be told a story rather than having to be a part of it. None of this gets in the way of the main game, but it might mean that more people check it out. More people buying Mass Effect games = more new Mass Effect games. I'm down with that.
CunningSmile on 30 Jan '12 said:
That isn't a new feature. Shouldn't it read 'Weapon modifications, a feature Bioware removed whilst castrating everything RPG from ME2, has been put back in because they realised they cocked up massively..."?
Bezza89 on 30 Jan '12 said:
I agree and disagree, the weapon mods were in ME1, but they are talking about scopes and stuff that go on the weapon, rather than ammo type which was in ME2 as powers and the other ones which changed the amount of ammo/accuracy which was dropped in favour of thermal clips. I'd like to have more armour mods, as the ones you could buy in the shops were a bit rare.
Plamsa wing on 30 Jan '12 said:
While i'll be playing on "RPG" mode only. I'm worried about people playing on "action" mode will argue that it's the "canon" story. Which considering Mass Effect is about choices and their consequences will just piss me off. Alot.
It's for that very reason why I play Mass Effect, sure my main "canon" Shepard has the deafult male face, but I just don't want the story I chose for MY Shepard to become obsolete.
Clanger67 on 30 Jan '12 said:
Good old EA we are the massive publisher that has been around since B.C 300 let's keep giving fans of the series exactly what they want,NOT,lol.
CHIEFRAPTOR on 30 Jan '12 said:
I'm sort of glad that they are making insanity harder because on ME2 i found that as long as i was in cover i was usually finr. As soon as my shield dropped i just activated geth shield boost and i'd be fine. I'm happy as long as increasing difficulty doesn't = spamming of grenades "cough" call of duty "cough"