Mass Effect 3 Hands-On Preview

This year at New York Comic Con, a demo of Mass Effect 3 was made available.  The line to play Bioware’s third game in the epic trilogy practically wrapped around Microsoft’s entire booth, but was well worth the wait to finally go hands-on with the highly anticipated sequel to the blockbuster game, Mass Effect 2.

Players were able to complete the demo level shown earlier this year at E3, in which Commander Shepard fights off incoming squads of Cerberus soldiers in order to protect a female Krogan.  At the start screen players were given the choice to play one of three classes: Soldier, Engineer, and Sentinel.  This gave con-goes the opportunity to try a variety of different abilities ranging from the soldier’s combat-focused powers, to the Engineer’s tech abilities, or the Sentinel’s mix of tech and biotic powers.  I personally chose the Sentinel in order to try out the tech-biotic hybrid.

The new leveling system feels a lot more customizable than it was in the previous two Mass Effect games.  When you upgrade an ability you get a choice of how you want to enhance it.  For example, when leveling up your Tech Armor, you would be given the choice between spending your hard earned points on recharge speed or strength.  This goes for every ability, making for a much more customizable experience.  The game’s controls are practically identical to that of the combat-heavy Mass Effect 2, although new gameplay elements are incorporated into the existing control scheme.  Now you have the ability to roll out of cover, or even hold down the melee button to activate the new Omni-Blade attack.  You’ll have to watch out though, as your enemies have access to new melee and movement abilities as well.  The only complaint I have is a minor one, being that sensitivity on the thumbsticks seems extremely high although my settings were at “low.”  This could be a number of things, including possible wear and tear on the controller itself though.

Getting the chance to play Mass Effect 3 this past weekend, months before it comes out, was an amazing experience.  The level was very well polished, and I can only hope that every aspect of the final game will be as much fun as the mission I got to play.  Bioware has really nailed the combat and movement systems, the new leveling structure, as well as the ability to customize weapons will undoubtedly make Mass Effect 3 a successor over the critically acclaimed Mass Effect 2.