Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 3 is the upcoming sequel to Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 developed by BioWare for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. It is intended to be the final game in the planned Mass Effect trilogy. The game was officially announced on December 11, 2010 at Spike's 2010 Video Game Awards.

Release
Mass Effect 3 will be released March 6, 2012, as announced during the E3 2011 Mass Effect 3 premiere.

Originally slated for 'Holiday 2011', it was stated in May 2011 that Mass Effect 3's release was pushed back to "[ensure] that it exceeds everyone's expectations" and "address a far larger market opportunity." Previously Ray Muzyka had stated that release timing would be based on maximising both "quality" and "commercial success".

BioWare is releasing a Collector's Edition of Mass Effect 3, the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector's Edition. This edition has numerous exclusive items, Downloadable Content, a free digital soundtrack, and an exclusive Xbox 360 Normandy Avatar Prop among other things.

Mass Effect 3 will be taking advantage of improvements made to Unreal Engine 3 for the Playstation 3 release of Mass Effect 2.

Fate of the Galaxy
The story is the 'epic conclusion' to the story started in Mass Effect and continued in Mass Effect 2, as well as the conclusion of Commander Shepard's story. The player's choices in the previous games are expected to have a much more significant impact on the plot than the choices in Mass Effect had on Mass Effect 2. As Mass Effect 3 is the end of the planned trilogy, the developers are not constrained by the necessity of allowing the story to diverge, yet also continue into the next chapter. This will result in a story that diverges into wildly different conclusions based on the player's actions in the first two chapters.

Throughout Mass Effect 3 Commander Shepard will be bringing the civilisations of the galaxy together as allies to take back Earth and repel the Reaper invasion. The player's choices throughout not only Mass Effect 3, but the entire trilogy, will affect the fate of the these civilisations and the endings the player can receive.

Squad Members
As with the previous games in the Mass Effect trilogy, Shepard will be able to recruit companions that can follow Shepard into battle. Currently, these are known to include:
 * Kaidan Alenko 1
 * Tali'Zorah vas Normandy 2
 * Liara T'Soni
 * Garrus Vakarian 2
 * James Vega
 * Ashley Williams 1

While some squad members will be required, and core to the story, some will be optional and others may only be available for a single mission. Project Director Casey Hudson has also stated that Mass Effect 3 will have fewer squad members than Mass Effect 2 to focus on "deeper relationships and more interesting interplay". 1 One or the other, depending on the outcome of Virmire: Assault in Mass Effect. 2 Depending on the outcome of the Suicide Mission in Mass Effect 2.

Returning Characters
The following characters will appear in some capacity in Mass Effect 3, provided they survived the events of Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.


 * David Anderson 1
 * EDI
 * Jack
 * Thane Krios
 * Miranda Lawson
 * Legion
 * The Illusive Man


 * Zaeed Massani
 * Jeff "Joker" Moreau
 * Mordin Solus
 * Jacob Taylor
 * Donnel Udina
 * Urdnot Wrex

1 Temporary squadmate.

The following characters make their first game appearance after appearing in other Mass Effect media:
 * Kai Leng, from Mass Effect: Retribution.

Normandy
The Normandy SR-2 will return in Mass Effect 3, and it has been claimed by the Systems Alliance, who has taken the ship apart, studied it, and then rebuilt it with new technologies and new areas.

Locations
Commander Shepard and the team will visit a wide variety of new locations in Mass Effect 3, including:
 * Earth
 * Mars
 * Rannoch, the quarian homeworld, now occupied by the geth.
 * Sur'Kesh, the salarian homeworld.
 * Palaven, the turian homeworld.
 * Thessia, the asari homeworld.

In addition, the player will return to the following locations featured in past games:
 * Illium
 * Tuchanka

Gameplay Changes
In a presentation by Lead Gameplay Designer Christina Norman, at the Game Developer's Conference in March 2010, titled ''Where Did My Inventory Go? Refining Gameplay in Mass Effect 2'', Norman outlined her goals for Mass Effect 3. These included richer RPG features, more combat options and more complex enemies.

According to Project Director Casey Hudson, Mass Effect 3 will continue, with adjustments, the approach of Mass Effect 2 by focusing on "an awesome sense of exploration, intense combat, a deep and non-linear story that's affected by your actions, and rich customisation of your armour, weapons and appearance" instead of an approach where the player "(equips the) hero by sifting through an inventory of hundreds of miscellaneous items and spend hours fiddling with numerical statistics" noting the "overwhelmingly positive" response Mass Effect 2 received for its approach.

Combat
Mass Effect 3's changes to Mass Effect 2's core combat mechanics are not as drastic as the changes Mass Effect 2 made to the original Mass Effect, however improvements have been made and new capabilities introduced. These include:
 * Difficulty will be increased, with Casey Hudson describing Normal as "the new Veteran".
 * An increase in overall combat speed of 10-15%.
 * Shepard is now more agile in combat. Changes to movement in combat include the ability to roll, leap over ledges or gaps without taking cover first, optimised maneuvering and firing from cover and the removal of fatigue while running.
 * Melee plays a larger role, all classes receive improved melee with each one receiving a unique heavy melee attack.
 * Enemy AI has been improved. Enemies now perform specific functions on the battlefield and coordinate with other enemies. For example, 'cover buster' enemies, such as Husks, are often paired with a 'suppressor' enemy type, which will try to keep Shepard in cover while the Husks get in close.

Weapons
Mass Effect 3 makes several changes to the way weapons worked in Mass Effect 2, these include:
 * The ability for all classes to wield any type of weapon. However, classes will be limited by the number of weapons they can carry at any one time, with the Soldier being the only class that can wield every weapon class at once.
 * The return of weapon modifications. Players will be able to modify their weapons with different parts, such as barrels, scopes and materials, that will affect the weapon's combat performance and appearance.
 * Shepard can pick up and wield weapons dropped by enemies.
 * All weapons that the player acquired in Mass Effect 2 will be available, including downloadable firearms, such as the M-96 Mattock.
 * Grenades will return as a usable weapon. The new grenades have a different appearance and mechanics than those in Mass Effect. Mass Effect 3's grenades are "round, [and] conventional", they are thrown at enemies and detonate after a short time.

Powers
Mass Effect 3 features larger skill trees that offer a greater degree of freedom when it comes to choosing skills. Whereas Mass Effect 2 offered a choice of two evolved versions of a power upon reaching Rank 4, Mass Effect 3 grants the ability to evolve powers multiple times.

Exploration
Vehicle-based exploration will be closer to Mass Effect 2, where it didn't form part of the critical path. Casey Hudson had previously indicated that the vehicle exploration segment of the Mass Effect 2 DLC pack Overlord was an attempt at addressing issues players had with the exploration segments in the original Mass Effect, and lessons learned from its implementation could be used to implement similar segments in Mass Effect 3.

Cristina Norman has noted that "nobody liked" the mining mechanic in Mass Effect 2 and Casey Hudson has stated that the mining part of the game will be changed, but the notion of exploring the galaxy in a non-linear fashion will be preserved.

Kinect Functionality
Mass Effect 3 for the Xbox 360 will include optional Kinect functionality. The Kinect will allow the player to choose dialogue options by reading the paraphrase aloud and give tactical orders to the squad, such as changing positions or using powers, with voice commands. The Kinect features will not serve as an alternative control system, but will "augment" in-game conversations.

Soundtrack
Composer Clint Mansell, known for scoring films such as Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain, will be composing the score for Mass Effect 3. Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 composers Jack Wall and Sam Hulick will not be involved.

Save File Transfer
As with Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3 will allow the player to import their save file from the previous game, carrying over their decisions from both Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, totaling over 1000 variables. As Mass Effect 3 will import decisions not just from Mass Effect 2, but the original Mass Effect as well, some of the player's decisions from Mass Effect that did not have impact in Mass Effect 2 could potentially have an impact in Mass Effect 3.

If Commander Shepard died in the player's Mass Effect 2 playthrough, the player will be unable to to import their save game. Mass Effect 3's story is a continuation of Shepard's story and if Shepard died in Mass Effect 2 that death is considered final. Similarly, any squadmates who did not survive the suicide mission at the end of Mass Effect 2 will not return in Mass Effect 3.

Also known to have an impact in Mass Effect 3 is any romance the player has pursued. If Commander Shepard had a love interest in Mass Effect, yet pursued a new love interest in Mass Effect 2, this could have negative repercussions for Shepard's relationship in Mass Effect 3.