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 is scheduled for release in "Holiday 2011". Previously Ray Muzyka had stated that release timing would be based on maximising both "quality" and "commercial success".

BioWare is considering an "uber-collector's edition" of the game and took suggestions for a very exclusive and pricey item to include. Community Coordinator Chris Priestly used the working night vision goggles included in the "Prestige Edition" of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as an example of the type of item they were looking for. This edition would be targeted at the most hardcore collectors and is not the usual type of collectors edition, such as those released for the first two Mass Effect games.

Mass Effect 3's game engine will be based on the PlayStation 3 version of Mass Effect 2's engine, and take advantage of that engine's improvements.

Plot
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 tone is expected to continue to get darker, yet also bring back some fun and lightness and include a lot more humor.

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.

The story between Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 is told through DLC for Mass Effect 2. The Lair of the Shadow Broker downloadable content is the first piece of DLC to begin to expand the story in preparation for Mass Effect 3. Arrival is the second and final piece of DLC that expands the story and bridges the gap between Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3.

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: 1One or the other, depending on the outcome of Virmire: Assault in Mass Effect. 2Depending on the outcome of the Suicide Mission in Mass Effect 2. 3Nothing is known yet about this character, however BioWare has revealed that this is not the sniper from the teaser trailer.
 * Ashley Williams1
 * Kaidan Alenko1
 * Garrus Vakarian2
 * Liara T'Soni
 * James Sanders3

Returning Characters
The following old characters may appear at some point in Mass Effect 3, provided they survived the events Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.
 * David Anderson
 * Donnel Udina
 * EDI
 * The Illusive Man
 * Jeff "Joker" Moreau
 * Legion
 * Mordin Solus
 * Urdnot Wrex

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.
 * More complex enemies.

In an interview with PC Zone magazine in August 2010, Casey Hudson stated that 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.

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, the 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 and scopes, that will affect the weapon's combat performance and appearance.

Powers
Mass Effect 3 also makes some changes to the way skills work, including:
 * Larger skill trees that offer a greater degree of freedom when it comes to choosing skills.
 * The ability to evolve powers multiple times.

Exploration
Vehicle-based exploration may make a return in Mass Effect 3. Casey Hudson has 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 will be used to implement similar segments in Mass Effect 3.

While Cristina Norman noted that "nobody liked" the mining mechanic in Mass Effect 2, Casey Hudson later stated in an interview that mining will not be abandoned completely in Mass Effect 3, but acknowledged concerns about its speed and that the game relied upon it too heavily in parts of the story.

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.