Mass Effect 3 is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.^[9] Officially announced on December 11, 2010,^[10][11] the game was released March 6, 2012^[12] and marks the final chapter in the Mass Effect trilogy of video games, completing the story of Commander Shepard.^[13][14]
Gameplay in Mass Effect 3 is influenced by decisions made in Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, for players who have completed those games. Combat has been changed and refined; in particular, the cover system has been improved, there are more options for moving around the battlefield, instant melee kills and more conventional grenades are introduced as well as improved artificial intelligence. A four player multiplayer co-op mode is also available.

Gameplay

Players with saved files from Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 are given the option of importing them into Mass Effect 3.^[16] If a saved file is imported, over 1,000 variables are pulled that will help shape how the final chapter is experienced.^[17] If there are no saved files available, there are no origin-story comics for new players to help them make quick decisions like there were in Mass Effect 2.^[18] Imported characters' appearance and class are changeable, with more features and hair-styles included in the character creator than in Mass Effect 2.^[5][19] Commander Shepard will always start the game with some powers.^[20] Upon finishing the game, there is a New Game+ option that allows players to continue playing after the main story ends or start again with their finished Shepard and collect items they missed the first time around.^[21] The game has 82 minutes of cut-scenes.^[22]
Mass Effect 3 has three pre-set campaign modes: Action Mode, Story Mode, and RPG Mode.^[23] In Action Mode, conversations will have automatic replies and a normal combat difficulty. In Story Mode, conversations will have manual replies and a minimal combat difficulty. In RPG Mode, conversations will have manual replies and a normal combat difficulty. This last mode is reflective of the typical Mass Effect series experience. Overall, the RPG elements in the game have been improved over those in Mass Effect 2, with a more detailed leveling up system and increased weapon customization.^[24] To level up characters, players will have skills that start along a single path and then eventually splinter into two branches where they can select only one upgrade or the other along a sequence of possibilities.^[25] Players will also be able to customize their weapons with different scopes, mods, barrels and ammo types.^[26] There are 25 weapon mods total — five per weapon type — and each of them will have multiple power levels to collect.^[27] To select dialog options, players can use Kinect to speak their choices instead of selecting them with a controller.^[28]
As of August 23, 2011, BioWare has confirmed the return of previous characters Liara T'Soni, Kaidan Alenko or Ashley Williams, Miranda Lawson, the Illusive Man, Garrus Vakarian, Legion, Samara, Morinth, Tali'Zorah, Urdnot Wrex, Jack, Mordin Solus, David Anderson, Zaeed Massani, Kasumi Goto, Kelly Chambers, Thane Krios, Jacob Taylor and Ambassador Donnell Udina from Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.^[5][20][29] Some characters will not return if they were killed at any point during the previous games. The number of characters available as permanent squad mates are smaller than in Mass Effect 2 for the purposes of deeper relationships and more interesting interplay, including same-sex relationship options for both male and female Shepards.^[30][31] If players achieved a love interest in both Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, then both previous love interests vie for Shepard's attention in Mass Effect 3.^[32] This "love triangle" is resolved by the end of the game. BioWare has also confirmed new characters names James Vega ^[33] (voiced by Freddy Prinze Jr.) and Diana Allers (voiced by Jessica Chobot, a staff writer from IGN).
The search and analysis mini-game has been changed from Mass Effect 2. Rather than scan individual planets, a setup described as tedious and boring^[who?], the Normandy scans a region of space for salvage or War Assets. If these are detected on a planet, the scanner system is still used to locate, but planets are no longer scanned individually. If an area being scanned has been invaded by the Reapers, the Reapers will eventually detect the Normandy's scans and move to intercept it.
The ongoing war against the Reapers is controlled by War Assets and Military Readiness. War Assets are collected throughout the game or are provided from previous game accomplishments. Military Readiness is predominantly affected by the multiplayer aspects of the game. As the players Readiness increases, the War Assets become more valuable. The number of Assets and the players readiness determine the players success in the final war against the Reapers.

Combat

Combat in Mass Effect 3 has been changed and refined from Mass Effect 2, and further emphasis has been put on third-person perspective aspects to make the game more commercially viable.^[34] In a preview for IGN, editor Arthur Gies went so far as to say the game "plays like a shooter" and that "combat-wise, Mass Effect 3 is in an entirely different space" from the first two games. In an article for bitgamer, Joe Martin gave a conflicting impression, noting that with regard to combat, "not a lot has changed".^[35]
The series' cover system has been improved so players no longer need to slide into cover and then hop over objects. Players will have more options for moving around the battlefield, including a refined sprint capability, combat rolling, and the use of climbable ladders. Players can also blindfire their weapons from covered positions, and have opportunities to shoot selected armor pieces and limbs off enemies.^[21] Verbal orders can be issued to move squad mates and use their powers with the use of Kinect.^[28] Moving and shooting, a "suicidal maneuver" in Mass Effect 2, will be a viable option because of a revised melee system.^[36] Players are able to execute formidable punches and attacks, and instant melee kills are introduced specific to each class; for example, by holding down the melee button, a soldier Shepard will deliver a killing blow with a tech-blade in his/her wrist armor. Actual, round, conventional grenades will also be available.
Mass Effect 3 plans to be the most difficult in the series, with increased artificial intelligence to challenge players and increase the sense of reward.^[37] Enemies no longer act as individuals as they did in the previous games, instead fighting and supporting each other in units. Enemies include 15-foot (4.6 m) tall Cerberus mechs, assault troopers, and ninja-style shock troops, as well as Reaperized husks of all races and Reaper ships ranging from 500 to 2,000 metres (1,600 to 6,600 ft) long.^[38][39] Some changes are made to already-existing class types; for example, Engineers are able to build turrets.

Multiplayer

Mass Effect 3 will offer a multiplayer co-op mode called "Galaxy at War".^[40] In the mode, players are able to play alongside up to three other players in unique missions that can impact the outcome of the single player campaign.^[41] Each mission was designed specifically for multiplayer, and will involve taking over enemy strongholds. By completing these missions, players will give themselves a better chance of attaining a perfect ending in the single player campaign; although, they are not necessary to do so. The mode has been compared to Gears of War's horde mode.^[42]
No characters from the single player campaign are featured in the multiplayer mode. Players will create brand new characters for themselves and be able to play as members of non-human species, including asari, drell, krogans, salarians, and turians.^[43] Every race will have unique powers – such as a "Krogan Charge" for krogans and different movement options out of cover between drell and humans.^[44] All classes are playable.^[42] The maximum level that created characters are able to reach is 20, and just like in the single player mode, leveling up will include skill branches.
The majority of missions are wave attacks in various locations against different enemy factions. The selections during configuring the game can affect experience gained and the overall difficulty of the mission. During the missions, random tasks will be assigned, allowing for the collection of credits to purchase equipment between missions. After a certain number of waves, the players retreat to an extraction point which they must hold until extracted.
Equipment and characters are acquired by the purchase of kits which contain random weapons, characters, and mods. The kits are purchased with multiplayer in-game credits or Microsoft Points.
Gameplay in the multiplayer mode will only allow for players to carry two guns at a time in their inventory, and there is no ring menu to change weapons; instead, weapons are changed by holding down a button.^[44] Only three powers per class are also available as opposed to those available during the single player game.

Downloadable content

As with the previous games, downloadable content (DLC) allows players quests that may or may not be tied to the main story. The first DLC mission being called From Ashes, which was leaked onto Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade. This gives players a Prothean squad mate, one weapon, an alternate costume for Shepard's squad, and lets them revisit a world from the original Mass Effect, Eden Prime. It is available as a free incentive to those that pre-order the N7 Collector's Edition. It was available the same day as the game.^[45] The second DLC pack was called the Resurgence Pack, released on April 10, 2012, for free. It included 2 new multiplayer maps, new weapons and new character classes and races to be unlocked in multiplayer, including the Asari Justicar Adept, Krogan Battlemaster Vanguard, Batarian Soldier, Batarian Sentinel, Geth Engineer and Geth Infiltrator

Synopsis

Background

The Mass Effect series of videogames details the adventures of Systems Alliance Commander Shepard as he/she tries to defeat a race of machines called the Reapers. In the Mass Effect 2 DLC Arrival, Shepard is contacted by Admiral Steven Hackett, who requests Shepard go into batarian space to rescue a deep cover agent named Dr. Amanda Kenson. After rescuing Kenson, Shepard learns that the Reapers are close to returning and delays them by destroying a mass relay. Consequently, 300,000 batarian colonists are killed and Shepard is ordered to appear on Earth for a trial regarding his/her decision.

Setting

Locations in Mass Effect 3 will include the salarian homeworld Sur'Kesh, the asari homeworld Thessia, the turian homeworld Palaven, the quarian homeworld Rannoch, a human mining base in a Martian crater, and a giant city on Earth representing the combination of Vancouver and Seattle.^[47] Players will also return to Tuchanka — the krogan homeworld — and the Citadel.^[48]

Plot

Mass Effect 3 begins on Earth, with Commander Shepard relieved of duty for the consequences of his/her actions in the Mass Effect 2 DLC pack Arrival,^[20] as the forces of Earth are overwhelmed by an oncoming Reaper onslaught. Admiral Anderson tasks Shepard with uniting the forces of the galaxy while he coordinates human resistance forces on Earth. Before leaving the system, Shepard stops at a research facility on Mars and saves former squadmate Liara T'Soni from Cerberus troopers. T'Soni has discovered blueprints in the Prothean ruins to a weapon that may have the power to destroy the Reapers. The blueprints are forwarded to Hackett, who dubs the weapon "The Crucible" and begins preparations for its construction.
The Citadel Council is reluctant to provide aid to Earth with Reapers attacking their own systems. To foster goodwill, Shepard is sent on various missions throughout the galaxy, gathering allies for the ongoing war and resources for the Crucible. In addition to opposition from the Reapers, Shepard must also fight the pro-human organization Cerberus, as the organization's leader, the Illusive Man, believes controlling the Reapers is better for humanity than destroying them.
Key missions include:

• Delivering a cure to the krogan genophage, to unite krogan and turian forces. Shepard must decide whether or not to actually cure the krogans or trick them to gain support from the salarians, who first devised the genophage to stop krogan expansion.
• Repelling a Cerberus attempt to take over the Citadel. If Shepard can't convince former squadmate Kaidan Alenko or Ashley Williams (one is guaranteed to have died during Mass Effect 1) that Councilor Udina organized the attack, Shepard must kill him/her. Udina dies in the process and Shepard encounters to Cerberus operative Kai Leng for the first time. Shepard may also be able to win salarian support by saving their Councilor from death at Leng's hands.
• Dealing with the quarians' attempt to retake their homeworld Rannoch from the geth. Shepard can side with one group in annihilating the other, or unite them.
• Defending the asari homeworld, Thessia, from the Reapers, whilst simultaneously attempting to gather information critical to the Crucible's construction. Shepard is directed to visit a specific asari temple, which contains a secret Prothean VI, Vendetta. Just as it is about to reveal information on the Catalyst, a crucial component of the Crucible, Kai Leng ambushes Shepard's team and steals it.
• Attacking Cerberus headquarters, as the first step towards repulsing the Reapers. The Illusive Man escapes, though Shepard kills Kai Leng and recovers Vendetta. It reveals that the Citadel itself is the Catalyst. Because the Illusive Man has been indoctrinated, he has shared this information with the Reapers, who have moved the Citadel to a defensive posture in Earth's orbit; as such, the series' final battle takes place there.

Admiral Hackett assembles the galaxy's forces and delivers an attack on the Reapers designed to retake the Citadel and combine it with the now-completed Crucible. Shepard is part of the assault on London, identified as the focal connection point from Earth to the Citadel. Due to heavy opposition, Shepard and Admiral Anderson are the only ones able to actually make it aboard the Citadel. They meet an obviously indoctrinated Illusive Man and manage to stop him, but not before Anderson is mortally wounded. Shepard opens the Citadel and the Crucible docks with it.
Shepard is then transported to the pinnacle of the Citadel, where the Crucible is docked and an artificial intelligence (resembling a child Shepard saw die on Earth) appears, identifying itself as the Catalyst and the Reapers' creator. It reveals that the Reaper cycle is an attempt to prevent organic life from wiping itself out by creating synthetic life; creators, the Catalyst argues, are always doomed to be destroyed by the created. The Catalyst characterizes the harvest as an ascendance, wherein advanced organic races are preserved in Reaper form and space is left for more primitive species to rise, evolve, and advance.
Since no other cycle had ever assembled the Crucible, the Catalyst has lost faith in the Reaper Cycle's ability to achieve its goal. It gives Shepard two choices: destroy the Reapers and all synthetic life (including Shepard, who is partly synthetic), take control of the Reapers directly; depending on in-game choices, Shepard may also have the option to convert all galactic life into a new form that is a synthesis between organic and synthetic life. Regardless of Shepard's choice, all three endings result in Shepard's apparent death and the destruction of the entire mass relay network. London, and by extension the rest of Earth, can suffer varying degrees of additional damage, dependent on the number and strength of the allies Shepard gathered. The Normandy, fleeing Earth via a mass-relay jump, crashes and becomes stranded on an alien planet.
If the player's Effective Military Strength is high enough and the "destroy" ending is chosen, Shepard is briefly seen lying in ruins, potentially still alive. Finally, a post-credits sequence depicts an old man and a child on an alien planet. looking at the stars. The child asks the old man to tell him another story about "the Shepard", implying that Shepard's legacy lives on.

Development

Origins

From the start, BioWare envisioned the Mass Effect series as a trilogy, with the first two games being a preamble to the third.^[50] For this reason, BioWare was able to begin production on Mass Effect 3 before Mass Effect 2 was even released.^[51] The game was directed by Casey Hudson, who previously led the production of the first two Mass Effect games and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. To design the game, BioWare made sure to use fan feedback, similar to what they did for Mass Effect 2.^[52] In particular, the game's development team paid close attention to past mistakes in the series as well as the critical failings of other BioWare titles such as Dragon Age II.^[53] The team was able to devote most of their time to gameplay and storytelling because, according to BioWare Edmonton General Manager Aaron Flynn, they didn't have to worry about technology as it was "pretty maxed out".^[54] Initially, the game was predicted to be released at the end of 2011 or early 2012.^[55]
The lead writer of Mass Effect 3 is Mac Walters, who previously wrote on other games in the Mass Effect series as well as Jade Empire.^[56] One of the goals set by the writing staff at the beginning of production was to treat the game like a movie and make sure that players playing it for the first time would "just be able to jump in".^[57] Emphasis was put on making the story user friendly for players inexperienced with the franchise because BioWare felt they "didn't do a really good job of new player orientation" in Mass Effect 2.^[58] To begin the writing process, Hudson and Walters sat down and created a story document no longer than three or four pages that contained all the major plot points.^[57] Once the document was complete, Walters took the document to the writing staff and began filling out minor details including minor plot points and missions. Once these details were complete and the "backbone of the story" was established, each writer was put in charge of specific levels and missions. Work done by each writer was reviewed in-depth by the rest of the writing staff and others.^[59]

Reveal

On December 10, 2010, Electronic Arts posted the official synopsis for Mass Effect 3 on their website, although the listing was later removed pending an official announcement at the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards.^[60][61] The following day, the game was confirmed for a "Holiday 2011" release and accompanied by a teaser trailer.^[62] On March 21, 2011, Tricia Helfer announced via Twitter that she would reprise her role from Mass Effect 2 as EDI, and had already started voice-recording sessions.^[63] Seth Green soon followed, announcing that he would reprise his role from Mass Effect 2 and the first Mass Effect as Joker.^[64]
The first detailed information regarding development of Mass Effect 3 started being released in April 2011. On April 20, Belgian website 4gamers.be reported that BioWare were collaborating with Battlefield developer DICE in weapon development for the game.^[65] The same day, Game Informer released the first-ever screenshots of Mass Effect 3 to help promote their May 10 cover story.^[66] On May 3, 2011, IGN announced that Mass Effect 3 would be presented and demoed by Electronic Arts at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo.^[67] The next day, BioWare announced that the game's release date had been pushed back to early 2012,^[68] in part so it could be tweaked to appeal to as wide a market as possible.^[69] On June 1, EA Games' online store uploaded artwork by mistake which revealed the game will have Kinect support.^[70] The artwork was later removed. At the 2011 E3 Convention, BioWare finally confirmed Kinect support in a gameplay video.^[4] The game's collector's edition,^[71] cover art, a new teaser trailer and official release date of March 6, 2012 were also revealed. For the first time, fans were shown actual gameplay videos, including a 15 minute demo supervised by Casey Hudson.^[72] At Comic-Con 2011, fans were given an opportunity to play a demo version of the game.^[73] Hudson and lead writer Mac Walters were both in attendance, with Hudson sitting on the Legendary Pictures panel to talk about the upcoming Mass Effect film and Walters sitting on the Dark Horse Comics panel. At Gamescon 2011, a new trailer was released demonstrating 50 seconds of combat gameplay.^[74] The game was also demoed at PAX Prime 2011.^[75]

Internal leaks and multiplayer

On October 3, a leaked South African advertisement hinted at multiplayer capabilities for Mass Effect 3.^[76] On October 10, multiple BioWare employees took to Twitter to announce that the game would have a multiplayer component.^[77] The announcement confirmed longstanding multiplayer rumors, stemming from a BioWare job listing in 2010 for someone to take Mass Effect's "existing single player user experiences and make them multiplayer safe".^[78] On October 12, an official trailer for the multiplayer mode was released through BioWare Pulse.^[43] Soon after, it was reported that a demo for both multiplayer and single player modes would be released in January 2012.^[79]
On November 4, a private beta of Mass Effect 3 became available on Xbox Live.^[80] The beta was only available to players who signed up to beta test a new version of the Xbox 360 Dashboard. In a response from Jesse Houston, it was revealed that the leak was the result of "human error" at Microsoft. Houston stressed that the leaked code was in a rough, unfinished state not intended for public release. Despite BioWare's quick response, some fan videos still made their way to YouTube. From the beta, some information was extracted from game files that represented rough notes from early story drafts.^[81] In an interview conducted shortly after the leaked script was removed, BioWare co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk revealed that feedback from fans who read it might be used to tweak the story before the game was released.^[82]

Pre-release

On September 13, Casey Hudson posted to Twitter that Mass Effect 3 was seeing signs of its final stage of production.^[83] A few days later, lead writer Mac Walters revealed that writing for the game was almost finished.^[84] Music started going into the game around the same time.^[85] On October 27, the development team transitioned into an "editing" stage where story elements were evaluated and key lines or scenes were re-written.^[86] Character lighting was being polished as of November 7 and voice overs were completely recorded by December 7.^[87][88] On December 10, the game was presented at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards with a new teaser trailer.^[89] On January 9, 2012, Sam Hulick turned in his last audio mixes for the game.^[90] On February 22, 2012, SCEA offered bonuses to those that pre-order via the PlayStation Network. These incentives include A M55 Argus weapon and a Mass Effect 3 PS3 theme.^[91] On March 2, the game became available for preload on Origin in the case of digital purchases.

Audio

Mass Effect 3's music is composed by Golden Globe-nominated composer Clint Mansell, together with Christopher Lennertz, Cris Velasco, BAFTA-nominated composer Sam Hulick and Sasha Dikicyan.^[92] Mansell first stated he would be scoring the game during an interview with The Quietus on February 9, 2011.^[93] Electronic Arts officially announced his involvement shortly thereafter with a Facebook post.^[94] Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 composer Jack Wall had no involvement with the production of Mass Effect 3 due to undetailed and "complicated" reasons.^[95]
Commander Shepard is again voiced by Mark Meer (male) and Jennifer Hale (female).^[96] Many other members of the cast return, including Yvonne Strahovski (Miranda), Tricia Helfer (EDI), Seth Green (Joker), Martin Sheen (The Illusive Man), and Keith David (Admiral David Anderson). New voice actors include Jessica Chobot (Diana Allers), Freddy Prinze Jr. (James Vega), and Buzz Aldrin (The Stargazer).^[96][97]
Mass Effect 3's weapon audio is redesigned and refined. BioWare's audio team was in discussion with other EA studios, including DICE, to improve their combat soundscape.^[98] The game has 40,000 lines of recorded dialog, twice as much as the first game and almost twice as much as the second game.^[99] The game has 12,500 sound and music files.