Following up on our earlier report on the matter, Bioware has released the first details on the multiplayer campaign in Mass Effect 3 on its forums. As can be expected with the franchise that modernized carry-on save data, the co-operative campaign to be featured in the game can spill over into the single player narrative.
First things first, this isn’t going to be tacked on mini-missions, traces of careful consideration abound in these here descriptions. Players can chose from a variety of different classes (as in the previous single player campaigns) and races. All known characters – Commander Shepard, Garrus, Mordin Solus, Urdnot Wrex, etc. – will not be available in co-op. The way this all informs the grander scheme of things in the Mass Effect-verse is through a narrative system dubbed “Galaxy at War”. Successes and failures are measured across all campaigns in ME3, and calculated out to an overall “Galaxy Readiness” level – meaning the ability for the full resources of the galaxy (armies, technologies, etc.) to be utilized for the final fight against the Reapers.
That said, Bioware has made a strong effort to emphasize that the co-op is completely optional, and does not detract in any way from solo play. The “ultimate, complete” ending to the game can still be achieved through single player alone. The multiplayer campaign was designed by Bioware’s Montreal studio, while the Edmonton front remained engaged on the “priority” single player story. While Bioware has confirmed DLC is in works for ME3‘s post release, no multiplayer-specific DLC has been revealed.
Given the time frame of the office in Bioware Montreal opening, it’s a reasonable assumption that the delay that pushed ME3 into next year most likely involved the multiplayer campaign. That said, we here at the Elder Geek offices think that March is not too long to wait to finally craft that elite squadron of Turian mercenaries/diplomats/sexual dynamos we’ve always wanted.
Multiplayer in Mass Effect 3, good or bad, EGs? Will the quality of the multiplayer be up to that Mass Effect standard? Share your thoughts in the comments section!
In terms of gameplay i really do think that Mass Effect can have a great co-op system. Ultimately I think introducing a feature like this would be quite beneficial to the immersion that made Mass Effect games so appealing to me. The fact that it won’t be necessary for me to do the co-op but rather a way for me to dive deeper into the overall story and enjoy it with one of my buddies could be epic.
That being said, i hope the decisions i make legitimately make me feel like i’ve made a difference in the world. I understand why they wouldn’t want to make it impede on the single player campaign, but hopefully they don’t undervalue the potential either. Either way it certainly does intrigue me.