By Adam Smith on December 2nd, 2011 at 2:17 pm.
Here are some details about Mass Effect 3 combat abilities. They’ve been encapsulated in video form so you don’t even have to read anything to find out about the new class-specific powers. However, if you don’t want to watch a man enthuse over the contents of the game’s special edition you should skip forward to around 1 minute 50 seconds. There’s nothing too surprising, with such things as floating turrets for engineers, improved melee combat across the board and shockwave-inducing ground-punches for vanguards. I suppose the most surprising reveal is that the collector’s edition contains a working model of the Normandy but I just made that up.
Maybe I’ve seen one of these videos before, but I hadn’t realised there was such a thing as BioWare TV. It’s possible I just managed to forget it. I probably won’t know again tomorrow so I’ll be slightly bewildered all over again next time a proudly branded video includes the director of marketing of a company claiming to be a huge fan of one of that company’s products.
I don’t even doubt that he likes the series, but wearing the t-shirt, appearing on the company channel and then saying you’re the kind of big-time fan who wants the collector’s edition seems a little too much. The next step is having the video start with a man actually playing Mass Effect 2 and then turning to the camera, “Oh, hi, I didn’t see you come in. Ha ha, ignore all this, I’m just enjoying my lunch break and this is what I choose to do with every single moment of my free time.”
02/12/2011 at 14:28 Network Crayon says:
He’s Beating up an awful lot of humans for someone trying to save the species…
02/12/2011 at 14:29 kael13 says:
Wadsworth Constant applies.
02/12/2011 at 16:09 stahlwerk says:
URL Magicks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Or0fly8vA0&wadsworth=1
02/12/2011 at 17:42 dontnormally says:
I just learned of this. From you fine folks.
So completely true and awesome.
02/12/2011 at 14:30 Grey Ganado says:
Why can’t they just put up a normal trailer?
02/12/2011 at 14:37 lasikbear says:
How many times in a normal trailer does a chubby guy in a jumpsuit point and the camera and smile? Do you really want to go back to those days?
02/12/2011 at 16:47 Novack says:
Normal trailer for the win!
These tv-show-mimics hyper bloathed things are infuriating.
02/12/2011 at 17:39 dontnormally says:
Let’s fire up the headlines!..?
02/12/2011 at 14:32 db1331 says:
I wish they would go back to the original game’s aiming system, with the big circular reticule that tightened as you advanced in a weapon type. It felt more like an RPG, with a chance to hit that went up as you got better. The way 2 was, with just the straight up 100% accurate crosshairs, was too easy with a mouse. I played through the game as a sniper and it totally trivialized the combat.
02/12/2011 at 20:23 Styles says:
Absolutely agree.
They’re hyping up all the “new” things they’ve added, but really they took so much away in the second game that they’re still playing catch up with the first game, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s still dumbed down.
03/12/2011 at 21:53 Maltose says:
Playing as a vanguard in ME 2, I definitely had the the RPG feeling of getting more powerful as the game went on. My character’s powers got more powerful and flashier as the game went on, especially after the 4th upgrade. I think most of the lost features (inventory, grindy exp and loot system) were more fat than muscle, although not being able to customize individual weapons kind of sucked.
02/12/2011 at 14:34 Lev Astov says:
Dude! I’m totally going engineer next time. For some reason, the hacking skills never really appealed to me before, but now they seem to have integrated them well into the combat of the game.
Also, how does one propose to a turret?
02/12/2011 at 14:36 Network Crayon says:
You need to follow the Turret Romance quest line first, and have the appropriate skill point in inanimate Relations.
02/12/2011 at 14:39 DK says:
Seeing as how someone inevitably has sex with EDI (the ships computer, who’s had sex with the wierd-eyed Cerberus-man from ME2) in ME3 the turrent romance quest sadly isn’t that funny.
02/12/2011 at 14:44 Njordsk says:
I did an engi in ME2. Was alright, not OMG fun, but alright. The drone was somehow useless, except for a quick diversion.
02/12/2011 at 14:52 JB says:
“Also, how does one propose to a turret?”
Turret Wife Serenade? No, wait, wrong game.
02/12/2011 at 14:53 db1331 says:
I will be boycotting this game until they confirm same-sex turret romance options.
02/12/2011 at 15:41 Milky1985 says:
“have the appropriate skill point in inanimate Relations.”
Skills? you making it sounds like this is meant to be some sort of RPG! Dunno why you would think that, based on whats been so far and the last game its a 3rd person man shoot, now with turret sections!
02/12/2011 at 15:44 Network Crayon says:
Maybe the secret theyre hiding from us is ME3 is actually a Turret Defense game? with romance?
02/12/2011 at 16:45 MSJ says:
Engineers in ME2 are actually a great ‘control’ class with their defense stripping powers. But they are a bit hard to play properly. Their drones are good, if you team up with either Legion or Tali and their drones. Having more than one drones actually confuses the AI of some enemies (like those shockwave cannon husks) so they will do this weird silly dance while you and your teammates pelt it with bullets and other damaging attacks.
02/12/2011 at 14:48 Aemony says:
I just noticed at my retailer that the console N7 Collector’s Edition is €33 more expensive than the PC version of the same edition….
02/12/2011 at 14:50 Binho says:
Am I the only one who couldn’t care less about the combat, and would really like to hear more about the new locations, characters and the story? The combat gameplay was never the reason why I liked Mass Effect, and I dislike how much they seem to be focusing on it in ME3.
02/12/2011 at 15:12 Apples says:
You are not the only one. I’ve heard lots of complaints about the leaked script as well. Worried that this will be another DA2, where they try to expand their audience by focusing on things they THINK people like (combat, romance subplots) rather than what people ACTUALLY like, and actually end up making a terrible diluted hackjob. The awful dreck they keep posting on their Facebook page like the anime Liara (despite almost all the comments about it being extremely negative) and the terrible fanart does not increase my confidence that they have any taste whatsoever.
02/12/2011 at 17:59 Vander says:
No, you are not the only one Binho. The first game gameplay was clunky, and the second one was a mediocre shooter. (and too easy with some classes, like sniper). IMO, not much to expect from this part of the game.
So yeah, advertising on what its never been the greatest strengh of your ip(and from what i have seen until now, is still not) is a little illogical.
Its actually the only game where my girlfriend like to just sit beside me to watch the cutscenes and discuss my choices, to the point of urging me to play. Wich is quite nice for a change.^^
02/12/2011 at 19:21 Arglebargle says:
I played through ME2 as pretty hard ass on Cerebus and the Illusive Man, so this will work well with me. After the one setup by Cerebus in the game, I trusted them not one bit. I always suspected that the Illusive Man was a rogue AI anyway. Not that I have any prejudices there, you know. Some of my best teammates were AI types. And in that arena I certainly liked Legion better.
Damn, reply errors galore today….should have been on the post below. I think I will quit typing, go out and eat some worms…
05/12/2011 at 22:03 Nemocyte says:
You are completely correct. All this disgusting evidence of how they are ruining one of my all-time favorite games is making a little sick. However, I will take this oppurtunity to naively defend Bioware because I’m idealistic and stupidly hopeful. Let’s face it; as PC gamers we love to bitch about things. Virtually anything we can. Specifically, console gamers, whom we hate and who probably don’t even know you can play actual games on a personal computer. Perhaps Bioware, who just may have a little place in its black corporate heart set aside for us, has given us something to complain about while secretly planing all these great and fantastic rpg and incredible story surprises for story fans instead of action fans! Don’t look at me like that. I want to believe.
02/12/2011 at 14:51 Max.I.Candy says:
wait a minute….. i wasnt an enemy of cerberus at the end of ME2??
didnt they just spoiler it up for me??
02/12/2011 at 16:29 psycho7005 says:
It’s been known for a good while that you fight Cerberus in the third game. If you somehow did miss that, then yes, spoiler. Although is it really that surprising? All through the second game i always had the feeling that the Illusive Man was dodgy. To my knowledge we don’t know the circumstances of why you fight them. (Unless it’s in the leaked script, i didn’t read it)
02/12/2011 at 18:14 andytt66 says:
I didn’t know that either. Now I do, so.. hm. Rather wish I didn’t :/
02/12/2011 at 18:19 Vinraith says:
I hadn’t heard that either. My first thought is that it makes ME2′s “these people are scum but the game is going to force you to cheerfully work with them anyway” thing all the more obnoxious. If I could have prevented ME3′s main plot by shooting every Cerberus stooge on my ship and blowing EDI’s core out an airlock (which is what I wanted to do at the beginning of ME2), I’m going to be seriously pissed.
02/12/2011 at 18:23 Walter Heisenberg says:
The reason Cerebus is fighting Shepard now is because Bioware are terrible writers that have no idea what grey morality is so Cerebus are back to be being cartoony villains that try aliens to space railroads.
It was obvious Bioware were out of ideas and or controlled by EA’s marketing department when they revealed the plot would be about saving the earth from alien invasion. COME ON!
02/12/2011 at 19:33 Zenicetus says:
They’re going to retcon anyone’s ME2 ending where you made the pro-Cerberus choice about what to do with the (spoiler-avoiding-thing), and pretend everyone took the choice that pissed off the Elusive Man.
So now Shep is an enemy of Cerberus. Or something. They’ll find a way to jerk the plot around. The whole Cerberus bit never made much sense to me in either previous game, so I’m not caring much, one way or the other. I just hope the overall story isn’t too stupid.
02/12/2011 at 21:00 Max.I.Candy says:
well this was the first i heard of it and i am slightly miffed.
i went proper company woman style in me2 even tho it was obvious that they were dodgy.
03/12/2011 at 19:49 Sif says:
“The reason Cerebus is fighting Shepard now is because Bioware are terrible writers that have no idea what grey morality is”
“Bioware are terrible writers”
For Christ’s sake, if you’re going to whine about writing at least construct a sentence that scans properly. A company isn’t “writers”.
02/12/2011 at 14:58 MrDreadlock says:
Next! On Bioware pulse. Ding ding ding ding! Wha..wait, that just too awkward to be real… right?
02/12/2011 at 15:03 deadly.by.design says:
Do these remind anyone else of those lame VHS promo tapes that Nintendo used to send out in the late ’90s?
02/12/2011 at 15:18 InternetBatman says:
Or the crap Gamestop always has running in their store.
02/12/2011 at 15:05 Orija says:
Well, I have seen worse.
02/12/2011 at 15:14 Kandon Arc says:
Oh yay, shield enemies. They always make a game more fun.
02/12/2011 at 15:35 kyrieee says:
How the fuck did that guy become director of marketing
Bioware TV? ugh
02/12/2011 at 16:26 BatmanBaggins says:
Isn’t that the Button Awesome guy?
02/12/2011 at 16:49 MSJ says:
Engie’s melee is a Flaming Pimp Slap? Awesome!!!
I like that Vanguard is having the close combat aspect of the class emphasized even more. The new applications for pull and hacking is also good.
02/12/2011 at 17:29 Iskariot says:
I have bought a lot of collectors editions in my gaming life, until I realized that I do not need any of the heavily overpriced extra stuff. Never again will I buy collectors editions.
02/12/2011 at 17:59 Grayvern says:
So a trailer that makes me not want to buy the game and the reveal of a vanguard shotgun that isn’t fully auto, and a vanguard power, that will probably be useless on the harder difficulties, if the game is difficulty balanced in a similar way to ME2. Ie way too easy on normal biotic powers are useless on hard.
02/12/2011 at 18:28 Brun says:
The amount of dumbing-down that happened with ME2 really turned me off to this entire series. The story has never really been that compelling to me. The main antagonists are called “The Reapers” – really? You guys really could not come up with a more creative name than that? Oh wait, you probably could, but you knew that your 14-year-old console audience wouldn’t understand that they were supposed to be the bad guys if you didn’t hit them over the head with it. Hell, they probably think that shallow cultural reference makes the game deep and meaningful.
SIGH.
02/12/2011 at 19:43 TheGameSquid says:
I swear to God, the way Bioware has been marketing/developing their games for the last 5 years has aged me sixteen times as fast.
It’s pathetic that I care so much, but it’s true.
02/12/2011 at 19:55 kyrieee says:
ME2 had some of the most enjoyable combat in any game I’ve played. They never explain it though, and on Normal you’re better of shooting everyone which honestly isn’t much fun.
03/12/2011 at 11:16 yeastcapp says:
Speaking to the thread here, my main concern about ME3 is the metric fuckton of variables the game story now has to deal with. Unless you have a team of writers and voice actors working around the clock I’m not sure how ME3 won’t be jarring. I mean, the only character they can guarantee is alive from the previous games is Liara. There are now an absurd amount of romantic stories that Shepard may or may not have followed, to one degree or another. They even announced there’ll be a mode for new players where a newly made Shepard who hasn’t done all the stuff from the previous games and just finds out about the Reaper invasion on earth! I’m expecting a conversation or two max from returning characters, and lip service to all the big decisions made in the earlier games.
As for this video, does anyone else feel alienated from the ME universe when they see something like this? Why even use TV presenter model anyway? I think Bungie started this trend? Friggin bungie.