Thursday, 13 May 2021

Who wouldn't love getting to play as a biotic Volus?

Mass Effect 3's multiplayer mode was something of an oddity. It was tacked onto the final entry in a trilogy that had been strictly single-player up to that point, it featured none of the characters who'd become so beloved by gamers, and it had microtransactions (a sketchy feature even in 2012). EA was infamous at the time for tacking mediocre multiplayer modes onto every game, and it seemed like Mass Effect 3 wouldn't be any different.

Even so, I will defend it to the end, and I'm sad that it won't be included in the Mass Effect Legendary Edition. The Mass Effect multiplayer was fun and crazy and silly in a way the single-player game was not, and it was a wonderful place to blow off some steam with fellow Mass Effect fans.

What was the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer mode?

You'd be forgiven for forgetting that Mass Effect 3 had a multiplayer mode. Even though it was touted in the game's marketing and augmented by post-launch DLC, Mass Effect 3's multiplayer is hardly its most memorable feature. It still has its dedicated community of players, but interest in it was low enough that the developers of the Legendary Edition remaster excised it from said remaster completely.

Mass Effect 3's multiplayer mode is allegedly the product of corporate meddling on behalf of new publishers Electronic Arts. The game was released during a time when EA was attempting to make all of its games into pay-to-win microtransaction machines, a practice gamers now mostly abhor. There was even a time when EA wanted to make a first-person multiplayer ME game called Mass Effect: Team Assault, though that was never released.

Given all of this, it would have been easy for the multiplayer to have been borderline unplayable or otherwise not fun. But there's a reason so many players have stuck around and kept playing the multiplayer modes in the almost 10 years since Mass Effect 3 was released.

"Adrenaline's better than oxygen any day."

The gameplay of Mass Effect 3 is quite different from Mass Effects 1 & 2. Those games played more like RPGs, with your effectiveness based on how high your skill level was with any particular power or gun. Mass Effect 3, however, was built more like a shooter: It was fast, fluid, and brutal. It was less about raising your skill in any particular area, but about finding your balance between weapons and powers.

For example, if you wanted to invest more in guns instead of powers (meaning tech or biotic abilities), you could load yourself up with as many guns as you pleased. The extra weight meant your powers would recharge slowly, but you could just load yourself up with ammo augmentations and grenades and neglect powers completely. You could also limit your weapons to a single pistol or submachine gun, and make use of your absurdly short recharge times to spam the battlefield with neon-blue biotics or gnarly tech powers.

In short, it felt so much better than the perfunctory gunplay and powers of its predecessors. Granted, it wasn't to everyone's taste — I'm sure there were many people who wondered if they'd accidentally put a Gears of War disc in their consoles when they started this up. I loved it though for the simple fact that the combat made every playable character feel and look like the seasoned soldiers and warriors they're supposed to be.

"If this is a war, I'll need an army. Or a really good team."

The other saving grace for the mode was the fact that you could play as many of the different alien races you'd seen in the story. While Commander Shepard is a good player avatar, it gets a little samey being stuck in the body of a boring old human, especially when Shepard has such a diverse crew with talents that Shepard doesn't have.

In ME3 multiplayer, you could be an Asari, Turian, Krogan, or even a tiny Volus — I'm sorry, "Biotic God." You'd even get your shot at playing a Geth or a Collector, characters that are usually villains in the series. Granted, you would have to unlock them via the aforementioned microtransaction system, but even so, the opportunity was there. You could customize your alien character, giving them a name and armor colors. For someone who'd been playing these games for years and had long wanted to play these races, it was just so cool.

There was also how these characters got powers that Shepard and company never did. The N7 characters, human graduates of the elite N7 training program, all had wild and useful powers that you never saw in game (not amongst your squadmates anyway). The Slayer vanguard's little flip before he sets off a blue biotic sword slash that sweeps the battlefield? Amazing. The Shadow teleporting behind enemies and slashing them in half while completely invisible? Absolute gold. The Demolisher throwing so many grenades she's practically carpet-bombing the battlefield on foot? How could anyone dislike that?

"Don't stand there looking pretty. Kill something!"

In fact, that's the essence of what made the multiplayer so enjoyable. It was cool, guiltless fun with the game's third-person shooter mechanics, and offered the chance to enjoy them in an arena setting without any of the baggage that comes with almost every mission in the campaign.

Mass Effect 3 is a heavy game. All of the previous games' dark foreshadowing and grim warnings of things to come paid tragic dividends. Even Commander Shepard is constantly tired and emotionally strung out during the events of this game. Almost every time they and their team left the ship to go out and shoot some baddies, they're reminded that there were millions suffering across the galaxy and they're the only ones who can stop it. That's exactly what gamers wanted and expected from Mass Effect 3, given how the Reaper threat had been hanging over our heads for over 100 hours of gameplay.

But such a heavy story can take its toll. That's why when I felt like playing a little Mass Effect 3 but didn't feel like getting my heart broken, I would fire up the multiplayer and go a few rounds, either with my friends or like-minded strangers. It was a great way to enjoy the gameplay and the universe — and given that multiplayer rounds could even shift the balance of power in favor of the good guys, it had a positive effect on the grim single-player campaign.

There won't be any multiplayer in the Legendary Edition rerelease, but we'll still get to enjoy the gameplay of Mass Effect 3 with new graphics. That will have to be enough. Mass Effect Legendary Edition will launch on Xbox One, PS4 and PC (and Xbox Series X, Series S, and PlayStation 5 via forward compatibility) on May 14.

Don't Fear the Reapers

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

$60 at Microsoft

$60 at Amazon

$60 at Best Buy

Save the galaxy again in this next-gen remaster.

Though it might be lacking in fun multiplayer, Commander Shepard's remastered return still looks like it'll be amazing. Get ready to fight the ultimate space evil all over again.



Related Posts:

0 comments:

Post a Comment

ShortNewsWeb

Blog Archive

Categories

'The Woks of Life' Reminded Me to Cook With All the Flavors I Love (1) 10 Scary Podcasts to Listen to in the Dark (1) 11 Ways to Automate Your Life (and Get Back More Free Time) (1) 13 of the Best Spooky Episodes From (Mostly) Un-Spooky Shows (1) 13 Spooky Movies Set on Halloween Night (1) 16 of the Best Ways to Declutter Your Home (1) 1Password Now Generates QR Codes to Share Wifi Passwords (1) 2024 (15) 21 Thanksgiving Movies About Families As Screwed-Up As Yours (1) 30 Movies and TV Shows That Are Basically 'Competence Porn' (1) 30 of the Most Obscenely Patriotic Movies Ever (1) 31 Spooky Movies to Watch Throughout October (1) 38 of the Best Queer Movies of the Past 100 Years (1) 40 Netflix Original Series You Should Watch (1) 55 Box Office Bombs Totally Worth Watching (1) Active Directory (1) Adobe's AI Video Generator Might Be as Good as OpenAI's (1) AIX (1) and I'd Do It Again (1) and It's Not Worth the Price Hike (1) and Max Bundle Isn't a Terrible Deal (1) and the Dreo Solaris Is the Best Space Heater I’ve Tried (1) and These Are My Favorite Tech Deals From Walmart’s Black Friday Sale (1) and These Water-Resistant Running Shoes Are a Game Changer (1) and They're All on Sale for Black Friday (1) Apache (2) Apple Intelligence Is Running Late (1) Apple Intelligence's Instructions Reveal How Apple Is Directing Its New AI (1) Apple Passwords Is Now on Firefox (but Not for Windows Users) (1) Apple's Latest Update Might Have Opted You Back Into Apple Intelligence (1) August 18 (1) August 4 (1) August 5 (1) Avoid an Allergic Reaction by Testing Your Halloween Makeup Now (1) Backup & Restore (2) best practices (1) bleepingcomputer (114) Blink Security Cameras Are up to 68% Off Ahead of Prime Day (1) Bluesky Has Trending Topics Now (But You Can Disable Them) (1) CentOS (1) CES 2025: Asus' Zenbook A14 Is the Lightweight Laptop My Back Wishes I Had (1) CES 2025: Govee’s New Pixel Light Will Remind You of a Lite Brite (1) Configure PowerPath on Solaris (1) Congress Might Ban DeepSeek (1) Documents (2) Don't Buy the New iPad Air (1) Don't Fall for This 'New' Google AI Scam (1) Don't Rely on a 'Monte Carlo' Retirement Analysis (1) Eight Cleaning Products TikTok Absolutely Loves (1) Eight of the Best Methods for Studying so You Actually Retain the Information (1) Eight Unexpected Ways a Restaurant Can Mislead You (1) Elevate Your Boring Store-Bought Pretzels With This Simple Seasoning Technique (1) Even Steam Has Malware Now (1) Everything Announced at Apple's iPhone 16 Event (1) Everything I'm Seeding in February (1) file system (6) Finally (1) Find (1) Find a Nearby ‘Gleaning Market’ to Save Money on Groceries (1) Five Red Flags to Look for in Any Restaurant (1) Five Ways You Can Lose Your Social Security Benefits (1) Flappy Bird's Creator Has Nothing to Do With Its 'Remake' (1) Four Reasons to Walk Out of a Job Interview (1) Four Signs Thieves Are Casing Your House (1) gaming (1) Goldfish Crackers Have a New Name (for a Little While) (1) Grok Is Now Available Without an X Account (1) Hackers Now Have Access to 10 Billion Stolen Passwords (1) How I Finally Organized My Closet With a Digital Inventory System (1) How I Pack Up a Hotel Room So I Don’t Forget Anything (1) How Opening Multiple Bank Accounts Helped Me Manage My Money Better (1) How to Buy Residency in Another Country With a 'Golden Visa' (1) How to Cancel Your Amazon Prime Membership After Prime Day Is Over (1) How to Choose the Best Weightlifting Straps for Your Workout (1) How to Do Fartlek Runs (and Seven Different Kinds to Try) (1) How to Enable (and Turn Off) Apple Intelligence on an iPhone (1) How to Get Free Car Maintenance and Repair Work (1) How to Get Started With Bluesky (1) How to Keep Squirrels Off Your Bird Feeders (1) How to Mute Words and Phrases on Your Bluesky Feed (1) How to Protect Your Kids From Identity Theft (1) How to Remotely Control Another iPhone or Mac Using FaceTime (1) How to Set Up Your Bedroom Like a Hotel Room (and Why You Should) (1) How to Speak With a Real Person at Target Customer Service (1) How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac (1) How to Take Full Control of Your Notifications on a Chromebook (1) How to Track Your 2024 Federal Tax Refund (1) How to Use Picture-in-Picture Mode on an Android Phone (1) How to Write SMART Goals That Actually Help You Reach Your Fitness Dreams (1) Hulu (1) I Chose the Beats Fit Pro Over the AirPods Pro (1) I Tested Grok 3 (1) I'd Recommend These Seven Outdoor Security Cameras I've Tested (1) I'm a Runner (1) I'm a Shopping Writer (1) I’m Always Cold (1) If You Got a Package You Didn't Order (1) If You Hate Running (1) Important Questions (17) Install and Configure PowerPath (1) interview questions for linux (2) Is ‘Ultra-Processed’ Food Really That Bad for You? (1) Is Amazon Prime Really Worth It? (1) It Might Be a Scam (1) July 14 (1) July 21 (1) July 28 (1) July 7 (1) June 30 (1) LifeHacker (214) Linux (36) Make and Freeze Some Roux Now for Easy Turkey Gravy (1) Meredith's Training Diaries: How I Crushed My Marathon Personal Record (1) Meta Releases Largest Open-Source AI Model Yet (1) Monitoring (3) music (688) My Favorite 14TB Hard Drive Is 25% Off Right Now (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: Apple AirPods Max (2) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: Apple Pencil Pro (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: Google Nest Mesh WiFi Router (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: Google Pixel 8 (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: PlayStation 5 (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: Samsung Odyssey G9 Gaming Monitor (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: SHOKZ OpenMove Bone Conduction Headphones (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: The 13-Inch M3 Apple MacBook Air (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: The Beats Pill Portable Speaker (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: The Garmin Forerunner 955 (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: The Garmin Venu 3S (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: The Google Pixel 9 Pro (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: The Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: The Microsoft Surface Pro (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: The Sonos Era 100 (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: These Bose QuietComfort Headphones (1) My Favorite Tools for Managing Cords and Cables (1) Nagios (2) Newtorking (1) NFS (1) Now Is a Good Time to Buy a Refurbished M-Series MacBook (1) OMG! Ubuntu! (688) OpenAI Just Introduced More Ways to Use ChatGPT on WhatsApp (1) Opera’s New Browser Is Built to Break Your Doomscrolling Habit (1) Oracle Linux (1) oracleasm (3) osnews (34) Oura’s Readiness Score Finally Takes Menstrual Cycles Into Account (1) Password less communication (1) Patching (2) Pixel Studio Is the Easiest (If Not the Best) Way to Make AI Art on Your Pixel 9 (1) Poaching Is the Secret to Perfect Corn on the Cob (1) powerpath (1) Prioritize Your To-Do List By Imagining Rocks in a Jar (1) Red Hat Exam (1) register (126) Rsync (1) Safari’s ‘Distraction Control’ Will Help You Banish (Some) Pop Ups (1) Samba (1) Samsung Just Announced the Galaxy S25 Series (1) Save Time and Air Fry Your Pumpkin Pie (1) Scrcpy (1) September 1 (1) September 15 (1) September 2 (1) September 22 (1) September 23 (1) September 30 (1) September 8 (1) Seven Home 'Upgrades' That Aren’t Worth the Money (1) Seven Things Your Credit Card’s Trip Protection Won’t Actually Cover (1) Six of the Most Common Tax Myths in 2025 (1) Six Unexpected Household Uses for Dry-Erase Markers (1) ssh (1) Stop Your iPhone From Sharing Photos' Data With Apple (1) Swift Shift Is the Window Management Tool Apple Should Have Built (1) System hardening (1) Tailor Your iPhone's Fitness Summary to Your Workouts (1) Target’s ‘Circle Week’ Sale Is Still Going After October Prime Day (1) Target’s Answer to Prime Day Starts July 7 (1) Tech (9584) Tech CENTRAL (46) Technical stories (200) technpina (12) The 30 Best Movies of the 2020s so Far (and Where to Watch Them) (1) The 30 Best Sports Movies You Can Stream Right Now (1) The Beats Solo 4 Are 50% Off Right Now (1) The Best Deals on Robot Vacuums for Amazon’s Early Prime Day Sale (2) The Best Deals on Ryobi Tools During Home Depot's Labor Day Sale (1) The Best Early Prime Day Sales on Power Tools (1) The Best Last-Minute Valentine's Day Gift Ideas for Under $30 (1) The Best Movies and TV Shows to Watch on Netflix This Month (1) The Best October Prime Day Deals If You Are Experiencing Overwhelming Existential Dread (1) The Best Places to Go When You Don't Want to Be Around Kids (1) The Best Places to Order Thanksgiving Dinner to Go (1) The Best Strategies for Lowering Your Credit Card Interest Rate (1) The Best Way to Clean a Microwave (1) The Best Ways to Store All Your Bags and Purses (1) The Boox Note Air 4C Is a Color E-Reader and Digital Notebook in One (1) The Easiest Way to Free Up Disk Space on Your Mac (1) The Latest watchOS Beta Is Breaking Apple Watches (1) The Marshall Emberton II Speakers Are $70 Off for Black Friday (1) The New Disney+ (1) The PowerSchool Breach May Have Compromised Over 70 Million Users' Data (1) The Real Cost of Using a Nespresso Machine (1) The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro Are $60 Off for Black Friday (1) The Two Best Times of Year to Look for a New Job (1) the X Rival Everyone's Flocking To (1) There's a Fix for Apple Mail's Weird Archiving Behavior (1) These Anker Soundcore Sport X10 Earbuds Are Cheaper Than Ever (1) These Bissell Vacuums Are on Sale Ahead of Black Friday (and They're All Great) (1) These Googly Eyes Will Help You Find Your Mac's Cursor (1) These Meatball Shots Are My Favorite Football Season Snack (1) These Milwaukee Tools Are up to 69% off Right Now (1) This 2024 Sony Bravia Mini-LED TV Is $400 Off Right Now (1) This 75-Inch Hisense ULED 4K TV Is $500 Off Right Now (1) This App Lets You Create Automations Your Mac Usually Doesn’t Support (1) This Google Nest Pro Is 30% Off for Prime Day (1) This iPhone and Mac App Lets You Edit Your Bluesky Posts (1) This MagSafe-Compatible Power Bank Is 40% Off for Black Friday (1) This Peanut Butter Latte Isn’t As Weird As It Sounds (1) This Safari Extension Gives You More Control Over Your Reddit Feed (1) This Tech Brand Will Get the Biggest Discounts During Prime Day (1) This TikTok Upholstery Cleaning Hack Actually Works (1) Three New Things We Know About the Nintendo Switch 2 (1) Three Quick Ways to Shorten a Necklace (1) Three Services People Don't Know They Can Get From Their Bank for Free (1) TikTok's '5x5' Cleaning Method Is Great If You're Short on Time (1) Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Monday (4) Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Sunday (11) Try 'Pile Cleaning' When Your Mess Is Overwhelming (1) Try 'Pomodoro 2.0' to Focus on Deep Work (1) Try 'Rucking' (1) Ubuntu News (352) Ubuntu! (1) Unix (1) Use the ‘Organizational Triangle’ to Keep Your House Neater (1) Use This App to Sync Apple Reminders With Your iPhone Calendar (1) Use This Extension to Find All Your X Followers on Bluesky (1) Use TikTok's 'Rage Cleaning' Trend to Get Your Place Spotless (1) veritas (2) Videos (1) Warner Bros. Is Uploading Classic Movies to YouTube for Free (1) Was ChatGPT Really Starting Conversations With Users? (1) Watch Out for These Red Flags in a Realtor Contract (1) Wayfair Is Having a '72-Hour Closeout' Sale to Compete With Prime Day (1) We Now Know When Google Will Roll Out Android 15 (1) What Is the 'Die With Zero' Movement (and Is It Right for You)? (1) What Not to Do When Training for a Marathon (1) What to Do When Your Employer Shifts Your Pay From Salary to Hourly (1) What to Look for (and Avoid) When Selecting a Pumpkin (1) What to Wear to Run in the Cold (1) What's New on Max in December 2024 (1) What's New on Netflix in March 2025 (1) What's New on Prime Video and Freevee in September 2024 (1) Where to Stream Every Nominated Movie Before the 2025 Oscars (1) Why the Apple TV App Is Better on Android Than iPhone (1) Why You Can't Subscribe to Disney+ and Hulu Through Apple Anymore (1) Why You Might Want to Avoid the Latest Chromecast Update (1) Why Your Home Gym Needs Adjustable Kettlebells (1) Windows (5) You Can Easily Add Words to Your Mac's Dictionary (1) You Can Fight (and Avoid) Your Landlord's Cleaning Fees (1) You Can Get 'World War Z' on Sale for $19 Right Now (1) You Can Get a Membership to BJ's for Practically Free Right Now (1) You Can Get Beats Studio Buds+ on Sale for $100 Right Now (1) You Can Get Microsoft Visio 2021 Pro on Sale for $20 Right Now (1) You Can Get This 12-Port USB-C Hub on Sale for $90 Right Now (1) You Can Get This Roomba E5 Robot Vacuum on Sale for $170 Right Now (1) You Can Hire Your Own Personal HR Department (1) You Can Search Through Your ChatGPT Conversation History Now (1) You Can Set Different Scrolling Directions for Your Mac’s Mouse and Trackpad (1) You Need Beneficiaries for More Accounts Than You Think (1) Your DeepSeek Chats May Have Been Exposed Online (1) Your Verizon Bill Just Got a Little More Expensive (1)

Recent Comments

Popular Posts

Translate

My Blog List

Popular

System Admin Share

Total Pageviews