Hands on Mass Effect 3 Co-Op, Why it’s a Good Thing
When the world finally learned that the Mass Effect series was in fact getting multiplayer, just as many people were concerned as were elated.
“Get yer Call of Duty outta my Mass Effect!!” The roleplayers cried.
However, when Commander Shepard himself (in the form of series producer Casey Hudson) explained that the game would only be getting co-op and not some CoDified competitive multiplayer, people clammed down a bit.
“Co-op? Oh, well that’s cool, everyone likes co-op”
Indeed. Pretty much everyone does like co-op, and thanks to the wonders of wi-fi, even people without friends can enjoy the co-op in Mass Effect 3.
I recently sat down and got to enjoy some ME3 co-op and I’m going to tell you why I think it’s a good thing and why you’ll probably like it as well… or hate it… or be indifferent.
Come With Me If You Want To Live.
In this new “Galaxy at War” mode you and three friends will push onward to victory as you fight off the Geth and other intergalactic bad things that want to kill you. First up you’ll pick your race and class. All the notable races and classes are present here so yes, you can be an Asari Biotic and finally feel what it’s like to play as Liara… woo…
Anyhow, I decided to go in as a human soldier becuase when youve only got a 40 minute press demo, it helps to go with what you know. Hooyah!
Once everyone is locked and loaded we’re tasked with objectives to push, the only problem is there’s baddies who want to push back. Capture objectives, kill things, that’s the jist of it. Waves of enemies will come at you while you try to push for said objectives and yes, it feels a bit like Gears of War’s Horde mode – which isn’t a bad thing. In fact, if you’re familiar with Horde mode, you’ll feel right at home here. It didn’t feel quite as polished as Gears, but the game obviously isn’t finished and something something alpha, beta, omega builds are not the final product something something grain of salt.
Come At Me Bro
That’s not to say it’s easy. Even with my Soldier’s concussive shot leveled rather high I was having my ass handed to me by hard to avoid snipers and footsoldiers alike. I was constantly being revived by and having to revive my teammates until we eventually all died and failed on what was one of the final waves. We did eventually make it past said wave on a second playthrough, only to be killed by a giant mecha-boss which totally wasn’t my fault for running in and trying to stab it with my omni-blade. Such is the life of an interstellar spec ops group NOT led by commander Shepard. But I digress…
Even when you die, your experience will be carried over. This means that every time you play, your life will be a bit easier. The gameplay feels just as it does in single player, except that in single player your NPC teammates won’t go and try to stab the boss with their omni blade or accidentally throw a grenade at you. But that’s what co-op is all about really, yelling at your friends because they suck and are single-handedly causing the galaxy to implode.
As Usual, the Salarians Are No Help...
Now, what people seem to be the most worried about is that the co-op will detract from the single player experience or that since you can increase your “Galactic Readiness” level by participating in the co-op, that you have to play it. Well, you don’t. You can, and it will help get your galatic troops ready for the final battle with the reapers sooner, but you can also completely ignore the co-op and get the exact same end game results just by playing the single player. Think of it like a paid transaction in a F2P MMO… that you don’t have to pay for. Sure, you can buy your way (or in this case fight your way) to better unlocks, but you could also just grind them out. You can take the donkey to the top of the rim, or you can take the tram. It is the same price.
Think about it, would you rather play some Horde mode to help increase Shepard’s “Galactic Readiness” levels or would you rather scan and probe planets for hours on end? If you said scan and probe planets I hate you by the way…
People also seem to be irriatated by the thought that this mode is what delayed Mass Effect 3 and that it’s taking valuable resources and manpower away from the single player game. I hope these people know that two different studios are working on the game at this point. The main team (led by Commander Hudson) is at BioWare Edmonton and a completely separate team is developing the multiplayer at BioWare Montreal. There’s actually another team developing Mass Effect 4 at BioWare Mordor, but they’re not talking about that yet.
We're All Gonna Die...
What it all boils down to is this:
If you like this sort of thing, it’s there for you and your friends and it will add to your single player experience.
If this just isn’t your bag, you can completely ignore it and you will be no worse for wear.
However, this one believes the Hanar should be a playable race… just sayin.
Mass Effect 3 brings the war home on March 6th, 2012.
For more, check out our interview with series producer Casey Hudson.
