Mass Effect 3 is a science-fiction role playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. It was made for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. It was originally intended as the final game in the series, until plans were made for Mass Effect 4.
Release[]
Mass Effect 3 was released March 6, 2012 in North America, March 8, 2012 in Australia and Switzerland, and March 9, 2012 in Europe. The game was originally slated for a 'Holiday 2011' release but was delayed to "[ensure] that it exceeds everyone's expectations" and "address a far larger market opportunity." Prior to that, Ray Muzyka had stated that the release timing would be based on maximising both "quality" and "commercial success".
During E3 2011, EA Games Label President Frank Gibeau did not discount the possibility of Mass Effect 3 being available for the Nintendo Wii U console, stating that EA will only "announce that when it's ready."
BioWare released a Collector's Edition of Mass Effect 3, the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector's Edition. This edition has numerous exclusive items, Downloadable Content, a free digital soundtrack, and an exclusive Xbox 360 Normandy Avatar Prop among other things.
All PC versions of Mass Effect 3, physical or digital, will require EA's Origin software, and will not be available through Valve's Steam.
Retail Bonus Items[]
Depending on where the game is purchased, what edition is purchased and whether or not it was pre-ordered, the customer may be entitled to one or more Retail Bonus Items.
The following table details which items are available based on which version of the game is purchased, and whether or not the game was pre-ordered.
| Standard Edition | N7 Collector's Edition | N7 Digital Deluxe Edition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Preorder | Purchase | Preorder | Purchase | Preorder | Purchase | |
| N7 Collector's Edition Pack | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| From Ashes | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| N7 Warfare Gear | ✓1 | ✓1 | ✓2 | ||||
| M-55 Argus | ✓3 | ✓3 | ✓3 | ||||
| AT-12 Raider | ✓4 | ✓4 | |||||
|
1Announced for the following retailers: | |||||||
Amazon (Germany, United Kingdom), Blockbuster (United Kingdom), EB Games (Canada), GameStop (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, United States), GAME (Australia, Spain, France), Game Mania (Belgium,Netherlands), The Hut (United Kingdom), Mighty Ape (Australia, New Zealand), Ozon (Russia), Play.com (United Kingdom), ShopTo (United Kingdom), (X)Zone (Czech Republic), Xtra-vision (Republic of Ireland), Zavvi (United Kingdom), Zepy Games (Singapore)
2Announced for the following services: EA Origin (Poland, Singapore)
3Available for most pre-ordered copies of the game. Exclusive to EB Games in Australia (Standard Edition only)[11], Gamestop in Spain (Standard and Collector's Edition).
4Available exclusively for copies of the game pre-ordered through EA Origin.
Demo[]
A demo of Mass Effect 3 was released on February 14, 2012, for Xbox 360, PC, and PlayStation 3. The demo contains both single-player and cooperative multiplayer content. While all players were able to play the single-player content, access to the multiplayer portion was initially limited. Those who had purchased a copy of Battlefield 3 were able to gain access to the multiplayer portion of the demo immediately upon the demo's release; access was unlocked by redeeming the Online Pass included with new copies of Battlefield 3. All non-early access players were able to play the multiplayer portion of the demo beginning February 17, 2012.
On Xbox 360, downloading the Mass Effect 3 demo and playing the multiplayer portion of it did not require Xbox Live Gold membership. Microsoft temporarily lifted the Gold membership requirement for the demo in the weeks that lead up to the release of Mass Effect 3.
The demo features a level on Earth during the beginning of the Reaper invasion, with David Anderson as a temporary squad member. The objective is surviving and making a rendezvous with Normandy. The Demo then switches to a mission on Sur'Kesh where Shepard, with Garrus and Liara, must save a fertile krogan female from a Cerberus attack.
Space Edition[]
EA sent copies of Mass Effect 3 into the stratosphere from six different cities around the world. Copies of the game are called space editions and were accompanied by an exclusive prize. They were attached to Weather Balloons with GPS trackers and were launched from New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Berlin, London, and Paris. The balloons were trackable at the Official Mass Effect website.
Details[]
Players: 1 (single player), 4 (co-op multiplayer).
Resolution: Xbox 360 and PS3: HDTV 720p/1080i/1080p // PC: Screen & Card Dependent
Publisher: Electronic Arts, Inc.
Developer: BioWare Corp.®
Format: 2x DVD (Xbox 360 and PC), 1x Blu-ray (PlayStation 3), Digital Download (PC and PlayStation 3),
Rating: "M" for Mature (US), MA15+ (Australia), BBFC 15 (UK), PEGI 18+ (EU), USK 16 (GER)
Plot[]
The story is the 'epic conclusion' to the story started in Mass Effect and continued in Mass Effect 2, as well as the final Mass Effect game featuring the Reaper's as the main enemy. The player's choices in the previous games were expected to have a much more significant impact on the plot than the choices in Mass Effect had on Mass Effect 2. As Mass Effect 3 is the end of the planned trilogy, the developers are not constrained by the necessity of allowing the story to diverge, yet also continue into the next chapter. This will result in a story that diverges into wildly different conclusions based on the player's actions in the first two chapters.
Throughout Mass Effect 3, Commander Shepard will be bringing the civilisations of the galaxy together as allies to take back Earth and repel the Reaper invasion. The player's choices throughout not only Mass Effect 3, but the entire quadrilogy, will affect the fate of these civilisations and the endings the player can receive.
Major Characters[]
- Lieutenant Commander (John) Shepard (First Name Changable) (Main Protaganist)
- Lieutenant James Vega (Squad Member)
- Admiral David Edward Anderson (Temporary Squad Member)
- Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams (Squad Member)
- Major Kaidan Alenko (Squad Member)
- The Illusive Man (Adversary)
- Commander Armando-Owen Bailey
- Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Normandy (Squad Member)
- Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni (Squad Member)
- Garrus Vakarian (Squad Member)
- Javik (Squad Member) (available only through the From Ashes DLC)
- Enhanced Defense Intelligence "EDI" (Squad Member)
- Chief Engineer Gregory Adams
- Doctor Karin Chakwas
- Doctor Chloe Michel
- Gavin Archer
- Kasumi Goto (only if you had the Kasumi: Stolen Memory DLC in ME2)
- Urdnot Grunt
- Admiral Steven Hackett
- Harbinger
- Jack
- Major Kirrahe
- Thane Krios
- Miranda Lawson
- Legion
- Zaeed Massani (only if you had the Zaeed: The Price of Revenge DLC in ME2)
- Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau
- Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay
- Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema
- Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib
- Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh
- Samara
- Morinth
- Mordin Solus
- Jacob Taylor
- Aria T'Loak
- Councilor Donnel Udina
- Urdnot Wreav
- Urdnot Wrex
- Councilor Tevos
- Councilor Valern
- Councilor Sparatus
- Councilor Irissa
- Councilor Esheel
- Councilor Quentius
- Kai Leng
- Kahlee Sanders
- Diana Allers
- Major Coats
- Steve Cortez
- Urdnot Dagg
- Eve
- Henry Lawson
- Dalatrass Linron
- Specialist Samantha Traynor
- Geth VI
- General/Primarch Adrien Victus
- Padok Wiks
- The Catalyst
Minor Characters[]
- Dr. Eva Core
- Councilor Dominic Osoba
- General Corinthus
- Lieutenant Tarquin Victus
- Kalros: Mother of all Thresher Maws
- The Rannoch Reaper Destroyer
- Captain Kar'Danna vas Rayya
- Kal'Reegar
- Lieutenant Kurin
- Rana Thanoptis
- Charr
- Oriana Lawson