Mass Effect 3 Beta

Available on: Xbox 360 and PS3
Played it on: Xbox 360
Played it for: 20 hours

Mass Effect 3 seems to be striving for that Game of the Year award, just as it's predecessors dared to do. And you know what? It does not disappoint.

The beta takes you through the prologue of Mass Effect 3, as well as a second mission later on that gives you access to more weapons, armor, and abilities. The show it puts on for you is quite impressive, as the set pieces offer untold beauty and awe-inspiring views onto the newest Mass Effect world(s). The guns work really well, the physics work really well, the dialogue is great (as you can expect from any BioWare game...), and the level of interactive story is impressive. I was longing for more after I finished up the single-player, as the beta doesn't give you nearly as much as will satisfy your needs (which comes with any demo, to be honest). But thankfully, the demo offers itself for play-time that extends much further than just a single-player romp.

The second half of the beta is multiplayer. This is the first time Mass Effect has attempted that genre, and it does so quite swimmingly. I don't know what all will be included with the actual multiplayer, but the demo offers a survival game type that pits up to 4 players against ten waves of enemies across 2 very different maps. Some of the objectives vary from wave to wave, switching between assassinating targets, downloading data, disabling security stations, and just plain killing all enemies. The 6 classes offer a wide range of skills both long and short range, and the player can choose 2 of the 5 weapon types (sniper rifle, assault rifle, SMG, shotgun, or heavy pistol) to carry around in a game, along with 2 missiles for the big enemies and 2 med packs for reviving yourself when nobody else can, all of which are unlocked or acquired via support packs, accessed from the main menu's store. 5,000 credits will get you a recruit pack, good for upgrading or hording basic materials, and 20,000 credits will get you a veteran pack, good for hording lots of materials and gaining more firepower. Each mission wins you around 15,000 credits, so it's a choice between saving up and spending it all at once. The level cap (in the beta, at least), is 20 for each separate class, and of the 5 skill tiers, 3 can be maxed out before that cap is hit (you could do 4, but that means no points into tier 5, and that's a horrible idea). The multiplayer is fun and engaging, and I can't wait to try out the full deal upon the release.

Mass Effect 3 looks to be the best RPG of the year, and with the release of the epic beta, I can't wait to test that theory. Mass Effect 3 hits shelves on March 6, so fill up those wallets and get ready to spend.