Rumor: Australian Magazine Confirms Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer

[ArianaUO321]

The only multiplayer that should even be considered for Mass Effect is a co-op, where another player can take control of a squad mate. The main character controlling Shepard still should be making the decisions, and basically controlling everything. Otherwise, multiplayer has no business being in this game, period.

Only reason its being implimented at all is in order to shut up the -idiots- who piss and moan about a lack of it, as well as even more brain dead critics who will mark a game down for not having multiplayer. Hopefully they'll half-ass the multiplayer (As they should), and focus about 95% of their resources on making the single player campaign and story amazing.

 

[spectrenihlus]

New news, folks! It's actually...not so bad!

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/323/index/8481789/1

Hi Everyone

Today BioWare and the Mass Effect 3 team are very pleased to announce 4 player co-op multiplayer missions and the Mass Effect 3: Galaxy at War system for Mass Effect 3 on the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.


4 player co-op multiplayer

Join your friends in the all-out galactic war to take Earth back. The universe of Mass Effect expands with the addition of new co-op multiplayer missions, playable over Xbox Live, PSN and PC internet. Players can choose from a variety of classes and races, form an elite Special Forces squad, and combine their weapons, powers and abilities to devastating effect as they fight together to liberate key territories from enemy control. Success in multi-player will have a direct impact on the outcome of the single player campaign, giving players an alternative method of achieving ultimate victory against the greatest threat mankind ? and the entire galaxy ? has ever faced.

Mass Effect 3: Galaxy at War

As a bonus to the campaign, BioWare is introducing the Mass Effect 3: Galaxy at War system, a new way for players to manage and experience the galactic war from multiple fronts, including a new 4-player co-op mode. The key to saving the galaxy is the ?Galactic Readiness? level, measured by Commander Shepard?s ability to apply
every possible asset ? people, weapons, resources, armies, fleets ? in the final battle against the Reapers. Players can impact their game?s Galactic Readiness level in multiple ways via the Mass Effect 3: Galaxy at War system, including multiplayer. Other platforms and interfaces will be announced in the coming months. It is important to note that the system is entirely optional and just another way players can have control over your game experience ? it is still possible to achieve the optimal, complete ending of the game in Mass Effect 3 through single-player alone.

More details at the link. Not sure about the protocol for news, sorry if I'm stepping on any toes.

As a huge fan of anything and all mass effect I am INCREDIBLY excited for this. You people who are pissed off about this news really need more faith.

 

[vxicepickxv]

Optional, probably one of the best things I've heard about this. I'm not going to say that it's automatically crap, as I still play Neverwinter Nights multiplayer, but I've seen some bad systems before.

 

[Carne]

I seriously doubt

Rumor: Australian Magazine Confirms Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer

BioWare is building a résumé of not exactly understanding the differences between single- and multi-player experiences. They excel at single-player. And they think just going that same stuff, but including a way for another player to plug in is enough to make multi-player.

The result, when these worlds collide, is multiplayer that is basically just "several single-players occupying the same screen." It's just parallel individual games, rather than an integrated multiplayer experience. This doesn't work for Mass Effect, in which your character is the entire point of the game. Additionally, your companions are part of your "character"--Shepard does not exist in a vacuum (metaphorically speaking).

You can see this problem in The Old Republic, as well. How will it look for a handful of people to group up and all of them have the same wookiee companion, with the same name and everything?

BioWare: You make great single-player experiences. You excel at giving your players control over an ensemble of characters and letting them shape a story arc. You do not excel at crafting multiplayer experiences. It throws off all of the meticulous balancing you've done within the ensemble... or it just forces awkward, artificial situations like "too many wookiees."

Bioware has a history of making Multiplayer titles too, you're just too young to remember them.

Also, about SWTOR, unless you're grouped up with 4 smugglers (which you won't because that's a horrible combination) You won't be seeing 4 identical companions. Each class has 5 unique companions to it, with the ability to customize gear and appearance. I should also point out, that you can't see other companions names, they are defaulted off.

OT: There's loads of examples of games that have been single player only experiences getting multiplayer in later installments and having it be great. As someone mentioned before, AC:B did it really well, as well as Metal Gear Solid 4.

also, come on people, the idea that the story, is somehow going to be worse now that there's multiplayer is more than a little ridiculous. As if the story wasn't finished months ago

This whole article scream BS to drive up sales. Whenever Bioware has referred to friends in the past it meant the main races in the game. I seriously doubt they would tack on multiplayer at this juncture. We are far more likely to get a CoD clone later called something like Mass Effect: Online or something stupid.

Also TOR doesn't work that way anyway. Companions count as a party member. So in a full group of four people you wouldn't even see one.

EDIT: Missed the news in the above post. Damn. Well at least it sounds less intrusive than co-op.

 

[HandsomeJack]

You forgot "It's Bush's fault!" =p