After you’ve exhausted your ammo supply, the Normandy picks you up and this portion of the demo ends. You then play through a section that appears later on in the game, this time with a full squad of some old friends from the previous games. You can get a taste of the squad mechanics and also test out new powers as the game automatically levels you up and gives you more skill points to use. The skill trees seem a lot more streamlined this time around, with six different levels for each tree. Levels four through six for a particular skill give you the choice between two kinds of skill augmentations. Would you rather have an extra grenade or have your grenades do more damage? Would you prefer having your Tech Armor reduce more incoming damage or have a stronger explosion when you detonate it? These are the kinds of questions you have to ask yourself when planning out skill point allocation.
Once you’ve agonized over these choices, you fight your way through seemingly endless waves of Cerberus lackeys, trying to reach the top of a facility on the Salarian homeworld in order to deliver special cargo to the Normandy. Making use of your squad’s powers is important here, because none of Shepard’s character classes are effective at soloing all of the different types of enemies. If there are enemies with armor or biotic barriers, you can use Liara’s Warp ability to weaken them. Synthetic enemies or ones with shields can be fried with ease thanks to Garrus and his Overload ability. Using these skills in conjunction with your own can make for dynamic, yet balanced, combat situations. The single-player demo ends once you get to the roof and get the special cargo on board the Normandy.
At this point, you’re either hungrily wanting more or at least mildly interested in seeing what the multiplayer demo has to offer. If you’re a member of both camps, jump into the multiplayer and choose a race/class combo to get started. To help you along with customizing your character, BioWare gives you one Starter Pack filled with items for free. Once you’ve accrued enough credits, you can head to the Store and buy either a Recruit Pack for 5,000 credits or a Veteran Pack for 20,000 credits. Recruit Packs include common items (medi-gel, weapon attachments, etc) with a small chance for an uncommon item (new weapons, better attachments, or a race/class unlock). Veteran Packs have even more useful items and will always have one sweet uncommon item (though I’m still praying for a Quarian Infiltrator).
There are three challenge levels to choose from: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The enemies progressively get burlier and tougher with each level. Silver can be daunting for neophytes, especially if they’re still at the base Health and Shield levels. You’ll need credits for Packs that can beef up your weapons and armors, giving you more survivability on the field and making you better equipped for the higher challenge levels. The tougher the challenge, the more credits you can earn for the randomized loot in Packs. This Pack system is akin to buying a booster pack for a trading card game and could be very effective in getting players to player over and over for the chance to unlock a coveted item. You’ll be playing so much that you’ll barely notice if you level up your classes. But once you’ve progressed in rank, gotten more skills, and acquired cooler toys, you’ll be zipping around the maps and taking down Cerberus agents with relative ease.
Speaking of maps, there are two present in the demo. One is Firebase White, located on the snowy planet of Noveria. Fans will recognize Noveria as one of the planets from the first Mass Effect game, where Shepard faces off against corporate bureaucracy, Liara’s crazy mother, and the queen of an alien-bug race called the Rachni. The other map is Firebase Ghost, located on the never-before-seen planet of Benning. This map is a labyrinth of rusty living quarters located in a futuristic slum. If you become crazed enough for credits, you might find yourself becoming very familiar with these maps. You might even get to the point where you’ll know exactly where enemies will spawn based on the general direction of their voices. Hopefully your squadmates won’t be yelling obscenities into their headsets, so you’ll be able to hear.
In multiplayer, your sqaudmates are everything. You will surely die without teamwork, unless you’re inordinately skilled and equipped. The challenges throw ten waves of Cerberus agents at you, ranging from grunts like Assault Troops to the scary space-ninjas known as Phantoms. Two or three of these waves will involve completing a special mission like killing four high value targets or staying in a designated spot in order to hack data from a terminal. Successfully fulfilling these mission parameters quickly results in bonus credits. But should you fail, it’s game over for the mission and you’ll be sent back to the lobby. The multiplayer is built solidly and fosters a fair amount of cooperative play, which is essential in the higher challenge levels. What was once feared as an unnecessary add-on could become a very addictive online experience.
The demo gives a fine overview of what’s new in the game and lets players get familiar with the changes while teasing them with content from further along in the story. It might also entice those who are unfamiliar with the games and prompt them to check out what they’ve missing. Regardless of how one feels about the series, BioWare and EA definitely have a major game on their hands and they’re hoping players will answer the call to take Earth back on March 6.
I’m John Martin, and this is my favorite preview on Warp Zoned.
