New Details on Upcoming Mass Effect 3

Destructoid had an opportunity to speak with Bioware about their upcoming Mass Effect 3 while at Gamescom the other day. The interview revealed some very interesting factoids. Read on to find out more!

The first delicious piece of news: Bioware is making an effort to weave in all of the old characters that you interacted with in the first two iterations of the title, “especially anyone that you started a story or relationship with… you want to tie those off in Mass Effect 3.” This means all of them, including DLC characters such as Kasumi Goto. Although you might not be able to add them as squad members, Bioware is hell-bent on making sure you’ll be able to interact with them, finishing what you’ve started in the previous two games.

In addition to being able to tie up all those loose ends, Bioware has really been trying to ramp up the combat. Powers for example, have been made more diverse. Now, you’ll have six different evolution paths to choose from.

You’ll be thankful that you have all of those extra choices too – apparently, Bioware has been increasing the aggressiveness of enemies. And now they have shields. Fortunately, Bioware has improved the flanking mechanics by making Shepard’s movement more fluid and increasing the ease with which you’ll be able to do things such as cover-slip. Bioware is hoping that this will all add up to a more “visceral” experience.

The interview also reiterated some of what we already know about the weapon customization and Kinect functionality. It is reassuring to hear though that despite the increased intensity of combat, being able to verbally command your Squad members (via Kinect) will still be a matter of preference, not a necessity — I’d rather not have to shout at my TV to play a video game. There’s a reason why we have opposable thumbs.