Late yesterday, after the news had broken about multiplayer officially existing in Mass Effect 3, BioWare took to its forums to give both clarity and details on the upcoming title’s four-player co-op and Galaxy at War system.
Mass Effect 3‘s four-player co-op will exist as a series of missions where players will be able to pick their character from a variety of both races and classes in order to form “an elite Special Forces squad” to battle the Reapers and “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,” read the forum post by Chris Priestly, BioWare’s community manager.
Though the multiplayer’s impact on the campaign won’t be a crucial one towards obtaining an “optimal, complete” ending if one wants to play by themselves, it will make doing so easier. This is all part of what BioWare is calling the game’s Galaxy at War system.
“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,” wrote Priestly. “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.”
In addition to providing information, Priestly also added a Q&A section following the details in order to explain BioWare’s stance and opinion on the multiplayer, including reasons why to have co-op in the first place.
“Being able to explore and fight alongside your friends in the Mass Effect universe has always been something we thought would be fun and compelling, and many players have asked for it for a long time as well,” he responded. “Mass Effect 3 is the best place for us to introduce multiplayer through co-op because of the premise of the game – all out galactic war.”
Priestly also provided an answer as to why the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer is strictly co-op and does not include a versus or competitive mode.
“We have always maintained that we would only add multiplayer into the Mass Effect series if it made sense and did not compromise the power of the single player campaign,” he stated. “Fighting together against a common threat was the multiplayer experience that made the most sense for Mass Effect 3. The way we have designed co-op as a wayto take control of key conflict zones in the galaxy is a natural extension of the premise of Mass Effect 3.”
BioWare and Priestly also confirmed via the Q&A section that Mass Effect 3 will have planned DLC, though no details regarding what it will be have been given out just yet. Also revealed was that character progression, weapon upgrading, and leveling will be present in co-op and that more details about the topic will be provided in the months ahead.
Mass Effect 3 is slated for a March 6, 2012 release for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.
