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PSA: Mass Effect 3's Firefight weapons pack out today
Commander Shepard's arsenal against the Reapers receives a boost from Allied command today with the launch of the Firefight weapons pack in Mass Effect 3. This free weapons pack includes seven new weapons for use in the single-player campaign: a Geth SMG and Blood Pack Punisher SMG, the Reegar Carbine, a pair of sniper rifles from Indra and Krysae, a Harrier battle rifle and the Adas Anti-Synthetic rifle.%Gallery-161996%
Hands-on with Mass Effect 3 for Wii U
Every time the Mass Effect franchise leaps to a new console, it loses a chunk of Commander Shepard's history. Mass Effect 3 on Wii U, which has no previous games on which to build its galaxy-shaking conclusion, will include a new version of the "Genesis" interactive graphic novel by Dark Horse Comics. The stylized recap has been extended to include the events of both Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2.After completing the truncated story and cementing some of Shepard's major decisions, you'll dive into Mass Effect 3 proper. It's only BioWare's second game for Nintendo consoles (following Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood for DS), and appears to have suffered no obvious reductions compared to previous versions. Based on what I played at EA's Summer Showcase Event today – a snippet from Shepard's battle in a training ground for biotics – the game's Unreal-powered looks and framerate are comparable to the Xbox 360 and PS3 games. (The PC, of course, has the upper hand over all of them.)The Wii U version adds an exclusive weapon, the M-597 Ladon, to Shepard's arsenal. It can target up to six enemies simultaneously (all marked in red on the HUD), and unleashes a barrage of devastating homing rockets once you pull the right trigger. The Wii U's pad takes a few moments to get used to if you're usually grafted to the Xbox 360 controller (the X button is where?), but once you're up to speed you can glance down and use some of the new control options.%Gallery-161688%
Mass Effect 3 Leviathan and Firefight DLC detailed
After officially announcing it at EA's Summer Showcase today, BioWare dropped a few more details on Mass Effect 3's Leviathan DLC on its blog. The Leviathan DLC, a single-player campaign that expands on the game's story, received an alluring description from BioWare:"Something lurks in the dark corners of space, something powerful enough to kill a Reaper. Shepard must discover the most closely guarded secret in the galaxy before the Reapers silence it forever. Discover more about the origins of the Reapers as you race across the galaxy to find the Leviathan. Unravel the dark history of the Reaper Race before it is too late."Leviathan's plot is set in the midst of the Mass Effect 3 story, prior to the game's ending. The "Reaper origin story" will allow players to "explore uncharted systems and new areas on the Citadel" and "interact with brand new characters." Additionally, players will unlock the AT-12 Raider shotgun and M-55 Argus Assault Rifle as part of the downloadable content. The Leviathan DLC will land on Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 later this summer for $10.BioWare also announced a weapons DLC pack for the game called the "Firefight Pack," which will include "two powerful new weapons and five bonus weapons" for use in the game's single-player campaign. The Firefight weapons pack is set to launch August 7 for $2. Check out our galleries of both pieces of DLC below.%Gallery-161685%%Gallery-161690%
Mass Effect 3 'Leviathan' DLC revealed [Update]
Details on Mass Effect 3's "Leviathan" DLC, first surfacing in the game's Extended Cut DLC files, were revealed at EA's Summer Showcase event today. Not revealed yet is the release date, listed only as "TBD" on a fact sheet received by Joystiq.The single-player campaign's description is as follows:"Mass Effect 3: Leviathan is the first story-driven, single player DLC to be made available since Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut. Leviathan expands upon the events of Mass Effect 3 with gripping and emotional storytelling, compelling new characters, powerful weapons and unique upgrades. Players will be able to discover more about the origins of the reapers as they race across the galaxy to unravel the mystery that surrounds the fabled Leviathan."Update: Leviathan will launch this summer for PS3, PC and Xbox 360, EA announced at its Summer Showcase today.
Mass Effect 3 kicks off 'Operation Overwatch' this weekend
This weekend's Systems Alliance combat initiative is the first ever to take place on the Earth itself, which is mostly because that DLC only came out last week.Operation Overwatch has squads aim for a successful extraction on any difficulty where at least one player involved is using an Earth Pack character. Meanwhile, the allied goal is to extract 800,000 players in total, with each living player at the end of a round counting toward that goal. The usual split of Commendation and Victory packs will be granted upon squad and allied success (respectively), although Overwatch's Victory pack will grant a new Earth character.Since the forces of the Systems Alliance failed miserably at Operation Broadside, extraction time during Overwatch has been increased. Listen, extraction isn't a complicated thing. The circle appears, you and the squad stand in the circle until the timer runs out. Don't go running around, don't go looking for aliens, just chill and wait it out. This is why we can't have nice wars.
Total Recall meets Mass Effect in this trailer mash-up
The folks at Node Studios recently took the audio from the Total Recall (2012) movie trailer and set it to scenes from the Mass Effect trilogy. The result is legendary, and makes us yearn for either more Total Recall, or more Mass Effect.
EA joins coalition against Defense of Marriage Act
Electronic Arts has joined with other US employers in signing an amicus brief against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), asking the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to find the law unconstitutional. DOMA defines marriage as the legal union between one man and one woman.Beyond being good PR in the face of the United States' changing attitudes toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, being against DOMA also helps alleviate significant human resources headaches."DOMA presents a number of problems for businesses like EA," the company wrote in a statement. "It creates regulatory, tax, and discrimination complications for employers, and that's why we're standing against it. The underlying lawsuit impacts all employers no matter how big or small, and no matter the industry, and we encourage other business to join these efforts."EA has been publicly supportive of its LGBT employees, condoning presence at both Seattle and San Francisco Pride this year. The company also participated in the "It Gets Better" campaign.
Mass Effect 3's 'Earth' DLC trailer adds another narrative spin on multiplayer
Mass Effect 3's "Earth" multiplayer content launches today, adding six new characters across three new Earth-based locales. Did we mention it's free?
Wii U Mass Effect 3 will include 'Extended Cut' ending by default
Those who start with Mass Effect 3 on the Wii U won't have to go through the (apparent) heartbreak of seeing an unsatisfying ending, then waiting to download a better one. The new "Extended Cut" will be built in."The extended ending is basically going to be part of the game instead," series producer Michael Gamble told Siliconera during Comic-Con. "You won't have to download it." That makes sense given the DLC's status as a "fix" for the controversial ending. We can only hope the ending is extended even further, to show you even more ending on the WiiPad screen while the Extended Cut ending is happening on your TV.The Wii U release of Mass Effect 3 is scheduled to coincide with the launch of the system.
Mass Effect 3 single-player DLC to focus on Shepard
So, what's next for Mass Effect? Producer Mike Gamble showed off one picture of future Mass Effect 3 content in his panel at Comic-Con, and from what he told Joystiq it seems to point to more single-player DLC. "We want to do single-player DLC," he said. "We want to do single-player, maybe more multiplayer if people still play it."That single-player DLC, whatever it is, will still be about Shepard, not someone else in the universe. "Mass Effect 3 is Shepard's story," said Gamble, "so the single-player DLC for Mass Effect 3 will probably focus around Shepard."The Earth DLC pack for Mass Effect 3 will be the fifth update to the game since launch, following three other multiplayer updates, and the Extended Cut update that fans begged for. Mike Gamble and his team have learned a lot over the course of these updates, but he told us there were quite a few things that surprised them about the reception to Mass Effect 3 multiplayer."We see people who have everything unlocked all the way up to level 20 on everything, plus all the mods, plus all of the gear, everything," said Gamble. "It takes a lot of time, a lot of time to get that stuff, like hundreds and hundreds of hours of play to usually get up to that level. And some of these people had done it in the first month to two months."Gamble was also been surprised by the response to the Vorcha class, playable for the first time in the Rebellion Pack DLC. "I expected people to shy away from the Vorcha because they're Vorcha, but everyone seems to love to play with them."
Rampant Speculation Theater presents: BioWare teases single Mass Effect 3 image
The picture above, snapped by Joystiq's Mike Schramm at SDCC, is the only clue BioWare gave during its panel of what's next for Mass Effect 3. It clearly shows a Cerberus Atlas mech, but what is that environment? Could it possibly be an underwater landscape? Something to do with Leviathan, perhaps?
This weekend's Mass Effect 3 event is 'Operation Broadside'
Hey buddy, still bummed out that your hand-knit N7 armor didn't arrive from Etsy in time for this year's San Diego Comic-Con? Well, just because you can't go rub elbows with cardboard Gundams and all the other cosplayers, that doesn't mean you can't spend your whole weekend pretending to be a highly-trained marine in the Systems Alliance military. Operation Broadside, which lasts until Monday, July 16, puts an emphasis on getting the hell out of dodge: Individual squads are tasked with successfully extracting at least one squad member from a Gold-level Reaper engagement. Meanwhile, the Alliance as a whole is striving for 400,000 successful squad extractions from any Reaper conflict. Squads that complete the Squad goal will receive the standard Commendation Pack, while all participants will receive a Victory Pack and a Medi-Gel capacity increase from five to six, provided the Alliance's overall goal is accomplished.
Here's what a Mass Effect anime looks like
If the Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut DLC disappointed you by not being anime, good news! Here's a Comic-Con trailer for Mass Effect: Paragon Lost, the James Vega-focused anime feature created by Funimation and Production I.G., working with BioWare and EA, of course.Funimation's prequel will be available in DVD and DVD/Blu-ray packs, due November 13. It sure is a Mass Effect anime.
Mass Effect 3's 'Earth' DLC officially detailed, still free
Before you hunt through files or track down voice actors to get more info about the "Earth" DLC for Mass Effect 3, read the official description of the multiplayer content released by BioWare today.As previously rumored, "Earth" features new Rio, Vancouver, and London maps, three new weapons (Piranha assault shotgun, Acolyte pistol, and Typhoon assault rifle) and six new classes of human N7 character.The pack will be released on July 17 for Xbox 360 and PC everywhere, and on PS3 in North America. European PS3 owners have to wait until July 18 for the free DLC.%Gallery-160178%
'Leviathan' DLC for Mass Effect 3 confirmed by voice actor
Mass Effect 3's Leviathan DLC most definitely exists, voice actor Anthony Skordi tells Eurogamer. Leviathan was first spotted in June in the Extended Cut DLC code by the BioWare Social Network.Skordi says he will play the Reaper named Leviathan, a traitor who killed one of his own kind and has been exiled for 10 years. Leviathan controls an indoctrinated Batarian colony, where Shepard meets him and can have him join the fight against the Reapers.BioWare is scheduled to officially announce new Mass Effect 3 DLC at San Diego Comic-Con, during its Saturday panel.
Mass Effect 3's 'Earth' multiplayer DLC out next week, totally free
Mass Effect 3's 'Earth' multiplayer DLC launches on Xbox 360 next Tuesday, July 17, at a cost of zero space bucks. The content is multiplayer-focused, and that's about all we know – we're taking a wild guess that the locales it'll offer are based on Terra Firma regions.That said, if rumors from back in June pan out, the DLC will head to Rio, Vancouver, and London, and several new human classes will be added. BioWare has yet to confirm any new details about the content, but we expect to hear more in the near future.
Download the Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut DLC soundtrack for free
If you're going to give away nearly two gigs of extra content for your wildly successful game, you may as well give away the soundtrack that underscores it, right? The seven-song soundtrack to Mass Effect 3's Extended Cut DLC is now available for free directly from BioWare, provided you have an Origin or BioWare Social network login.Composed by Sam Hulick, the album also comes packed with this note from The Mass Effect Team:"It has been a long journey - for Shepard and for the team here at BioWare - and like Shepard, we couldn't have done it alone. The Mass Effect trilogy began as a vision of a small team, but over the years it has grown. That growth has been fueled and shaped by the feedback and support of our player community. Thank you for joining us on this journey, and we look forward to sharing further adventures with you in the Mass Effect universe."
Documenting the changes in Mass Effect 3's Extended Cut DLC
Following the launch of the long-anticipated Extended Cut DLC for Mass Effect 3, we ran through the original and updated endings a few times to note some of the differences between the two. For those of you unable to access a convenient autosave or play through the game again, we've written up a summary of the differences between the new versions of the endings and the originals, which you can find after the break.We won't ruin all the fun for players, but the following definitely contains major spoilers for the ending of Mass Effect 3.
It's all too much: Why Mass Effect 3's Extended Cut ending can't possibly fix everything
This is a weekly column from freelancer Rowan Kaiser, which focuses on "Western" role-playing games: their stories, their histories, their mechanics, their insanity, and their inanity. BioWare's free response to the Mass Effect 3 ending hoopla, the "Extended Cut" add-on, was released this week. In many ways, it acts as a direct response to the most common criticisms of the ending. If your primary problems were that the ending choices weren't properly explained beforehand, or that it was unclear what happened to the universe and the specific characters after the climax, the "Extended Cut" will be a notable improvement. But it doesn't actually change the quality of the ending, it just adds more content.(Obviously, spoilers for the Mass Effect series follow.)
Rumor: 'Leviathan' is coming in future Mass Effect 3 DLC
It feels like it was only yesterday that Mass Effect 3 producer Mike Gamble teased a new installment of DLC for the final game in BioWare's epic trilogy (oh wait, it was). Rather than wait for official word, some crafty folks from the BioWare Social Network cracked open the Mass Effect 3's Extended Cut DLC and found a file that may shed light on upcoming content for the game. Reportedly, what they found makes reference to a character by the name of "Leviathan."While the file in question didn't describe Commander Shepard summoning an enormous water serpent to his crew's aid (we wish!), it noted that Leviathan is a traitorous Reaper that indoctrinated a Batarian colony for an entire decade.Whether details on this DLC pack are legitimate remains to be seen. As always, we advise taking leaks like this with a grain of red sand. Joystiq has contacted BioWare to get their side of the quest line.
