14 DAY TRIAL // BioWare has shared some more details about its upcoming Mass Effect 3 role playing shooter, this time saying that the all-new Galaxy at War cooperative multiplayer mode resulted in a fine-tuned single-player experience.
Mass Effect 3 is getting ready for its release early next month and, besides the single-player adventures that were delivered by the first two games, it will also have a multiplayer component, in the form of a cooperative mode called Galaxy at War.
In it, up to four players can choose from among a variety of alien races and try to complete various missions that help their single-player campaigns.
According to Mass Effect 3 producer Billy Buskell, the multiplayer ended up benefitting the single-player experience as it allowed BioWare staff to fine-tune and tweak the difficulty in both of the modes.
“From my personal experience, I think multiplayer ultimately improved the combat in the game as a whole,” he said. “The more we played multiplayer as a team, the better we were getting at dealing with enemies, using power combos, etc. Because of this extensive play testing, the team was really able to ramp up the challenge on the higher difficulties.”
“To beat Insanity in the single player campaign, you’re really going to have to work for it! The same can be said for Gold difficulty in multiplayer. You’re really going to need to prepare for a Gold match much the same way as real life N7 operatives would. Know the battlefield, bring the right kits, and equip the best gear to get the job done.”
Mass Effect 3 combat designer Corey Gaspur also chimed in, saying that each alien race in the Galaxy at War mode is specifically designed to take advantage of their abilities and powers, according to the lore of the series.
“Everything in ME3 was designed to feel powerful but balanced; this philosophy applies to SP and MP. The big challenge was ensuring that fans felt that each character and race had unique powers and builds which in-turn make’s each kit interesting and fun to play. It was very important to us that each power and ability matched the characters race, playstyle and backstory. We pushed very hard to ensure there is very little difference between gameplay in Single Player vs. Multiplayer.”
The recently launched Mass Effect 3 demo allows players to try out two single-player missions, as well as two levels from the Galaxy at War mode. Unless you bought Battlefield 3, however, you can’t access the multiplayer mode until February 17.