Mass Effect 3 will be more difficult than previous games

"Veteran difficulty from Mass Effect 1 and 2 will be on par with normal difficulty in Mass Effect 3," BioWare admitted.

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Mass Effect 3 is going to be a lot more challenging than the previous games. Given the increased stakes, that probably makes sense. "Veteran difficulty from Mass Effect 1 and 2 will be on par with normal difficulty in Mass Effect 3," BioWare admitted.

The added challenge not only makes the reapers a more terrifying threat, but encourages players to give Galaxy at War a chance. While fully optional, the franchise's new online co-op mode will make it easier for players to achieve a "good" ending by increasing the "Readiness Rating," a score that will determine the type of ending you can get by the endgame.

So, what if you can't handle the increased difficulty and Shepard fails to save the galaxy? @Gamer magazine notes that "if the Reapers beat you the first time around, you can always return to you previous save game and collect more resources." Multiplayer will help you continuously augment your single player shortcomings.

Mass Effect 3 will be available on PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 on March 6th.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    December 29, 2011 7:00 AM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Mass Effect 3 will be more difficult than previous games.

    "Veteran difficulty from Mass Effect 1 and 2 will be on par with normal difficulty in Mass Effect 3," BioWare admitted.

    • reply
      December 29, 2011 7:01 AM

      I hope this means genuinely better AI

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        December 29, 2011 7:07 AM

        I'm trying to think of a sequel that had better AI than it's predecessor... and at least in recent years, nothing comes to mind.

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          December 29, 2011 7:10 AM

          [deleted]

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            December 29, 2011 7:19 AM

            Halo.

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              December 29, 2011 7:56 AM

              Yep, Halo, FEAR, and Valve titles have exceptional AI, nothing else comes close imo.

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            December 30, 2011 8:06 AM

            I was impressed by AI on RAGE. For the humanoids at least, the mutants still rush you straight away.

            Enemies generally take cover pretty well, and fall back to reposition if you camp too long in the same spot. They also vary by how they're equipped, like shotgun guys charging you and the rifle guys have enough sense to stack up behind the guys with riot shields for moving cover.

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          December 29, 2011 7:44 AM

          F.E.A.R. 2.

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            December 29, 2011 7:55 AM

            I passed on FEAR 2 because of two glaring issues in the demo:

            1) stupid bindings with the mech
            2) every encounter with enemies played the exact same way (which is quite the opposite from FEAR 1 --- which negates your point.

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              December 29, 2011 8:59 AM

              Exact same reason I skipped FEAR 2...issues with the demo. The first game was great, and the AI was damn good. Best AI I've seen yet...too bad I haven't come across anything comparable since.

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                December 29, 2011 12:38 PM

                The A.I. was fine. Was it like FEAR 1's AI? Yes. And that was good. So they didn't change it. When something isn't broken....

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                  December 29, 2011 12:42 PM

                  It wasn't like FEAR 1's AI because that relied entirely on the level design. FEAR 2 did not have good level design. Varied environments, yes. Good combat spaces, no.
                  When something isn't broken, don't break it.

          • reply
            December 29, 2011 7:56 AM

            he said better AI

          • reply
            December 29, 2011 4:54 PM

            [deleted]

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        December 29, 2011 7:22 AM

        There is no AI in mass effect other than crates and 3-foot walls and traffic barricades. Everything used the same animations too.

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          December 29, 2011 7:46 AM

          Pretty much this.

          So I guess the difficulty modes in ME3 will just determine the number of crates and chest high walls? Insane = barely any, easy = packed with more crates than a crate warehouse.

          • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
            reply
            December 29, 2011 7:47 AM

            Yeah man, just think about it. Intelligent AI would remove the cover from the room before you get there.

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          December 29, 2011 7:57 AM

          So, is this their way of saying "Our box designer took off on maternal leave last year so there's less shit to hide behind"?

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      December 29, 2011 7:19 AM

      Steamgifting a copy to DV1980

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      December 29, 2011 7:57 AM

      Good I say. Good.


      The first one was a bit tricky when fighting on the outside of the citadel, the constant shifting enviornment reminded me of Ratchet and Clank :D

      The 2nd one was cake even when set to Veteran mode. The only part that bothered me was the sniper rifle and I abandoned that path when Assault rifles and pistols were enough to blow people apart. The AI was idiotic and would run into my ambushes or crossfire traps easily enough. Never had to really count on the megaweapons at all to kill a boss character, mostly "Oh look a swarm of idiots, I want to skip this part, room cleaner time".

      I hope the 3rd one gives the AI a bit of trickery and battle tactics. When encountering a swarm with suppressing fire and rush around the sides in a classic Zulu formation. Give me some snipers or rocket launching AIs that move around the map and make me THINK on how to solve these, not wait it out while robots get 'impatient' and come after me.

      I think the 3rd one I'm going to HARDCORE mode and be done with it. My Shepard has braved the Reavers twice already and now they are bringing their A-Game best of the best forces. Bring it on. She's ready.

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      December 29, 2011 8:24 AM

      PLAY OUR MULTIPLAYER AND LEVAL UP PLEASE!!

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      December 29, 2011 9:44 AM

      While I think Mass Effect 2 could've definitely used a bump up in difficulty (I only died three times in my last 30 hour play through), it is hard not to see this as EA BioWare desperately attempting to give legs to a multiplayer mode that, c'mon, ain't going to have legs.

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      December 29, 2011 9:47 AM

      internet co-op will be great. if this gets adversarial multiplayer fucktardery I'm going to be really pissed off.

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      December 29, 2011 10:07 AM

      I finished ME1 and ME2 again over the past weeks to build the best possible save game for import.

      Hurry Bioware; I am entering withdrawal.

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        December 30, 2011 12:51 PM

        I started doing that as well. I forgot how great the first game's story was (I wish I could skip the combat sequences). I started listening to the audio books of the prequel etc. I even...echem...bought the IOS game. What can I say, I'm a sucker for all things Mass Effect. When Mass 3 arrives (no pun intended) I want to be 100 percent prepared with all of the backstory etc. that's out there.

    • DM7 legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
      reply
      December 29, 2011 10:17 AM

      Sounds like they just want people to play multiplayer.

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      December 29, 2011 10:22 AM

      As long as they include the casual difficulty, so I can skip the bro game and enjoy the story and characters.

      • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
        reply
        December 29, 2011 12:41 PM

        "bro game"? you too good for shooting aliens?

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          December 29, 2011 1:14 PM

          Nope I just want my RPG back.

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            December 29, 2011 8:49 PM

            Agreed. As much as I enjoyed ME:2, even then I noticed a downward spiral beginning to take shape. The more I hear about ME:3, the more I think Bioware really went off-the-rails with DA:2.

            "Shit man - let's make an RPG that appeals to people who have no interest in RPGs. Fucking blood man. Story? Eh... fuck it."

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            December 29, 2011 8:54 PM

            [deleted]

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      December 29, 2011 1:09 PM

      I amazed how many of you are buying this. Companies have 0 interest in offending casual players. I'm sure they claimed the same things going from 1 > 2.

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      December 29, 2011 1:59 PM

      Is the action really the draw for most Mass Effect players? I'm there for the space drama - the combat just spices it up with a little danger and keeps it from being an adventure game.

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      December 29, 2011 2:01 PM

      Prepares for the interview saying they decided to tone it down.

      Ha better AI, will be a few more decades before they work out how to do that.

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      December 29, 2011 4:29 PM

      I hope this doesn't mean shorter gameplay artificial lengthened by difficultly... much like in the 90s when some devs began taking away the ability to save whenever the player wanted and replaced it with save crystals or something so if you died you had to replay larger sections of the game.

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      December 30, 2011 3:04 AM

      What's difficulty? That the game holds your hand to take from one frustrating battle to another?

      I want difficult as in "need to activate some brain cells". I don't want a difficult shooter.

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      December 30, 2011 12:46 PM

      I hope it's the type of "difficulty" that means better AI, not just more hit points.

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      January 2, 2012 2:10 AM

      WHY THE FUCK ARE WE STILL MINING RESOURCES? Don't tell me I have to spend another 15 hours scanning fucking planets again. It's 500 years in the future and I cant for the love of me get my hands on some fucking palladium

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      January 2, 2012 12:50 PM

      So they are making it more difficult so they can force people to play the "optional" multiplayer. A multiplayer that most certainly will require an Online Pass.

      The difficulty will not be skill based. It will be cheap.

      Classless move.

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