In Which I Probably Need a Mass Effect 3 Icon
If this is the only one I could get of "Shepard" - well, technically that's John Sheppard of Stargate Atlantis so it's a little different, but close enough. Anyways...the ME3 demo was released yesterday by Bioware and I me being the geek that I am, played through it twice already. Can't play multiplayer until the 17th since that's the general access date, but I really, REALLY, REALLY like the game mechanics so far. The combat is still mostly similiar to ME2, but the A.I., - holy shit the enemy A.I. has vastly improved and now requires a lot more thinking and strategy instead of just popping up, blasting people, hiding back down.
Now enemies will try to flank you and take potshots whenever they can instead of just hiding from their cover and recklessly charging at you. Also, different ammo and abilities have a better reaction to enemies who are attacked. I swear I was enjoying watching the physics of an actual bullet from the assault rifle and shotgun stagger enemies or making them try to dodge the incoming fire I was pouring on. So much that I think I died several times before I figured out that I had to change my ME2 combat tactics to a hybrid of ME2 and ME1 in order to successfully beat the enemies in this demo.
I've only played as both a Vanguard and Infiltrator and really liked the Vanguard's newest power, Nova. Whereas a Vanguard usually just charged and knocked people off of their feet, Nova adds an extra attack right at the end. You charge then hopefully had hot-mapped the Nova ability so that once you knock people off their feet you can instantly launch into Nova attack (which is a biotic slam to the ground) without any cooldowns. Very sweet. Spent lots of time teleporting around the battlefield. Whee! Also, the ability to wield any weapon including assault rifles (which had only been limited to the Soldier class) was quite handy. Gave it an extra bit of firepower. I can't wait to see if my Vanguard Shepard can wield a Sniper rifle too.
I wasn't crazy about the Infiltrator's new power, grenades, but it did come in handy more so than the Vanguard's up and front approach when battling the boss in the latter part of the game. Oh, also I like the new leveling menu - much more variety to choose from and also it limits you in certain ways too so Shepard doesn't break the game with his/her powers. Definitely looking forward to accessing the multiplayer component of the demo. ME3 is shaping up to be really good... Can't wait!
-S.
Now enemies will try to flank you and take potshots whenever they can instead of just hiding from their cover and recklessly charging at you. Also, different ammo and abilities have a better reaction to enemies who are attacked. I swear I was enjoying watching the physics of an actual bullet from the assault rifle and shotgun stagger enemies or making them try to dodge the incoming fire I was pouring on. So much that I think I died several times before I figured out that I had to change my ME2 combat tactics to a hybrid of ME2 and ME1 in order to successfully beat the enemies in this demo.
I've only played as both a Vanguard and Infiltrator and really liked the Vanguard's newest power, Nova. Whereas a Vanguard usually just charged and knocked people off of their feet, Nova adds an extra attack right at the end. You charge then hopefully had hot-mapped the Nova ability so that once you knock people off their feet you can instantly launch into Nova attack (which is a biotic slam to the ground) without any cooldowns. Very sweet. Spent lots of time teleporting around the battlefield. Whee! Also, the ability to wield any weapon including assault rifles (which had only been limited to the Soldier class) was quite handy. Gave it an extra bit of firepower. I can't wait to see if my Vanguard Shepard can wield a Sniper rifle too.
I wasn't crazy about the Infiltrator's new power, grenades, but it did come in handy more so than the Vanguard's up and front approach when battling the boss in the latter part of the game. Oh, also I like the new leveling menu - much more variety to choose from and also it limits you in certain ways too so Shepard doesn't break the game with his/her powers. Definitely looking forward to accessing the multiplayer component of the demo. ME3 is shaping up to be really good... Can't wait!
-S.