Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer: What It's About and...Is It Any Good?

As a big fan of the Mass Effect franchise, I play the game solely for the story. It has brought so many mixed emotions, amazing gameplay, unforgettable characters to interact with, and the option to customize Commander Shepard's appearance to akin to me. I was so attached to Mass Effect that the inclusion of multiplayer didn't exist. However, when I heard the rumor that there might be online elements in Mass Effect 3, I thought Bioware was making a huge mistake. When the rumor became official, I was filled with confusion and a little bit of anger. In my head, I saw a bunch of different Shepards battling it out in Deathmatch or four Shepards teaming up in a special co-op mode for the story. I thought it would defeat the purpose of what made Mass Effect the way it is; storyline and the choices you make.
When the multiplayer portion of the ME3 demo came out in February, I played ready to see how bad it was going to be. Let me tell you, I was wrong. Very wrong.

To start off, let’s explore what the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer mode is. You and three other players suit up as the N7 Special Forces, a special military group made to take down even the most callous enemies as they come in waves, a feat that even Shepard can't do alone (well he could, but everyone needs help in a war fighting against the Reapers). Basically, multiplayer is a co-op oriented survival mode that includes special objectives in between waves. 

This mode actually ties in with the story mode. How, you ask? In the campaign, on the war map on the Normandy, you can check your Galactic Readiness. The amount indicates your chances of victory (or defeat) against the Reapers on Earth. You can increase your chances of victory by doing missions in campaign and of course, defeating the enemies in multiplayer, dwindling their forces for the campaign. Makes sense, right? Right.


As far as who you play as in multiplayer, there's an abundance of characters to choose from. The characters are made from the same classes that are in story mode: Soldier, Vanguard, Infiltrator, Sentinel, Engineer, and Adept. Within these classes are different races you can choose from, which each race has different powers from other races. For example, in the Adept class, you can choose to use a male or female human, an asari, or a drell, the humans having the same powers but the asari and drell contradistinct from the others. Aside from the races and depending on the class, you can also play as a krogan, a turian, a quarian, and a salarian.

Character Selection Screen

I should also mention, in order to play as these characters, you have to unlock them. In order to unlock them, you have to buy equipment packs, which not only contain the characters but also new weapons, equipment for your weapons, equipment to use to against your enemy and for your aid (missiles, medi-gel, survival packs, and ammo packs), and equipment perks. Also, if you already have a character, you can unlock experience bonuses for their class and more customization options. As for if you already have a certain weapon unlocked and "unlocked" it again, improvements would be made to your weapon like weapon damage, weight, and the ammo capacity.

Also with the characters, comes your customization options, which you can change the colors of their outfits and with their weapons affix different weapons parts to help with your weapon's performance, which is something new in Mass Effect 3. For example, you can add a part to help with weapon stability or to up weapon damage. Speaking of performance, your characters are determined by the leveling system. As you level up your character, you add points to your powers, making them stronger and more efficient. However, once you max out your character's level, you have the option to promote the class they're under into the campaign, increasing your chances of victory against the Reapers and your multiplayer's N7 Rating. There is one flaw, however. That entire class is reset back to level 1. So it's your decision; promote your class and help defeat the Reapers or dominate your enemies with your maxed out, level 20 Adept. Paragon or Renegade? 

Now it's time to get into the nitty gritty, the enemies and challenges. The challenges represent difficulty and there are three different challenges; Bronze (Moderate), Silver (Hard), and Gold (Very Hard). The options of enemies are Cerberus, the Geth, and the Reapers, all with unique classes, different types of ground forces, and ways to frustrate the player from their own intentions. As you see above in the second sentence of this paragraph, notice how I didn't add "Easy" within any of the challenges. Why I did that was because the multiplayer is anything but easy. The enemies provide much challenge and will require another player by your side to reach at least wave 5, which is only half way. However, the more you play, better you'll do.
When you first play Bronze challenge, it will seem like the hardest thing ever but as you level up your character and learn the enemy's tactics, it'll get tons easier and you'll eventually be able to tackle down Silver challenge and Gold challenge.

This info is the basics of what multiplayer is and how it works. Now I'm sure you're wondering if it's worth the play. My suggestion...YES! The multiplayer provides challenge for those who are new or just casual gamers and to those who are more experienced with multiplayer modes.

- Erick