Mass Effect 3 multiplayer is real, based on 'original online missions'

A reliable development source has since informed CVG that the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer feature will be built around "original missions made for online", which will be totally unique from the solo campaign.

Our mole added there would "only be a handful" of co-op missions which have been created with the intention of being "played and played again".

[DarkSymbiote]

I thought Casey Hudson confirmed there would be no MP for ME3. What a waste of time and resources. And to the naysayers we all know MP ALWAYS compromises the main game.

[Charmers]

Nope he never confirmed there would be no MP for ME 3. All he said in the Game Informer article was :-

"We haven't YET come up with a way to do that, so we don't have anything to announce at this time. But obviously muliplayer is something we want to do more of in the future as a company".

That hardly sounds like a "NO MP in ME 3" to me and more like "yeah we aint saying anything just yet because our customers will rip us to shreds.

[Croash]

"And to the naysayers we all know MP ALWAYS compromises the main game."

I might have said that once already but...Uncharted 2 : Among Thieves.

That "ALWAYS" doesn't work anymore.

It's up to the developers to choose whether it would be interesting or not to add a multiplayer component. However, if the single-player campaign, being the main characteristic of the series, would suffer from that, then it's the developers' fault to allow such use of their ressources.

It all depends on how they work. Look at Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft has different studios working on the series, but the singleplayer experience always was and still is in Ubisoft Montreal's hands. And in the end, it worked.
Edit: SuperSaiyan4 is also right about Dead Space 2, its developers did it right. But this time Visceral Games was alone, and the sequel earned more praise than the original.

Crysis 2 is also another exemple, but this time the singleplayer experience, developed by Crytek, ended up being more satisfying and more polished than the multiplayer experience developed by Crytek UK (or Free Radical Design).

So all we can do is wait and see what happens as adding a multiplayer component to a franchise that didn't have one is something different for every franchise and it all depends on who develops it.

[BlackKnight]

You can't really compare a linear TPS like Uncharted to an RPG and talk about single player size. Uncharted 2 SP is insanely short, as are other game like it, when compared to RPGs. That's why when an RPG gets MP, you see it's vast SP will take a hit.

Even the same goes for AC even if it's open-ish, it's not long or as complex of a game as RPG's.

Crysis 2 is not an example, first game had MP and many argue the first game was better but the second was gimped due to console, not mp. I think most people are worried about the length and content in the RPG being compromised while FPS/TPS/action-adventure games are much much smaller and MP doesn't affect an ALREADY short and small SP experience.

[Croash]

Well I used Uncharted to counter DarkSymbiote's statement saying "we all know MP ALWAYS compromises the main game."

I know AC & Uncharted don't work like Mass Effect, but as I said in my first comment, "adding a multiplayer component to a franchise that didn't have one is something different for every franchise and it all depends on who develops it."
So it doesn't matter whether the game is an RPG/FPS/TPS, etc...If the developers do it right, it will work.

About Crysis 2, I used it to show that some companies using different studios to develop both the singleplayer and multiplayer parts of one game can still end up having a bad multiplayer component. The Console/Pc debate isn't what interests me.

It's all about the developers. If one Bioware studio works on both SP and MP, it doesn't mean both will be gimped. But we can't know for sure.

We can simply wait.

Edit: Anyway I don't see the problem you have concerning the game's length. Adding multiplayer won't make Mass Effect's solo a 10 hours trip. They've been developing the game for 2 years, and the franchise was planned as a trilogy from the beginning, they're not going to mess this up.

[Doctolul]

@ Blackknight

The length of a game has nothing to do with its overall quality. Its Graphical performance, gameplay functionality and "fun factor", story, voice acting. All of these things could be just as strong in a 2 hour game as a 200 hour one. The length of a game has more to do with how satisfying it is then how high its quality is.

My point is Mass Effect and other rpg's do not have different quality standards just because they are longer games. The argument that multiplayer always cheapens the single player experience is utterly flawed. It all comes down to the capabilities of the developer. Uncharted, Assassins Creed, Dead Space, Bioshock another good example. All of these games had fantastic single player experiences with very high overall quality despite the fact that multiplayer was added to them to varying degrees of success. Yeah other games have suffered from the old tacking on, but that only goes to show that the developers either didn't care or didn't have the skill to get it done properly.

Now, which category Bioware will fall into we'll just have to wait and see. I'd like to believe though that they will do just fine, especially since its being handled by a separate arm of the company and being allocated extra time.

[LocO_o]

Not sure how this will work as ME games are slow paced and you have to pause the game to choose certain things.

Still wainting on an RTS Mass Effect.

[saladthieves]

Multiplayer? Where is BioWare taking this? I want to know more...

[Wizziokid]

oh shit, this better not effect the main game.

[Blues Cowboy]

Oh my days. Why is the third game in a story-driven series trying to attract a new audience?! If BioWare are desperate for mainstream penetration, they really ought to be reskinning the original and improving the combat system for PS3 and PC. ME3 will be pointless if players haven't already gone through the first two.

Sorry, BioWare, but everyone's starting to wonder exactly how much your deal with EA is costing your games. Still, hell, I'll reserve judgement until I play the damn thing.

[LeftPawedFox]

i hope this is more of an RPG this time around.

[Godmars290]

With this news, the devs own comparisons to COD, such seems very unlikely.

Edit:
And I don't know why people are asking for an MMO. Sounds like it will only be a paste and copy of the Old Republic.

[noxeven]

I remember it being confirmed in an interview that there would be no multiplayer for me3. I do remember in that same interview they talked about possibly of an mmo but they said that was something they do after finish me3 and other projects most likely tor. So its only a matter of time

[Darkfiber]

Sigh...now I'm actually hoping for an MMO since it'll probably be more of an RPG than this...fiasco.

[Jack-Dangerously]

OH so now mmo's are acceptable? FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL!!!

P.s. you fail.

OT: Cool

[SuperSaiyan4]

Well in the case of Dead Space 2 it had multiplayer and that didn't affect the game at all.

But in the case of ME3 I hope it doesn't have multiplayer that game isn't suited to the way the game is anyways.

[telekineticmantis]

Dust 514 style.

[Solidus187-SCMilk]

If they havent added a crap load of RPG stuff back into the SP I will be pissed.

I bet they will be releasing DLC for this lame multiplayer garbage.

I guess their current fanbase isnt good enough, they need multiplayer for the COD crowd who still wont even try this game. And will looses fans if this game isnt 100% perfect. Thsi is the only current bioware series I like and will probably be the last BW game I buy for a long time. I expect the next ME game to be a multiplayer spinoff, after all EA is still looking for one of their series to compete with COD sales wise, because none of their other games have done it yet.

I guess they delayed it so they could add a 4 player co-op, LOL. This game is really easy on the hardest mode already, in co-op it will be way too easy.

anyone remember the multiplayer in dead space 2, me either as I never had any desire to play DS 2 online at all. They could have used that time and effort to make the SP even better.

I may enjoy this co-op, but Id rather have them take that time and work on the SP. maybe add more RPG elements, or side missions, weapons, etc instead of a multiplayer mode in a series that has been all single player.

Looks like bioware is EAs lap dog. It seems that Ea makes its devs add multiplayer to everything.

[TheOtherTheoG]

Regarding RPG elements:
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
From around 2:00 onwards, it shows the new weapon customization screen, with much more of a focus on stats than the second game, and the squad point allocation screen, for which skill trees are larger and, for each point you allocate, you can tailor it to exactly how you want it, in this case, either a large paragon/renegade bonus, a large weapon damage bonus, a larger storm bonus, or a smaller bonus of any two of those above. Not as much as ME1's, but then again, ME1's RPG elements were unimportant, cluttered and ultimately broken, so it's kinda a nice comprimise.

[Solidus187-SCMilk]

but I really hope they have side missions where you drive the vehicle somewhere then get out for on the foot parts like in ME1. I would also like exp for killing each enemy(dont think they will bring this back tho) in addition to other parts like ME1.

I hope they add some new weapons because all the ones Ive seen so far are old(nice stats tho, can compare/upgrade good now). The rifle he uses in the videos is the one I use in ME2. Also need new armor or more individual pieces(like boots, chest armor, helmet etc.) because ME2 was lacking in armor.

ME1 defiantly had some problems with its RPG elements, like horrible inventory unless you knew to convert stuff to omni gel from the beginning, and technical problems. ME2's only problem was a lack of the good RPG elements from the first. This one looks to be an improved combination of both ME games. I am excited about this game.

I think this will be the best in the series overall, but I would rather have them spend all the time on SP, even if they only added 1 more side mission, and none on multiplayer.

[BigPappaPump]

Evil Arts strike again?

[Megaton]

This game is gonna be the death of me. I've never been so concerned with the quality of a title in all my life. As a huge fan of the series, I'm extremely skeptical about the quality of ME3 at this point. It'll be great when it finally comes out and I can go back to not giving a crap about BioWare.

[josh14399]

multiplayer sucks

[JohnnyRico305]

honestly people, it isnt that big of a deal. Im sure a company who is known for their single player experiences wouldnt let the game suffer do to a few coop missions. This is bioware we are talking about. Dont condemn a game just because they announced multiplayer functionality. Lets
just wait and see what happens before we judge the game.I mean this is the finale anyways, the story and our choices will take precedence over anything anyways.

[Nicaragua]

Noooooo - too much common sense !

[femshep]

i like this game when it was an rpg, then it got streamlined so i hated it, e3 impressed me by saying they made it an action game and never mentioning RPG, and now im not buying it because it they put a multiplayer in something that doesn't need it.....good job bioware only you can kill your own game and completely lose base on what made you guys amazing

[Kon]

NO! Multiplayer is killing games!

[nCiTy]

Multiplayer choices
- MaleShep
- FemShep
- GayShep
- LezShep
Can't Wait

[Da_Evil_Monkey]

As a massive fan of Mass Effect I'm also a bit concerned, however as long as it doesn't tarnish the single player experience, and offers something unique and exciting, then it shouldn't be that bad.

For example I was quite worried when they announced multiplayer in Assassins Creed, but the multiplayer turned out to be really fun; and the single player still improved (considering only 1yr dev time)

You might also finally get to play as other races, imagine charging through enemies with your friends online as a Krogan, or biotically (made up word? :D) throwing everybody around as an Asari.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

MP in Mass Effect probably wouldn't be as great as everyone's thinking.

[SageHonor]

F*** EA....

[Agent_S]

Everyone calm down, and lets wait for some confirmed details. Instead of trusting every site's "highly reliable source".

[RockmanII7]

Sounds more like a co-op mission then actual 4v4 Team Deathmatch.