Commander Shepard is withdrawn from active service by the Alliance military upon their return to Earth due to their previous membership with the Cerberus organization. At this point, the extraterrestrial machine species known as the Reapers launches an all-out assault on the world. The Defense Committee requests Shepard’s aid, and Captain Anderson reinstates him as a member of the Alliance and Commander onboard his old ship, the Normandy. While Anderson remains on Earth, attempting to defend the planet’s defenses against the overwhelming force of the Reapers, Shepard is dispatched to the Citadel to persuade the galactic council to send military aid to the beleaguered world and unify the alien races in a war against the shared enemy.
Mass Effect 3 is the third and final game in the series. As with previous games in the series, gameplay blends tactical, squad- and cover-based third-person action with role-playing in several classes, configurable upgrades, and dialogue options. As with the trilogy’s second installment, save files from the previous games can be imported, with decisions made in the first two games influencing the current situations.
Before beginning the game, the player can select one of three modes in addition to battle difficulty. The “action” mode skips over conversation options, portraying them as non-interactive cutscenes; the “story” mode retains choices intact but reduces fighting complexity. The “role-playing” way most closely resembles the gameplay of the previous two games, with both options and more demanding combat.
Most of the fighting and character development elements were from the previous version. Melee combat is more critical: certain classes can perform powerful charged close-combat attacks. Weapons can be upgraded with two improvements, gaining more firepower, more prominent magazines, increased accuracy, and so on. As before, abilities and powers can be upgraded while leveling up; each offers two upgrade options per level, and selecting one permanently locks the other enhancement.
The co-op game mode Galaxy at War is entirely new to the franchise. It includes up to four players working together to take over enemy strongholds. In Galaxy at War, players can take on the role of any race in the game’s world.
