Mass Effect 3

Game Name	Mass Effect 3
Platform(s)	PC Xbox 360 PlayStation 3
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Developer(s)	BioWare
Genres	Shooter Role-Playing Action
Themes	Sci-Fi

Original US Release March 6, 2012





Mass Effect 3 is the concluding game of the Mass Effect trilogy involving Commander Shepard, developed by Bioware and published by Electronic Arts. BioWare has implied that the Mass Effect franchise will not end with Mass Effect 3, and more games set in this universe could be developed in the future.
Functions from previous games that will be included have been confirmed to be Mass Effect 3 being able to import save files from Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 in order to import major decisions made in previous games and game saves within those games. Players will be able to import their version of Shepard from previous games, unless the character died in the final act of Mass Effect 2. BioWare representatives have confirmed that players will not be able to import their Mass Effect 2 save with a dead Shepard.

In April 2011, various details have been revealed through the Game Informer issue on Mass Effect 3. It is said that the game will start with Commander Shepard under trial directly continued from the events seen in the DLC "Arrival".
Within this time frame, the invasion begins. Cerberus is also said to be hunting down Shepard for reasons unknown until the events of Mass Effect 3 take place. Even though it is unconfirmed who the final squad roster will comprise of, various squad members are to return based upon your decisions contained in save-game data imported from previous games. Each of the following will be able to be recruited, respectively Ashley or Kaiden, depending on which you chose not to sacrifice and providing Garrus and/or Tali survived the "suicide mission":

Co-op - Galaxy At War

Mass Effect 3 will feature a 4 player co-op mode, that will take place at key locations throughout the galaxy, fighting against the reaper invaders. Commander Shepard and his followers will not be playable in this mode, instead the players will be able to create unique characters and level them up similar to the main game. All single player classes will also be available to choose between.
  
Playable races

• Drell
• Turian
• Krogan
• Human
• Asari
• Salarian

Galactic Readiness

The Galactic Readiness is the status that will determine the outcome of the Single Player campaign. Playing co-op is not required to achieve the "best ending" in the campaign but it can contribute to it if the player chooses to spend more time in the co-op than the single player. The exact details are yet to be revealed, but the better the player performs in the co-op, the better the Galactic Readiness is in the campaign.

Confirmed Details

Reveal trailer

The game was officially announced at the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards. The reveal trailer showed a war-torn London being invaded by the Reapers. Earth has become the next target of the Reapers, and as the soldier who is the focus of the trailer concludes; "If Shepard doesn't bring help soon... there won't be an Earth left to save." The game is expected to released during the holiday season of 2011.


The extent of the attacks are devastating - 2 million dead within 24 hours of the attack, a further 7 million dead within 1 week, it is unclear whether this is London alone or an area of defence including the city. Earth's defensive forces are overwhelmed, thousands are dead, surviving forces are forced to retreat but survivors are regrouping, many may have perished to other causes.
The trailer has brought much speculation, such as the use of an injected medical fluid used by the character in the trailer, hints that there may be a new form of health restoration. Possibly a method similar to the use of Medi-Gel from Mass Effect 1 or even a class specific ability; considering that the soldier is able to function efficiently again within a short space of time.

 
Towards the end of the trailer, Shepard is alive and looks well, this is true of the story assuming players had not been given the "Bad" ending in Mass Effect 2. Shepard is observing Earth at the end of the trailer's animated sequence, damage of attacks on Earth is visible from orbit.
It is unclear who Commander Shepard has chosen or has been forced to align with in the trailer alone though reports of information within EA's paperwork confirms employment with the Alliance. His armour does bear "N7" identification and it is possible he is working for the Alliance Navy of Earth once more.
It would also appear that the soldier had sniped a humanoid, upon closer inspection, what is visible of the target; mostly the lower half, resembles a geth trooper. However, information lately reveals that it is very likely to be husk.

 

EA's store listing for Mass Effect 3 before it was amended to retract the information, which was however caught in multiple screenshots, has been quoted as saying:

"Earth is burning. Striking from beyond known space, a race of terrifying machines have begun their destruction of the human race. As Commander Shepard, an Alliance Marine, your only hope for saving mankind is to rally the civilizations of the galaxy and launch one final mission to take back the Earth."