Print Thread: Demo Impressions

Author: Spectre

Date: Feb 12, 12 at 6:57pm (PST)

Subject: Demo Impressions
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The Good:

Spoiler:

Highlight this box with your cursor to read the spoiler text.

Male Shepard's voice acting is much better
Audio is greatly improved, particularly Biotics
"Qucik-fire" from cover by pressing the Right-Trigger
Characters move around more during dialogue
Squad banter much improved - The scene at the start of the Sur'Kesh demo had me smiling
Cover system has improved
Can vault over cover without "entering" it by double-tapping A (I was able to "slide" over cover at a running pace, but I'm not sure how)
Squad was actually useful - No more standing on top of cover
Enemies were challenging, even on Normal
Conversations reflected the weapon I was currently holding - Tested with Assault Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun.
Bypass Mini-game - Move Shepard's omni tool into a holographic circle on doors
Can what what ability is mapped to the Y button, as well as LB and RB.

The Bad:

Spoiler:

Highlight this box with your cursor to read the spoiler text.

No Weapon Upgrade Bench
No weapon selection
No squad selection
Can't access Codex

As there is a "weight" system in-game, carrying more weapons that your class recommends will result in longer power cooldowns, while carrying less will result in shorter cooldowns. In the demo however, each class is forced to have 4 weapons, meaning that every class bar the soldier will have longer than normal cooldown times.

Also, the Sur'Kesh demo is cut down. The opening is shortened, with the game jump-cutting to the middle/end. The hub section at the beginning, where Shepard can talk to several characters is removed. As previously mentioned, the Weapon Bench has been removed from the Sur'Kesh demo. These cuts (I believe) were to keep the demo under 2GB, as per Microsoft's demo policy. I wasn't too concerned, as the more spoilers I could avoid, the better.

Additional Points:

Spoiler:

Highlight this box with your cursor to read the spoiler text.

- I'd recommend turning the sensitivity to High.

- Insanity is a lot more difficult. This may be due to the demo starting Shepard off at level 1, while importing can potentially start the game at level 30.

- At the Earth section there wasn't much opportunities to select dialogue. I wasn't too bothered by this, as it would have hampered the pacing of the opening.

- An extension of the first point is that during the Earth section, when Shepard can respond he/she is only given two options. In response to this, the Lead Writer mentioned over Twitter, "It's rare to only have 2 choices. We aim for "minimum" of 3 in most cases. Of course sometimes 2 is all you need".

- From a few threads on BSN, there seems to be a number of dialogue points removed from the demo that were intact in the leaked Beta. I'm not sure if this was to reduce size or avoid spoilers

Overall, I was very happy with the demo.

Author: Hayes1987

Date: Feb 12, 12 at 7:50pm (PST)

Subject: re: Demo Impressions
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I didn't realize importing your character kept it's level. You know that for sure?

Author: Spectre

Date: Feb 12, 12 at 7:53pm (PST)

Subject: re: Demo Impressions
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Yeah, you keep your level. Maximum level is 60.

"The level cap for #ME3 is 60. If you import from #ME2 you retain all class powers and your xp level."

Author: Darknet

Date: Feb 13, 12 at 6:29pm (PST)

Subject: re: Demo Impressions
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I'm not gonna play the demo. Decided to just play the multiplayer demo

Author: Dio

Date: Feb 13, 12 at 10:53pm (PST)

Subject: re: Demo Impressions
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Wait. Where can I download the demo!!?? It's not on the marketplace!

Author: Hayes1987

Date: Feb 13, 12 at 11:29pm (PST)

Subject: re: Demo Impressions
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quote Dio
Wait. Where can I download the demo!!?? It's not on the marketplace!

Theres a facebook app that gives you an early access code for it if you play on xbox.

Author: Spectre

Date: Feb 13, 12 at 11:37pm (PST)

Subject: re: Demo Impressions
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The Facebook App no longer supplies the codes.

quote Twitter
The dialogue options you play through in the demo will be expanded in the game.

Source.

Author: Hayes1987

Date: Feb 13, 12 at 11:43pm (PST)

Subject: re: Demo Impressions
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quote Spectre
The Facebook App no longer supplies the codes.

O?

My bad.

Author: Shinobi_razor

Date: Feb 14, 12 at 12:01am (PST)

Subject: re: Demo Impressions
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yeah apparently they only had a certain amount and they went fast. i was only able to try that "game" once before it said the codes were gone.

Author: Baron

Date: Feb 14, 12 at 8:58am (PST)

Subject: re: Demo Impressions
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCXHzbEDK5E

Demo gameplay looks awesome! Looks like you can use powers even when others are on cooldown just like ME1 which is great - I hated that as an Adept in ME2 I could only use one power and then had to wait for the cool down before using another.

Also looks like the health system is very similar to ME1 for Shep but that this time you actually have to locate your fallen pal to revive them which is cool.

Overall looks even better than before!

Author: Spectre

Date: Feb 14, 12 at 10:02am (PST)

Subject: re: Demo Impressions
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The public demo is now online.

If anyone has trouble finding it:

Game Tab> Game Marketplace> Demo Tab> New Releases> Mass Effect 3

It isn't showing for me through any other means.

Author: Existence

Date: Feb 14, 12 at 10:10am (PST)

Subject: re: Demo Impressions
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Maybe it's a region thing, but I can't find it. Did they confirm that it's up?

Author: Spectre

Date: Feb 14, 12 at 10:17am (PST)

Subject: re: Demo Impressions
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There is a thread on BSN with release times.

quote Chris Priestly
PC - Approximately 10am PST

Xbox 360 - Approximately 2am PST

Playstation 3 - Approximately 4pm PST

Try the online link.

Author: Existence

Date: Feb 14, 12 at 10:20am (PST)

Subject: re: Demo Impressions
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That did the trick, thanks. Any idea when the MP servers are going up?

Author: Spectre

Date: Feb 14, 12 at 10:22am (PST)

Subject: re: Demo Impressions
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Well if you have the Battlefield 3 Online Pass, they've been up since yesterday.

17th for everyone else. However, they will be releasing info some time today about how to gain early access without BF3.

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