Mass Effect 3 multiplayer details revealed

Mass Effect 3 co-op with YOU

After rumours , hints , and finally yesterday's confirmation , we now have concrete details of Mass Effect 3's co-operative multiplayer mode. A post on the Bioware forums explains the four player co-op mode can optionally impact the outcome of the single player game.

Check inside for a full breakdown of how this will work.

The co-op mode won't star Commander Shepard or any of his or her crew. Instead, you'll play as a special forces team fighting in another part of the galaxy, representing the larger scale of the war against the Reapers. You'll be able to customise your team by choosing from a variety of familiar Mass Effect classes and races like Asari, Krogan and Turians, each with special abilities.

The most interesting part of the announcement is how it will impact on the single player game. While the multiplayer mode is separate from the main story, it contributes to something called the 'galactic readiness level' which represents how prepared the galaxy is to fight off the Reaper threat. Having a high galactic readiness level is vital to getting a good ending to the story, but Bioware were keen to stress it is perfectly possible to get the best ending while only playing the story mode and ignoring the multiplayer completely. This all forms part of Mass Effect 3's 'galaxy at war' system, which will see players able to affect their galactic readiness via a variety of methods across different platforms, although exactly what those other methods are is currently under wraps.

The multiplayer components are being made by a separate team at the newly formed Bioware Montreal, allowing Bioware Edmonton to continue focusing on the single player story. This comes as something of a relief to fans, some of whom were concerned that the addition of multiplayer would detract from the main game.

I was sceptical about the inclusion of multiplayer into such a heavily story driven series, but the new mode sounds like it could be a lot of fun. Will you be sticking to the single player? Or will the lure of playing as your own Krogan Battlemaster be too strong?

Latest in Mass Effect
Commander Shepard in Mass Effect 3.
Mass Effect's Jennifer Hale, who played femshep, 'saw no line' before she recorded them for Bioware's flagship trilogy: 'It was all cold reading on the spot'
Mark Darrah
BioWare veteran calls out the 'cruelty' of fans celebrating layoffs: 'You are crossing a line, and you're probably attacking the wrong person anyway'
Mass Effect 3 didn't have music like Vigil or Suicide Mission because composer Jack Wall had a spat with Casey Hudson: 'Casey was not particularly happy with me at the end'
Mass Effect Legendary Edition best settings
Bioware's exceptional Mass Effect Legendary Edition is going for a song, so bag 3 of the best action-RPGs ever made for a mere 4 dollars
Mass Effect protagonist in N7 armor on a space background
Amazon's Mass Effect TV show now in 'active development' from the writer of F9: The Fast Saga (the one where a car goes to space)
Commander Shepherd, Garrus, Wrex, Tali, and Liara on the cover of the board game Mass Effect: Priority Hagalaz.
The Mass Effect board game is basically a new sidequest for a 12 year old RPG, but it's sadly lacking in BioWare magic
Latest in News
Two brightly colored stormtroopers dressed like Run-DMC stand in front of PAX Australia's WELCOME HOME banner.
Tickets for PAX Australia 2025 are on sale now
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again