Mass Effect 3 is less than one week away from release in North America – with international release windows following closely behind. As a result, details have been coming fast and furious for the third installment in BioWare’s high-profile action-RPG. This week alone we’ve discovered that the title will provide an estimated 30-40 hours worth of gameplay, include an after-credits sequence, and offer day one DLC, “From Ashes.”
That said, with Mass Effect 3 now firmly in the hands of reviewing press (expect our review in the not-too-distant future), BioWare is starting to lift the veil on the highly anticipated game – allowing outlets to tease some of the finer details. In this case, we’re getting a full-blown video tour of the Mass Effect 3 Normandy.
The video comes courtesy of CVG, who took the time to record a walkthrough of the new (in terms of game design) Normandy. It’s the same Cerberus-made ship from Mass Effect 2 but players will quickly notice plenty of functional upgrades – coupled with flashy new eye candy.
As mentioned, the video does not contain any outright SPOILERS; though, it goes without saying that players who are trying to avoid ANY Mass Effect 3 details should probably avoid taking the virtual tour.
Check out the full video tour of the Mass Effect 3 Normandy below:
Despite slight refinements to the game’s visuals, the Normandy should look pretty familiar to returning fans of the series. However, as mentioned, there are plenty of new areas to explore – as well as improvements to the on-board functionality.
Most notable is definitely the shuttle bay which allows players to upgrade armor load-outs and customize weapons through the “Weapons Bench.” The increased utility of the ship shouldn’t come as a surprise – given that BioWare has long been promising that Mass Effect 3 will add more customization and bring back Mass Effect 1 RPG elements. Other slick additions include the War Room (where Shepard and his team track “Galaxy at War” progress and assets) as well as the memorial wall (which displays deceased team members – pulled from the player’s save data). As CVG points out, there are also two new characters on board, Traynor and Cortez, that allow for same-sex relationships – dependent on whether you play as a Male or Female Shepard.
Mass Effect 3 releases March 6, 2012 for the PS3, PC, and Xbox 360.
-
Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick for further updates.
Source: CVG
GR Giveaway: Win a Superhero-Sized Trip to San Diego This July! [Update: MORE Prizes!] 
Microsoft: Banned Players Lose Access to Purchased Xbox One Games [UPDATED] 
Xbox One Policies ‘Alienated Entire Military’; Entertainment Research Forecasts Trouble 
Xbox One E3 Demos Found Running on Windows 7 PCs 
Loading ...
The new-is Normandy looks very cool. Can’t wait to have my own Shepard tour the ship. I will miss Ken & Gabby, though. It was always nice listen to their banter. It’s odd so see some of the areas of the ship without the Crew of ME2, ‘though. It will be interesting to see what they do now.
I’m seeing a disturbing lack of Jack in all ME3 news
i want all my crew back i bust my ass for them i feel Ken and Gabby are the best engineers other than tali of course, we never use them they stay in the engine room but Bioware did a vry good job to get me care for every one on my ship whether they were planted in a specific spot or if i can use them on missions aint nothing like the old crew for me when i import my data over, ill understand if starting fresh you present with new crew, i rather add to my already impressive team than lose what i work hard for to make sure every1 comes back alive and the old team stays intact. Remember when you beat the game and every one made it and they all starting to look at you thats a mission well done
this is the guys personal import things could be different in yours
I’m very curious about how they are going to explain your old team not being with you anymore. What happened with Miranda and Jacob? Where’s Jack? Where is everyone? I mean you work so hard on getting their loyalty, where have they gone?
I like the weapon customization and the idea that if you have too many weapons the recharge time for your powers goes down, that’s pretty nice. I really cannot wait unil this comes out! 6 days is too long to wait!
It sucks to see them gone but there are things you have to consider.
1- Miranda and Jacob are both Cerberus loyalists. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were with the Illusive man or if they were taken into Alliance custody. Cerberus is after all deemed a terrorist organization and Miranda and Jacob were both long time members.
2- Jack is a notorious criminal. She has committed numerous crimes including murder, theft, and even destroying a space station. Again, no surprise if she was taken to a new prison.
3- Thane (my favorite) is probably dead. In ME2 he was fatally ill and said he had 9 months to live. As plenty of time has passed between games, he might already be dead
4- Grunt might now be working as part of Wrex’s krantt or team on Tuchanka.
I’m not sure about the others, you are free to speculate as you will but I find these to be the most reasonable answer as to why we have not seen them yet.
you forget that if you destroy the reaper based miranda resigned from cerbus, jacob nvr trust them he just do his job more over he got dirt on the alliance working as a cosair and for jack i understand but her role help me live to face the stupid reapers
have you ever played the arrival DLC? because that explains how you get from ME2 to ME3 and blah blah blah
it nvr show anything about miranda and jacob being apart of the plan nor did cerbus an they no saint so fyi i sure did play the arrival 5 times and thats what put shepherd in hot water with alliance court after blowing up a planet a star r whatever you want to call it killing all them Batarian to delay repears advance
I agree I want all of my peeps back at least most of them they better have some explanations!!!!!!
wheres tali? D:
Dead me thinks
no spoilers? bhah!
*oh look, EDI is sitting next to Joker :]*
Wait… the gay romance is going to be that guy only? I can deal with that. Here i was worried that it was gonna be Dragon age 2 all over again were every single dude tries hitting on you making the game really weird to play.
Excellent video, Thank you.
I’m a 16 year old boy and I’ll proudly say that I actually shed tears at the end of ME2, each time I beat it. Now where the hell are those people I risked life and limb for?
Looks like the Alliance doesn’t see lighting as a priority.
Hoping for a great conclusion.
Look at The Normandy SR 1. The lighting is the same.
Nooo where’s my Tali D:
Great,I seem to have wasted time romancing her in ME2
She’s a confirmed squadmate, the guy doing the video just didn’t have her recruited yet.
Auto fish-feeder. F### YEAH…
best addition ever… specially since kelly is gone
@Gamer Rant:
Define irony… An article that claims to have “No-Spoilers” Totally reveals a -
MAJOR UNBEKNOWN TO ME SPOILER CONCERNING WHO COMMANDER SHEPARD WILL BE ABLE TO HAVE A SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIP WITH IN MASS EFFECT 3…
How dare you sir. How dare you -_-
they talk about auto fish feeder if you worked hard enough and take kelly to dinner in ME2 after the dinner, speak to her right away and she will offer to feed your fishes when you gone it worked for me i went 3days in real life without feeding them they was all happy. just try it but its early on in the gme