It's finally happened and it's likely that nobody is overly shocked about it. I'm speaking of course of the long-awaited official announcement of Mass Effect 3 from BioWare. The trailer made its world exclusive debut at this year's Spike Video Game Awards, and it certainly did not disappoint.

What the trailer didn't touch on is the rumored multiplayer aspect that many fans are dying for (co-op!), but it does end with a shot of the franchise's hero, Commander Shepard.

The trailer begins with an unknown soldier positioned in a tower with a large sniper rifle. He begins talking about a massive invasion that caught the planet off-guard, but nobody knows who or what the invaders are. "Two million dead in the first day. Another seven million by the end of the first week," he says. The man injects himself with some kind of medicinal stim pack (an antidote perhaps?) and carelessly tosses the empty canister to the side.

As he finishes injecting himself he notices that some humans are being chased by one of the invaders and he makes quick work of the mysterious enemy shrouded in dark clouds and this is where the trailer really gets interesting. You can check it out the official first trailer for Mass Effect 3 right below.

Yeah, that tower that the British gentleman is sitting in Big Ben. So that means that Earth is in grave danger of being completely destroyed. Could it be the revenge of the Reapers? Game Trailers certainly seems to confirm that hypothesis with their description of the VGA debut trailer.

"The Reapers' vengeance threatens Earth. The third chapter of the epic Mass Effect series debuts at the Spike Video Game Awards 2010!"

Mass Effect 3 is scheduled to land on Xbox 360, PC, and presumably the PS3 just in time for the Holidays in 2011. Check out all of the new trailers and more from the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards and follow us on Twitter @GameRant.

Are you excited for Mass Effect 3? Are you at all surprised it was revealed at this year's Spike VGAs?

Source: Game Trailers