In just a few days gamers will transition from their enjoyment of 2011’s games to their anticipation for 2012’s games to come. Among those highly anticipated games (more on those a little later) is Mass Effect 3, a title that was initially slated to release this year, but was pushed back to avoid getting lost in the clutter.

What this extra development time has added we cannot say for sure, but by the looks of some recent ME3 screenshots we missed, it seems like a lot more detail and polish. These new images don’t contain anything too revelatory — they're basic scenes one could have found in either of the previous two Mass Effect games — but they are nice to look at.

The most interesting image to check out is the one featuring Shepard and team fighting a shielded enemy. In our hands-on experience with the game at Comic Con, these shielded enemies were featured prominently in the level and forced a new level of strategy. Yes, biotic powers can do away with the shield, but players can also flank and cover-kill these enemies if they use their teammates wisely (now with Kinect voice control!).

The screenshots also give us looks at Mass Effect fan favorite characters like Mordin and Kaidan, who will once again be joining Shepard for this do-or-die mission against the Reapers. Though we see these characters with Shepard now, there’s still some mystery as to how much recruiting there will be in ME3 versus its predecessor. Some of the characters featured in Three missed the boat in two, so one has to wonder how they will make their big debut.

Regardless of how these screens work in the grand scheme of the game, or whether or not Mass Effect 3 will wrap up the Commander Shepard trilogy in a satisfying way, this game is going to be on our minds from now until March. And these screens are only adding more fuel to the fire.

What other enemy types would you like to see thrown into the mix to keep Commander Shepard’s team on their toes? Are you looking forward to the game’s Kinect integration for squad controls?

Mass Effect 3 releases March 6, 2012 for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Source: PS3 Gens