Mass Effect 3 Private Beta live now for some Xbox Live users (Update: more pictures, more users)
According to a tipster, some Xbox Live users who received access to the Dashboard Preview Program today had another surprise waiting for them: early access to the Mass Effect 3 Beta. We haven't gotten official confirmation from EA yet, so we can't confirm with one hundred percent certainty whether or not this is really-real. The picture is, um, pretty convincing, though.
EA announced the Mass Effect 3 Beta/demo a short time ago, specifying that it would eventually be open to all, but available early to purchasers of Battlefield 3. We guess it didn't mean available earlier-est.
Update: Well, that didn't take long. Lightning fast posters over at NeoGAF have downloaded the client and have started posting pictures.
Posters also spotted these game options for the singleplayer campaign section of the beta:
"Action Mode: For those who want to emphasize action and combat and minimize story management. Action mode will set automatic replies in conversation and a normal difficulty.
Story Mode: For those who want to emphasize story immersion and minimize combat pressure. Story mode will set manually-selectable replies in conversation and a minimal combat difficulty.
RPG Mode: For those who want to explore both realms of story and combat. RPG mode will set manually-selectable replies in conversation and a normal combat difficulty." It's worth mentioning that users are reporting broken animation, missing textures, and no sound in the beta, which clearly indicates that this was not meant for public consumption. We expect that it'll be taken down shortly. Also, oops.
UPDATE: BioWare has responded to the leak on its official forums. BioWare's Jesse Houston wrote the following:
"As most of you know by now, this evening an accidental leak occurred of some early Mass Effect 3 beta code. Microsoft has advised us that through human error at their end, content which was meant for internal beta testing was flagged incorrectly and released to individuals who had signed up for the beta of the Xbox Live dashboard update. It has since been taken down and deactivated.
We'd like to stress that the leaked code is in a rough, unfinished state and was not meant for public release. The content is not final, and is not reflective of the quality of the finished, polished game due for release on March 6, 2012 (March 9 in Europe).
One feature that was present in this early build is a set of game play modes that are in development. In the beta code they are referred to as "action mode", "story mode" and "RPG mode". We want to stress that these features are still in the early stages of development and will receive considerable iteration and refinement. These modes are designed to give players an even finer degree of control over their game experience than ever before. Whether it be someone who finds the combat difficult but wants to experience the amazing story, someone who wants to focus on the action and combat game play, or fans who want the rich, story-driven RPG Mass Effect experience they've come to love – Mass Effect 3 will support all of these options. We'll have more info in the days ahead!"
THE BUZZ: A poster over on the GTA forums claiming to be a journalist at ”a Playstation magazine in the UK” has posted some exclusive details regarding Grand Theft Auto V.
The details are:
1: The game world is absolutely massive and will push both xbox and PS3 to the very limit in terms of what it has accomplished. Yes, the main city is simply Los Santos however is it AT LEAST 4 times bigger than Liberty City in GTA 4 and that is just Los Santos. The surrounding country side, beaches, etc are massive. For instance, we saw the main character ( an African/American, early 30′s) travel by car from the center of Los Santos into the wildnerness and it took over 15 minutes. The views were incredible from farmhouses with cattle, huge wind farms, an oil refinery which appeared to be living and breathing with nearly 100 NPCs working on machinery, operating vehicles, lifting and loaded, etc, unlike the gas works in GTA 4 which seemed to only house a few NPC at a time. The forests are more beautiful than those in RDR and featured people camping, young NPC drinking and dancing around campfires, people riding dirt bikes and jumping over logs, streams, etc. The water effects, forna, plants, trees all looked beautiful.
2: The shooting mechanics have been greatly improved with animations for diving, climbing, rolling and crawling all added for better realism. The re-loading animations for new ammo also look cooler, less static.
3: There is much more climbable elements in the world such as ladders, overhand climbing, etc.
4: There are animals in the game from dogs to cattle but at this time it is not confirmed if you will be able to harm the animals. Rockstar were able to get away with it in RDR as it was a true depiction of the world in which the game was set. Allowing dogs/cattle to die in a game sent in current times may cause headaches with PETA. Its unclear if Rockstar were joking here.
5: There are planes to pilot and they can be crashed into buildings if you choose to do so….
6: Rockstar have included many, many more interior locations such as a shopping mall, college campus, police station, a huge hospital and there is also a vast underground sewer network which one mission later in the game involves a jet ski chase that culminates in a Fugitive-esque waterfall jump ( there are nods to the ridiculous but awesome Ballad Of Gay Tony missions)
7: The city is full of NPCs jogging, weight-lifting, hitting on women, being chased on foot by cops, shopping, washing cars, fixing fences, moving home, filling up their cars, etc.
Further Details:
1: Cars can be upgraded/repaired and it has been considered to have a car have fuel forcing the player to fill her up.
2: The dating aspect of the game is gone. You still have a cell-phone but only people you will meet in the game will call you to ask you to do a mission or to ask you to do something else before the mission.
3: Weapons include the usual arsenal you’d aspect but the flamethrowers, remote mines, laxer trip mines and claymores are included. It is possible now to pick up random objects in a street/buidling to use as a weapon. There is also a museam where it is possible to steal old age swords, axes, etc.
4: it is possible to rupture a fuel line and if you shot at the trail of gasoline it will lead straight back to the car blowing it up.
5: mini games such as bowling, darts, etc have all gone. You can play basketball, weight train, arm wrestle, gamble and cage fight, enter triatholons, water races, cannoing, ab-saling, rock climbing, base jumping, ski diving. More to be confirmed.
6: Character customisation is back but only in terms of clothing, body weight, etc. The player you start off which, much like CJ, can’t be altered by race, age, height, etc.
7: Rockstar said burglary missions may return but only as part of missions and not on neigbourhood houses.
8: No children NPC at all. Ever.
9: There is now an ability to grab people and use as sheilds or in “hostage” situations.
10: The cops are much, much, much more realistic. If you kill somebody when you know there are no cops around you will not run the risk of a one star as often as you would in GTA4. The cops will use smoke and tear gas, dogs, riot gear and rams to knock down the doors of buildings you are hiding in.
11: You can enter some buildings and lock doors, push objects in the way to barricade.
12: You become better at things as the game progresses. If you only ride motorbikes then you will increase your skills, same as individual weapons.
13: Certain weapons can be customisable and some even home-made.
14: One mission involves breaking out a very familiar GTA icon from a previous game…
15: Torrential rain fall and sunshine and even tremors will appear in the game.
EGM’s TAKE: Though we don’t know for sure the validity of those posts, that’s a lot of very specific details being mentioned. Seeing such depth in information could mean that these reports are indeed true—or, it could simply mean that somebody has an over-active imagination, and is good at making up a list of points with the intention of them sounding real.
Comments
According to a tipster, some Xbox Live users who received access to the Dashboard Preview Program today had another surprise waiting for them: early access to the Mass Effect 3 Beta. We haven't gotten official confirmation from EA yet, so we can't confirm with one hundred percent certainty whether or not this is really-real. The picture is, um, pretty convincing, though.
EA announced the Mass Effect 3 Beta/demo a short time ago, specifying that it would eventually be open to all, but available early to purchasers of Battlefield 3. We guess it didn't mean available earlier-est.
Update: Well, that didn't take long. Lightning fast posters over at NeoGAF have downloaded the client and have started posting pictures.
Posters also spotted these game options for the singleplayer campaign section of the beta:
"Action Mode: For those who want to emphasize action and combat and minimize story management. Action mode will set automatic replies in conversation and a normal difficulty.
Story Mode: For those who want to emphasize story immersion and minimize combat pressure. Story mode will set manually-selectable replies in conversation and a minimal combat difficulty.
RPG Mode: For those who want to explore both realms of story and combat. RPG mode will set manually-selectable replies in conversation and a normal combat difficulty."
It's worth mentioning that users are reporting broken animation, missing textures, and no sound in the beta, which clearly indicates that this was not meant for public consumption. We expect that it'll be taken down shortly. Also, oops.
EDGE: 10
Game Informer: 10
Official Nintendo Magazine: 9.8
GamesTM: 9
"As most of you know by now, this evening an accidental leak occurred of some early Mass Effect 3 beta code. Microsoft has advised us that through human error at their end, content which was meant for internal beta testing was flagged incorrectly and released to individuals who had signed up for the beta of the Xbox Live dashboard update. It has since been taken down and deactivated.
We'd like to stress that the leaked code is in a rough, unfinished state and was not meant for public release. The content is not final, and is not reflective of the quality of the finished, polished game due for release on March 6, 2012 (March 9 in Europe).
One feature that was present in this early build is a set of game play modes that are in development. In the beta code they are referred to as "action mode", "story mode" and "RPG mode". We want to stress that these features are still in the early stages of development and will receive considerable iteration and refinement. These modes are designed to give players an even finer degree of control over their game experience than ever before. Whether it be someone who finds the combat difficult but wants to experience the amazing story, someone who wants to focus on the action and combat game play, or fans who want the rich, story-driven RPG Mass Effect experience they've come to love – Mass Effect 3 will support all of these options. We'll have more info in the days ahead!"
The details are:
1: The game world is absolutely massive and will push both xbox and PS3 to the very limit in terms of what it has accomplished. Yes, the main city is simply Los Santos however is it AT LEAST 4 times bigger than Liberty City in GTA 4 and that is just Los Santos. The surrounding country side, beaches, etc are massive. For instance, we saw the main character ( an African/American, early 30′s) travel by car from the center of Los Santos into the wildnerness and it took over 15 minutes. The views were incredible from farmhouses with cattle, huge wind farms, an oil refinery which appeared to be living and breathing with nearly 100 NPCs working on machinery, operating vehicles, lifting and loaded, etc, unlike the gas works in GTA 4 which seemed to only house a few NPC at a time. The forests are more beautiful than those in RDR and featured people camping, young NPC drinking and dancing around campfires, people riding dirt bikes and jumping over logs, streams, etc. The water effects, forna, plants, trees all looked beautiful.
2: The shooting mechanics have been greatly improved with animations for diving, climbing, rolling and crawling all added for better realism. The re-loading animations for new ammo also look cooler, less static.
3: There is much more climbable elements in the world such as ladders, overhand climbing, etc.
4: There are animals in the game from dogs to cattle but at this time it is not confirmed if you will be able to harm the animals. Rockstar were able to get away with it in RDR as it was a true depiction of the world in which the game was set. Allowing dogs/cattle to die in a game sent in current times may cause headaches with PETA. Its unclear if Rockstar were joking here.
5: There are planes to pilot and they can be crashed into buildings if you choose to do so….
6: Rockstar have included many, many more interior locations such as a shopping mall, college campus, police station, a huge hospital and there is also a vast underground sewer network which one mission later in the game involves a jet ski chase that culminates in a Fugitive-esque waterfall jump ( there are nods to the ridiculous but awesome Ballad Of Gay Tony missions)
7: The city is full of NPCs jogging, weight-lifting, hitting on women, being chased on foot by cops, shopping, washing cars, fixing fences, moving home, filling up their cars, etc.
Further Details:
1: Cars can be upgraded/repaired and it has been considered to have a car have fuel forcing the player to fill her up.
2: The dating aspect of the game is gone. You still have a cell-phone but only people you will meet in the game will call you to ask you to do a mission or to ask you to do something else before the mission.
3: Weapons include the usual arsenal you’d aspect but the flamethrowers, remote mines, laxer trip mines and claymores are included. It is possible now to pick up random objects in a street/buidling to use as a weapon. There is also a museam where it is possible to steal old age swords, axes, etc.
4: it is possible to rupture a fuel line and if you shot at the trail of gasoline it will lead straight back to the car blowing it up.
5: mini games such as bowling, darts, etc have all gone. You can play basketball, weight train, arm wrestle, gamble and cage fight, enter triatholons, water races, cannoing, ab-saling, rock climbing, base jumping, ski diving. More to be confirmed.
6: Character customisation is back but only in terms of clothing, body weight, etc. The player you start off which, much like CJ, can’t be altered by race, age, height, etc.
7: Rockstar said burglary missions may return but only as part of missions and not on neigbourhood houses.
8: No children NPC at all. Ever.
9: There is now an ability to grab people and use as sheilds or in “hostage” situations.
10: The cops are much, much, much more realistic. If you kill somebody when you know there are no cops around you will not run the risk of a one star as often as you would in GTA4. The cops will use smoke and tear gas, dogs, riot gear and rams to knock down the doors of buildings you are hiding in.
11: You can enter some buildings and lock doors, push objects in the way to barricade.
12: You become better at things as the game progresses. If you only ride motorbikes then you will increase your skills, same as individual weapons.
13: Certain weapons can be customisable and some even home-made.
14: One mission involves breaking out a very familiar GTA icon from a previous game…
15: Torrential rain fall and sunshine and even tremors will appear in the game.
EGM’s TAKE: Though we don’t know for sure the validity of those posts, that’s a lot of very specific details being mentioned. Seeing such depth in information could mean that these reports are indeed true—or, it could simply mean that somebody has an over-active imagination, and is good at making up a list of points with the intention of them sounding real.
But then I figured it was just random details. Nope, it spoiled the ending.
vice city was a great game
san andreas was flat out amazing, the story, the missions...it was great
gta 4 was average in every way except graphics...they were flat out fantastic
this game will top this in every way...no doubt in my mind it will break sales records