While the news seemed unsure at first, Casey Hudson put the doubts to rest once and for all with a simple tweet:
Yes, co-op MP missions forSo, now we know the truth. The very thing some of us were dreading has become reality.#ME3: they're real, and they're spectacular. Rest assured it's nothing of what you've feared. More soon...
And it is nowhere near as big a deal as we think it is.
Don't get me wrong now, as Mass Effect and Bioware diehard, I'm a bit concerned about what this co-op will be like exactly, but I'm not nearly as concerned as some are. Maybe it's because I trust Bioware to do the series justice, just as they usually do. Reguardless of what EA may say or have in store for Bioware's development plans, Bioware has almost never stumbled, and is always listening to fans reactions and opinions.But there's more to it than that.
When the initial rumors of multiplayer started spawning a few months back a lot of people thought immediately that we were dealing with something along the lines of Call of Duty or Gears or something similar to that. Very few people thought the rumors might mean co-op. It's important to not the difference because this means that, while it will take plenty of work to do right, it won't take nearly as much as a full on multiplayer mode. In fact, depending on how they do it (it won't take anything away from singleplayer we've been told) , it could open up new stories or moments. At the very least, we can see it as just another feature, and instead of taking something away from the game, it instead adds to an already incredible experience.
However, as I said, I have my concerns.
The biggest one with me is why they're introducing something like this in the final game of the Mass Effect trilogy. Bioware has said before they plan for Mass Effect to continue long after ME3's final credits role. So why add this in now? Why not wait until the next game to do something like this? In a series that has been all singleplayer, all the time up to this point it seems a somewhat fairly sized risk to me. It might even lend evidence to the rumors that EA has started demanding there to be some kind of multiplayer mode in all it's games.These are all questions that will be answered as we move along I'm sure but I almost feel like I was lied to by Bioware in a way. They said time and time again that Mass Effect 3 would not deviate very far from Mass Effect 2. This co-op mode seems like a pretty big step away from what Mass Effect 2 was.
Yet, the one reassuring thing for me, that allows me to remain cautiously optomistic about the co-op mode, is how the changes from Mass Effect to Mass Effect 2 went. Story wise, there were some slight steps backwards, but gameplay wise I felt the game was much smoother and much more fun. Every moment of the combat felt active and tension mounted several times for me during key firefights, whereas in Mass Effect some fights felt kind of dull and uninspired in retrospect. Bioware boldly made changes to the Mass Effect formula, knowing that they could have played it safe instead, and while not everything went over so smooth (I.E. fewer RPG elements), the game as a whole felt much stronger than the first title.
As long as Bioware keeps their word that the co-op and singleplayer won't mix, I see no reason why we can't wait and see on how this turns out. Who knows? Maybe it will be even more of the awesomeness that is Mass Effect.
One side note here:
Extra Life is almost here! I have managed to raise some money, but time is nearly up and I could still use help. I'd really love to see a lot of last minute donations from you people out there, even if it's small amounts. I'm super excited for this, and I can't wait to get to work!
One last thing! Marshmallow Fluff! has a facebook page now, so go like it, and you can get direct links to this blog, as well as links to interesting stories, info, and pictures about all things gaming.
Marshamllow Fluff! Facebook Page
And with that, I will bow out until next time...
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