Mass Effect 3 screenshots splash down

Two screenshots from the sci-fi RPG have been set loose for the Internet to obsess and panic over, as it does so love to do.

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The first pair of Mass Effect 3 screenshots have been set free to roam the Cybernet as they please, giving a fair look at the kind of pretty pictures we can expect from the final chapter of BioWare's sci-fi RPG trilogy.

The screenshots show some boring-looking bloke we can only presume is an acquaintance of Jane Shepard duking it out with--and this is a story spoiler you might not guess by looking at the pictures, so if you don't want to read spoilers, stop reading now--Cerberus forces on the Salarian homeworld.

They were previously exclusive to Game Informer, the magazine whose latest issue let slip a few tasty ME3 details.

Mass Effect 3 is scheduled to launch for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the 2011 holiday season, published by EA.

Internet, you may now obsess over these screenshots, insisting they prove beyond all shadow of a doubt that Mass Effect has been 'consolised' and ruined, that only DirectX 6 is used, that Sovereign was actually The Illusive Man all along, or perhaps that there will be 96 pieces of downloadable content costing $27.13 apiece. Alternatively, you can choose to be civilised and simply doff your cap or curtsy to BioWare and say "Good show, chaps."

From The Chatty
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    April 26, 2011 6:00 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Mass Effect 3 screenshots splash down.

    Two screenshots from the sci-fi RPG have been set loose for the Internet to obsess and panic over, as it does so love to do.

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      April 26, 2011 6:03 AM

      very few games I'm giddy about that are coming out soon, but this is one of them.

      [p Isn't there an ending where you don't tick off Cerberus? I played it twice and can't remember if in my renegade playthrough if Cerberus and I were buddy buddy p]

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        April 26, 2011 7:06 AM

        It depends entirely on what you do with the final choice. Either way, something else must happen between both stories that sends you on your way.

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      April 26, 2011 6:05 AM

      Your last paragraph was perfect. Well done.

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        April 26, 2011 6:06 AM

        I believe the phrase you're looking for is, "Jolly good show, love!"

      • gmd legacy 10 years legacy 20 years mercury mega
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        April 26, 2011 6:07 AM

        looks more like directX 5

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      April 26, 2011 6:28 AM

      I really need to get on the ball and start my replay throughs of Mass Effect 1 and 2 and all the dlc on the 360.

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      April 26, 2011 6:30 AM

      I like my Male Shepard =(

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      April 26, 2011 6:40 AM

      Well, I hope they throw some good DX10 and 11 Shaders... but overall I hope its just another quality step forward in improving the shooter mechanics! Also, awesome post Alice... needed a good laugh!

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      April 26, 2011 6:53 AM

      Let's hope they revert back the pointless changes from the 1st game. Like the reloading system.

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      April 26, 2011 7:13 AM

      The story is what drives this game for me. I always liked the graphics but they are nothing to get excited about.

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      April 26, 2011 7:44 AM

      Haha femshep ftw!

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      April 26, 2011 8:36 AM

      Bioware is pretty good with their console->PC ports. I don't remember having much of a problem with ME2. It's the games that take 2 hours of research and tweaking that get my panties ruffled.

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      April 26, 2011 8:41 AM

      [deleted]

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        April 26, 2011 8:47 AM

        LIES the face of the series is the N7 logo and the white-red-white stripe on black body armor.

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        April 26, 2011 9:16 AM

        Until he opens his mouth and sounds like a complete tool.

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        April 26, 2011 11:07 AM

        He's the face of the series for continuity. Fem-shep has better voice acting.

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          April 26, 2011 5:40 PM

          As someone who has played both I disagree wholeheartedly

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            April 26, 2011 6:09 PM

            Yeah I keep seeing people say this but I honestly don't hear whatever it is they hear. I think both Shepard sexes are fine.

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              April 26, 2011 6:23 PM

              Weird, this post is me. Somehow I wasn't paying attention and logged in to my old shack account. Whoops.

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              April 26, 2011 6:41 PM

              ^^^^^

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            April 26, 2011 8:07 PM

            I've played both too, and he's partially right. Femshep is honestly more intimidating sounding if you play renegade (probably because she sounds like a psycho bitch and we all know how scary those can be). Maleshep sounds better if you're playing paragon.

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              April 26, 2011 9:38 PM

              I disagree. I like to play male shepherd as a renegade

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              April 27, 2011 3:47 AM

              I loved male Shepherd renegade. I get what you mean about her sounding more intimidating, but male Shepherd sounds like way more of an asshole, which is what I was going for.

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          April 26, 2011 11:03 PM

          People post this all the time and it isn't true.

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        April 26, 2011 8:06 PM

        This is true.

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      April 26, 2011 8:50 AM

      [deleted]

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      April 26, 2011 9:21 AM

      This will be my first bioware game that will not be a pre-order/day 1 purchase since NWNs.

      I'm still pretty miffed about the direction of DA2, not making the same mistake twice. I'm waiting until I start hearing feedback before forking over $60.

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        April 26, 2011 9:41 AM

        Same here man. They broke my heart with the quality of DA2. Looks like they needed about 4 or so more months of level design and QA testing. Sadness.

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        April 26, 2011 10:16 AM

        The team that made Dragon Age 2 is not the same team that did ME 2, which is whom they were trying to copy to some degree. Can understand your concern, but since it's the same people who made ME2 making ME3, I would think that'd count for something (same people, not just the same company).

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          April 26, 2011 10:17 AM

          I've gotten the general impression that DA2 was pushed out so fast to make money to continue funding for ToR and ME3 teams to deliver on the goods.

          That's the only reason I could imagine for BioWare compromising so heavily on design like that.

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            April 26, 2011 10:57 AM

            it sounds like DA2 got the KOTOR 2 treatment :(

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              April 26, 2011 11:25 AM

              KOTOR2 was obsidian

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                April 26, 2011 11:35 AM

                It did feel like an obsidian game: The broken and missing quests in Act 3, the DX11 bugs with nvidia hardware. The repetitive dungeons.

                The voice acting was fantastic though, and the story of your characters interesting. I love Merryl

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                April 26, 2011 11:38 AM

                Yeah different studio, and LucasArts forced Obsidian to ship it early to hit the Holiday 2004 window.

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        April 26, 2011 7:54 PM

        Sorry, MA1 and 2 were too fucking good for me to not be totally psyched for the third installment.

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        April 26, 2011 8:06 PM

        i just gave up and uninstalled Dragon Age 2, but i still cannot fucking wait for ME3

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        April 26, 2011 8:14 PM

        I'll give ME3 a go still. But I haven't purchased or played a single piece of BioWare content since DA: Awakenings. The gobs of bugs they left in that game while producing several pieces of DLC without ever patching it left a sour taste in my mouth. Since the EA merger I no longer consider anything BioWare produces a day one purchase.

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      April 26, 2011 9:37 AM

      Good show, chaps.

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      April 26, 2011 9:39 AM

      I have a very bad feeling that they might screw the pooch on this one like they did Dragon Age 2. Please god take the time to properly finish the game and actually QA test it to make sure you got most of the bugs ironed out.

      In DA2, how the heck can you miss the resurrection spell not properly placing characters back into combat making them invincible, and the same recycled locations throughout the game….

      Grrrr.

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      April 26, 2011 9:58 AM

      Stupid Cerberus getting all shot in those pictures.

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      April 26, 2011 10:18 AM

      [deleted]

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        April 26, 2011 10:21 AM

        [deleted]

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          April 26, 2011 10:51 AM

          [deleted]

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            April 26, 2011 10:59 AM

            I know, you would think that they would have taken the opportunity to show something like Cerberus troops and some Salarian architecture or something.

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              April 26, 2011 11:28 AM

              [deleted]

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                April 26, 2011 11:44 AM

                I went back and forth over putting in an extra sentence in there saying that it would be nice if they had a bit more variety in visuals, but I decided on leaving the minor-snark unqualified probably because I'm tired and grumpy.

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                April 26, 2011 6:43 PM

                yeah it all looks the same

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        April 26, 2011 11:12 AM

        [deleted]

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      April 26, 2011 10:45 AM

      way to sound like you dont work at shacknews, Alice. sarcastic tone implying paying for DLC and being restricted by console hardware limitations is actually an acceptable thing for PC players is ...well.. telling about where you're coming from at least. here's hoping you have no idea / interest in BF3

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        April 26, 2011 11:11 AM

        [deleted]

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        April 26, 2011 11:31 AM

        Please do tell me where I'm coming from because, as a PC gamer of 15-odd years, I'd love to know what you think that is.

        Shacknews is not an anti-DLC site and I don't believe we've ever had a blanket policy of decrying paid DLC for PC games. Such a stance would be foolish.

        As for the ongoing "being restricted by console hardware limitations" backlash, it has long been Shacknews policy to not proudly ignore the realities of the industry, not blindly insist that every sequel must be twice as pretty as the previous game, and to recognise petty platform squabbles for what they are.

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          April 26, 2011 9:56 PM

          Dear Ms. O'Connor

          As another PC gamer of 15 odd years, I thought that the sentiment seemed odd and out of place in a Mass Effect 3 post. Considering that no one ever thought of ME as anything but a console series and generally took its low resolution textures and so on as a given, and what's more had a widely praised PC port, why would anyone complain about it's 'consolification'? Nor is there any kind of general console hardware limitations backlash, not that I see, in fact a lot of PC gamers seem quite pleased with how they can run PC versions of multiplatform games at higher resolution, with AA, max texture res etc...

          What you're talking about was Crysis 2 specific, and in that particular case it should surprise no one that there was disappointment considering that Crysis is still the prettiest shooter there is, a standard for this generation of graphics quality. And since I haven't seen a thread about Crysis 2's technical features in weeks I wonder why you felt that debacle needed to be dredged up again.

          Otherwise, I have quite enjoyed your reportage recently.

          Yours, with admiration -
          SpaecKow

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            April 27, 2011 12:24 AM

            Internet, SpaecKow. Never over-estimate the Internet.

            Mark my words, you'll see these points raised in furious arguments.

            xooxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxox
            A

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              April 27, 2011 12:29 AM

              To give a serious answer, heaps of multi-platform games are accused of being 'consolised,' including Mass Effect 2. It would be astonishing if the same charges were not levelled against ME3.

              The DirectX jibe was in no way Crysis 2-specific. It's a situation that crops up time and time again. After Dragon Age 2, drooling idiots will be queueing up to spew more nonsense about BioWare's next game.

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        April 26, 2011 6:12 PM

        [deleted]

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        April 26, 2011 11:13 PM

        i just like how everyone is trying to sound smart in this subthread, so that the british chick will think they're cool.

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      April 26, 2011 11:54 AM

      I really wish there was a "canon" femshep so you weren't stuck with a chick who looks like all the rest of the women built using the character generator.

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      April 26, 2011 10:50 PM

      [deleted]

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        April 26, 2011 11:29 PM

        i really tried for a lesbo action scene with her, but no dice. FFS THERE'S A BED VISIBLE FROM HER DESK!!! :(

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