Bioware founder Ray Muzyka demonstrated the brand new Kinect features that will be built into the 360 version of Mass Effect 3 today, and while it doesn’t use gesture controls (thank god,) the Kinect integration looks to streamline combat substantially.
Today’s demo saw the return of fan favorite character Mordin, the seemingly Apsergers addled Salarian scientist from Mass Effect 2. Mass Effect 3 allows users to now chose dialogue options by reading specific phrases during conversations; while I suppose this makes the conversations more immersive, I doubt anyone except neckbeards who roleplay in the forest on weekends will use the feature.
The Kinect feature that does look amazing however, is its applications during combat: You can use voice commands to tell your squad where to go, what attacks to use, and when to use their special abilities, allowing you to bark out orders, much as Shepard has always done in game himself, using your own voice in real time.
Mass Effect 2 is one of my favorite games of this generation, and I’m looking forward to seeing where Bioware takes the series next. Check back with Igxpro throughout the week for hands-on impressions with the E3 demo later in the week.
