As the internet outed, and we reported a few days ago, a mysterious box art for Mass Effect 3 appeared on one of EA's servers, suggesting that the latest instalment in the epic space drama may well be better with Kinect. Last night, as the world's largest games showcase, E3 got underway in Los Angeles, Microsoft confirmed at their press conference that the rumours were true, and Mass Effect 3 will be supporting Kinect - although not as you'd have expected.
The team, ready to save the galaxy. Again.
Rather than having you pirouetting around your living room as you take part in your very own space odyssey, the integration in Mass Effect 3 is a lot more subtle. As a plot-heavy role playing game, that looks set to have one of the most involving stories ever seen in a game, the decisions you take in Mass Effect 3 have the chance to shape how your entire game plays out. People will die, or survive, based on your actions, and the things you say to other people - and it's here that Kinect comes in.
Where previous Mass Effect games had you choosing an option by using the controller's analogue stick to choose from a number of options, in Mass Effect 3, using Kinect, all you have to do is to read out the option you want to choose, and the game will select it for you. Making conversations feel a lot more natural - and you a lot more like you're a psychopath who's talking to a television, we're on the fence about this one, especially as saying a sentence will take a lot longer than choosing an option from a list.
The other way Kinect will be utilised is during battles. Issuing orders to your brothers in arms when you come under attack by simply barking at the to "stay" or follow you, Kinect will allow you to make instant changes to your strategy in the heat of battle, without having to mess around with your control. Just so long as you don't have someone else sitting in the room with you, who's intent on messing up your strategies.
Announced last night at the EA press conference, Mass Effect 3 will launch on the 6th March, 2012 - hopefully before the Mayan apocalypse.
