It’s all been building up to this.

From hunting down the rogue Specter Saren in the first Mass Effect to teaming up with the sketchy paramilitary organization Cerberus in Mass Effect 2, Commander Shepard’s various adventures have had one clear focus: saving the galaxy from a powerful machine race known as the Reapers.

Now the Reapers have arrived on Earth, and Shepard must embark on one last-ditch effort to unite the various sentient races and discover a seemingly impossible solution to the war. As I sit down for my first hands-on time with complete missions from Mass Effect 3, I’m about to witness how high the stakes are and how greatly my choices will impact the fate of the galaxy this time around.

Spoiler Warning

This article originally appeared in issue 226 of Game Informer. At EA's request, I have removed a section about a later portion of the game for this online version of this feature, but given the nature of my play session and the things that are most important to the Mass Effect franchise, this article contains spoilers for a couple of Mass Effect 3’s early story missions. Read at your own risk.

The War Comes Home

As I begin the first mission of Mass Effect 3, an Earth escape sequence, I realize that BioWare has already shown off this level at E3 and various other events last year. In it, my female engineer version of Shepard is called to meet with the Earth’s defense council. She has been relieved from military duty after the events of Mass Effect 2’s Arrival downloadable content, but the council requires her expertise. Colonies in the solar system have stopped responding at the appearance of some "incomprehensibly powerful" force.

The defense council building is attacked, and Shepard escapes with long-time ally Captain Anderson. I notice a persistent theme of loss and sadness reverberating throughout the level. This emotion is particularly felt in the poignant appearance of a child three times throughout the course of the mission.

Shepard first sees the child standing outside the defense council building before the Reaper invasion, playing with a toy spaceship. Then she encounters him hiding in a ventilation shaft, but the child chooses to run away, screaming, "You can’t help me!" Finally, Shepard witnesses the child climbing aboard an escape shuttle that is immediately shot out of the sky by a Reaper laser. A look of shock comes across Shepard's face as she watches this, a silent realization that she's in another conflict where she can’t save everybody.

According to executive producer Casey Hudson, these scenes exist for more than getting across the stakes and the scale of devastation the Reapers are about to unleash across the galaxy. "[We’re] exploring the idea of getting the player to understand and feel what Commander Shepard is experiencing versus just reacting to other characters," he explains. "We’re trying to tell a little bit of the story Shepard would feel and seeing if the player feels that as well.... I think that’s going to be one of the things people remember."

As Earth erupts in chaos and millions of civilian casualties happen around her, the only choice available is to barrel forward to the Normandy and escape in order to regroup and come back with an army prepared to battle the Reapers. To do so, Shepard is forced to leave Anderson behind. Anderson restores Shepard's rank and provides what's likely to be his final order:

"We need every species and all their ships."

It seems like an impossible, hopeless mission – even more so than the suicide run of Mass Effect 2 – but before we can get started, we need to take a detour.

Red Menace

As new recruit James Vega complains about being taken from the battle on Earth, Shepard and Kaiden receive a call from Admiral Hackett. He asks the crew to stop by Mars before heading to the Citadel. A group of Earth scientists has been studying Prothean ruins on the red planet that could hold secrets to how to defeat the Reapers, but communications have gone dark.

The Normandy drops off Shepard, Kaiden, and Vega just in time for them to notice an approaching sandstorm that will soon cut off contact with the ship. Before entering the research facility, they encounter a group of enemy soldiers, and it becomes clear why the ruins are silent. Shepard’s one-time allies at Cerberus are attacking, searching for the same information Shepard wants.

After fighting through a few waves of Cerberus troopers using various types of grenades and the incinerate ability, I stumble upon a familiar face. Former Mass Effect party member Liara T’Soni was called to the ruins to study plans for a Prothean device that could wipe out the Reapers. She informs Shepard that the Protheans ran out of time before they could finish building this device, and they will need to recover the data before Cerberus if they don’t want to suffer the same fate.

Shepard orders Vega to guard the entrance, and we move forward with Liara taking his party slot. The ruins provide a great example of the new focus on more varied level design in Mass Effect 3. Shepard can climb up small barriers and ladders, jump across gaps, and generally explore the environment more thoroughly, and these tools allow BioWare to mix up the gameplay in interesting ways.

"Once we added all those tools to the toolbox, we challenged the designers to figure out ways to make the missions and the story unpredictable," Hudson says. "In Mass Effect 2, often you would see where you’re going down at the end of the hallway and know, 'That’s settled, that’s where I’m going.' In Mass Effect 3, we constantly try to change your perception of what you need to do."

In one hallway, I race after a group of Cerberus opponents at the other end, but rather than stick around and fight like their brethren, they slam the door shut in my face and lock it, forcing me to search for a new path. I notice several rooms that aren’t as obviously built for combat as areas in Mass Effect 2. I find myself taking cover behind overturned desks or couches more often than conveniently placed chest-high barriers.

During one memorable set piece, I have to ride a tram from one end of the research facility to the other. Halfway through the ride, Cerberus soldiers shut down my carriage and ride one of their own over, attacking me as they sweep by. I leap across the tiny gap between the two trams and take out two of the soldiers with the game’s improved melee combat while Liara and Kaiden take care of the other two.

Once the tram arrives on the other side, I have to take cover in it as more Cerberus operatives attack.

I can’t stay in hiding for long, though. A new enemy type called the Guardian storms the tram without fear. These bad guys come equipped with body-sized shields that protect them from incoming fire. I can use a grenade or Liara’s pull ability to make them drop the shields, or if my aim stays true, I can shoot them through the tiny visors they use to see where they are going. I take down one enemy this way and laugh as a tracker pops up for an achievement titled "Mail Slot."

As I near the end of the Mars mission, Shepard and crew encounter a dead Cerberus soldier whose helmet has been removed. The operative’s face is twisted and his eyes glow blue, making him look sort of like a husk – humans who’ve been tainted by the synthetic Geth race. "Cerberus is experimenting on its own troops," Kaiden guesses. He assumes Shepard knows more than she is saying from her time working with Cerberus, and his trust is wavering.

Thankfully, we don’t have to wait long for answers.

We reach the center of the facility and encounter the Illusive Man, the Cerberus leader, in his notorious hologram form. He threatens Shepard, telling her to stay out of his way. When she asks what he’s after, he responds, "What I’ve always wanted." He explains that where Shepard and her allies seek to destroy the Reapers, Cerberus wants to discover a way to control them and use their power to raise humanity's profile in the galaxy.

The Illusive Man also makes a mysterious mention that he "doesn’t need Shepard anymore."An off-center shot shows someone standing in the room with the Illusive Man. It’s unclear who this figure is, but I wonder if it might be a more focused villain to answer one of the few common criticisms of Mass Effect 2. Hudson won’t tell me but admits, "We’re introducing a clearer target for Shepard, a clearer foil."

After the Illusive Man vanishes, I get another taste of Mass Effect 3's newfound mission variety. We discover the ruins were infiltrated by a Cerberus spy named Eva who has begun transmitting the Prothean data off-world. A chase sequence ensues, with the undercover scientist revealing a robotic form and superhuman speed. After minutes of leaping across gaps and bounding over obstacles, we corner Eva at her shuttle. Before she can escape, Vega crashes into her ship, preventing the rest of the data from being transferred.

Eva climbs out of the busted shuttle and almost immediately grabs Kaiden, squeezing the life from him. A slow-motion shootout begins, with Shepard taking down the metallic menace as she calmly walks toward her. Kaiden is gravely injured, but they escape and head for the Citadel.

New Ways To Play

When you boot up Mass Effect 3 for the first time, you’ll be asked to choose from three possible game modes. These modes represent the different types of players BioWare has realized are all trying to enjoy its games. Here’s how it breaks down:

Roleplaying - This is the traditional Mass Effect experience, providing deep story choices where you’re in full control and challenging combat tuned to normal difficulty.

Action - This mode turns on automatic dialogue, a new feature that will get rid of conversation options, turning Mass Effect 3 into a more linear shooter experience. "It’s not that they don’t like the story," Hudson says of the players this mode is targeting. "They love the story. In fact, the story is so important to them that they feel like the choices are intimidating." Hudson explains that action mode provides a mix of paragon and renegade choices, creating a "default path that gives you access to a lot of cool things."

Story - Given Mass Effect 3's focus on narrative, it's no surprise that some gamers would prefer to stick to this part of the game. Hudson describes this group: "We have a lot of feedback from people who say, 'Your games look really cool, and I love the idea of the story and the characters. It looks awesome when I watch it on YouTube, but I’m just not that coordinated with a shooter. I would play it if I could figure out how to do combat.'" Story mode is BioWare's answer. In this mode, combat is dialed down to be extremely fast and relatively easy. "Generally, if you’re trying, you’re not going to die," Hudson says.

All Good Things

If it delivers on its promise, Mass Effect 3 is poised to be a revolutionary first for the game industry. We’ve seen plenty of plot-heavy video game trilogies, but never has a franchise tied together so many complex and variable stories across three games, weaving a web of player choices that pulls you ever tighter to the narrative and your effects on its conclusion.

As I talk to Casey Hudson about this impending finale, I can't help but notice how tired he looks. His voice is hoarse, and he's clearly been spending many late nights with the rest of his team finishing the game. It's been a long, dramatic eight-year journey for Commander Shepard, the developers at BioWare, and Mass Effect fans, but the conclusion it has all been building to is finally almost here.

"I think it will all be worth it in the end," Hudson reassures me with a knowing smile.

Want more info on Mass Effect 3? Read my full interview with Casey Hudson conducted on the same trip as this hands-on session.