Someone down at Microsoft mistakenly granted an advance opportunity to play the Mass Effect 3 beta to those who were given access to the fall dashboard update for testing purposes. On top of that, chunks of the game’s story have made their way onto the internet.
Think BioWare’s taking it all in stride? Then think again. The developer put out a statement urging fans to avoid details emanating from this incomplete version of the game (Aren’t betas supposed to be incomplete?) and issued a cease-and-desist order to NeoGAF where forum goers have been leaking info from the beta.
Jesse Houston said on BioWare’s forums that “the leaked code is in a rough, unfinished state and was not meant for public release. The content is not final, and is not reflective of the quality of the finished, polished game due for release on March 6, 2012 (March 9 in Europe).”
Of particular concern to BioWare, as expressed by Houston, is that the leak involved three different modes in the game: action, story and RPG. It was already well-known that the game would feature a multiplayer mode known as Galaxy at War and that there would be a beta for both the co-op and single player modes early next year. Yet the dev team wasn’t quite ready for external parties to get a look at it all at this time.
One feature that was present in this early build is a set of game play modes that are in development. In the beta code they are referred to as ‘action mode,’ ‘story mode’ and ‘RPG mode.’ We want to stress that these features are still in the early stages of development and will receive considerable iteration and refinement.
These modes are designed to give players an even finer degree of control over their game experience than ever before. Whether it be someone who finds the combat difficult but wants to experience the amazing story, someone who wants to focus on the action and combat game play, or fans who want the rich, story-driven RPG Mass Effect experience they’ve come to love – Mass Effect 3 will support all of these options.
The plug has already been pulled on the early beta, so don’t bother trying to get in on it now. Word is that it was riddled with bugs anyways.
Unfortunately for the RPG developer, the poorly-running beta wasn’t the only leak that needed plugging. Story files were obtained by an unknown party and deposited out onto cyberspace. BioWare is none-too-happy about it.
“We are still investigating, but it appears that some internal story files have been leaked,” Houston wrote in a different thread on the developer’s forums. “Even though the information in those files is out of date and does not reflect the final story experience, we urge fans not to read them if they want to experience the purest form of the story in Mass Effect 3.”
[Source: 1UP]
[Images via 1UP.]
