Mass Effect 3's Kinect Integration Revealed

Hardcore gamers everywhere shared a collective groan when they learned that Mass Effect 3 on Xbox 360 would include optional Kinect integration. The general consensus around Microsoft's innovative peripheral is that it may offer up fun and fresh party & minigame experiences, but "core" games are best left to controllers or mouse & keyboard.

Bioware is determined to win over the doubters with Mass Effect 3's Kinect-enabled demo, due out on Xbox Live February 14. At CES last week I had the opportunity to play the demo for myself, and I came away impressed by what I saw.

Mass Effect 3 uses Kinect only for voice commands – absolutely no motion recognition is supported. Instead, any command that players previously had to pause the action to access, like Biotic powers, ammo swapping or party member management can now be managed by voice. This allows players full access to Shepherd's suite of combat options without ever pausing the action.

Most important of all is that this Kinect integration just works. When you say sniper rifle, Shepherd switches to his sniper rifle. Saying "Adrenaline Rush" activates the biotic power. Say "James, Move" and your squad mate moves to the location you have pointed out. During the entire demo, I never once had a voice command not register properly.

Bioware Studio GM Aaryn Flynn explained to IGN that this accuracy was no accident. In addition to American English, the team also recorded UK English and Australian English versions of all the commands, to help ensure the game will recognize a player's audio input.

Kinect can also be used for various contextual commands out-of-combat, including opening doors, initiating NPC conversation, and picking up or examining items. Here the Kinect options felt more gimmicky. Why would I say "open" when standing in front of a door, instead of just hitting the A button?

Out-of-combat gimmickry aside, the ability to play through entire Mass Effect action set-pieces without ever accessing the game's power wheel felt great – it might be hard to go back. Executing complex & lengthy strings of combat used to mean staring at menus more than the game itself. But now it's seamless:

"Liara Stasis. James Frag Grenade." – First enemy down

"Sniper Rifle. Adrenaline Rush." – Line up shots, & enemies two and three are down.

And of course, gamers that want a slower-paced, more strategic Mass Effect experience haven't had that taken away from them. RPG-minded menu divers can still play ME3 in the same style as the first two. My hunch is that most Kinect-owning gamers will probably fall somewhere in the middle. Perhaps swapping ammo on-the-fly via voice, but thoughtfully & safely planning out Biotic combos in the radial menu.

Gamers will be able to test out the Kinect action for themselves in just a few short weeks. A demo is scheduled to hit all platforms on February 14. Mass Effect 3 drops on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC and EA's Origin March 6.

For a full list of Mass Effect 3's voice-activated commands, be sure to check out IGN's Mass Effect 3 Kinect Controls Wiki.

Justin is Executive Editor of IGN Wireless. You can follow him on Twitter and MyIGN.

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