This week, BioWare provided a small treat with a taste of Mass Effect 3. We got some quality hands-on time last year during Comic Con International, but the recently released demo for Xbox 360 and PC (soon for PlayStation 3) provides a better look at what we’ll be seeing when the game releases next month.

The Mass Effect 3 demo packages together the beginning of the game and the Salarian level we previously saw at Comic Con. Feel free to pop over to the original preview for a full breakdown of the latter.

Mass Effect 3 will start with Shepard grounded on Earth and relieved of his duties, but still somewhat of a consultant. He’s still trusted to assist with possible Reaper issues and is immediately roped into a meeting.. Things quickly escalate as a Reaper attack stuns Earth after bypassing Moon defenses. Shepard escapes with members original Normandy crew to head to the Citadel and convince the galaxy to band together and fight the Reaper invasion.

The game will continue the scale that Mass Effect 2 ended with but on a more grandiose level. Its soul has been amped up. However, change had been seen elsewhere. The series shifted feels between the installments, from a clear-cut RPG to a shooter-heavy elements. With that in mind, some further changes might be able to suit, or at least find some middleground, for the Mass Effect audience. The demo is able to offer an early look at your variations.

Mass Effect 3 gives you three playthrough options: Action, Story and RPG. The most accurate, traditional Mass Effect will be RPG mode; you’ll upgrade your character, select your paragon/renegade route via selected dialogues and be the most involved. Action will be let the game decide most things for them and let dialogue playout as cutscenes (reportedly 82 minutes worth in the game), and Story will hold off on the intensity of the action. The latter two options have their oddities, even within a demo.

Playing through Action won’t be as run-and-gun as it may seem. It feels much slower while you wait through long cutscenes without any sort of interaction. Not selecting dialogue feels odd and it switched attitudes to award paragon and renegade points, so you may end up with a split character. And while Story will give you dialogue options, you won’t have the same type of challenge. Without trying to sound like a Mass Effect purist, but RPG might be the recommended route to go down.

But no matter what mode you choose, you’ll be working with some re-tooled weapons and biotics. Your rifles and shotguns are incredibly more powerful than before; shotgun blasts going so far as to blow off heads. And all of your powers/attributes will be improved in a new tree-based power up system, in order to give you more customization. The power will be balanced, though, by smarter AI. Reaper and Cerberus attackers used to fight in somewhat of a funnel, and you could predict movements relatively well. Now, tthe AI will be using more flanking techniques and distractions to overpower you. You might not mind close-quarters combat all that much, though. You’re going to be outfitted with the new Omni blade weapon that delivers a fun, heavy punch.

The demo also offers Kinect functionality for the Xbox 360 gamers. We’ve seen action game vocal commands in the re-release of Halo Anniversary, but our review found issues with needing to repeat commands. Mass Effect’s commands respond very well and don’t become too distracting or clunky during combat. You’ll be able to speak the dialogue commands and other interactions, but most Kinect commands will be for biotics and other attacks. Saying “incenderiay ammo” will outfit your ammo with it; “Garrus Overload” will have Garrus overload the targeted enemy. It works quite well, even in the thickest of combat, and keeps up the pace of the action (it won’t open up the selection wheel).

So before Mass Effect 3 drops in a few weeks, you’ll be well served to download the demo and get yourself back into the mood. Clocking in with about 30 minutes worth of gameplay, it offers a good glance and what you’ll be facing when the game releases, and it’s well worth the time.

Mass Effect 3 releases March 6, 2012 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

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Related posts:

1. Comic Con ’11: Mass Effect 3 Hands-On
2. E3 2009: Mass Effect 2 Preview (Xbox 360, PC)
3. Review: Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360, PC)