drmmass-effect-3
I plan to play Mass Effect 3 on PS3. I've heard horror stories of EA's DRM that requires communication with their servers, but I never had to connect to EA to play Dead Space 1 or 2 on PS3.
Will I have to connect to DRM servers in order to play Mass Effect 3? Will I be able to play locally if EA's servers are down?
From a review of the german GameStar
Wie Assassin’s Creed 2 verwendet auch Brotherhood den Game-Launcher-Kopierschutz, den Ubisoft allerdings leicht entschärft hat. So müssen Sie beim Klettern und Meucheln nicht mehr online bleiben, nach der ersten Internet-Aktivierung läuft das Spiel auch im Offline-Modus.
And from Gamespot
There are a number of key differences between Assassin's Creed II and its follow-up, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, but if there's one that some PC enthusiasts will appreciate the most, it's that Ubisoft's stringent copy-protection scheme has been jettisoned.
And from StrategyInformer
Fortunately, Ubisoft has seen sense this time around, and although certain security elements are present, it's barely noticeable anymore and definitely doesn't feel as intrusive. The game requires a one-time activation to begin with, but after that you can play the single player offline whenever you desire. The multiplayer requires you have a connection (duuh) and some of the DLC does too, but that's it.
This seems to indicate that there is still an online activation needed, but that afterwards no online connection is needed anymore. So you don't seem to need a permanent internet connection to be able to play the game.
The Bioware blog recently posted about this information, which I'll summarize here.
Earning reputation in Mass Effect 3 is a bit different from the first two games. Rather than earning only Paragon and Renegade points, you can also earn Neutral reputation, so there are 3 types of rep in ME3.
This means you can now mix being Paragon/Renegade without worrying about getting locked out of the more difficult Charm/Intimidate options. When you earn Paragon/Renegade rep, it'll show up as Blue/Red, whereas if you earn Neutral rep, it'll increase your reputation bar's size as a whole while retaining the same blue/red ratio.
Click through for the larger version.
Your total reputation (blue/red/neutral) will determine whether or not you'll be able to pass a Charm/Intimidate block. The lines on the bar are "checkpoints" which serve as gates for more difficult dialogue options. I marked them with the thin lines of red, in case it was difficult to see (this is not my Shep, this is the photo from the blog post).
As per usual, you get rep from completing missions and making dialogue choices. For missions with no Paragon/Renegade choice but still have a large impact, you will get Neutral rep.
In contrast to older Bioware games, you can never actually be the villain in ME3, though this should be rather clear from how they handled the first 2 games. No matter what, you will be fighting to save the galaxy. The manner in which you do it will be what differentiates a Paragon from a Renegade. Also, bullying people into giving you more money or discounts won't be the crux of what makes a Renegade decision in this game. Who needs credits if there's nowhere to spend them because civilized life has been destroyed?
Reputation gain will be based on when you have to make a decision in the game. Here are a few examples of what kind of rep you would get, taken from the blog:
- Confronted on the Citadel by a desperate refugee with a gun, you give her some credits and help her find a place to sleep. (Paragon)
- As a human colony falls to Reaper forces, you order down an orbital strike, brutally killing thousands of colonists to prevent the Reapers from turning them into husks. (Renegade)
- You land at a turian fuel depot taken by Reaper forces and clear it out, enabling allied forces to keep fighting. (General Reputation)
BioWare has finally made a single-player game that lets you make morally grey choices without nerfing yourself, gameplay-wise. Rejoice!
Best Answer
According to BioWare:
I believe this was intended for the PC version, but PS3/Xbox 360 DRM tends to be less strict than its PC counterparts, so I'd say it's unlikely that the PS3 will require a constant connection for single player.
When you start the game on consoles, you get the following message:
I was given the option to cancel, and even if I did, I could still play the single player campaign. Therefore, I don't believe that there's always-on DRM for consoles for this title.
However, the game seems to authenticate with EA servers every time you load - it appears as though DLC installed alongside the game may be checked at each load. Some users are reporting that they are locked out of their DLC if the game is unable to authenticate with EA servers. Bioware has not released anything official on this matter, and all I have are sporadic reports on forums that seem to be talking mainly about the PC.