WHAT I SAW:

Mass Effect 3, from BioWare (developer) and EA (publisher)

WHAT I EXPECTED:

Given how much we loved the first two Mass Effect games (which received OXM scores of 10 and 9.5, respectively), we had enormous expectations for the trilogy's final action-RPG. And we already knew its premise from earlier preview coverage: after the Reapers launch a brutal attack on Earth, Shepard must assemble an intergalactic force to help us repel the invaders. We were pretty curious about the Kinect support revealed at Microsoft's press conference earlier this week, though. It'll take two forms, the conference suggested: (1) Melee attacks using Shepard's lethal new omni-blade, and (2) Voice recognition, which will detect when you read aloud your dialogue options, plus let you give your squadmates verbal commands (e.g., "Garrus, move up").

WHAT THEY SHOWED:

As it turned out, Mass Effect 3's Kinect support wasn't displayed at all in the game's behind-closed-doors E3 demo. But some things the demo did show were pretty intriguing:

• Story beats that seem every bit as fascinating as those in the last two games. In a portion of the demo set on an alien world, Shepard and company were protecting a fertile Krogan female — the potential savior of her race — from an assault by the Reapers. Another part of the demo, set on Earth (attacked by Reapers during your trial for having let thousands of batarians die back in the Mass Effect 2: The Arrival DLC), had you fighting alongside Admiral Anderson. It also offered an emotional glimpse of a young survivor you spot hiding in a vent; as the Normandy lifts off at demo's end, you see the rescue ship holding the boy being brutally destroyed by a massive walker.

• New enemies, including towering, crablike Geth robots (which Shepard attacked with a turret in one sequence), Guardians (shield-carrying troops), Cannibals (gruesome-looking enemies with bubbly sacks), and Atlas mechs (take out the pilot, and you can hop in and man it yourself, we're told).

• New game mechanics. One of these was the aforementioned omni-blade, which we got to try for ourselves in a short hands-on session played using a controller (not Kinect). Run up to an enemy and hold down B, and you'll plunge the omni-blade into his chest in a mighty blow that's usually fatal. (If an enemy's standing near cover, you can also duck behind that cover and hold B, whereupon you'll reach up, pull your foe to the ground, and drive the blade into him while he's laying flat.) The A button now does double-duty, letting you both sprint (if you hold it down) and do dodge-rolls (if you press it quickly); and Shepard will automatically jump over some gaps in the ground if you run over them.

• Other odds and ends. A quick look at the squad-inventory screens showed how each character's powers will be much more specialized, and new weapons terminals will let you upgrade several stats for each weapon (including stability and magazine size). Meanwhile, a sample planet-scan screen showed how you may see several selectable missions offered on a given world this time around.

WHAT I THOUGHT:

All told, we were pretty dang impressed with what we saw of the new Mass Effect. The plot tidbits seem compelling, the combat felt sweet in our brief hands-on, and it was great to see characters like Morden, Legion, Garrus, and Liara again. Right now, our biggest questions are about Kinect functionality (will it really enhance the experience?) and the overall game balance (if it's even more combat-focused than Mass Effect 2, will it lose too much RPG feeling)? These are definitely more "questions" than "concerns," but we are pretty curious to discover the answers.

We'll have lots more details in an upcoming issue, but hopefully these quick tidbits will get you primed for the game, which releases March 6, 2012. It's gonna be a longgggg wait.