Thinking is mandatory in Mass Effect 3's Hardcore and Insanity

No more running, gunning and relying on your squad mates to pick the right powers in Mass Effect 3.

"We really thought about it hard. On Normal you'll be able to power your way through the game or shoot your way through the game, but when you try Hardcore or Insanity, you're not going to be able to do that any more," lead designer Preston Watamaniuk told OXM

It's not just a matter of getting the reticule on the target - BioWare wants you to think.

"You really will have to think about each combat, who the enemies are, what kind of resistance you're presented with, and then strategise to take them down. I'm hoping that it'll feel like you made a mistake, and the game called you on it, rather than 'I thought I was playing well, and then I died,'" the designer explained.

"We've tried to make it so that it just feels like if you're working the problem, using all your squad, all your powers, picking the right guns, you're going to get through that combat. It's not going to be 'I sat in cover and popped out five or six times to use powers and stuff."

Players have much more to manage this time around - but the trade off is more capability for carnage.

"There's all the cover mobility, there's increased mobility in and out of cover, like being able to Storm out of cover, roll into cover, roll out of cover, a lot more agility around that. We have more involved powers, power combos, mods and the mods interact with the powers. Being able to take a Claymore shotgun and put a shredder mod that allows you to penetrate through enemies, and then you put Cryo ammo on top of that, and all of a sudden you can pull the trigger once and blow four husks away," Watamaniuk enthused.

When OXM observed that Mass Effect 3's general combat requires more use of powers, Watamaniuk grew ominous.

"You'll notice that if you play on Insanity, that sort of general rule of thumb is even harsher. You'd better be doing everything well, or you'll die," he said.

As for why Bioware chose to go down the hardcore route, Watamaniuk was partially inspired by another, unnamed developer.

"I had a lead designer for another game write to say 'make Insanity harder!' And I was like 'OK!' This was a really well-known and respected guy, so I was like 'OK, I'll do my best.'"

Mass Effect 3 launches on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in March.

Thanks, That VideoGame Blog.