Mention “Kinect integration” to a gamer for an upcoming AAA title and you’ll either get one of two things.  Either you’ll have someone who complains that the device will be used to perform poorly captured motions, possibly ruining the way the product is supposed to be played; or you’ll have someone who feels like it’s just a cheap tack-on to an otherwise overwhelming game experience.  Well, Bioware is brushing both of these possible complaints aside, as it showed us how it intends to use Kinect integration for its upcoming space epic, Mass Effect 3.  And it really is a beautiful thing.

Holding the event at a private suite off of the Consumer Electronics show floor in Las Vegas last week, this gave us the adequate space to test out the Kinect features that will be included in the Xbox 360 version of the game.  And before you panic, no, they aren’t cheap.  In fact, they don’t even involve body movement at all.  Bioware modified the game so that it recognizes vocal commands, both for actions to be performed by either male or female Shepard, as well as teammates who are along for the ride.

Let’s explain how it works.  Shepard’s commands are divided into three categories – combat commands, exploration commands and soldier class commands.  Combat is basically weapon selection, as you can yell out “Switch weapons” or even mention the weapon you want to switch to in the midst of combat.  Exploration commands consist of activating items in the environment, like doors and switches, as well as picking up items (“Pick up!”) and talking to interested parties.  Finally, soldier class activates your better modifiers, without the need of going into a sub-menu or hitting a soldier button.  So if you want to use cryo ammo, for instance, say, “Cryo ammo!” and it’ll activate, turning your enemies into frozen ice blocks.

As for your teammate commands, they work like this.  Let’s say that you’ve got James and Liara in your party, and you want them to move with you, or go to a certain point that Shepard is pointing at with his on-screen targeting.  Simply say, “James, move!” and he’ll acknowledge the command and move to the point.  Likewise, tell Liara, “Liara, follow me!” and she’ll respond and be right on your tail.  But this isn’t just limited to movements.  You can also use them in the heat of combat, saying something like, “James, Carnage!” to activate his quick explosive blast, or yelling, “Liara, statis!” to make your enemies float in the air (the ones targeted, anyway) and shooting them like a breeze.

It’s really cool, and we even tested a few things out to see how accurately the Kinect read our instructions.  We tried different accents and tones, including a really drunk Cockney (for some reason we’re quite good at it) and a Mickey Mouse voice, and, aside from maybe one command that was our fault to begin with, the Kinect read these voices extraordinarily well.  What’s more, the game supports multiple languages, so you don’t just have to follow the English default.  British and Australian English, Italian, German and French are also well supported.

The only downside to this vocal stuff is that it’s only available with single player, so you can’t use it for online co-op missions.  But Kinect integration with online stuff is iffy anyway, and would only get in the way.  It really isn’t the end of the world, unless you’re one of those guys that has to yell stuff at your friends.  (And, really, if you are, just shut up now.)

But don’t just take our word for it.  You can actually try these features out for yourself.  Bioware has confirmed that the same demo will be available for you to try out starting February 14 on Xbox Live Marketplace.  (Hopefully a list of the commands will also be available, probably on Bioware’s site or maybe even packaged with the game.)  Feel free to test the waters, and maybe even shoot for some Easter eggs by shouting out random stuff from Dragon Age.  And don’t worry, PlayStation Network subscribers, you’re getting a demo as well, but obviously without the fancy dialect support.  Blame your PlayStation Move for that.

Kudos to Bioware for giving us a chance to check out this new feature in Mass Effect 3.  While it’s hardly essential, it does make for an interesting new way to play, and is surprisingly more fun than we thought it would be.  Plus, you don’t have to wave your arms around like an idiot.  Big plus there.

Mass Effect 3 hits stores on March 6.  Consider us there day one.

About the Author

Robert Workman

Senior Writer/Editor

Robert has years of experience in the video game industry, writing for such sites as AOL GameDaily, PlanetXbox360 and Comic Book Resources.  He can also outdrink you any day of the week.  And twice on Sunday.  Follow him at www.twitter.com/thedcd.