Like many of you, I’ve been beyond eager to see the conclusion to Bioware’s sci-fi trilogy.   Fortunately for us, Bioware has released a rather lengthy demo to show off what they’ve been working on for the past couple of years.

Mass Effect 3’s demo picks shortly after Mass Effect 2’s Arrival DLC left off.  Commander Shepard has been stripped of his ranking after the events of Mass Effect 2, but naturally the Alliance comes crawling back to him when the Reapers finally launch an offensive on Earth.  Players take control of the good commander and begin to ready a counteroffensive.

The demo shows off two stages from the game.  Aside from the Reaper invasion mentioned above, players will also travel to the Solarian home-world, to escort a fertile female Krogan to safety.  The demo is playable with any of Mass Effect 3’s six classes, so older fans can see what new tricks they’ll have access to, and newer fans can find their favorite class.  Surprisingly, the demo allows you full access to Mass Effect 3’s character creator, so you can design a brand new male or female Shepard from scratch.

Mass Effect 3 will feature three different modes to choose from, all of which are available in the demo.  Role-playing mode will play out like past installations in the franchise.   Players will make dialogue choices for Shepard and will be able to customize weapons and skills for their whole party.  If you choose action mode, you’ll focus solely on combat.  Dialogue and upgrades will be handled automatically.  Roleplaying mode presents a less demanding challenge, allowing novice players to enjoy the story without struggling during combat sequences.

Players who own Battlefield 3 should have a code to access the game’s multiplayer mode right now.  Everyone else will have to wait until February 17th.  Last but not least, Mass Effect 3 fans should keep an eye on Sunday’s episode of The Walking Dead for a special CG trailer called Take Back The Earth.

I’ve played through the demo, and I’m more excited than ever to save the Earth.  If you’ve already given the game a shot, let us know what you thought of it!