Mass Effect 3 Demo Arriving Today

Xbox 360, PS3 and PC players will all get a chance to try out the Mass Effect 3 today. BioWare is releasing a demo that will provide both a single-player and multiplayer preview of the role-playing game.

The single-player part of the demo offers up two scenes from the campaign. The first, the game's opener, depicts the Reapers' invasion of Earth. The second segment of the demo is from later on in the game. Shepard and his team have traveled to an alien world in order to win their support in the war against the Reapers. BioWare estimates that this single-player preview will take about 1-2 hours to finish.

The demo's multiplayer portion is only accessible today if you own Battlefield 3 and its Online Pass. Otherwise, you'll need to wait until the 17th to play it. Either way, you'll get to try out two missions from the brand-new co-op mode. Xbox 360 owners without a Xbox Live Gold subscription will still be able to experience this demo online.

Many of the key features from the full game are on display here. Players will be able to create custom characters for the demo and select their abilities. All three difficulty levels - "Action," "Role-Playing," and "Story" - are available as well. Kinect users will be able to try out the new voice command feature as well.

The demo's co-op will be available until March 5th, the day before ME3's North American debut. You'll still be able to play the campaign preview after the game's launch.