Mass Effect 3 System Requirements Revealed, Demo Launching On Valentine's Day

Next month BioWare will deliver a demo for Mass Effect 3. Players will have a couple weeks to tool around with the game's single-player and multiplayer modes before the full version launches.

"We are excited to be able to give gamers an expansive demo that will put them right on the front lines of this all-out galactic war," said Mass Effect executive producer Casey Hudson. "The entire scale of the game is bigger than anything we’ve ever done. With its intense action, deep customization and raw emotional power, Mass Effect 3 will deliver a spectacular action RPG experience to fans of the series and newcomers alike."

A FAQ on the BioWare Social Network explains that the demo has two sections. The single-player portion, available on February 14th, will let you experience two levels from the campaign. The first is the game's opening, in which the Reapers attack Earth. The second is a later level where Shepard heads to an alien homeworld to gain their support for the war against these invaders. These two levels will give you a combined one or two hours of gameplay.

The second portion of the demo offers two maps from the co-op multiplayer side of the game. This side of the demo won't be unlocked until February 17th. The only way to play it on the 14th is to own Battlefield 3 and activate an Online Pass. A separate early access program will be announced on February 7th.

In the demo, you'll be able to create a custom male or female Shepard and use any of the six character classes. The character you create won't carry over to the full version, though. In other words, don't spend too much time adjusting Shepard's cheekbones.

A couple other important features are included as well. You can play the demo with any of the three difficulty settings from the full game: “Action, “Role-Playing”, and “Story." Xbox 360 owners will get the opportunity to preview the Kinect voice command support.

The demo will be available on the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. The same FAQ mentions system requirements for the PC version:

Minimum Requirements

• OS - Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1, Win 7
• CPU - 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (equivalent AMD CPU)
• RAM - 1GB for XP / 2GB RAM for Vista/Win 7
• Disc Drive - 1x speed
• Hard Drive - 15 GB of free space
• Video - 256 MB* (with Pixel Shader 3.0 support)
• Sound - DirectX 9.0c compatible
• DirectX - DirectX 9.0c August 2009 (included)
• Supported chipsets - NVIDIA 7900 or better; ATI X1800 or better. Please note that NVIDIA GeForce 9300, 8500, 8400, and 8300 are below minimum system requirements, as are AMD/ATI Radeon HD3200, HD3300, and HD4350. Updates to your video and sound card drivers may be required.

Recommended Requirements

• OS - Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1, Win 7
• CPU - 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (equivalent AMD CPU)
• RAM - 2GB for XP / 4GB RAM for Vista/Win 7
• Disc Drive - 1x speed
• Hard Drive - 15 GB of free space
• Video - AMD/ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 MB or greater, NVidia GeForce 9800 GT 512 MB or greater
• Sound - DirectX 9.0c compatible

The co-op portion of the demo will be deactivated on March 5th. The single-player sample will be available for months after the game launches, though.