Mass Effect 3 beta leak reveals campaign game modes

Mass Effect 3's three campaign modes were revealed over the weekend after an early version of the game was accidentally published to some Xbox 360 owners.

Microsoft published the Mass Effect 3 beta to those who were in the new Xbox Live dashboard preview. The beta was quickly removed, but not before gamers published spoiler-filled gameplay videos via NeoGAF.

Revealed are three ways to play Mass Effect 3's campaign: Action Mode, Story Mode and RPG Mode.

Action Mode, according to the beta, is "for those who want to emphasise action and combat and minimize story management. Action mode will set automatic replies in conversation and a normal difficulty".

Story Mode is "for those who want to emphasize story immersion and minimize combat pressure. Story mode will set manually-selectable replies in conversation and a minimal combat difficulty".

And RPG Mode is "for those who want to explore both realms of story and combat. RPG mode will set manually-selectable replies in conversation and a normal combat difficulty".

Responding to the leak, BioWare said the three game modes were still in development, and the beta was not representative of the quality of the finished product.

"As most of you know by now, this evening an accidental leak occurred of some early Mass Effect 3 beta code," wrote Jesse Houston on the BioWare forum.

"Microsoft has advised us that through human error at their end, content which was meant for internal beta testing was flagged incorrectly and released to individuals who had signed up for the beta of the Xbox Live dashboard update. It has since been taken down and deactivated.

"We'd like to stress that the leaked code is in a rough, unfinished state and was not meant for public release. The content is not final, and is not reflective of the quality of the finished, polished game due for release on March 6, 2012 (March 9 in Europe).

"One feature that was present in this early build is a set of game play modes that are in development. In the beta code they are referred to as 'action mode', 'story mode' and 'RPG mode'. We want to stress that these features are still in the early stages of development and will receive considerable iteration and refinement. These modes are designed to give players an even finer degree of control over their game experience than ever before.

"Whether it be someone who finds the combat difficult but wants to experience the amazing story, someone who wants to focus on the action and combat game play, or fans who want the rich, story-driven RPG Mass Effect experience they've come to love - Mass Effect 3 will support all of these options. We'll have more info in the days ahead!"