New Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer DLC Introduces The Collectors, Tons of New Stuff

Attention N7 operatives!  If you've found yourself stepping away from the frontlines lately, growing weary by the combined assault of Reaper, Cerberus and Geth upon our strongholds both here on Earth and elsewhere in the galaxy, I have this to say to you: we need you back in the fight!  We've received intel that a new threat is inbound, one we were already familiar with.  The Collectors have returned.

And they're pissed.

Now, I don't want to alarm anyon-ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL

WE ARE HARBINGER, THE BASTION OF YOUR ASCENSION.  THIS CYCLE CONTINUES UNABATED AND YOUR EFFORTS TO STOP US ONLY DELAY YOUR INEVITABLE FATE.

YOUR DESTRUCTION OF THE COLLECTOR BASE ONLY SLOWED OUR ADVANCE BUT THAT WAS NOT OUR ONLY SET OF THE SPECIES KNOWN AS THE PROTHEIANS.  WE WILL UNLEASH THEM UPON YOUR WORLDS AND ONCE YOU HAVE SEEN THEIR RAW POWER AS THEY CLEANSE EACH BATTLEFIELD OF YOUR MIGHTIEST WARRIORS YOU WILL ACCEPT YOUR DESTINY.

YOUR DEFENSES WAIN.  AS WE CONTINUE THE HARVEST WE WILL TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR PRECIOUS FIREBASES AND INFUSE THEM WITH OUT ESSENCE.  PLACES YOU ONCE KNEW AS SAFE WILL KNOW THE BURN OF ACID, THE STING OF WINDSWEPT SAND, THE HEAT OF MOLTEN METAL AND THE DARKNESS OUR SWARMS WILL BRING.

THERE IS NO SAFE HAVEN.  ACCEPT YOUR END AND FACE YOUR DESTINED ANHILATION.

RELEASING CONTROL OF THIS FORM-e but, whoa, what a rush.  Where was I?

Oh yea.  Starting next Tuesday, October 9th, Bioware will be releasing a new expansion to Mass Effect 3's quite fun multiplayer component.  This new fourth faction, The Collectors, brings back many of the familiar, hideous beasts we fought against in Mass Effect 2, including the Collector Trooper, the Abomination, the Scion, the Collector Captain and, of course, the Praetorian.  Expect the Abomination to be a faster version of the Reaper Husk and, if we are shown mercy by a higher power, a less powerful version of the Scion.

These are not the only new enemies to worry about though: Bioware has seen fit to add new enemies to the Cerberus and Geth rosters, including the Dragoon and a new drone enemy respectively.  The Reaper forces don't seem to be receiving any additional units but, then again, with the indestructible beast that is the Banshee, I don't think they need any more help.

A new faction to fight against and reinforcements for existing enemies isn't enough for Bioware though, oh no.  The sadistic bastards have decided to introduce dynamic environments to six existing maps, ones that are designed to make combat even more hectic.  The maps in question, presumably the original ones that shipped on the disc with Mass Effect 3, include new hazards such as blizzard whiteouts, sandstorms, lightning storms, swarms of Collector insects and even meltdowns (presumably for Firebase Reactor).  Check out Firebase Glacier with a Collector swarm below.

Sounds imposing, right?  Well, Bioware isn't quite that evil and have announced some new items and characters to bolster the N7 ranks.  The Turians will finally receive some much needed love in the form of two new classes, the rocket-assisted Turian Havoc Soldier as well as the Turian Ghost Infiltrator.  With the arrival of the Collectors we also receive some of their armaments such as the Collector Assault Rifle, SMG and Sniper Rifle.  New equipment upgrades are also being introduced to the mix so look forward to unlocking those as well.

Check out the Turian Havoc Soldier below.

Badass, huh?

That's not all though.  With this update Bioware seems intent on introducing a multiplayer 2.0 and, beyond the core gameplay, the developer is introducing challenges and character titles.  Much like what was introduced in the Call of Duty series, players will unlock and complete challenges based on gameplay actions such as weapon usage.  Completing a challenge will net you challenge points which you can spend on character titles and banners to make your created Krogan Vanguard that much more awesome.  I've included screens of these new features below.

So yea, all of that is coming to your system of choice on Tuesday, October 9th.  The best part of it?  It's totally free.

Finally, here's the DLC's trailer.  It looks pretty damn cool.  Remember we have an N7 operation going on this weekend so be sure to rack up some much-needed credits to spend on the new content come Tuesday.  You can find out the details of Operation Overdrive here.