Mass Effect 3 Datapad

Play Mass Effect 3 for any length of time and you?ll encounter dozens of ?datapads?in the game. These little tablet-like devices are used in the popular game?s universe for communicating information. So it makes sense that in devising tie-ins, Electronic Arts would look first toward the similar devices in our world. The result is Mass Effect 3 Datapad, an app that lets you extend your experience with the game onto mobile devices?and help you play the game better. The free app doesn?t do a lot, and much of what it does will be of limited use even to hard-core players. But it captures just enough of the game's fun and flavor to be worth a look.

iPad into Datapad
If you have an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch (sorry everyone else?it?s only available for Apple devices), getting started with Mass Effect 3 Datapad is as easy as downloading it from the App Store and linking it to your Origin account. Once you've done that, you have full access to all five options on the main menu, which is decorated with a full-size photo from a rotating roster of key locations within the Mass Effect galaxy (Thessia, Illium, Citadel, and so on), along with a clock (in a large, easy-to-read, ?futuristic? font), so you can tell at a glance exactly how long you?ve been playing. (No, this may not necessarily be a plus for everyone.)

Of most interest to completist players will be Galaxy at War. This lets you raise your Galactic Readiness Rating within the game, and therefore your Effective Military Strength?the number that determines how well you?ll fare against the Reapers in the final battle for Earth (and thus what ending you?ll achieve). You do this by sending fleets (you start with two) on missions within the five major sectors of the Milky Way. Each sector offers three possible locations, and a mission in each location will take a different amount of time to complete (with one, three, and five hours being typical launching pads per sector?they start taking longer as you go) and reward you with a Readiness Rating improvement based on the mission length. Upon completion, simply tap the fleet to send it back to ?base,? collect your improvement and some credits for your trouble, then you're free to deploy the fleet again to any location that?s free.

Galaxy at War
You can buy upgrades to streamline the process: one reduces the time fleets need to complete missions, one buys you up to three additional fleets, one adds layers of shielding to your ships (if a fleet is damaged during a mission, you must wait an hour before you can deploy it again), and one ups the amount of Readiness Rating you receive per mission. But that?s it. There are no tactics to hash out, no decision to make, no Paragon or Renegade dilemmas to ponder. You?ll spend all your time within Galaxy at War tapping and waiting (with a considerable emphasis on the latter)?and because readiness per sector degrades over time, you'll need to keep coming back if you want to keep your numbers high.

It may not be much, but it's more active participation than the rest of the app requires. The Codex option brings up an attractive illustrated encyclopedia of crucial game information, complete with voice narration of entries, very similar to the one that's in Mass Effect 3 itself. Media lets you watch three of the game's trailer videos and view nearly 30 photos of scenes and characters from the game. The Alliance News option does the least: It merely downloads and displays unthreaded entries from the game?s official Twitter feed (@masseffect)?but you can?t interact with anyone through it, you can just read the tweets (which, because most are replies to other users, are usually less that scintillating).

Mass Effect Mail
At least there?s some originality attached to the final option: Mail. As you progress through Mass Effect 3, you?ll receive ?messages? from characters in the game that refer to events you've experienced?one of your squadmates might send you a note commenting on some aspect of a mission, for example, or someone else aboard the Normandy might comment on a conversation you just had with him or her. None of this information has any impact on the game, but it deepens your feeling of character and can occasionally be good for a chuckle. (I particularly enjoyed reading James complain about the sting of the ink from a tattoo I watched him get on Citadel.)

That?s about the extent of Mass Effect 3 Datapad. It?s solidly implemented, and like Mass Effect 3 itself, looks terrific, even if it just doesn?t give you very many things to actually do. If you want more action from your app, but still want to boost your Galactic Readiness Rating, Mass Effect Infiltrator is a full-out game that will give it to you?but it costs $6.99. You can improve your Galaxy at War standing by playing Mass Effect 3?s in-game multiplier mode, too, but that?s a commitment of time (and probably annoyance) that won?t suit everyone. Provided you?ve turned over money to Apple for a compatible device, Mass Effect 3 Datapad is the cheapest and easiest way to speed up your game.

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