Mass Effect 3 launches Operation: Lodestone, their longest multiplayer event

I've been consistently impressed by both the quality and support given to Mass Effect 3's co-op multiplayer. What could have been a throwaway exercise in back-of-the-box feature ticking, instead proved to be an enjoyable Horde mode variant that's not only received plenty of free DLC updates, but also weekly events to give players some extra variety. This weekend's event is called Operation: Lodestone, and it started last night. That's a pretty loose definition of "weekend", by anyone's standards.

"We are coordinating the largest-scale attack in the brief history of this war," reads the event description . "N7 unit actions will pave the way for resistance and conventional forces trying to retake the population centers of our homeworlds. There is no retreat. When an objective is finished or a target destroyed, you will immediately focus on the next."

Despite the descriptions urgent tone, it's not the most inventive of event ideas. The first-tier bonus will be given out simply for participating at some point in the next five days. The real challenge is extracting against all four of the mode's enemy types, with a second tier award for Silver difficulty completion and a third for Platinum. Each completed tier awards a Commendation Pack, with second tier also providing a banner.

Operation: Lodestone ends March 10. Anyone planning to join the war effort?

Phil Savage
Editor-in-Chief

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.