Mass Effect 3 pre-order bonuses include bonus armour, rifles, shotguns

Mass Effect 3 is out in a couple of months, which makes it high time for retailers to start weaving a confusing web of pre-order deals to ensnare early buyers. The trailer above shows off some of the bonus bits you'll get for pre-ordering from Gamestop and Origin. The N7 armour and N7 Valkyrie Rifle will come with Gamestop pre-orders, the AT12 Raider Shotgun will be an Origin exclusive, and the M55 Argus Assault Rifle will be available to everyone who pre-orders from either retailer. Find out more from the Mass Effect 3 Pre-orders Q&A page and get a closer look at the items in the shot below.

Pre-order bonuses have felt especially clunky in Bioware games over the last year or so. The extra equipment tends to get dumped in your inventory at the start of the game, which always made me feel like I'd gained an advantage I hadn't earned. Also, in the case of the Blood Dragon armour , it looked hideous. And then there's the cross promotional stuff. Remember the Dead Space Dragon Age 2 armour ?

Still, a few extra guns is standard fare these days, and things haven't become anywhere near as confusing as Deus Ex: Human Revolution's mad pre-order situation . Yet.

Tom Senior

Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.