By "optional" I mean "you can complete the game without hiring". In mass effect 2 you could finish the game without hiring Kasumi Goto (a DLC character), though all others were mandatory. What about Mass Effect 3? Is it possible to finish the game without hiring one of the characters? (I'm gues...

Across the top of my copy of Mass Effect 3 is a purple "Works better with Kinect" banner. This seems relatively out of place in a 3rd person shooter. However, I do own a Kinect sensor, and I'm tempted to hook it up. What can I do with Kinect that I couldn't do otherwise?

Do any classes benefit from a Paragon or Renegade reputation gameplay-wise? Reputation used to affect the Intimidation/Charm skills in previous games, so I'm wondering if there's any class-related skills/ect that are affected by reputation in this way.

Powers like warp ammo and cryo ammo allow you to affect the entire squad with 50% effectiveness if you take the right upgrade path. If two squad members use such powers, will the effects stack? Does it make a difference if the powers are different or the same?

Obviously you're not playing as Shephard in ME3's multi-player but as one of many other soldiers in the war. Does this mean that multiplayer levelling and progress isn't linked to any specific Shephard's carreer but will count for any Shephard on that machine? Further, as we have to link our cop...

I'm an Infiltrator and I notice I have skills to both Burn and Freeze targets; Incinerate and Cryo Ammo. What happens if I Incinerate a Frozen target or hit a Burned target with Cryo Ammo? Will the effects stack or will one of the effects be canceled out?

I know that the concept of Bonus Powers earned from loyal squadmates to enhance Shepards abilities has been retained. But what I can't find any information on is what specific powers are availiable. I'm trying to plan out my build for my Vanguard at the moment, and I'd really like to know if cer...

I'm near the beginning of Mass Effect 3, and I noticed a Sniper Rifle Extended Barrel just outside of this barrier inside of the I can walk very close to it, but the "pick up" action never becomes active. How do I grab it?

At the end of the mission on Mars, a Cerberus agent is running away with the data about the Prothean device. I was unable to catch her. Is it possible to catch up with her before she reaches her shuttle and does it matter if I do?

Just curious. I never finished insanity on any of the previous games. Does a new difficulty level unlock when you complete insanity?

I chose the infiltrator class and have maxed out the cloaking ability. Overall the class and their cloak ability still seems disappointing when compared to some of the other class abilities. So far I have been using cloak to get easy headshots with the sniper rife at medium range or to sneak up ...

I am trying to finish the trial at the Colosseum, where you have to break barrels within a time limit. I managed to squeak through the first round, but the second one is giving me a lot of trouble. Is there a pattern I should follow, or an order to break them in, or anything else in particul...

This is something that drives me crazy on the best of days, but working on the barrel breaking bit is really making it an issue. Is there a button I can press that automatically centers the camera behind Sora? Is there somewhere I need to enable an option or something? Because this is getting ri...

I am twiddling my thumbs waiting for the 10 gig download to complete and I noticed a post that said playing the Mass Effect 3 demo would give me some DLC in Kingdoms of Amalur. I've already got the ME3 gear for playing the KOA demo, is it worthwhile to grab the Mass Effect 3 demo to get that gea...

I was doing the Hanar diplomat quest when somehow I got the first terminal then activated the specter thing now I can't get any of the other terminals

I'm playing the PS3 version of Mass Effect 3 and for the life of me I can't find out whether my Tactical Cloak is ready or not without opening the Skill menu (hold R2) or just using the Cloak and seeing if it works. Is there a way to tell when my hotkey ability cooldowns have ended without openi...

In New Game Plus I finally beat Mr. Freeze, but this time I noticed that there were various statues of Nora around that I could destroy with a baterang or by dodging when he shot at me with one behind me. I tried destroying all that I could find, but it didn't seem to do anything. Is there a poin...