When I first heard that Mass Effect 3 was going to have multiplayer, I shook my fist at EA like pretty much everyone else. What in the world did a Bioware title need with Multiplayer? What was the point of playing in the Mass Effect universe as anyone but Commander Shepard?

Then the Demo came out, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they had gone the Left 4 Dead route. Let's be honest... there are only so many ways to handle a multiplayer shooter, and if you are going to mimic anyone, the cooperative mold still had a chance to be fresh, instead of joining the vast legions of Deathmatch. My brother and I, both avid Mass Effect fans, tried the demo together, wondering why exactly Cerberus was trying to kill us, but having fun.

Still, it was limited. Limited maps, limited missions, limited gameplay. Each operative within classes felt more or less the same, and the Human Vanguards, with the right build, became absolutely broken. The equipment packs also gave me an uneasy feeling. I was still playing Magic: The Gathering at the time and I recognized the marketing strategy, and felt it was a brilliant, if evil, move on the part of EA.

Of course, then the game released, and my brother and I both left multiplayer well enough alone, save for the occasional match to boost galactic readiness for our endgames. Multiplayer was fine, but it felt like an intrusion, and we decided that if we were going to go around helping each other online, we preferred to do it against zombies, rather than Reapers.

Then a month or so ago my brother called me up. We have both greatly enjoyed the game despite being massively disappointed by its ending, and thought that the Mass Effect chapter of our gameplay lives had ended. It hadn't.

You see, EA had released a slew of free DLC that beefed Multiplayer. New characters who were more than alien skins with human abilities totally changed the gameplay experience, a slew of new maps, and even some different pay missions, made the whole experience much more sustainable, and suddenly we were spending an hour or two every day running missions, usually long enough to buy our next equipment pack.

You see, maybe its EA evil mixed with Bioware goodness, but I think the proper balance was hit. Yes, the equipment packs can be frustrating, but while you have the option to spend RL money, you never have to to proceed. Simply playing the game will earn you in game credits at a fair enough clip.

It's like the microtransactions have become a kind of douchebag tax for players who want to be "TOTALLY HAXXORED" without taking the time to play the game. In fact, when you run into a character who is totally beefed with equipment but little visible actual skill, my brother and I have started calling it a "Mommy's Credit Card" to ourselves and laughing. And so what if they are artifically beefed... they're on your side! So long as they don't totally take over (which is still only really possible through actual hacks, which get punished by X-Box live) you can still have fun, and reap the rewards of all the extra money they spent.

EA does a lot of things I don't like, and I really hope their new president takes the company in a different direction. But credit where credit is due... Mass Effect 3 is, without a doubt, my favorite multiplayer experience right now, due to good design, consistent support, and some pretty neat ideas. it has some predatory features, but they aren't needed, they are just there in case you have a gambling problem, but at least, unlike Wizards of the Coast, you can get their product just by playing their game!