If your into Mass Effect multiplayer then good news for you. The Rebellion Pack will be coming out on May 29th (30th in Europe) and will be free.

Included features are...

• Firebase Jade Map (Salarian STG base)
• Firebase Goddess Map (Thessia)
• ex-Cerberus Adept
• ex-Cerberus Vanguard
• Vorcha Soldier
• Vorcha Sentinel
• Male Quarian Engineer
• Male Quarian Infiltrator
• New In-Mission Objective; You have to retrieve a package and escort it to a extraction zone
• New gear slot; " A new slot will be available on the equipment screen, offering players a persistent gameplay bonus that will not expire after the end of a match. These new items will vary from weapon upgrades to character enhancements and will be available through reinforcement packs."
• New Weapons; Cerberus Harrier, Krysae Sniper Rifle, and Reegar Carbine.

2 maps, 6 characters, a new objective, more gear and weapons all sound like a pretty good deal for free. This seems like a nice treat for those that are into Mass Effect multiplayer.

Again I must say Bioware is doing a pretty good support of the multiplayer with the weekend challenges and these free DLC (someone would agrue that is damage control but they're doing that with the Extended cut) , the multiplayer however is really fun and it's nice to see that it wasn't just an afterthought for them.

Oh wow. Somehow I manage to miss every piece of information aside from the classes. That sounds freakin' beautiful. I quit playing a long time ago, after I realized the game would never get anything like, well, this.
 
Great job. Can't wait to try out that slick Cerberus dropout.

Pretty cool that they're continuing to support the multiplayer with free DLC that actually makes the online pass worth it and all the weekend challenges and all that.

Love it, can't wait.

@JeanLuc said:

• New gear slot; " A new slot will be available on the equipment screen, offering players a persistent gameplay bonus that will not expire after the end of a match. These new items will vary from weapon upgrades to character enhancements and will be available through reinforcement packs."

ooooOOOOOooooohhhh I'm intrigued...

Also, new maps sound good, and it's ABOUT DAMNED TIME we got a new mission objective. They need to add new mission objectives every two weeks, really keep the game fresh.

Awesome! But... why offer it after the long US Memorial Day weekend?

ex-Cerberus's powers and Guns are the ones you had in Infiltrator. Leash, Smash, Fully-Auto Mattock and even the look of the armor.

@AngelN7 said:

Again I must say Bioware is doing a pretty good support of the multiplayer with the weekend challenges and these free DLC (someone would agrue that is damage control but they're doing that with the Extended cut) , the multiplayer however is really fun and it's nice to see that it wasn't just an afterthought for them.

Indeed.

Nice!

Might give it another spin. Then again... unlock scheme anger foaming up already.

I don't think I even got the first batch of free multiplayer DLC. It will do me no good now, my Gold has run out, but it's nice to see that it's getting some support.

Also, if Bioware and EA managed to twist Microsoft's arm enough to let them release free DLC, then why can't Valve get the same thing done for Team Fortress 2? Probably too late by now, but it would still be cool if they did that.

Awesome. Can't stop playing that mp anyway.

Stopped playing the multiplayer around the time that the first expansion was released, but it's nice to see they're supporting it. Still have to wonder if it's free because of the ending fiasco.

If only there wasn't Diablo 3.

Wow, I hadn't heard about the new equipment slot and new objective, that's great. I'd been really hoping for new objectives for a while now but never actually expected any.

@believer258 said:

I don't think I even got the first batch of free multiplayer DLC. It will do me no good now, my Gold has run out, but it's nice to see that it's getting some support.

Also, if Bioware and EA managed to twist Microsoft's arm enough to let them release free DLC, then why can't Valve get the same thing done for Team Fortress 2? Probably too late by now, but it would still be cool if they did that.

Valve publishes 1 game a year, on average, and at that time, had put out one game on 360. Now they have 4 games on 360. They can do whatever the hell they want on Steam, because they own it. But no matter how well those games sell, when you only put out 4, that doesn't give you a lot of pull. MS wants it's DLC money.

EA has published, by comparison, 127 games on 360, according to a quick Wikipedia search. They have a bit more pull with Microsoft. Also, Mass Effect 3 has a money making system with the Spectre packs, so that makes up for not making money off of the DLC.

what was the first free DLC? Also is that director's cut out yet or what?

@Vinny_Says said:

what was the first free DLC? Also is that director's cut out yet or what?

The first DLC was extra multiplayer characters, maps, items.

The director's cut is being released this summer, so no, it isn't out yet.

I'm in, Bioware. Sure, the ending isn't good. But this sure is. 

This stuff looks good. Might be time to jump back into this.

Stopped playing the multiplayer around the time that the first expansion was released, but it's nice to see they're supporting it. Still have to wonder if it's free because of the ending fiasco.

So the Phoenix classes mentioned in "leaked" details earlier must be the ex-Cerberus guys.

I'm a little disappointed it's just more humans, but it is still more classes.

EDIT: The persistent equipment slot sounds really interesting too, I think I have to get back into the multiplayer.

If only there wasn't Diablo 3.

I was looking for an excuse to go back to mop up achievements/Insanity...this seems as good a reason as any

I CAN'T WAIT!!!! also new objective is well welcomed in my opinion.

@Village_Guy said:

So the Phoenix classes mentioned in "leaked" details earlier must be the ex-Cerberus guys.

I'm a little disappointed it's just more humans, but it is still more classes.

EDIT: The persistent equipment slot sounds really interesting too, I think I have to get back into the multiplayer.

I said that is better than being Protheans for no reason specially when Javik is supposed to be the last Prothean.

@bonorbitz said:

Awesome! But... why offer it after the long US Memorial Day weekend?

Because they're Canadian?

@Brodehouse said:

@ReyGitano

Stopped playing the multiplayer around the time that the first expansion was released, but it's nice to see they're supporting it. Still have to wonder if it's free because of the ending fiasco.

It's free because they have F2P mechanics set up as part of the progression. They make as much from people buying the spectre packs as they would people buying premium DLC, so the incentive is to keep people playing than just trying to sell a new map pack.

Is that why they forgot to remove the price from the Xbox dashboard when the first expansion initially went up? Seems to me what Jeff was predicting was right, and it wasn't always meant to be free.

I hope the Reegar Carbine is as badass as the Quarian they named it after.

@ReyGitano said:

@Brodehouse said:

@ReyGitano

Stopped playing the multiplayer around the time that the first expansion was released, but it's nice to see they're supporting it. Still have to wonder if it's free because of the ending fiasco.

It's free because they have F2P mechanics set up as part of the progression. They make as much from people buying the spectre packs as they would people buying premium DLC, so the incentive is to keep people playing than just trying to sell a new map pack.

Is that why they forgot to remove the price from the Xbox dashboard when the first expansion initially went up? Seems to me what Jeff was predicting was right, and it wasn't always meant to be free.

They didn't forget to remove the price. Microsoft put the Resurgence Pack, which was a pack you could buy in game that contained Resurgence items, in the XLBA store when it was only supposed to be sold in game.

Yeah Im looking foward for this .... ^^

@WarlordPayne: Really?

http://kotaku.com/5900861/free-mass-effect-3-dlc-accidentally-goes-on-sale-for-4

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/psa-mass-effect-3-resurgence-pack-dlc-now-available/

The articles posted on websites made it sound like the actual DLC which was suppose to be free went up on the dash for a price.

Yeah, that's what they made it sound like but they were wrong. What went up for sale for 320 was a "Resurgence Pack" (which Joystiq quotes) but the actual expansion is called "Resurgence Multiplayer Expansion" (which is shown in the picture on Kotaku). Bioware even refers to it as a consumable in the Kotaku article.

It was just another XBLA store screw up that got blown out of proportion.

That doesn't mean that Bioware hadn't originally intended to charge for it, it just isn't proof that they had.

Huh, may jump back in to this, its been the multiplayer game with the most traction with me this year. It seems that this year has been slim on multiplayer games, what I wouldn't give for another Killzone 3 esque game to really grab me.

@AmatureIdiot said:

Huh, may jump back in to this, its been the multiplayer game with the most traction with me this year. It seems that this year has been slim on multiplayer games, what I wouldn't give for another Killzone 3 esque game to really grab me.

This is really one of the reasons the game is doing so well. If it came out right after Call of Duty or (especially) Gears, it wouldn't have done nearly as well. Also, it being Mass Effect doesn't hurt.

@ReyGitano said:

@WarlordPayne: Really?

http://kotaku.com/5900861/free-mass-effect-3-dlc-accidentally-goes-on-sale-for-4

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/psa-mass-effect-3-resurgence-pack-dlc-now-available/

The articles posted on websites made it sound like the actual DLC which was suppose to be free went up on the dash for a price.

What when up on the dashboard for 320 was the pack, you know like a Spectre pack or PSP, not the expansion itself. The were going to release a pack that guaranteed you'd get one of the weapons or races.

I just wish it had text chat, like one would expect from an online MP game made in the last 20 years.

vorcha? with flamethrower? damn I'm in >:D

@sate2801 said:

vorcha? with flamethrower? damn I'm in >:D

Just got mine from the Mastiff reward. Quite a fruitful batch for me actually. In my Victory pack, I got a bunch of stuff I've been wanting: In the Victory pack, The vorcha sentinel, my N7 Crusader (FUCKING FINALLY), and the Eviscerator. In my Commendation pack, an N7 Eagle II. In the pack I was able to afford after trying out the new stuff, an N7 Black Widow and a Geth Rifle.

Vorchas are weird, man. They randomly spasm which completely throws me off. The bloodrage effect is cool, but it looks like you're constantly in the line of sight of a Nemesis sniper rifle. (Haven't gone up against Cerberus with my Vorcha yet, but I can see that being a problem.) The Flamethrower has a problem where it is pretty much only effective up to Silver, and is probably completely useless at Gold. It pretty much requires you to stand right on top of an enemy completely exposed for 4-5 seconds. The right way to do it is in tiny bursts, and then it refills almost instantly too. Still, you're far too frail to be able to do that effectively, although if you can get away, you heal to full strength.

They're not bad, though. Not bad. Dual racial passives for lightening Shotties and Rifles at once makes the top Vorcha skill absolutely worth it if you want to be loaded for bear. Ignoring Flamethrower almost completely though, you may as well just load up on the biggest shit you have because Bloodrage is to useful to ever turn off, grenades have no cooldown, and flamethrower is highly situational.