Mass Effect 3, big time Beta leak.

Due to what I can only assume was a ridiculously massive lack of foresight by BioWare and/or Microsoft, those who were participating in the testing for the Xbox360's new dashboard got a first look at the ME3 Beta. Commence internet leak.


The leak is posted here on NeoGAF, and consists of screenshots and some videos that were immediately taken off youtube.


BioWare made an announcement concerning the leak, making sure fans are very aware that the features and mechanics in the leak are way early in development. What you see in these screenshots is just a taste of the game we will see in March.
Here is what Jesse Houston (ME3 producer) had to say...


"Hello everyone!


As most of you know by now, this evening an accidental leak occurred of some early Mass Effect 3 beta code.  Microsoft has advised us that through human error at their end, content which was meant for internal beta testing was flagged incorrectly and released to individuals who had signed up for the beta of the Xbox Live dashboard update.  It has since been taken down and deactivated.


We’d like to stress that the leaked code is in a rough, unfinished state and was not meant for public release. The content is not final, and is not reflective of the quality of the finished, polished game due for release on March 6, 2012 (March 9 in Europe).


One feature that was present in this early build is a set of game play modes that are in development. In the beta code they are referred to as “action mode”, “story mode” and “RPG mode”. We want to stress that these features are still in the early stages of development and will receive considerable iteration and refinement. These modes are designed to give players an even finer degree of control over their game experience than ever before.  Whether it be someone who finds the combat difficult but wants to experience the amazing story, someone who wants to focus on the action and combat game play, or fans who want the rich, story-driven RPG Mass Effect experience they’ve come to love – Mass Effect 3 will support all of these options.  We’ll have more info in the days ahead!"

As far as I can tell from some minor research, the game modes Houston mentioned will fairly drastically effect your ME3 experience. The "Action Mode" sets up a more combat driven game style, with the dialogue options already chosen, and spoken automatically. The "Story Mode" is seemingly the opposite, giving less combat, and more dialog. "RPG Mode" will be the gaming experience we are all familiar with, I assume.