Mass Effect 3 (PS3) [Review]

Wow, this one is hard for me...previously I may of said some things about all the complaining about the game's controversial ending, figuring that, well, it can't be that bad, can it?  Well, now that I've played through the whole game I can tell you I was-- wait this probably needs some spoiler warning.

WARNING: This review is chock full of spoileriffic content! If you haven't finished the game yet and don't want to know about the ending, then don't read further! Really though, it doesn't matter. I would of preferred some spoilers, that way the game's ending wouldn't be the world's biggest surprise kick in the junk.  Let me try to help out you non-spoiler types: before you play the game, set your expectations for the ending really, really low.  Then set them even lower than that.  Now maybe you won't be as disappointed.


There, now what was I saying? Oh yeah, I was wrong. I completely understand why people are so upset, although the whole FTC thing was a little much, but this game ends in probably the lamest way imaginable.  But what kind of game review starts at the game's end?  Let's do this thing.





So, Mass Effect, the insanely in-depth space opera series that prides itself on it's storytelling and it's lore has reach it's penultimate conclusion, the third game in the trilogy.  The battle to save all organic life from the Reapers reaches it's highest point, as they begin their final assault on Earth and all the other major worlds within the Milky Way.  The game begins as Earth is being pounded by the Reaper forces and you (as Commander Shepard of course) and your old pal Captain Anderson have to make your escape (you to the Normandy and Anderson goes off to help Earth forces).  First thing you'll notice about the game is the graphics.  They are phenomenal.  Every area of this game looks meticulously designed and utterly fantastic.  The lighting is off the walls, the set design is crazy good, and even the character faces manage to just narrowly avoid the creepy horrors of uncanny valley.  It's just an awesome looking game, the designers seemingly spent a lot of time building this world and it's set pieces and it shows.  Character animation though can be a little janky and awkward, and Commander Shepard's hands look like they were crafted from 80 year old sausages, but more often than not the game's graphics really knock it out of the park.



Next thing you'll notice is you're a tad bit more mobile than you were in Mass Effect 2.  This game's got you hopping gaps (automatically, it's not a platformer by any means) and climbing ladders which is a nice touch and adds some variety to the areas you'll be trading gunfire in.  After you notice this minor change though, that's about it-- the rest of the game pretty much plays the exact same as Mass Effect 2 minus a couple of features.  The hacking and overriding minigames are gone!  Now I'll admit, they did get kind of old during ME2, but they injected a bit of variety into the proceedings and made it feel like you were doing something to get through locked doors or collect some extra credits.  Now you just pick up everything instantly or if at a door that needs overridden, just stand there while Shepard breaks it automatically.  It's not a gameplay feature anymore, it's just a cleverly hidden loading barrier.  Speaking of loading, this game does it a lot.  ME2 (and 1 for that matter) were no stranger to loading times and neither is this one to the point where it started effecting my in game decisions (perhaps massively effecting--get it?).  Say someone wants to talk to you in the engineering bay of the Normandy and you are in the war room (where the game dumps you after most missions) you'll have to go through a scanning procedure which is just a hidden loading sequence that takes just a smidge too long then go to the elevator to select Engineering which pops up a loading screen.  Then after you are done talking to Tali (or whoever) which could be a conversation that doesn't last more than a minute, you've got to sit through a loading screen again to get back to the CIC where you can select your next mission!  Keeping up with your squadmates on the Normandy is more waiting then it is playing, and this is where you are supposed form these complex relationships with these people that the game is known for!  I shouldn't have to go "Hmm, Garrus has something to tell me, but do I really want to sit through 3 loading screens just to talk to him?"  It's a seriously annoying flaw.  I don't know how they would get around this without sacrificing the depth and fullness of the Mass Effect world, but that doesn't mean it doesn't suck.



The play control is solid, the powers and weapon selection wheels from ME2 are back and still work excellent, the cover system works well and some RPG-y stuff was added back in that wasn't in ME2 (upgrading powers is a little deeper than it was). A strong melee attack was added to the basic melee (hold the button instead of just tapping) which is a pretty cool move that adds some choice to the way you melee.  Basically there's very little to fault in the gameplay department, and missions are mostly varied and entertaining, minus a couple that just seem like 30 second jaunts to go shoot some guys, or the mission where you enter the Geth consciousness (think Tron-like virtual world) that looks really super cool but in practice is super boring, as you spend the whole time shooting at immobile orange cubes.  Honestly though I wish there was more going on than go to point A, shoot people to get to point B.  There's not a lot in the way of branching paths (that aren't brought up through dialog choices, anyways), and sometimes I would like to do more than shoot some dudes.  A sneaking mission would have been cool, especially if you chose Infiltrator class (I did) and had a maxed out Tactical Cloak (I also did-- I love sneaking behind guys and melee attacking them!) or maybe some class specific missions-- which would really focus on the powers you have and add some replay value to the game.  Imagine being an Engineer and having to maintain a bunch of turrents against oncoming Husks or something!  It'd be pretty cool and make class choices mean something more than "this is the powers you get".



The game's story is strong in the beginning, but I got sort of bored with it partway through, and then of course the ending blows harder than a Category 5 hurricane.  You basically spend the whole game tying up the different races squabbles that have be around since the first game, so they'll join you on your mission to save the galaxy from the Reapers.  Now, I may just be too optimistic, but I'd like to think people would be a lot more likely to work together when it comes to the fate of the entire galaxy.  Regardless, you'll spend the game curing (or not curing) the Krogan genophage, ending the Geth and Quarian war (in one way or the other) and hunting down any alien species that will give you any shed of support in the final battle.  Then you get to that final battle, have a moment with all your space faring pals and buddies, then the proverbial crap hits the fan.  In the very ending you are given 3 choices (all of which kinda suck in one way or another)-- or less based on how well you did in-game, you a make your choice, and then sit there and watch what Bioware considers an ending-- which is more or less the same regardless of any choice you had made over the course of the entire trilogy.  The only difference in ending is the color of the resulting explosion (presumably each doing something different, but this isn't clearly explained) and who gets out of the Normandy after is crashes on a lush planet for reasons that are also not entirely clear.  For a game that advertises itself being all about choice and having your choices effect the game's world, having the endings shoehorned into 3 crappy choices seems like about the most boneheaded move imaginable.  Not only that, but I feel like it goes against the Commander Shepard character to bow to these 3 unfortunate endings.  Shepard was a guy (or gal) who always did what she (or he) thought was right, and if told that he(or she) could have it that way, made it happen one way or another.  The Shepard I grew to know over all 3 games wouldn't have immediately bowed to these 3 choices-- they would have fought for a better ending regardless of the cost.  It feels like once Shepard gets to these choices, she(or he) just gives up and goes with what is given, instead of fighting for something better.  It doesn't make any sense-- unless you go with the Indoctrination Theory...but that's a whole other story all together.



Really though, the ending was just so bad that it made me regret playing the entire game.  Do I want them to change it? No, I believe it's Bioware's artistic creation and that it's their right to end it how they choose, I just wish I didn't have to experience it.  I could of stopped at Mass Effect 2 and been just fine, had I known Bioware was going to shoehorn us into 3 crappy endings.  If you think about it, should you even have choices at the end?  Wouldn't it make more sense to take all of the choices you made over the course of 3 goddamn games and have those decide the fate of the galaxy?  Not according to Bioware.  I just honestly wish I had never even played the game, and it's so barely different than ME2 that the only reason to keep going is the story, and I'm telling you right now you aren't going to like how it turns out.  Is it a good game, gameplay wise? Yeah, it is, it's solid all around minus some outrageous loading and the occasional repetitiveness.  Do I recommend it?  No, especially if you played and enjoyed the other 2 games and don't want your thoughts of them tarnished by the huge shitty skid-mark down the underpants of the Mass Effect trilogy that the ending to Mass Effect 3 is.  Maybe if your expectations are low enough it will be palatable, but I doubt it.

This video is missing the part where it says, "but in the end, really none of this matters."

This unique case makes scoring the game kind of difficult-- I mean it is a game that works and is fun for the most part-- but it left such a bad taste in my mouth that I can't even rightfully recommend it.  Every low score seems too low and every high score seems too high... I guess I'll have to lay it down somewhere in the middle.

PXT Final Verdict: 6.5/10

P.S.-- I know the game has multiplayer, but of course couldn't play it because of the stupid online pass, so blame Sony, or tell EA or whoever to send us review copies. Honestly though, I can't see where multiplayer would really add to the ME experience. If multiplayer is your thing though, from what I've heard it's pretty good, so maybe add a .5 in there is you like multiplayer, I guess. I hate online passes.