90% awesome ass-kicking closure - 10% homicidal rage and suicidal depression

User Rating: 9 | Mass Effect 3 PC

I realize I am way behind on this review but I have been away from it for a while and just randomly decided to put some thoughts about this series and this game on paper (so to speak). Maybe this will serve as the cathartic bandage that finally lets me think about this game without getting that sinking feeling in my stomach. Probably not ...

That being said, I really, really enjoyed a vast majority of this game. The returning characters, the new introductions (for the most part), the set locations, the game play, the sound (from the terrifying Reaper horns to the sensational thematic orchestration), the evolution of the threat, almost everything was spectacular. I could not put this game down. Coming back to the ME universe for the culmination of a decade of play was paying off in ways I couldn't even have imagined. I was playing for hours past when I should have been sleeping. I couldn't wait for the next event, chance meeting or fight. It was all just so well sown together. How anyone who was a fan of the series didn't die a small death inside and shed a tear or two when party members died (two with such incredible selfless heroism) would be beyond me. I would say part, most of you would have to be made of stone to have felt nothing. Those moments, while heart wrenching, were some of the best I have ever experienced in a game. I eventually forgave Bioware for the monumental screw-ups I am about to get to, but I may never forgive them for the death of my favorite Gilbert and Sullivan performer.

So about that remaining 10% ...

Well the gigantic ear-piercing, eye burning, neon pink elephant in the room has to be mentioned. The ending. No more can really be said that hasn't already been said. I will, for the most part, let this dead horse lie. I was as insulted, let-down, disappointed and angry as any other fan was. The "updated" ending Bioware eventually released assuaged some of my feelings but nothing will ever remove that bad taste from my mouth completely. It was an ending was completely devoid of any meaning and substance. And for a series built upon years of meaning and substance, one full of heart and emotion, it was ... tragically empty.

Moving on ... Kai Leng. Total waste of time and (digital) space. I remember one instance specifically from the story where Kai Leng sends a personal message to Shepard taunting Shepard after beating him in a fight. A fight Shepard would never had lost if not for a ridiculous plot contrivance and the need to move the story along. I had this image in my head of Kai Leng lying on his stomach in his bed with frilly sheets, his feet kicking back and forth in the air behind him like a giddy teenage girl as he penned his message. He served no purpose to the story. He provided no sense of danger compared to the Reaper invasion (he got his ass handed to him by a Drell on his death bed) and he simply should never been included in the first place.

I was unhappy with the fact that multiplayer involvement impacted the ending of the single player game. I realize that impact was small and, in the end, was totally inconsequential. However it sets a bad precedent that could cause even larger impacts in subsequent games. I don't do much MP gaming anymore. I just can't be bothered. The idea that I may have to at some point in order to get the "best ending" in the single player game is unnerving.

I was surprised at how much impact some choices made in previous games had on the events in ME3 (e.g. destroying or saving Weylon's genophage research has dramatic impacts in ME3) while other choices that were just as important had little to no impact on the events in ME3 (e.g. destroying or saving the Collector base for research barely even surfaced in ME3).

There were one or two other small irritants (the way quests were acquired) and strange character behaviors (Ashely turning into a drunk was weird and out of character to me) but for the most part the three problems above were my biggest gripes.

Should you play ME3? If you are even the least bit invested in the series, absolutely. Just know what to expect from the end. And then once you experience it for yourself, do yourself a a favor, let it go and hold tight to the many extraordinary characters and fun times you had while guiding Shepard and his crew against the Reaper threat.