Mass Effect 3: Massive indeed, but is it effective?
Since the release of the original Mass Effect in 2007 I have been thoroughly engrossed in this series, enjoying the dramatic, sometimes emotional, highs and lows of my journey in the boots of Commander Shepherd. Five years later, after bringing down a rogue spectre agent and then saving the galaxy from the abduction-heavy habits of The Collectors, my story comes to an end. I start the game up with a mixture of excitement, anticipation and a little bit of sorrow that one of my favourite gaming trilogies of recent years is coming to an end.
The story to Mass Effect 3 begins with Commander Shepherd on Earth, having been removed from active duty. It's a little strange that you are given no idea why or how this has happened, but the game assumes I paid for and played the 'Arrival' DLC for Mass Effect 2 as this apparently is the event which caused my current situation. O.K. then.
From the start things look dire for Shepherd in Mass Effect 3, the Reapers are attacking earth and the alliance is struggling to fight back. It doesn't take long to end up back on the Normandy and navigating the stars again however, as Shepherd's mission is to gather the other galactic species together as allies to combat the Reaper threat, and then return to earth to give them a good kicking. The setup to the game is quickly in place and then it's all down to Shepherd to sort it out. The navigation is pretty much the same as it was in Mass Effect 2, except certain areas are under Reaper control. These areas of space can still be accessed, but whilst scanning planets and wrecks of space ships along the way you will build a meter at the bottom of the screen, each scan increases the chances that the nearby Reapers will become alerted to the Normandy's presence. If this happens several Reapers will enter the screen and attempt to close in on the Normandy to destroy it. You can get to safety however by either leaving the system or getting to a mass relay before they catch you, but the Reapers will remain active in that system for a while, waiting for you to return. Many familiar characters make a return to the series, and interestingly enough not all of them are as party members. This allows you to catch up with, and continue their personal agendas and shows well that they're not all necessarily directly tied with Shepherd's personal aims, but are all in the interest of destroying the Reapers, and a few old faces will join your party permanently. Decisions from the first two games are implemented well overall, but some of them can be a copout. If a specific character that is part of a mission has been killed in a previous Mass Effect title, then they are simply replaced by a generic npc of roughly the same character.
Combat in the game is the traditional Mass Effect mixture of gun-play and biotic powers, which are just as satisfying to combine as they have always been. Enemies are varied and require you to use different tactics and weaponry to combat them, which means you can't just find a comfort-zone approach to combat and have it consistently work. Weapons can also be modified once more, thanks to the inclusion of a weapons bench on the Normandy where you can tweak with your arsenal, adding various parts and upgrades to increase a particular weapon's ability to bring the hurt. The other main addition to combat is the ability to use your omni-tool to perform melee attacks. These can certainly help, but the 'heavy' attack which is performed by holding the melee button then releasing it is a bit hit-and-miss.
Mass Effect 3 is also the first game in the series to include multi-player, which at first I was a little sceptical about but in execution it is strangely satisfying and a little addictive. You and up to three friends take on ten waves of enemies while completing a series of objectives. Maps vary and so do enemies. You can choose between Geth, Reaper and Cerberus forces to combat as well as choosing a level of challenge and a map, but the best experience modifiers for your character come from setting these to random. Once a character you have created reaches the maximum level of twenty you can 'promote' him/her. This places the character into you single player game as a war asset against the reapers. It's a unique mechanic that makes you want to level and play different characters to add them to your battle against the Reapers.
Overall, Mass Effect 3 is brilliant. There are, of course, a few flaws but these are easily forgivable when taken in context and you step back to look at the bigger picture. The Mass Effect trilogy has been an epic, emotional and thoroughly enjoyable ride, but I doubt this is the last we'll see of such a rich universe. Past mistakes and choices have come to a head and there has been a send off to a lot of old companions in the game, having been adventured with one last time, as well as many other characters of varying importance. The cast of the series have made their final bow, seemingly, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some big downloadable content and to see the series grow in another instalment.