One of the best games ever
Developer: Bioware
Publisher: EA
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, and PC
Genre: RPG, Third-person shooter
Rating: M
Online: 4 Player Cooperative
Making choices and enduring the consequences of those decisions have been a major theme throughout the Mass Effect series. Now with Mass Effect 3 this major theme returns and with threat of galactic annihilation at the hands of the strangely beautiful Reapers your decisions both past and present will determine whether you can united the galaxy against this threat or doom every man, woman, and child to death. The Mass Effect series has been held to such high standards and now with Commander Shepard's story coming to an end you can rest assured that Bioware has thoughtfully and creatively created a finale that leaves you fluttering with emotional, especially if you played through Mass Effect 1 and 2.
Mass Effect 3 begins months after Mass Effect 2 and Commander Shepard is placed under military house arrest because of his relationship with the human-supremacist organization, Cerberus. Shepard was the first human Spectre and has gone through unimaginable feats to stop the Reaper threat, which was once considered just a myth. Now the Reapers have returned to continue 50,000 year cycle to destroy all organic life they deem worthy of extinction, starting with Earth. Shepard must retreat, leaving Admiral Anderson behind, and unlike Mass Effect 2 where you were recruiting individuals you now must recruit entire races throughout the galaxy to face this threat or endure the same fate of every other race that has encounter the Reapers.
Uniting an entire galaxy against a threat that applies to everyone isn't easy, especially when each race has history that prevents them from working with each other. Age-old grudges such as the Krogens hating the Salarians and Turians because of the Genophage, the Quarians waging war against the Geth for hundreds of years, and Cerberus, led by the Illusive Man, prevent Shepard from unifying all the races under one front. Gone are the loyalist quests from Mass Effect 2 and now Shepard must make hard decisions that heavily impacts everyone's story whether it is a major character like Tali or minor ones. Bioware has ensured that each decision carries a large amount of weight due to strong writing and excellent voice-acting to guarantee that each action is met with logical and emotional response, nothing happens without a reason.
In order to gain support for your cause you will be visiting various different worlds and places. These areas are excellently detailed from the destroyed Krogen home world of Tuchanka to lust environments of the Quarian's home world. Within these different areas you will encounter Reaper presence in one form or another and sometimes an actual Reaper. The developers at Bioware have done a terrific job of creating a sense of scale between the Reapers and the inhabitants of the planet. It is clear that Bioware didn't take any chances in ensuring that Commander Shepard's conclusion ended in style.
With decisions carry such weight importing a saved file that has included data from both Mass Effect 1 and 2 is strongly recommended. If you are unable to do so you can choose a series of significant decisions but won't give you the same satisfying experience as if you made those chooses while playing the pervious titles, but Bioware does offer a detailed Codex for those you don't fully understand certain situations. In addition for playing Mass Effect 1 and 2 you can access certain bonus such as a level boost, exclusive romances, and paragon or renegade giving veterans of the series a strong welcome back. Players of the pervious titles will able to appreciate the changes in Mass Effect 3, especially the mining system. Scanning planets for elements have been removed and instead you simply scan the planet through the Normandy radar and if anyone valuable is on that specific planet then you simply scan and mine. Bioware has done a good job of removing the tawdry mining experience for something that is quick and easy.
Not all the changes to Mass Effect 3 are positive. Traveling throughout the various areas in the Citadel you'll encounter many side quests through traditional dialogue or by overhearing. While some of these allow you to visit varied locations a large amount of the side quest are vexing fetch objectives that can provide essential resources but mostly just provide minor distractions. In addition certain bugs within the game can cause both enemies and allies to become stuck forcing players to restart and hope that it doesn't happen again. Most of these issues have plagued other Bioware games and people who have played titles created by them will expect these issues to arise.
Returning to Mass Effect 3 is the same combat system and leveling from the previous title with new refinements. Players will still be able to combine biotics, tech, and weapons with ease. New abilities such as jumping over gaps, running with unlimited stamina, and rolling allows for easier movement throughout the different battlefields. The areas themselves have are littered with branching paths, ladders, and staircases, allowing the player to employ different strategies to survive each encounter. The level cap has been increased to 60, 30 if you import a Mass Effect 2 file, allowing players more options on how they desire to upgrade each character. It a shame that most of the soundtrack you will be listening to through these fights are predominantly from the previous title.
You won't be going into these combat situations alone and will depend on the gun in your hand and the allies you have chosen. Mass Effect 3 includes an incredible assortment of new and old weapons that can be combined with up to two modifications but the amount of allies has been limited. Although you allies are limited to two specific type of weapons Shepard can wield as all types, but equipping more weapons increase your weight increasing the recharge time for Shepard's abilities. Weapons themselves can be leveled by purchasing more powerful versions of a specific weapon.
Although you will be using these various weapons to tackle each situation you will be taking up to two allies into each mission. Unlike Mass Effect 2 your choices have been limited to how many teammates you have access to. You'll have access to both new and old allies that have specific abilities and dialogue so you can complete each mission alive. You allies do a good job of holding their own and you can manually input commands if you feel they are reacting in a poor fashion.
Mass Effect 3 has introduced a new mechanic and eliminated another. The Xbox 360 version of Mass Effect 3 host Kinect support that allows players to call commands out to Shepard, his teammates, and make decisions. This function works surprisingly well but I found that sometimes I had to yell to make the command work. This is enjoyable and allows the player to call out commands that are not tailored to specific buttons. This is only available on the Xbox 360 version and also gone in all version is the hacking mini-games. Instead of hacking terminals or doors you simply walk by one, hit the action button, and wait.
Mass Effect 3 is the first game in the series to host a multiplayer component and it directly relates to the single-player adventure. You can choose from the six classes and a race of your choosing within that specific field to taken waves of enemies with objectives popping up in certain waves. You will be able to choose up to six stages that have been taken from the single-player adventure, choose one of three types of enemies that include Reapers, Cerberus, and Geth, and finally with type of difficulty. Completing these mission nets you credits and experience that can be used to gain new upgrades. The credits earned can be used to purchase one of three packs that include a random assortment of weapons, modifications, one-time upgrades, and characters. There is also an option to purchase these packs with real money is you choose to do so. Rewards are slow to earn but participating in the multiplayer component increases your galactic investment towards the Reaper invasion in the single player adventure. Though this multiplayer is fun it isn't anything special and won't have you investing much time as other multiplayer games would.
Mass Effect 3 is a fantastic game that even with its flaws delivers one of the most elaborate and emotional experiences. Though Mass Effect 3 shooting mechanics are great it is the deep story and hard choices that truly make this game that makes you care about its universe and the future of the people who inhabit it. Mass Effect 3 isn't a perfect game but it is one of the greatest titles to this date that ends with what you wanted it to be.
9.5/10 Personal Recommendation