Mass Effect 3. Underwhelming or..?

I didn't think a game would rely so heavily on its prequels (ME 1 & 2).

I had fun during the first few firefights, after I attempted to learn the story through the dialogue.. but it is a bit much and there is no way to speed it up. (not necessarly to skip past it entirely).

I am about 5 hours in..

and finished a 10 minute(probably lasted less) and I am already walking around the ship talking to ppl, watching dialogue and semi-cutscenes.

The feel and atmosphere almost mademe fall asleep, and I feel as if I were pushing myself to play through this game like a chore,more than an actual game experience.

The skill trees are shallow. I also have no idea why they didnt make it so I could see my mapped powers on the HUD/UI. Instead, I see my squadmates' skills, which I didnt even map.

I don't think if I even played ME1 or ME2 that I would even play through this as if it werent a 'chore' to me.

But I cannot really confirm this, since I have never touched ME even.

if I play ME1 and 2, would I still enjoy ME3?
I know the basic story so far and I am still not hooked as much as everybody else is or was.

I think it's worth playing at least the 2nd game first. This is mainly because the main story isn't really that innovative or complex (it's really just a space opera), but it's more about the characters and their stories (which is what space operas often are good at developing). Going from ME2 to ME3 you'll have more of a connection with them, making parts of ME3 more impactful when you are connected to the characters (I think the 3rd game does have more dialouge than the 2nd, or at least it seemed that way). Though, it may just not be your game. It'll probably also be a bit better if you're really into sci-fi, at least that's what first had me hooked since I always wanted to interact in a sci-fi world rather than reading or watching from the outside.

the game is a sum of hits and misses, i like the general story, cutscenes and scenarios are great, but it has some design flaws, the love stories are just painful to watch, playing galacticeavesdropper as "side missions", those together with the "explore the galaxy" were just useless chores put there to add gameplay time, plotholes, and ofc DAT ENDING. Still it was enjoyable but nothing special, with the lore and background they could have done SO MUCH more.

Playing ME3 without at least playing ME2 is kind of like reading the last 300 pages of a 1000 page book. The series was really meant to be played from the start.

With ME2 they do a lot to make it easier to ease in. The PS3 version gets you a comic to make all the decisions, and if you get another version and don't play 1 first or don't get a comic thingy, you still get SOME say in what happened before and ME2 is just an ok starting point. Playing ME3 without at least ME2 is not the best way to enjoy it, for maximum enjoyment you should really play them all in order if you can, since ME1 is fun but has so many issues that were later refined (and I guess its various issues is why ME2 was so changed and worked so well as a starting point).

So yeah, ME3 will be very underwhelming if you didn't get to see the accumulation of your decisions. Even the tiniest things from the first game get references, even events from the Galaxy game for mobile get referenced in ME2 if you played it. The series is really all about your decisions.

The ending you could argue doesn't use that to its full potential, but within the game you very much get that, with some choices helping you or biting you in the ass a whole 2 games later.

Don't believe what Bioware or anysort of marketing person tells you. Mass Effect 3 is NOT the game to start the Mass Effect franchise with. I personally think you should start with the 1st Mass Effect, but if that's not an option then Mass Effect 2 would be the other choice.

It's like watching Return of the King without first going through the first two LOTR films. Go get the first Mass Effect. Play it on easy and turn up the auto-aim so you can plow through the awful combat and get to the good bits.

I didn't think a game would rely so heavily on its prequels (ME 1 & 2).

Kocelot

i am going to kill myself.

Of course you should have played 1 & 2 first, this game is great for that you can play YOUR adventure and many seemingly so little and unimportant things can and WILL be taken into account later, decisions from 1 carry over to 2 and 3 takes over decisions from both you have taken.

What makes the series great it that 100 people who have played it will have played 100 different stories.

Didn't even finished it.

Loved the first game, really liked the second [finished them both.....and i very rarely finish games] but the 3rd one i got really board after like 1hour or so.

The experience of playing the series from ME all the way through ME3 is a good one.

alright, thanks peeps. i assumed me3 was one of those games where theywould at least flashback or something. lol

[QUOTE="chilly-chill"]The only problem I had with Mass Effect 3 (aside from the ending) was, the terrible quest management system and the limited number of squad mates. Definitely one of the better games this year despite it's minor problems. Why would you jump to the end of a series without playing the first two anyways? Kocelot

perhaps playing the first two will make you more invested in the universe. even with that, it wont change how sloppy most of the missions are. its like bioware didnt tune any of the new mechanics or unique scenarios.

Its a very story oriented, character, dialogue driven series. Of course it relies on its prequels. You showed up to Return Of the Jedi without even seeing the 1st two. You need to go back at some point & play the series from beginning to end.

In my opinion the most powerful moments were in the original, so now the moments & things you were suppose to have experienced have no effect on you.

The first time I played through it, the only complaint I had that it was short. But then I went back and played it again, this time squeezing every bit of content out of it and it was about ten times as long. The game ends all choices and storylines in the game. It's intention was not to develop them further but to bring them to a close.

its now one of my favorite games.