1966 réponses à ce sujet

[Akal Ashata Alis]

crimsonrhodelia wrote...
Well said. Hell, at this point, I'd pay for a DLC that would fade to black and then roll credits after Shepard and Anderson are sitting on the floor.

 You know, even at that point I was going OMG... awesome ending? Shepard and Anderson sitting there watching the battle. That thing could go boom, kill off all the reapers (or not), or even send out a transmission of code that wiped them, or triggered a self destruct... or.... something.

But that moment, right there, right before the elevator took Shep up to the machine god, was the last moment that felt like Mass Effect to me.

[lockdown51]

I'll split up my rating of 3 into two parts. The rest of the game 7/10 while the ending deserve a very clear -10/10. Yes NEGATIVE ten out of ten. Overall rating for series, 9/10 not including ending of 3. Including ending of 3 it evens out to 0/10 since you are railroaded so hard you should be able to file assault charges.

The good:
The new loading screens and vastly improved elevator times. Veterans know all too well how terrible those elevators were in 1 and 2.
Returning cast from 1 and 2 were nice and the few new people were good additions... mostly.

The bad:
The space bar does EVERYTHING!
Squad mates, including the great Garrus, can't shoot worth crap. I'm not saying I should be competing with them for bragging rights over who killed more on a particular mission, but they should at least be able to put down suppressing fire and stay alive.
Scanning for things with Reapers breathing down your necks. When the fans said cut down the elevator time, you listened though it took you 3 games. When we said we hate scanning you cut it down yeah but you could have nixed it out completely and I don't think we would have minded. At least George Lucas had the good sense to listen to his fan base and cut Jar Jar down to size, and he's a pretty arrogant man. The collective Bioware ego much be much much greater though.

The ugly:
The ending. I'm using the singular since you are railroaded horribly, it makes no sense, destroys a franchise, leave 0 replay value unless you are a masochist, and all of the "choices" end in death for either Shepard and/or the vast majority of the crew. If people wanted that they wouldn't have made countless guides on how to make your squad survive the Omega 4 relay mission in 2. Quite clearly, whoever you had write 3 has jumped the shark and is completely out of touch with humanity as a whole and this audience in general.

Lastly, between this product and the nightmare of DA2, you have lost a customer since the company has jumped the shark as well. I've been loyal since Balder Gate days but the company has clearly moved in a direction away from the player base. I have 2 friends waiting for my recommendation on whether to buy 3 or not, and I will tell them and all I meet to avoid 3 and Bioware in general.

TLDR:
Game was okay until the ending ruined the entire 3 game series, making it all pointless.
Bioware lost me as a customer.

[rinoe]

I read all this and I'm depressed.
Mass Effect is a special game for me. You make it special. Why ruined it now? What is the goal?
I really cant undestand. I'm so sad reading this. My friends are devastated too. We are sad together. And this site unite us, bsc of the game. That game. Will it continue? With crappy endind of entire serie?

This is the end of ends. And now I'm afraid to see it. I'm afraid to play.
I plays many times ME1 and 2. I preapred a lot of saves from different games to see what will happend. Now I'm not sure what to do.

NOT EVEN ONE POSITIVE on the ending.. and this is final ending.

It is so... just no words. I'm in tears. The game is so great...

Despite this I still beleive in you - that you listen to your fans, like you really did, and fix it. ASAP.
please. I just can't play without hope.

[bloodstalker1973]

HEAVY SPOILERS!

My impressions of the game have to start with the ending. The ending absoluting was a major letdown. And I do not mean this because Shepard died. Honestly, I'd pretty much come to the conclusion that at best Shepards odds of survival were at best 50/50. And I don't have a problem with Shepard dying. This was a major war effort, and I can completely see where Shepard would sacrifice himself to win if that was what had to be done. I understood coming into the game that there very likely would be no traditional "Happy Ending" because of the scale of the threat, and that characters I cared about would die or have to deal with a bleak outlook after the war was over. What I did not expect was to have all the choice and decisions of three complete games rendered entirely irrelevant because some godlike kid "thing" stepped in and basically gave you a choice between 3 endings. And all three endings are pretty much identical when you get right down to it. Sure, the whole synthetics vs organics thing, along with the synthesis, mean threee completely different looking post war worlds, but still, none of the choices I made mattered because of the whole  Deus Ex literary mechanic of "divine intervention" was used. It really destroyed the ending for me in what was, otherwise, a very solid game. I was expecting tradgedy maybe, perhaps death, maybe a post war world where certain civilizations had crumbled due to prior decisions  or even, if my decisions were poor enough, complete and utter defeat as the Reapers harvested us all. Really, I had a Shepard save that was specifically designed to see how bad things could get. What I got was "Welcome to the end, now, pick one of three stock endings that render everything else moot." With that said, here is a breakdown of what I liked and didn't like.

Pros:
Combat was a lot better. It felt more frantic because Shepard couldn't just sit in one spot and shot everything. You had to move around, and the AI was better than it has been in previous games.

"Moments" This was a part of ME3 that was hyped, and I really liked it a lot. The special meetings with squadmates on the Citadel was very nicely done. I especially liked the one between Shepard and Garrus. That one fit perfectly into what my view of that relationship was all about and felt like a great cap to the building friendship over the three games.

Interactions between squadmates was very appreciated. In previous games, it always felt a little to centered on the protagonist. The world revolved around me, and it was nice to see that my companions had other relationships besides just with me.

Actual Friendship- Wow, no more "Commander, can you solve all my problems for me? Thanks, I won't even ask about your day." It was very nice to see my squadmates take an interest in Shepard beyond just looking at him as a problem solver. For a change, they actually tried to pick me up and gave me pep talks when I needed it. I wish this happened more often.

Choice- Outside the ending, which I described my issues with, choice was implemented pretty well through the rest of the game. I enjoyed seeing things play out, like how Wrex was leading the krogan down the path of unity whether they liked it or not.

Narrative- Very good. I felt like I was involved in everything. I felt like I was making a diference on a huge scale brokering peace between factions like the Quarians and the Geth. I even got to punch that Quarian admiral after he annoyed me one too many times with his smug behaviour.

Cerberus- I liked this aspect a lot. Showing how indoctrination played a role on the cycles was really brought home to me. It was epesically hard hitting when Udina betrayed the council.  It really felt at that point like the Reaper threat was causing humanity to turn against itself.

Cons- besides the ending

Kai Leng- This was just flat out bad. Why does it seem like every game these days have to incorporate the stereotypical sword slinging, Anime-like character who is supposed to be almost godlike in his fighting ability regardless of the fact that he does absolutely nothing to back it up? Having him show up, just to dance around in a frankly ridiclous manner and do cartwheels while I shoot him, then have gunships or soldiers come in while he "recharges" is ridiculous. There is a reason there are no more Samurai as a viable fighting force. Guns made them extinct in war. Kai Leng almost turned my WRPG into a JRPG at times, and I was not amused at all.

Ashley- I won;t rant, but she has changed so much, she's not the kick ass slider my Shepard fell in love with anymore. She's kind of incompetant, too agnsty with the trust issues, and spent way to much time being saved, in the hospital, or on the edge of an emotional breakdown for my tastes.

Scanning- Scanning sucks. It's sucked since day 1, and no amount of tinkering with it is going to change that. Adding the Reaper threat only made it suck worse. I play these games for the story, characters, and the combat. I don;t play them to gather resources. I play RTS games for that. And it became annoying very quickly when I scanned a system, found something, then had to leave that system when Reapers showed up only to have to come back to the same system later and repeat the process. 

Too little interaction- Shepard at times felt like he wasn't "my" Shepard anymore.  I didn;t have the same level of input into conversation, even with an imported save.

Lack of any emotional closure in the ending-. As I said, I hated the ending. But here I mean the lack of any closure whatsoever. I knew Shepard was likely to die, so I wanted to do my best to affect the lives of the people around Shepard. And none of that was shown. Yes, I know this is Shepards story, and that's fine. But his relationships are part of that story.  I at least wanted to see what became of my sqadmates: Who lived, who died, maybe a little segment showing what became of them ala the Baldur's Gate epilogues. I am invested in these characters just as much as I am in Shepard, and seeing as how they were the most visible expression of what Shepard was fighting for, it's odd that there was nothing to show the impact of his actions on their lives beyong a generic "we're stranded" scene at the end.

Conclusion-

I loved this game right up until the end. It had it's warts, like Kai Leng, but most of the game was a great sucess. Right up until the end I was thinking ahead about what save I wanted to import next to see how things changed. I was fully invested in this game, and had a lot of fun with it. But, the ending has pretty much robbed me of any real motivation to play again.  I seriously went from excited to start a new game to probably never playing it again in the last 15 minutes of the game. I doubt I will get any of the DLC when it comes out, because there doesn't seem to be much point to it when I know it all will get tossed out the window with the rest of my choices at the ending. I could live with a depressing end to a game, but this isn't "story" depressing, it's just mechenically dpressing since from day one the series was marketed on the basis that your choices matter and will determine how the series ends. They don't. My choices got hijacked by Biowares three choices at the end. Still, up until that last bit, it was an amazing ride, so I have to stress that they did a lot of things right in this game regardless of how it ended.

[raeting]

A full review from a player who went through the PC version. No spoilers until the discussion of the story.


Graphics

Though ME3 is showing its age a little, graphics and textures are improved from ME2. Like its predecessors, if you spent enough time looking at things close-up, the flaws become apparent. Still, in the course of normal gameplay, the graphics never detracted from the game. Frame rates were consistently smooth.


Music & Sound Effects

The music of Mass Effect 3 was amazing. Consistent with the quality everyone has come to expect from the previous games. It does continue the evolution towards a movie score, and a little away from the more techno-like influences of the first game. Even so, it seems to fit perfectly.

One piece in particular, a soft piano piece, encompasses the game amazingly well. It is on par with Homeworld's choral Adagio both standalone and as used in the game.

Sound effects, as well, gained an upgrade. It is interesting how something seemingly as minor as how a gun sounds can make such a difference. But it does. Many of the rifles sound great. Your heavy melee attacks, as well, sound as deadly as they look.


Gameplay

Gameplay in Mass Effect 3 is faster than its predecessors. Tightened up combat, an improved cover system, dodging, and infinite sprinting all make a large difference in the pace of battles. Shepard, as well, can take a few more hits before their shields drop. So charging the enemy is not a death sentence as it has been in the past. Overall the increased pace does make combat far more interesting.

Enemy AI is far more aggressive in ME3 than its predecessors, which adds some much needed challenge to the game. Gone are the days of safely hiding in one place to take out a wave of enemies. Expect to have to move, retreat, sometimes even charge through their lines to survive.

Squad AI, on the other hand, seems to have taken a hit. I would not call my squad mates useless. But they often seemed to be better at playing the role of distraction. Especially when the powerful enemies appear. I believe at least part of the reason for this is a shift in weapon power. Assault rifles and submachine guns both seem rather lacking in punch. Whereas sniper rifles, shotguns, and heavy pistols seem to do best on the battlefield.

Speaking of weapons, they are certainly improved. Mass Effect 1 did have an inventory management issue. Simply too many rifles and useless upgrades. Mass Effect 2 went too far back in the simple direction. There just wasn't much you could do to improve what you have. Mass Effect 3 has found the right balance. There are a lot of weapons, but you never find two of the same thing. Instead, you get a better version of the same gun that replaces your old. Furthermore, the upgrade system is interesting and complete without being complex. Spot on.

Armor hasn't changed much, but it didn't need to. You can mix and match more mundane armor, or just use a set. Most of the sets from ME2 are available without DLC this go around, which is neat. Their somewhat reasonable price means you can end up with pretty decent armor early in the game, too. You'll need it!

There are a few issues with gameplay. The cover system is imperfect, and combining cover and sprint into one button causes annoying (sometimes fatal) mistakes. Also, the game has several turret sections mixed in. While somewhat interesting, they are not at all challenging and quickly become boring.

Overall, combat in Mass Effect 3 is an improvement. It isn't perfect, but it is fun. Which is good -- if Bioware wanted anyone to spend significant amounts of time in multiplayer, they needed to tighten it up a bit. What I find most interesting about the combat is the difficulty levels are spot on. On easier or normal levels, Shepard can absolutely dominate the battlefield. Turning up the difficulty requires a lot more skill, but remains fun, not frustrating.


Multiplayer

Multiplayer in ME3 is a relatively simple affair. You will be dropped in an area and expected to hold it against waves of enemies. You are also given random missions that add a new, and sometimes difficult, dimension to the maps. Killing specific enemies quickly, disabling devices played semi-randomly on the map, or being forced to hold a position for a few minutes. All have their own little challenges.

Overall the matchmaking service works fast enough to not be frustrating. It isn't perfect, bugs do happen, and games are very dependent on the leader. If a leader drops, the wave restarts. Very often, you will find the rest of the players leave, too.

My personal favorite aspect of the multiplayer is the cooperative gameplay. Not since the unreal tournament series have I played a co-op multiplayer I enjoy as much as ME3's. But, that is simply a personal preference of mine.

The fast gameplay creates an enjoyable experience that will likely hook players in. At least, it is a nice enough experience that any whom doesn't at least try is likely missing out.


Story

Spoilers from here on out. Major ones.

Bioware mostly upheld their reputation for excellent writing in Mass Effect 3. The game starts just minutes before the Reapers invade Earth. An invasion Shepard barely escapes, only to be thrust into a galaxy in turmoil. It is a very different story from the previous two games, both of which presented Shepard as an unshakeable foundation upon which their team relied.

It only gets better from there. After a short stop in mars, picking up an old teammate and a glimmer of hope for the war, the Normandy finds itself once again jumping from system to system in an attempt to save the galaxy. A great many new, and a few old, locations are visited along the way.

Most of the game is centered around the Citadel, which works wonderfully in two ways. Early on, the citadel is insulated from the crisis and gives a good view of an ignorant, unresponsive, galaxy. As the game progresses, however, it becomes a place where the despair and desperation of every race can be seen and heard.

Backing away from the macro level for a moment, Bioware also managed to place in a surprising number of details. Conversations on the citadel abound, from a scarred asari commando, to a mother trying to find a home for her child before she is shipped off to war. One in particular grabbed me in an unexpected way -- a salarian outside of the game's primary club talks about his new high-tech armor only to eventually realize his friend sold her car to buy it for him. The game is chock full of touching moments that show, at least on a personal level, many people coming together to face this war. These details, and some of the other minor encounters (Conrad Verner!) were nothing short of fantastic.

Later in the game, it becomes evident that Shepard is slowly unraveling. The stress of the situation and their responsibilities are finally beginning to crack the foundation. It was an amazing transformation to watch as their squad mates rally around Shepard to help. Just before the last mission, when my (female) Shepard speaks to Garrus, it sounded almost as if she were breaking down on the spot. A big change from the unshakable and immensly confident Shepard from the previous two games, and a welcome one. Shepard is far more human.

In squad mate interaction, Bioware took a less is more approach. Which worked surprisingly well. While on the citadel, no one follows you around. But you see them at various places along the way, each doing their part to help. On the ship, your squad mates are also not stuck in one room, which is nice. The conversations with them are generally shorter, but no less packed with information. Mostly, at this point, Shepard and her crew know each other. There's little need for long explanations on what an asari is, or hearing about tali's immune system again.

Shepard does spend a little time with each of her squad. The sequences with Liara and Garrus both are absolutely amazing, however. Which makes sense, Garrus especially has been with Shepard every step of the way. The amount of character development present between Shepard and these characters is wonderful, and serves only to increase the emotional investment the player has in them.

As the game nears its conclusion, the storytelling becomes a little tighter. The intensity increases in-step with the urgency of the situation, and fits well. By the time you make it to Earth, everyone understands that the galaxy has laid all its cards on the table. There is no second chance, and the anticipation in the air is palpable. Shepard has even stopped attempting to play the role of the invincible commander.

You have an opportunity to speak with each of your past and present squad mates. Again, Garrus and Liara stand out among the pack with absolutely fantastic conversations. It is obvious that Bioware decided to emphasize these two a little, which I certainly don't mind. Shepard gives a heroic speech, and they all get to work.

At first, it plays along as any other city warfare. Move from building to building, one difficult, but surmountable, obstacle in the way. Soon, however, Shepard is trying to dodge harbinger's beams in what can only be called the most epic sprint in gaming history. Shepard is hit, though, and must drag their bruised and broken body through a device that will teleport them to the last stage of the game.

As the conclusion draws near, the story picks up in a big way. We meet the illusive man, face to face, finally. It is an amazing throwback to the last conversations of both ME1 and 2. Verbally sparring with perhaps the only person in the galaxy that could rival Shepard's confidence is quite the experience.

Afterwards, Shepard and Anderson share their moment. It seems the battle is won. Anderson is mortally wounded, however, and after a few short words of praise, finally rests. The mix of victory, disappointment, and absolute exhaustion is palpable. 

Then Hackett radios in -- "Shepard?" -- and the first words out of Shepard's mouth is "What do you need me to do?" as they struggle to rise to their feet. Fantastic! The desperation, duty, and urgency of Shepard all culminate in one scene as they struggle to reach a console just feet away. I was literally on the edge of my chair, and could not even begin to imagine what would happen next.

The story falls apart.

Shepard is raised into another room by the Catalyst -- what the player gathers is an advanced AI and necessary component to the super-weapon. In a short conversation, the Catalyst lays down the fate of the galaxy. Synthetics will destroy organics, so the reapers kill all organics every fifty thousand years to preclude this possibility. In a time ripe for Shepard to lay out their victories concerning EDI and the Geth, even for the impossibility of a conventional solution to be explained, they remain silent.

In the end, the Catalyst presents you with three options. You cannot overcome the Catalyst, nor prove it wrong, your only hope is to take one of the choices it lays out before you. Control the reapers, merge synthetic life and organic life, or destroy all artificial life -- the Reapers, the Geth, and EDI. Each have their own merits and pitfalls, though it is understandably difficult to choose with so little information. For example, merging synthetic and organic life apparently keeps people as they are, but with some kind of relatively subtle synthetic component. It is hard to imagine that, however, when it is first explained since Shepard just finished fighting an army of cyborgs.

In some ways, however, the choices do make sense. Plus, you need to end the reaper invasion, so choose! Depsite the flaws of this section, a great ending to the series was still completely viable. My suspension of disbelief had taken a hit -- but it wasn't gone.

Unfortunately, in what is quite possibly the worst ending to game I've ever witnessed, you are presented with a few minutes of vague and ultimately confusing sequences. About all you know for certain is the reapers are defeated.

Mass effect relays are destroyed, but do they destroy the solar system they are in? Where does the Normandy crash land? Do all ships get knocked out of space like the Normandy was? Does FTL travel even exist anymore? What about the other planets you fought so hard to save? Do the waves go so far as to destroy all technology? 

Some of the questions can be answered -- sort of -- with a lot of introspection and analysis of the ending. As the ending played I simply sat there, mouth agape, trying to process what was going on. Shocking? Yes, absolutely! But did I enjoy it? No. No, my first thought was that Shepard had just wiped out the very vast majority of the galaxy's population in order to stop the Reapers (since the Normandy was knocked out of FTL travel & trashed by the tail end of a mass relay explosion, which normally takes out a whole system). Thankfully, I don't think that is the case anymore, but the shock and confusion of such an ending still sits with me.

As much as I'd prefer to not be, I was, and still am, emotionally invested in the mass effect universe. I cared about what happened to people. Not just the squad mates, but the galaxy at large. Somewhere along the way I felt a fraction of the pressure Shepard did. Save Earth! At the end I'm left questioning whether or not I did. Or, perhaps, people survived, but I've no information to understand how, exactly, the galaxy was shaped by my choices. How Shepard's squad mates moved on, or even if they did.

I expected a bittersweet ending. Shepard's death seemed inevitable as they unraveled. Plus the game pulled no punches in killing important squad members. Even seeing the entire Normandy go up in flames would have been fine -- if it had meaning. Instead, I had to go back and look at the ending several times to pick out clues and try to piece together what might have happened. Which seems plausible, perhaps even a great ending to the series. But the weight of uncertainty looms, making any sense of real closure impossible.

I am just completely floored that the epilogue -- a nearly universally praised plot device going back to at least Neverwinter Nights 1 (in my experience) -- was completely neglected in Mass Effect. A game that centered around squadmates and friendships like no other in history.

In all Mass Effect 3 was the pinnacle of gaming, even with its few flaws, until the end. As much as I'd prefer to not let 5 minutes of something sour the whole. It has.

Even so, I congratulate the team on what is otherwise easily the best game I've ever played.

Modifié par raeting, 10 mars 2012 - 02:42 .

[SogaBan]

A. The Positives

1. Enemy AI is far better (I've played in hardcore) not only in statistical sense but also in tactical and strategic sense. The fact that Shepard can't remain in cover for long and can be swarmed by the melee attackers while being attacked by ranged damagers have given a fairly good challenge.
[The cover system, though improved but still crappy].

2. Enemy variation: Both the Cerberus and the reaper minions are pretty diversified and demands applause. The Cerberus engineers/turrets, the guardian shields and the phantoms gave me some tough time. Besides, the concept of the husks of all races was awesome. The Banshee have crept the HELL out of me with their shriek and charge. The Brute, the Ravager and the Harvester were really tough to handle, specially in Thessia and London end-run. In short, the enemies themselves were very true to the name of the saga - MASS effect.

3. Squad member AI was also improved and far better than the previous two - a welcome modification as well.

4. The notoriety of Cerberus (and probably the relevance of mass effect 2) was well illustrated. Specially for those who have gone through the novels and the comics - the inherent deceptiveness of the faction is quite well known - on that note, putting Illusive Man during the climax was probably contextual.

5. Kai Leng - THAT bastard! That SOB! Reminded me of the confrontation with Ser Cautherie (in Dragon Age Origins) duel while rescuing queen Anora. Sorry for being off-topic! And now we come to know that Leng was also modified with reaper tech. Man... That was a duel! [I died 4 times in my first play-through as Sentinel.] In my opinion, he was definitely over-powered and more than Shadow Broker, Tela Vasir and Saren-husk combined! It was the toughest fight in the trilogy - in my opinion. But I enjoyed it, specially at the end when the player makes a renegade interrupt and Shepard stabs the bastard with his omni-blade, saying, "This was for Major Kirrahe." Touching!

B. The Negatives

1. Organization of journal/quests was the most horrible thing I have ever seen. I failed to understand why the previous concepts were discarded!

2. Getting quests out of nowhere! At one point, I wished my Shepard was a deaf. Come on Bioware.... how do you count a conversation (heard while passing by and not even eavesdropping) to be a quest???

3. Though planet scanning for minerals was not there (in ME3) but I AM QUITE SURE that anyone who has completed or will be completing each and every quest is sure to get a Carpal-Tunnel (PC users). Pure bullsh*t....! Scanning planets for a lost book or an artifact... and that too only to increase your war assets - which simply felt so irrelevant!

4. Absence of a persistent mini-map is very bad for me.

5. The decisions (some major and many minors) carried forward from the previous two games didn't reflect well. From what I have heard - they were all melted down to pure statistics - known as war assets. Why? You were suddenly out of ideas?

6. Two or three Cerberus missions (e.g. Ontarom) were not relevant as they seemed and probably just added for the sake of just extending the game-play. I could not find any justification for the missions.

7. MULTIPLAYER. Now, THAT may be a sore spot. I know that even without playing multiplayer (i.e. only with 50% galactic readiness you can acquire enough Effective Military Strength (EMS) - by doing all the in-game mission/quests. The question is - once you have linked multiplayer with the single-player campaign in a not-so-subtle way, can anyone tell me WHERE and WHAT exactly has the multiplayer to do with the EMS (or galactic readiness)? You're dropped off at some random location(s) with other three squad members and either you have to kill key-personnel or hack some consoles or defend some power-grids or whatever. I couldn't see any meaningful and logical relation to galactic readiness and multiplayer.

8. Replay value: Considering the endings (all of them) in ME3 it actually becomes moot to replay the game over and over again (what I personally did with previous two games - I have 16 Shepards for ME3... lol). Except the multiplayer which I will be playing mainly for fun and it has nothing to do with the trilogy. Other than to find out what happens with different love-interests (I consider myself in this category), it makes no sense to replay. Because the last autosave the game makes (before the final and climax decision) is just before Shepard and Anderson enters the conduit on Earth. And you can watch all the endings --> Paragon-destruction or Renegade-control or Synthesis-merge - in a single play-through by reloading from that autosave point. And clear enough - other than the climax decision, there are no other decisions in the game (ME3) which may make you feel those may be carried forward for later purpose (please note I am not talking in terms of War assets).

C. Some Notable Events

1. I wept when Mordin died... I have fallen short of words to appreciate the way Bioware has made the sequence... Hats-off to the music guys... to the animation guys... to the directors... to everyone...!

2. My sentinel Shepard (first play-through) had no love interest from the previous two games. I thought to romance with Traynor but accidentally proposed Liara at Presidium (to which she accepted) and decided to go with it. Before the final run in London (just before defending the missile launchers) - Shepard got a chance to speak with all of his team members. MY GOD...! The gift Liara gave Shepard was a vision and that was what made me awestruck, spellbound and overwhelmed with emotions (something I have only felt once in real life). I lack proper words to describe it - so better leave it to experience yourselves. THE SINGLE MOST EMOTIONAL MOMENT OF THE TRILOGY... without any doubt or probably in any game I have played till today.

3. My heart got heavy to see Legion sacrificing himself to upgrade the entire geth network. It was really dramatic when at the end Legion conversed using "I" instead of "we" and "Tali" instead of "creator Zorah".

D. Notable Personalities

1. EDI: Giving a body to the EDI and the fact that she was also a squaddie - was GREAT. Specially at the end where EDI thanks Shepard in the Cerberus HQ for letting her believe that she is a living being.... unforgettable!

2. Javvik: Good addition - specially he was really great in combat with the reapers. DARK CHANNEL - a very useful talent (suggesting everyone to maximize it as early as possible if u are playing as sentinel or an adept or a vanguard). But more than that - his helplessness, vengeance and desperate attitude, considering his morbid and melancholy past have added another dimension to the trilogy. Specially, in Citadel Embassy office - the other races (hanar, asari and the turians) and their repercussions when they saw a live prothean has ticked me to an extent leaving me to want more...

3. Ashley: Boring as ever!

4. Vega: Great addition to the team!

5. Garrus: Beyond words! Specially, his last conversation with Shepard that they both may meet each other at some bar in the heaven, in case things go south – has added a new spectrum to the camaraderie they have shared with each other over the trilogy.

6. Anderson: Awesome. But it would have been really dramatic if he could at least speak with or meet with Kahlee before the final battle.

7. Jack: Nice transition – from a psychotic kid to a WOMAN who has started becoming possessive of her students.

8. Samara & Falere – Good touch. Specially the paragon interrupt…

9. Zaeed: Underdeveloped, in my opinion.

10. Reporter Allers: Nothing more than her physical assets.

11. Traynor: Better than Kelly but not so much.

12. Kasumi, Jacob, Grunt: Nothing memorable

13. Tali: Some conversation on Rannoch (after defeating the damn reaper) were really heart-touching. Character wise – the same old Tali. And well, now she even drinks… very funny!

14. Miranda & Oriana: It was at least good to see that she got her issues with her sister and father – resolved – once and for all. Though I expected more plot in her regard.

E. Point of Climax and critical discussions

Throughout the saga, if ONE thing that has made its point above anything else was that – “benefit of the greater whole before personal resolves”. And I felt – the ending of the game, if nothing else, has remain very true to the dictum.

Yes, Shepard dies! (Damn it… ‘twas so hard to say…) To mark the end of the commander’s story-arch. Though there is an ending where Shepard remains alive (at least that’s what the movie showed me before the credits rolled off) – My EMS was 4368, galactic readiness 82% (damn multiplayer) and after the paragon decision of destroying the catalyst – an orange explosion occurs engulfing Shepard – Mass Relay networks get blasted – Normandy escapes and crash-lands on some unknown planet – within the dark debris of the Citadel/Catalyst, Shepard still breathes – so much drama to consider!

But that was not my point, though.

Given the inherent incomprehensibility of the Reaper about their true origin and objectives, I NEVER expected any “sweet” outcome while playing the previous two games. It was quite evident and obvious in ME1 and ME2 that a sacrifice of some enormous magnitude, of something none has ever heard or seen before, would be required. What I was curious and eager about was – how Bioware would handle it.

Unfortunately, they failed! Why? Let’s take an example. Suppose, you ask me what is “XYZ”? And I have been deferring the questions, citing stories and other events to elaborate the misdeeds/functions of “XYZ”. At the end, I say “XYZ” is nothing but controlled by “ABC”. Instead of answering the question, I merely put across the answer as another question! So, again – what is Catalyst or who is Catalyst? What did it want? Who has assigned ‘it’ to bring order to the chaos? Why and how does Catalyst control the reaper? If Catalyst only controls the reapers then who created them? Who created Catalyst?

Mass Effect 3 has left too many loose ends than it answered. Who were that Stargazer and the kid with him? At what point of time were they having the conversation? What happened to the Normandy at her crew on that unknown world? What happened to the Sword fleet? Were they all destroyed? What happened to the other races those were fighting in the Hammer team on Earth? With the relay network out-of-picture, will they start living together - the Asaris, the Salarians, the Krogans, the Humans – on Earth? What happens to Shepard if he was still breathing (paragon ending)? Or did he bled to death?

There is a genre in English literature – known as ‘Lovecraftian horror’ – where the real objective(s) and the true identity remain unknown and unresolved. Mass Effect has probably treaded this path, adding a touch of ‘short-story’ like ending of the trilogy – leaving us, the Fans, to imagine and create our own endings. Or, are they planning for a next Mass Effect? May be not with Shepard but with the Kid... only wishful thinking...?

I DON’T like it but I must say that there could not be a BETTER ending. BETTER – not in the sense of emotion but in the sense of the spirit/plot of the trilogy. I personally felt that it would have been better if the Catalyst could be depicted as some kind of code or weapon or object or artefact rather than a sentient entity.

And in terms of emotion? Did really everybody expected to end the saga without an astronomical sacrifice? I hope not. With due respect to all the fan-fictions, I have read so far, I am sorry to say that none of the measures mentioned there seemed to be logical and viable for ending the Cycle. Though as much as I am possessive of my Shepards and his/her LIs, how else can I really put Shepard as someone... a saviour, a warrior, a legend... other than to make HIM do the final sacrifice?

Honestly speaking, had it been a happy and mundanely ‘sweet’ ending, I wouldn’t have remember the trilogy, probably, for ever as one of the best RPGs. I feel – it probably goes for all of us. Just give it a time...

Well, before anyone starts flaming me, I do have two suggestions for a ‘non-crappy” conclusion which are mainly extensions of the paragon-destruction ending. Here is how:

First possibility: Shepard and his LI (or Anderson, if he lacks one) wait on the catalyst platform for some timed detonation with their hands in each others... embracing for the last time...

Second possibility: Catalyst gives choice – Shepard calls for Normandy (because he was still in touch with Hackett) – Normandy brings a timed detonation device (something like Virmire) and Shepard plugs it to the destruction-core of the catalyst – Shepard rides the Normandy – Normandy escapes from the blasts of mass relay networks and crash lands on some unknown planet – Joker and Shepard comes out after the hatch opens followed by the surviving crew members (depending all war-assets, blah, blah, blah). BUT the penalty of timed detonation could have been – destruction of countless lives and fleets on the Earth and in the orbit – a “bitter-sweet” ending...

Modifié par SogaBan, 10 mars 2012 - 02:44 .

[eldiabs]

My Mass Effect 3 score: 50/100 or 5/10

Why such a low score? Because Bioware sold this game as being choice driven, when in the end, none of your choices even matter. I can forgive glitches and cover issues, they don't bother me one bit...but to ruin such an epic game with such pitiful series of endings ruined the entire series for me.

The good - everything BUT the ending
The bad - the ending. All this spouting off about how much your decisions affect the ending is a total lie. If you want a great Mass Effect experience, play everything BUT the ending and you'll love the series forever. Wish I would have never finished the game. I can't get myself to load it up again. Never been affected by a game's ending before. But no game I've played has had such an epic story arc with decisions I thought actually mattered. I feel cheated.

I loved almost everything about this series, from the very beginning of ME1. The changes to overall gameplay and mechanics just got better and better. ME3 is my favorite gameplay wise. It's extremely polished and an absolute blast to play. Would have given it a 10/10...but you took everything I worked for story and decision wise in the first two games and turned it into a pile of worthless crap. Who cares about the genophage or the Quarians home planet. The rachni? Get some RAID..or not. None of it even matters in the end.

The choices in ME1 and ME2 actually had meaning, and it seemed that would continue throughout ME3. I was unfortunately unable to import my save games from ME2 and considered replaying it to get my major choices back before starting ME3..so glad I did not bother wasting the time. Because in the end....NONE of the decisions you make even matter. I can't believe it's possible to create such a great series and then utterly destroy it at the end. Seriously, were you guys smoking something?

If you release DLC with a proper ending, make it free. People that stuck through and paid for this series and the tons of DLC that we actually thought were developing this epic story arc deserve it. I know large companies don't give a crap about individual opinions, but I just want to say I'll never buy another one of your games OR any additional dlc for this game. And if you try to sell a new ending, don't expect me to buy it. One should be provided free of cost as an apology.

EDIT: and just to clarify. I'm ok with bad endings. I'm ok with something being final, sacrifice and all of that. What I'm not ok with is this leading up...thinking these hard civilization affecting choices you have to make actually mean something. Instead, I'm confronted at the end with some boy apparition that is tired of playing with his toys and gives you a few choices...all of which result in the utter destruction of galactic civilization.

Modifié par eldiabs, 10 mars 2012 - 03:23 .

[Bloodmode]

Didn't even get past the character screen. Totally botched overhyped, overpriced crap these days.

[zr0iq]

I wouldn't call it fan... first playthrough


Pro:
Combat gameplay is superb to other the other ME parts. Especially liked the amount of customization for weapons and armor is great.
The "side" missions that are beside the main missions on the same planets are really superb, who ever wrote them KUDOS. In my opinion they are even better
The ending is great, I like them, but... see below.
Atmosphere is good, especially all fights against reapers on foot. Oh and the story outline is also commendable.
Sadly roleplaying-wise and the detailed-story can only be listed as negative points.

Contra:
As much love the combat system and its customizations got, that love is definately missing in consistency and dialogs? Only paragon and renegade choices, only choices that matter that sucks. No dialogs with NPCs for scan missions? Please Bioware any game I played from you had better dialog options, even more.
Mass Effect 1? About NO effect? I did not feel expect for Old Blood from ME2 anything having any effect, sad. The game rewrites itself to suit the previous games? A lie, I'd say. Just minor character switches.
The great endings are destroyed by the fact, that they do not feel like endings at all. You are done, but you don't feel like you have achieved something. Thanks to deus ex machina. Who ever agreed on this is has probably a bad sense for marketing. Probably something like an necrology of what happened who achieved what or so would be more final, like an ending.
Then there is this making one feel bad about decisions you made. I say it here again: I don't want to feel bad about making necessary sacrifices, when the renegade chooses it was for the greater good... I liked that in ME2.

The consistency stuff: The crucible will destroy the MRs? Just fire it in another direction, doesn't really matter, it will hit something... probably not so important.
The normandy crashes on not earth? So why where they fleeing battle?
There is many more such stuff? Like Geth consensus? Shouldn't it be named different, like hivemind or so? In ME2 legion was building consensus to get an opinion now it replaces the hivemind?
Does anybody actually check upon your writers?

Overall conclusion: Good game, but not RPG. More like an adventure. In an RPG I am the protagonist, I can choose, I am not powerless, but in ME3 I am. As an P&P RPG player and GM, this is what we guys refer to as bad style. Our players tend to leave when we do not grant them the illusion of freedom. ME3 is far to restrictive in this case, and thus not a game I'd recommend to any RPG fan.

Replaying it? No, maybe once. So it will be worth the money. But see you in MP guys.

Best moments in game: Tali getting drunk.

[I have to go]

Everything was great....except for the ending.  I don't know if I'll be able to replay ME1 and ME2 with an ending like that. And after this, and DA2 I probably won't be buying another Bioware game again either.

Modifié par I have to go, 10 mars 2012 - 03:37 .

[ReachEtaruN74]

As a precursory note, I must add that while this beginning section will be spoiler free, I will eventually dip into spoiler related material. I will however clearly mark the transition.

Let me begin by saying that before Mass Effect even came out, I was a fan of the Mass Effect universe. The concept was amazing and deep and thought provoking without even dipping into the story of Commander Shepard and his epic struggle against the Reapers.

Mass Effect 1 introduced the universe to the gaming world as an futuristic RPG where humanity finally had the ability to travel among the stars. It was a game of beautiful environments that was overshadowed by these mysterious entities known only as the Reapers. The game untangled the universe much like a mystery. Concepts
that seemed almost auxiliary like the mysterious vanishing of a precursory race known as the Protheans became integral and inseparable from the main story but it was done in such a way where every discovery felt groundbreaking, interesting and very well written. The characters felt real--they pulled on your heartstrings. There was never a decision that felt meaningless or random.

In short, Mass Effect was a revolutionary interactive novel.

Mass Effect 2 broke from the RPG style and became a more action leaning RPGish game. Bioware maintained the incredible character development while expanding the universe in a very meaningful way.

Now, to Mass Effect 3.

Mass Effect 3 tried to appease the fans of Mass Effect 1 who loved the hard core RPG elements but in the end made the game even more action oriented with simply more customization options. Now don't get me wrong, I thought the gameplay was very fluid and I liked the new style for the most part.

The character development was still phenomenal. In fact, some of the best interaction comes in this game. However, the character interaction that made Mass Effect really connect with it's gamers felt like it was missing. You can only *truly* sympathize with some of the characters if you played Mass Effect 1 and 2 (or at the
least, 2).

To wrap up the non-spoiler section, I can only say that if you have not played Mass Effect 1 or 2, don't really know that much about the universe, or are one of those people who buy games like COD or MW and it is both your primary game and you exclusively play the multiplayer then you could possibly really enjoy this game. However, I feel like if you haven't played the first two, the moments that really shine for players who have gone through both games and are ME3's moments of glory for these players, you're missing out and simply cannot enjoy the game in the same capacity that the dedicated fans had the potential to.


*** Spoilers Ahead ***


Fair Warning--I'll try to mask features of the game that are spoilers, but I will be discussing specific spoiler related points in detail.


Something that really worried me in the months before the release of Mass Effect 3 was this singular quote, "We fight or we die."

For those of you who know nothing about the Mass Effect Universe, let me explain why this quote seems so absolutely absurd. In Mass Effect 1 and in Mass Effect 2, the Reapers are built up to be this incomprehensibly, unstoppably powerful force--an enemy with nearly infinite numbers and technology that was millions of years more advanced. Basically, every 50,000 years, the Reapers come and destroy all sentient life in the galaxy (hence the extinction of the mysterious protheans). It is a process that takes hundreds of years and has been going on for an unspecified (and implied unimaginable) length of time. To me, this idea of "we fight or we die"
sounded like a brilliant idea to drown a tank in paper clips in hopes that that might stop it. And that would be ONE reaper.

Let me take this a step further. In Mass Effect 1, it took the combined force of the four largest military fleets in the GALAXY to take down A SINGLE reaper. The collector base in ME2 doesn't even compare in reality. So how, in the space of 8 years, did the galaxy advance to the point that there is even a fighting chance of *surviving* against a race of AI's that have been around for God knows how long?

This led a couple of my friends and I to speculate. We decided that based off this logic of "we fight or we die" that there must either be a super weapon or Bioware was going to just throw all the lore from ME1 and ME2 out the window, and say something like, "oh ya... that? we were exaggerating."

Granted, the combat as a result of this idea was fantastic--no doubts there. My issue there was with lore.

Personally, I had expected that the reapers had been created similarly to the Geth and in order to safeguard the universe from inevitable overpopulation and resource overuse to the point of exhaustion, destroy all life to ensure that life can exist in the galaxy for as long as possible. By this line of thought, I expected that the Citadel held a safety kill switch that the original creators (possibly the keepers) never had the opportunity to use.

Honestly I'm glad this wasn't the case because it's filled with political messages that apply directly to people today thus making it propaganda (this is the case because it's a futuristic fantasy game--leave out modern day problems in fantasy games. problems like the Reapers or genophage are perfect because they have auxiliary connection to modern ethics but are not directly applicable). However... I was less pleased with the actual ending.

I'll return to that in a minute.

The character development was only so-so. The moments that made the game shine for me were moments that were carry-overs from my previous play-throughs. The story that followed Mordin or Tali were my favorites because there was so much leading up to those moments from the previous games. If I didn't know who Tali was (Mordin, I believe, is considered to be dead if you are playing a fresh start from ME3) I wouldn't really care about the quarian geth conflict as much. It would intrigue me but that is about it.

The only character that I actually felt very interested in who was a new addition was the DLC prothean. If he had died (more on this topic later), I would have cared. However, I don't know that I could say that about any of the other new characters.

Ok.
All this said, Mass Effect 3 had its problems but these problems i've discussed thus far are mostly me just being incredibly picky. Mass Effect 3 was solid and incredible... up until the last 10 minutes.

They (mostly) rectified the problems and worries I had about the flicking paper clips at a tank scenario. It was still shaky, but whatever. The dialogue (which seemed way too toned down for a true RPG) was disappointing at times, but wasn't really bad enough to be upset about. It would have been a mere black mark. No. The reason I had to write this review is because of how incredibly horrible the ending is. Just saying that distresses me beyond what I think most people realize. I was a devoted Mass Effect fan before the game even came out. Bioware's games had become the golden standard in my book to which I held every other RPG up to and compared them to it. So, I do not say this lightly.

1. War Assets.

First off, the war assets idea was clever. However utterly impersonal. It made the game feel tedious and disconnected. Also, when you find out at the end of the game that they played almost no role in the ending (unless you had almost none) it leaves you with a very hollow feeling of "why did I bother scanning all those systems and planets and helping all of those idiots find their pants for absolutely nothing?"


2. Ending Part 1

When I first was finishing up my play-through, I had done almost everything in the game. And as a reward, it felt like I had gotten the worst ending completely arbitrarily. It is comparable to playing ME2, doing all the loyalty missions and side missions and then watching everyone die and nearly dying yourself and spending the last 20 minutes hobbling around like a cripple which is exactly what I wanted to be doing at the end of the game. Come to find out, there are slight variation of this, but basically all that War Assets thing you did, doesn't mean jack. Now you can go feel stupid for spending all that time trying to get that "completionist" playthrough.


2. Ending Part 2

When I play a game, and I specifically play a good person or specifically play a renegade person, i don't want to get to the very end and find out that there is one thing that I can't do (that has no meaningful ramifications upon the story) for the sole reason that it was programmed to be impossible unless you play through the game again with the same character and do almost everything all over again. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to play through a perfect playthrough twice solely to get a single dialogue option that doesn't affect the story. Thank you for punishing the players for playing by your system.



2. Ending Part 3

Let me be honest with you. EVERYTHING thus far has been just irritants compared to this section. The things I've discussed above wouldn't have merited the time out of my day to write this obscenely long review. The final piece of the ending is so outrageously obscene and offensive for any true Mass Effect Universe fan, that I literally feel that all of the excitement I held for every single game of the series was purposefully thrown into a latrine by whoever decided this was a good idea.

a.
What IS it?? It's obviously an entity of some sort... is it your idea of an angel? God? This is the least of the issues here so i thought i'd get it out of the way.

b. So, let me get this straight. There are three options that all *require* the death of Shepard? If you're one of those people who is holding onto the idea that the short cutscene at the end means he's alive, you're sadly mistaken and i'll explain why in a later point. The first one: you die along with all synthetic life. The Second one: you die physically and become the reapers's ... soul?... The third one: You vaporize (die... in case that wasn't obvious) and become a template for the recreation of all life in the universe (this is ultimately similar to Legions fate if you
take the paragon route). So, die, die, .... or die. These are awesome choices.

c. Ok. This one REALLY gets me. Remember back in ME2: Arrival when a relay was destroyed? "Mass Relays are the most powerful force in our galaxy." And when it was destroyed it took out an entire sector? Someone explain to me how the Sol system (or for that matter, any cluster with a mass relay) can exist after ANY of the endings. Especially Sol. Sol's got the Sol relay and ... oh idk that kinda smallish relay called the CITADEL. You cannot have in one game, a mass relay be the most powerful destructive force in the galaxy and then in the next game have them harmlessly disassemble themselves.

Basically, EVERY ending makes everything you have ever done in every single game in the Mass Effect universe completely worthless. Am I supposed to get a nice tingling feeling that life will flourish 50,000 years from now
(assuming that the destructive power of every single mass relay blowing up doesn't tear the galaxy apart)? Because generally, games like this you're supposed to feel satisfaction for saving the people in the game.
Not some doubly-imaginative people that don't exist in the *fantasy* world.

Also as a sidenote tributed to a close friend (whose name I will add pending permission). The "unknowable" Reapers were explained in less than 5 sentences.

Please, please, PLEASE, make a DLC that rewrites the ending. I hate to be the jerk that criticizes all the hard work that was done and from the sidelines at that, but every ending of this game feels like a slap in the face to
every Mass Effect fan.

PLEASE. I BEG YOU.

http://www.facebook....150700501585813

EDIT:
Please. Please. Go back to this. It is absolutely brilliant.
http://www.ign.com/b...lers.250066288/

Modifié par ReachEtaruN74, 10 mars 2012 - 03:44 .

[darkshadow136]

 I already wrote my review on how I thought the gameplay till the end  was great, but the ending ruined the game and the trilogy in it's entirity. My ME3 game won't be played again till the fix the endings either with a patch or a free DLC, and if they don't fix ME3 I will never buy another Bioware product. I also believe that the Multiplayer campaign should not reflect at all in the Galactic Readiness for the Single player Campaign, since may of us have no interest in the Multiplayer. The two should be Seperate and not effect the outcome of either.

The game in it's current state with the ending and Multiplayer influence on Single player I scor at a 3/10

If they fix the endings only I would score it a 8/10

If they fix both the endings and the influence Multiplayer has on Single player. I score the game a 10/10

Whoever influenced the endings and the influence of Multiplayer on the Single player Campaign should be Fired in my opinion.

I have posted a poll on this you can vote on this link.  social.bioware.com/318304/polls/29147/

Modifié par darkshadow136, 10 mars 2012 - 03:40 .

[fearan1]

My quick review:
As a fan up to the last 10 minutes 9/10 after a poorly done ending 6/10 .

The Good :
-Excellent combat everything improved from ME 2
-By far the best femshep of the 3 the voice actor really stepped up.
-Great Liara romance and old crew interaction.

The bad:
-on PS3 real Framrate issues in places.
-The gay pilot and romance felt forced and I like having all options just seemed out of place should have started in ME1 or be left out just seemed awkward.

The ugly
-The Ending is railroaded with no real choice which not only goes against everything said by Bioware leading up to the release but also offers no conclusions or explanations about the characters we have emotionally invested in.

The Hope
-post game DLC to fix allot of the issues 90% of the people have

Final Note: Currently after dragon age 2 and Mass effect 3 I feel EA has pushed Bioware from there successful path they will make more money short term but by alienating long time fans may well cripple themselves long term. Sadly I am no longer going to be a bioware customer sight unseen they have lost that faith and trust I had in them.

[paynesgrey]

Mass Effect 3 could best be described as an epic play by written by William Shakespeare, with the sets designed and painted by Leonardo DaVinchi, and then Uwe Boll takes over for the last 10 minutes.

[mllrthyme]

You want a review, you got it. -spoilers ahoy-

Likes:
- The combat overall seemed more fluid to me and I enjoyed the action sequences - especially those where I was in the dark. For example, the asari monastary had me on edge the entire time. It could've been a bit longer, though, as the missions seemed to be a bit on the short side.
- The facial animations seemed improved and I enjoyed the added emotional connection it provided.
- Inclusion of characters from previous games. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing my companions from ME2 and even though I wish they could've been more involved, especially the LI's, their presence didn't feel forced or out of place.
- emotional involvement - I have never cried over a game like I did with this one. I knew Mordin and Thane were going to die, but I still cried like a little girl when it happened. It fit the story line and felt real and necessary, not just thrown in for the potential emotional impact.
- Vega - I was pleasantly surprised by his character. He's my Shep's new bro.
- Kaidan - I've been waiting for my Shep to reunite with her LI since Horizon and having him back on the Normandy was wonderful. His animations seemed fluid and lifelike and their interactions were touching to say the least.
- companion locations - I thought it was wonderful that my companions didn't hang around the same areas all the time but interacted with each other. That was a nice touch.
- planet scanning - thank you for shortening that whole process. It's far less painful this time around. I still feel like I'm exploring the galaxy but without excrutiating boredom that was ME2 scanning.
- citadel - I like that I have the option to explore the citadel again. Well, mostly. I would've liked it to be larger with more to explore and more companion interactions, but it was a step up from ME2.
- EDI - go Joker!
- soundtrack - this had to be some of the best music in a video game ever. Seriously, it made the emotional connection that much more profound. I've been replaying the romance theme repeatedly, it's just that beautiful. And it was nice to hear some of the older tracks as well - provided a sense of familiarity. And Faunts is back. Nice.

Dislikes:
- Interaction - I wanted more interaction with my squaddies. Maybe Shep wanted to play some poker with Kaidan and Vega or have a drink with Tali. I think some real opportunity was missed here, but then I play Bioware games for the character interactions and story. I always want more of that.
- security checkpoint - am I the only one that was annoyed with that stupid security scan-thing on the Normandy? It was like walking through glue in that tiny room every time I left the war room. That was just irritating.
- spacebar - I don't know how many times I jumped over things just to end up right next to a Cannibal. The F button and I became good friends, and I don't think my infiltrator was too happy about that.
- romances - I'm a romantic at heart so I think more time and dialogue should have been given to those characters who were romantically involved and even those characters who were close friends. For example, Garrus was totally my Shep's bro, but he barely had anything to say to her throughout the game. That was a bit disheartening. Character interactions started off nicely, but then it was like everyone ran out of stuff to talk about shortly thereafter.
- spagetti arms - I know this is nit-picky, but my FemShep's a professional soldier and it looks like she barely has any muscle at all. She looks gangly and unhealthy which makes me sad.
- mission length - While I enjoy shorter missions at times, I never felt that ME3's missions were very involved. They were all relatively short, even the main quests. I think the main quests should've been more meaty, more inolved than the side quests given their importance to the overall plot.
- character import - I can't import the Shepard I've been using since ME1? Seriously?
- character creation - being nit-picky again, but I would've liked to see some of the hairstyles from the Femshep competition included. That pixie cut was cute. And all the buns are back and look exactly the same. *sigh* Also, what happened to the makeup? I'm all for subtle, but wow.
- Aria - I liked the idea that Aria was helping me out (sort of) and thought that one of the missions would involve taking back Omega, but....nothing. So there was all this fuss about a comic where Cerberus takes over Omega and it doesn't even feature in ME3? Missed opportunity. It would have been a nice place to revisit I think.
- The Endings - really, Bioware. Really? My choices throughout the games meant nothing and all I worked toward in ME3 meant crap. Shepard, especially a Renegade Shepard, should have questioned the Catalyst, but no. She just went with the 3 choices offered which all pretty much had the same nonsensical effect. And just how did my LI end up on the Normandy again? wtf? And why didn't Joker crash on Earth? Why is he running? And why does he crash on some random planet? Seriously, WTF? I'm not sad my Shepard died, as I expected that as one of the outcomes, but I'm irritated that it's the only outcome. I thought the ME series was about choice, and up until the end I believed in that illusion. And then came the magical catalyst kiddo. *sigh* Given the talent of the ME team I expected better than what was provided. As it stands, I'm not sure I can even replay any of the ME games because of the ending. I felt more hurt and confused and depressed by the lack of options and a happy fluffy bunny ending than I ever expected. So much for the illusion of choice. It, along with my love of the series, was just shattered.

Overall score with the endings: 4/10
Overall score without the endings: 10/10

[BobbyTheI]

So, I was one of the ones who spoiled myself leading up to 3/6, but I told myself I wouldn't write an actual review until I'd actually finished the game all the way to the conclusion.

And after finishing a minute ago and seeing what everyone else has seen, my final verdict?

Yeah, pretty much what they said.

Up until that very moment after Anderson's death, Mass Effect 3 was one of my favorite Mass Effect games, hell, one of my favorite BioWare games, no, one of my favorite games.  And then the wheels started coming off, and the seams started to show.

The funny thing about it, though, was that I ended up hating the ending for different reasons than I expected.  I was one of the ones who was so depressed after hearing what happened, because of the implications it had for both the characters I'd come to care about over three games, and the universe as a whole that I'd found so fascinating.

But no, after watching the ending, the main thing that annoys me is just how horribly, horribly written it is.  Nothing to do with emotions, nothing to do with wanting my Shepard to have a happy ending.  It's just a bad, bad ending.  A cheap cop-out to defeating the Reapers, plot holes big enough to fly the Normandy SR-2 through, and just flat-out laziness.

And it's sad, because the run-up to that ending had me almost in tears, walking around the ruins of London knowing that this would not only perhaps be the last time Shepard talked with these people, but the last time *I* ever got to see these characters again.  This game was just so damn good at getting me emotional, seeing conflicts that had been built up over three games finally be resolved, only to botch it so badly.

Again, this has nothing to do with happy or sad endings.  You know, people have these elaborate "rewrites," but you know what would have been a better ending?  Shepard wakes up, and a VI flares to life and says, "You can destroy all the Reapers by pushing this button, but the Citadel will explode and you'll die."  That's it.  Shepard goes out on a noble sacrifice, but the universe lives on thanks to him and all the influence he's had.

But instead we got a lame, lazy conclusion that struggled so terribly desperately to invoke an emotional response from me, and failed miserably.  After almost bawling through Mordin's death, the ending of the Geth/Quarian war, and so many other emotional moments in this game, I just stared at the screen at the end and thought, "This isn't working.  At all."

My only conclusion is that BioWare has this big plan to feed us an unsatisfactory conclusion, and then bilk us for $5-10 somewhere down the line to "fix" things.

And sad thing is, I'll probably buy it, because if you were to cut out that ending or fix it, this game would be my favorite of the series.

[redshift87]

I would give Mass Effect 3 a 75/100

This game would have been my favorite of all time, if not for the last 5-10 minutes of it.

Pros:
+ Loved, loved, loved the party banter between NPCs, and also the touching moments between Shep and her crew. I really felt like a lot of these characters had become almost like family
+ Shepard had emotions and showed them... rather than being a stoic, emotionless hero like she was in ME2
+ Levels were amazing, and diverse. So many places took my breath away; Palaven's moon and the asari monastery instantly come to mind
+ Combat was tight and fun
+ Thank you for bringing back so many characters from the previous games. It was amazing to catch up with them and see how they changed (-loved- Jack's metamorphosis)
+ So many amazing, cinematic sequences and dynamic conversations
+ Kai Leng; few enemies have made me hate/fear them so much (I also read the books so might be more in awe of him than others who did not)
+ Kaidan. I've always loved his character - level headed and genuinely a good guy. So nice to see a character that breaks the macho man stereotype. His writing was excellent and felt very much in character at all times

Cons:
- Stripping down of the conversation wheel. I was frequently frustrated and felt that I got few real choices in how to roleplay my Shep. The middle option was usually gone, and the paragon and renegade choices were usually just different flavors of the same line
- In general, a much more linear experience than the previous two games
- As much as I loved the artistic design of the levels, I found myself getting lost in them way more often than I have in any other game
- That kid. I didn't like him from the very beginning; using him as the token symbol of all the lost innocents on Shepard's conscience just felt tired and trite. Saw his death coming from a mile away, and was irritated each time he was dragged back into the game. I understand that somehow the staggering number of losses had to be humanized some way... just not this way
- The Endings

In conclusion, I was convinced that ME3 was going to be my all time favorite game... until the last 5-10 minutes rolled. I was not expecting or wanting a happily ever after ending - I cried, but loved, how Thane, Mordin and Legion died. Their endings fit their character and tone so perfectly (and they were three of my favorite characters). I was certain that the game would end just as masterfully. But what we got left me feeling so unsatisfied and angry.

The plot holes are beyond ridiculous (the Normandy fleeing and crash-landing, along with my magically teleporting ground team being the more infuriating for me, personally). I just feel like the story took a sharp left turn and stumbled into some other universe's finale. The ending felt short, tacked on and inpersonal. The ending "choices" really slapped me in the face and made me feel like the entire trilogy was a waste. I'm fine with Shepard dying. I expected it. I also expected some catharsis and conclusion; some recognition of the impact my choices had. As the last chapter of a ground-breaking trilogy, the grand finale should have been nothing short of epic. Instead, the ending cinematic is short and varies only slightly depending on your choice (the main difference being the color of the explosions.......)

Shepard's sacrifice and victory feel so hollow. It's like none of the decisions that I agonized over and spent days rationalizing even mattered in the end. Mass Effect was by far my favorite written sci fi universe. And in the end, it's ruined no matter what shade of suck I pick.

[Shadow2G]

Overall: 2/10  (9/10
when ignoring the final ten minutes)


Replay value: 0



Strong points:

+Astounding cinematic experiences during many of
the large-scale battle scenes.

+Difficult dramatic decisions and heart-rending
moments of heroic loss or defeat -- the fall of Thessia, Legion's sacrifice,
Mordin's sacrifice, etc.

+Sense of epic accomplishment with brokering the
peace deal between the Quarians and the Geth and curing the genophage. 

+Fluid combat and improved character maneuvering
on the battlefield. 

+Greatly improved melee combat.

+Improved AIs for squad mates and enemies.

+improved weapons and mod management. 

+Improved powers management. 

+Lighting and visual textures improved over ME2.

+Fun and engaging co-op experience in
multi-player. If nothing else, I got nearly 50 solid hours of enjoyment with
friends out of the MP demo. 

+Good overall character dialog, excepting the
opening scenes on Earth, where Shepard's, Anderson's, and the Defense Council's
dialog felt clichéd.

+Great romantic climax with Liara as L.I.

 



Weak points:

-Plot holes at the start of the game: What is Councilor
Anderson doing on Earth in an Alliance Navy uniform and why is there no in-game
explanation of how he got there? 

-The unhelpful journal and numerous in-scene
navigation issues 

-Graphics glitches that necessitated restarting
the game 3 times

-Uneven interactions during first 2/3rds of game
with Liara as my L.I. carryover from ME1 and 2. The need to reaffirm the
relationship during the talk in the Citadel Commons felt cold and out of place. What
went wrong and made Liara feel that she and Shepard had somehow become "just
friends"?



What killed the game for me:

-The single bleak ending that comes in three
color-coded minor variations. 

-The heartfelt sense that all of my choices from
ME1, 2, and most of M3 were negated during the final five minutes. 

-A complete lack of sense of closure.

-Several gaping plot holes: Why did Joker abandon
the battle for Earth; how did team members on Earth teleport to the Normandy;
why does Shepard take most of Catalyst's decisions and offered options at face
value?

-Having to murder EDI and commit genocide against
the Geth to get the ‘happy’ ending were Shepard kind of sort of lives. 

-An entire set of unanswered questions introduced
in the last scene: What happens to the Quarians and Turians trapped on Earth;
did we just annihilate life in every star system with an exploding Mass Relay;
did we just bring down the galactic civilization that we fought so hard to
protect and preserve?    

-Thematic inconsistency. Another forum member came
up with a great analogy that the current ending feels akin to someone having grafted
the end of 2001:
a Space Oddyssy onto
the end of The Return
of the Jedi. Both
are fantastic films with good endings that are appropriate to their stories,
but they do NOT mesh well. 

-The post-credits Stargazer scene.  

 

The verdict: I had originally planned to play through ME3 with the four characters that I have played from ME1 through to the end of ME2. 



I'm not going to do that. 



Once is enough. 



The losses that Commander Shepard endures along
the way and the sacrifices that he / she makes are too emotional and gripping
to go through again knowing that the only payoff is a bleak ending and a
sense that all of that choices, heroic struggle, and the sufferings of friends
and loved ones has been for nothing. 



To be frank, unless it's a DLC that offers new
ending options, I do not plan on buying any ME3 DLCs. If no such improved
endings are offered, then I'm probably done with buying Bioware games. Which is a real
shame since the first 99% of the Mass Effect trilogy experience was something
unique and truly wonderful.   






















 

[KingSnake661]

Mass Effect 3 was the one of he funnest games i've played in a LONG time, and was totally epic.

UNTIL it ended. At which point, i'm not sure I want to replay it.. or any of them, and bioware has, maybe lost a faitful fan over it. It's amasing to me, and it sounds rediculess, but, the last 5 mins of the game was THAT bad.

[elooocin]

So many years invested in this game, it is by far my favorite game of all time & I have tormented my friends & husband endlessly until played.

The Awesomeness:
- The story is so engaging, I have never openly wept during a game before -but twice I did during ME3 & teared up too many times to count during gameplay.  Everything was so heartfelt & emotional, I could feel the heartache and devestation all around me at every turn.  I cannot praise the game enough for how gripping it was at nearly every turn -it exceeded all my expectations... well, until the end.

- Characters are much more enriched in this game than the past two.  I always loved Garrus yet suddenly I wanted to go back to ME2 & romance him -something I never really wanted to do before considering he uh... has no lips & teeth look pretty deadly!  My first playthrough was Male Shep just to finish my romance with Tali since she is my favorite character in the game & WOW, her homeworld scene was perfection!  I sat there with her & had rainbow & sunshine with fairy dust dreams of building a life with her & wondering how we would set up our ktichen since we cannot eat the same foods -ha!  The banter between squadmates was one of the unexpected highlights of the game & had me laughing out loud too many times to count.

The Bad:

-Why does Shepard still run like a bowlegged monkey?  Seriously.  It was so terrible to see in ME2 & utterly disappointing to see in the final installment of the game.  Fem Shep doesn't run like that in the dream scenes, so why does she run so terribly on the ship in casual clothes?  As I was running around Normandy my husband was walking past me, stopped suddenly & just laughed -he was so amused by the terrible animation & I completely agree with him!  To have such graphic/animation goodness in this game why did you skimp on the bowlegged money running?  At least not running & some idles you seemed to have pulled from DA2 Fem Hawke -that was nice.

-Some animation errors which I hope is fixed in a patch, like heads turning weirdly, cutscenes only showing landscape instead of the person it should be focused on, eyes rolling back into heads, etc.

-And the biggest issue of all is the ending.  My first playthrough I was so upset over the ending but really just mostly sad over not having happily ever after with Tali -but I am not a must-have-rainbows-and-sunshine-ending kind of person so I overlooked that.  Though why was Javik, who should have died on the ground with me, getting off the ship with Tali & Joker?  And why were they on the ship to begin with?  Why were they not fighting somewhere?  And why did Joker run away?  Joker does not run away from things & even if a mightly pulse was coming his way it still makes no sense whatsoever for that to have happened.  And WHY isn't there a somewhat happy ending to be earned with your LI?  I believe that if you work hard enough during the game then you should be able to EARN your happy ending.  This is an RPG from the epic Bioware -how can you disappoint us this way with such a FIXED ending.  Sure there are what.... six possible endings?  Yet all remain somewhat the same & leave me feeling betrayed, empty, sad & very pissed off at you all.

I didn't find out till I got to Horizon on my 2nd playthrough that all endings are mostly the same.  I stopped mid game & I will not go back.  As I saw someone say around the forum, "Sure Shepard won, but I have never felt more defeated."  You took away HOPE with these endings.  Hope that you could achieve something greater with a 2nd playthrough.  I wanted to play ME2 again & make another save (since I lost all mine in a harddrive crash a few months ago), but now?  Now I do not want anything else to do wth the series.  It is completely ruined for me & thousands of others.  I do not know one person who completed the game who feels good about it.  I cannot believe that the six year journey ended like this.  Sure people always say 'it's the journey not the destination' & it is definitely true that the journey to the end was an amazing experience, but knowing I cannot achieve anything better?  Knowing I cannot sculpt my somewhat decent ending?  Yeah.  I'm done & it makes me feel utterly cheated out of what could have easily been perfection.

[Pasicrates]

To start, because it honestly makes me excited to think about, the best part of the game has to be the soundtrack. I know some people feel it didn't have enough synths or whatever (sorry I'm not an expert on muscial terms so I'm not sure if that's the correct term) but the soundtrack has such great emotional weight. Clint Mansell has done a great thing in my opinion. The piano song especially, the song that plays as the finale occurs is absolutely wonderful. I don't know what else to say. Fantastic through and through. As well, I enjoy how the first game ended with a song by the Faunts as did this. It just felt good.

Now that I got my giddy excitement over the music out of the way, I can clearly write my review of Mass Effect 3. This will be spoiler intensive.

Mass Effect 3 starts how I had hoped with the Reapers invading in force. Bioware doesn't hold the Reapers back as a mysterious force, brooding on the edge of the Galaxy because often in games if there is a big threat of ultimate destruction, I find it that writers often prefer to hold back on elements like the Reapers until the final act. This was a bold choice, in my opinion, as it does add to story elements and too see planets fall to the Reapers such as Palaven and Thessia is an awesome set piece. But beyond destroying cities any meaningful time spent fighting the Reapers feels lackluster. The few fights in which Shepard participates are lacking in... Excitement or really any complexity. Maybe hoping the fights would have been similar to a fight out of Shadows of the Collossus was a little much, but some thinking or depth to the fights would have been appretiated. 

 That being said, the rest of the gameplay is pretty decent overall; the games flows strongly from Mass Effect 2. The combat is almost an exact continuation, having Shepard and his squad dart from cover to cover popping up to shoot and throw powers out. The powers are an expanded selection from those of Mass Effect 2, if you imported a character you will infact start with you basic powers mapped out as you had them in the previous game. This was pretty cool, starting the game at level 30 and my character basically the charater he was, not just a plus to my morality ratings and a few extra credits. But even with this being said, the Soldier class (the one I used for my first play through) no longer felt like the same class, as everyone can now use every weapon. I used to take pride as I walked into battle fully strapped. Now, doing this will cost you, increasing your power recharge by a good bit. Not that this matters terribly as the Soldier classes abilities are somewhat... Lacking. I suppose, in all honesty, they always have been, however, Adrenaline Rush and Conc. Shot don't have the same effect they once did. I found myself forgetting that I had Adrenaline Rush as the time dilation tends to be buggy. Sometime it activates, other times it doesn't. And even when it does, it isn't terribly noticeable. Conc. shot is, well, conc. shot. Nothing new. The only new ability, the frag grenades, can be helpful late game when you are faced with larger groups of baddies, however, early on it didn't get much use. Maybe I was just playing the class wrong. The rest is about the same, you get your ammo types, and some passive bonus stat trees that increase damage, health, etc. In all honesty, I never used Cryo ammo, as it wasn't my preference too, and often found myself forgetting to switch to Disruptor ammo and one ammo type was enough to satiate me, especially as my weapons got stronger. I wish we were capable of "trading" these abilities with the ones you unlock from squadmates, I would have loved to replace two of my lesser used ammos for Carnage AND Fortification. I can't really comment on the rest of the classes, but from what I saw as a Soldier I'm going to say it is a safe bet to guess that they are pretty similar to the class you played in Mass Effect 2. Abilities are a bit more "malleable" to your play style, each rank allows you to pick one of two different perks, typically one that benefits the squad and one that benefits the ability in itself. It's a nice attempt at adding RPG elements in leveling up, however, as a person who only played on Normal and wasn't terribly focused on the minute differences between 30% more damage and 30% recharge speed, it didn't really matter.

Another way Bioware has attempted to re-add a sense of roleplaying to their game was by adding weapon mods. While a nice addition, I found that each gun only had 5 different mods. Though, the ammount of different guns (and armor! which is handled in a system identical to ME 2's) is a nice update. However, playing a Soldier, I was saddened to learn I couldn't bring them all with me without taking a harsh penalty to power recharge. While not the most impeding thing, I didn't like it. I'll admit, I probably would have never used an SMG, but still I would have liked to carry an Assault Rifle (another unfortunate no longer Soldier exclusive) a shotgun and a sniper on a mission. 

And of course, another avenue of roleplaying in a Mass Effect is the decisions you make and those you have made. This is where I am going to gripe a bit... I hate to say it, but Mass Effect 3, no matter what decisions you have previously made, is reconned like crazy. I've read articles Udina was the "canon" Councilor and now, no matter what he is. And this wasn't the only plot forced on you. Many of the MAJOR choices were. The rachni queen situation now happens no matter what, it has minor differences on your game, however, they aren't big enough to warrant any difference. And I have only played the game as a game in which the Collector's Base was destroyed, however, something very specific that was inside the Base at the time of its explosion was found later in the game. This ultimately made me ask a question I will get to later on in my review. 

These points aside, Bioware games aren't renowned for their plots, or at least not in my opinions, they are renowned for their ability to write characters. Mass Effect 3 starts strong on this. The interactions I had in the first half of the game were amazing. One thing that made me really happy was the intimate moments early on given to players who decided to stay faithful and romance Ashley. Early on, these moments are both heart renching and sweet and last up until halfway through the game. All warm and deep character interactions last until halfway through the game. After that, I don't know what happened. Maybe I missed them, but I don't see how as I went to each character as I had for the past two games. One major complaint I have is that once Ashley is aboard the Normandy there are only 2 interactions with her, and then the final romance scene and by the end it just felt fake. The new romances, Cortez and Sanders, as well as Liara, I felt were pushed on players much more than any other romance. Liara especially felt like she was meant to be the romance of the game. But that's enough about romance. Crew interactions, in general were limited to a few specific moments and nothing more other than some overworld conversations that last a few minutes at most. 

But of course, the cast of crew members are not the only characters in the Mass Effect universe! There are many returning characters, all of which have their own special and heartfelt moments. I enjoyed running into all of my Mass Effect 2 friends. But not only running into them, also teaming up with them for a short mission was awesome. Even those who were not previous crew members and new characters alike have some great moments. These moments, however, bring up a new issue and that is auto-dialogue.

I ultimately cannot say if the Auto-Dialogue is a good or bad thing. It, of course, takes away the ability for players to choose and really shape our Shepard in a way we feel is fit. But at the same time, I have felt in past games that Shepard was merely a voice acted Silent Character from another Bioware game. Of course I loved my Shepard, but hate me for this, he was lacking in some personality. The autodialogue, in my opinion, made Shepard feel like an idependant character capable of thinking, and this made me feel more emotionally attached to him. He wasn't as much a vessel of my decisions, but rather a character in himself. And this ultimately made me realize the issue that I mentioned at the end of my rant on the retconning Bioware did. 

We ultimately are not making decisions, rather we are guiding the tone of the main character. We can either be a Paragon or a Renegade, but no matter what, the story ultimately pans out the same way. This isn't a horrible thing, but Mass Effect 3 made me realize we weren't as free in the game. I don't blame Bioware for this, to write a game where everything is possible is a monuemental undertaken that I doubt we will ever see. 

I'm noticing how tiny the scroll bar is getting while writing this, so I'm going to try and wind down and complain about one last thing: the ending. Don't hate me, I know everyone and their brother is complaining about this, but as the final game in the series, I really wanted something more fulfilling. After letting it sit for a couple of days after beating it, it's not as bad as when it first occurred, but the final act and finale was ruined past the part in which you are forced to pick one of three endings. The scene in which Anderson and Shepard watch as the Citadel arms open is one of the greatest moments in gaming that I have ever experienced, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. However, to end the game by making the ultimate sacrifice to only learn that said sacrifice ends in one of three colors and an identical ending in which every choice is ignored, is frustrating to a player who has played Mass Effect for five years. I remember when I beat the first Mass Effect, I was 13 or 14 and it just enthralled me, I had to know what was going to happen. How was Shepard going to stop the Reapers?! What would happen between him and his love interest?! I didn't even know there was going to be a sequel at the time. I remember it was 1 in the morning, but I was wired and I searched every datebase and gaming site to see if and when a sequel was coming out. A few years later, Mass Effect 2 came out and I had the same response. At 1 am I was theorizing what was coming next. And then, just the other night, I was awake at 1 am as the ending of Mass Effect 3 played and the finale and explanation of what would happen to the Reapers, the races and characters I had grown to love wasn't there. I was even okay with being given the three different endings. I knew I wanted to destroy the Reapers, which I did, and I know my Shepard would have gladly sacrificed himself for it. But instead, everything was destroyed, and Joker and the crew ran away and I was left with a confused look on my face. I saw the Shepard "lives" ending, but honestly, it didn't feel good. Sadly, like I did with Mass Effect 1, I went online because I had to know: was there going to be a sequel? I still don't know the answer to this. But I hope the answer is no. Not because I wouldn't enjoy another Mass Effect game, I would have been fine with that, but I really wanted closure here. In my mind, the game ended with the Reapers dying and there was a Star Warsesque ending where there is a Ewok style party. 

If anyone read all that, I don't know why.  But I'll surmise my thoughts in one final list:
+The Soundtrack is Phenomenal
+The Reapers are no longer a myth
+More Guns and Armor Choices
+Character Interaction is Heartfelt
+Shepard feels like he/she is their own character
-Decisions from previous games feel moot
-Not enough interaction with crew in the latter half of the game
-Certain characters feel like they got better treatment than others
-The ending

If the Mass Effect series was a relationship, Mass Effect 3 feels like she's the one and then she breaks your heart. After recovering from heartache you smile and remember the journey and how it made you a better person for it, but still, you can't help but wonder what if... What if it had ended differently?

Mass Effect 1 got a 10/10 from 13 year old me, Mass Effect 2, a few years later, got the same marks from me, now, as it all ends, I grudgingly give Mass Effect 3 a 8/10. It was a great game, yet the lack of crew interaction in the latter portion of the game and the ending brought this masterpiece down.

Modifié par Pasicrates, 10 mars 2012 - 05:30 .

[LeifofRohan]

To start, this is probably the BEST game I have played in a long time. I haven't had a game, ever, ever, ever bring me to tears. And this did.

To copy many o fan who has done this, I shall start with the good:

The majority of the story, was, oh my god amazing. From the starting sequence to when you (I cured the genophage) say goodbye to Mordin, the second time I bawled my eyes out. The first time is when I (Thought) I was going to loose Grunt. The third being when I lost Thane. The voice casting, and the writing was awesome. As a good little completionist I did probably 98% of the quests and I am GLAD that multi-player didn't effect the story (I tired it, its okay but not my style) I liked the building romance option of My Male-Shep and Ashley. I liked the the character of Javik, hes was awesome, reminded me of a more warm blooded HK 47. Combat was nice, it was nice to see the ME 2 characters back, and I loved James Vega. Cool guy. It would have been cool to have an ME 2 character on the Normandy crew (not just Tali) like Jacob or Miranda or even jack (loved having her back, humor everywhere although the best part was when EDI sent explicit pictures to Cerberus ) But having the characters make an appearance was awesome. And when your in London and your saying goodbye to everyone, I was bawling. Especially when you get on the intercom...so amazing. I also liked how Garrius was like my Male-Sheps BFF and it was cool having him notice the sleep derivation etc. All in all, AWESOME voice casting and the written was 97% perfect.... The music was... OH MY GOD. So glad I got collectors for that!

The bad: Not a lot of me to say here, most of the game rocked but I am sure your expecting this. Whats up with the endings? Its kind of like the story led up to one predicted ending (with good/evil choices of course) and I even expected that if one scenario my Shep could die. That's not why I am disappointed with the endings. I chose the synthesis ending, which is my "favorite" of the three. It at least makes sense to me. The other two are like EH?! So I can control the reapers which is what I have been fighting all along or I can kill all synthetic life and possibly crash onto earth. Doesn't make sense. Especially after all the lead up to an ending of destroying the reapers (GOOD ENDING) and saving earth or inevitably control the reapers and getting indoctrinated and the reapers pillage and maim (BAD ENDING). And with choices in between. I figured Anderson would perish. But I was still teary eyed when he passed. But, that's not even my MAIN issue with the endings. My main issue is several things that don't add up story wise. Okay, first of all, I don't understand the idea of destroying the relays, its like... how are ALL these people going to get home?! We spent a huge amount of time preaching of PEACE and then we...leave them stranded to die? And why is the NORMANDY going through one relay as the battle for earth is taking place?! How the heck did my crew members get off the planet, in record time and then get through a mass relay and land on some uncharted planet? That makes no sense! They wouldn't turn tail and LEAVE a battle in the middle of it. Sorry guys looks like your gonna loose bye! I think not. Not based off what has been written for this game. Also, I wanted to know what happened to EVERYONE. Not just Joker, EDI, Ashley and Vega! What happens to Wrex etc? At least put there pictures on the credits and write what happened to the characters underneath based on your choices through all three games. I.E: Wrex and Eve had lots of Krogan babies etc. Have Garrus and Tali somehow make a kiddo or SOMETHING. Not just be like, here's four people you have cared about the rest are MIA. Plus what about the others like Miranda etc? I think its not fair to the fans to leave out that...

So,after the rant about the ending I want to clarify that I LOVED THIS GAME. Up until the ending. (Reasons above ) I am playing the whole series over again, I am not going to drop you BioWare or anything like that, I love Dragon Age, KOTOR and SW:TOR, and I am planning on getting ME action figures (What can I say? This chick loves to nerd out) but please, please, please either fix, give more clarification or give a whole new set of endings in DLC. I'll pay for it. I don't mind. Just please, I think, judging by the fan outcry of unhappiness that we need a better ending, that in my opinion would make more sense. I liked the spiritual synthesis ending, I have no complaints there but the story leading up to that doesn't tie in to it completely (I see some small elements but not enough for that big of an ending).

Good job on the game, I'd say 9.5/10 **Sorry endings took that .5 away** please fix endings. Thanks and hope you Bioware read!

Modifié par LeifofRohan, 10 mars 2012 - 05:31 .

[FierceReaper]

Echoing everyone's replies. I loved absolutely everything, until the terrible ending. My choices didn't feel like they meant anything. I wanted to throttle that stupid little Catalyst kid. If the story lets me end a centuries-long war by yelling at it, I should be able to prevent future ones.

All these plot holes were left all over the place(Hello giant fleet, left stranded and injured around a devastated planet with no way home). I spent years caring about Shepard, caring about my squad(hello, invested love interest who's stranded on some random planet light years away), and all I get is a 'might be' alive on one ending and some bit about Shep turning into a legend? I don't care about that. I care about in the moment, where every other part of the game has kept me.

I love your games, I really really do. I think you made an exceptional, wonderfully inclusive game that is quite frankly the best thing I've played. I buy everything in-game, and get merchandise. I had plans to buy an N7 hoodie and all sorts once I had finished, and all this ending made me want to do was put the game case in a drawer and delete all the shortcuts. I should feel elated right now, not bummed out. I don't know what the hell happened to make you yaw off course with this, but I hope you fix it.

Modifié par FierceReaper, 10 mars 2012 - 05:34 .

[redbaron76]

The journey to the end of MAss effect 3 was awsome, the qulaty time I spent with Ashley in the game was awsome and the love scene was epic. Endings could have been done a bit better, but I still like them. I hope that in the future we get DLC that expand possible enings and give shepard a chance to recover his crewmates from planet that they crashed.

[Tazzmission]

game rant gave it a 4.5 out of 5

http://gamerant.com/...ws-robk-137729/