1966 réponses à ce sujet

[DonJuan2000]

As said also there in my review that include other things and critics previously written in this thread too:
http://social.biowar...23159/1#9939507

Main Game 90/100
Ending earth 60/100
Ending game 20/100

The point that some do not grasp is that the writer or producer or both of them give it up to a certain point, the ending was botched and hastily sealed, its clear for those who have a degree of "maturity" narrative.
I would have preferred a kind of saying “we do not have more money to finish it as we wanted, but we can sell a DLC or put it in another title”, someone has complained, someone would have snapped, but it would not be e scam to around 3.5 million customers. The emblematic case is Fallout 3, and in any case, the finals were much more varied and theme of this stuff here or see also Skyrim and so on.......
In my opinion this is a final at the last moment found ill adapted and introduced in the title. First of all the man-machine conflict dates back at least to the likes of Asimov's I Robot, but also the cycle of the Foundation is not joking, and maybe not even sure all peoples here know who he is it, but God forbid if it is tackled so patchy and inconclusive as the final ME3 ..... I invite you to read them seriously. Even the movie with Will Smith addressed the issue better as not is not the book: what about Spielberg's AI? But even the Terminator. So the topic is vast.

- The space battles are part of the subject and star of the story. Its same if i would leave battles from Saving Private Rayan or series Band of Brothers. These are stories of men and made damn good, but above all consistent with the environment in war!

- The Harbinger then POOF, it disappeared as the Normandy and other squad members...... It should required as already said more task assignement like ME2 final battle but on larger scale maybe with space ships involvement too.
I remember that the Harbinger is the leader of the raiders. Like saying that the Sith Emperor is not the antagonist of choice for Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader is not. Who denies that he understood everything I see (sarcasm)

The core is that Lucas could write well and did so until the end, in ME3 this did not happen and the ending was botched by someone.


Some serious problems of narration there have also been entrusted with the drafting of the last book to another writer, it seems obvious to see that something similar has happened in the completion of ME3.

- Then we want to talk about the Child in the station that reduces everything to the cycle of conflict man-machine itself?
Not necessarely what you understand throughout the trilogy. We shot the scene at all costs even if far-fetched? Asimov is turning in his grave for such things.
 
The question of the cycle can also be there naturally, like Quarian-Geth matters, but not in this way as did in the ending.


- And frankly there are other issues such as inconclusive as the CRUCIBLE that had to be very clearly a 'weapon, a powerful accelerator mass to be used in various ways into a long and detailed final battle, a sequence cut in a rude and violent way, a weapond becomes i dont know what.......... In ME3 itself is understood that the Crucible project was already ancient at Protean age and in fact we understand quite well that it is accelerator mass that has grazed the planet Klendagon and damaged a Raider where Shepard will go to retrieve the device recognition. Only, as precisely as stated in the same ME3 was not powerful enough, it did not destroy the reapers, it only merely damaged. And this story leave also an open sidestory for DLC or even for a prequel RPG title about those ancient battles until the Klendagon conflict.

- Least but not last, if Citadel is autonomous and controls everything he needed why need Sovreign ? And why is remotely possible that was enough to stop Sovreign to stop the IA Kid citadel by letting in others reapers ? I am sorry we are to fruit. The final was pasted in the wrong way, for me is clear.

- In any case I like much more the old story without Kid Citadel stuff. Or just let put this AI in other place to be discovered in the future, maybe in ME4 after defeated the Hurbinger in ME3 and with the main plot story possible choice will not destroy all ME universe concept !

Modifié par DonJuan2000, 14 mars 2012 - 06:37 .

[Chico6988]

My thoughts on Mass Effect 3 was that overall it was an incredibly good game. I just finished it and went with the synthesis ending. I have to admit I was a little let down on the ending. From playing all 3 games and continuing my character from each one, I expected a little more. I think I understand what bioware was trying to achieve and I don't mind Shepard sacrificing himself, I just wish I got to see what happened to the rest of the crew. With Joker havin all the green lines and green glowin eyes, I beleive the DNA of everyone was changed for the better. The ending everyone is saying is the best (destroying the reapers) in my opinion is not right. The VI tells you that peace will not last and you will also destroy the Geth. I wanted peace accross the board, so to me, synthesis is the only way to achieve that. Thanks Bioware for the great game! I'm lookin forward to the DLC to come. I just hope I get to see some follow up on what happened to my crew...

[LordOfTheBytes]

Overall the game was a really great experience for me: 9/10

Positive:
- good writing
- genophage story arc, quarian vs geth story arc
- good soundtrack and cutscenes
- many intense moments and some really difficult decisions
- combat is fun
- very good voice acting with marginal exceptions

Negative:
- Not enough gameplay variety. There are some good things (for example the elevator sequence on the Citadel) but is is not enough. Vehicles, stealth, challenging riddles and maybe some minigames would be great. Play Kotor (riddles) or Deus Ex: HR (stealth) for inspiration. :-)
- More exploration please! Everything is so obvious, I just walk through the level, pick some items and that's it. Almost no secrets to uncover, or things that are only accessible with a special skill (like tech in ME1).
- Too much auto dialogue, the amount of dialogue is perfect but I want more options.
- Diane Allers: I don't get this character and her voice is annoying, sorry.

Modifié par LordOfTheBytes, 14 mars 2012 - 09:41 .

[wolf465]

 The Good

+Probably the best story told in the Mass Effect saga, I was convinced the Reapers were the big bad threat feared throughout the last two games and that they indeed were capable of destroying galactic civilization. Voice acting was top notch, the graphics are some the best on a game right now and finally I felt my shepard fit right into the majority of the story despite the dialouge being much more restricted than in ME2.

+Subtle stuff like my Normandy having all its upgrades from the 2nd game being unhampered (was worried they get stripped in some stupid way) seeing my crew mates who survived from Mass Effect 2 carrying on with their lives after the suicide mission and being able to have them help with the war effort. Getting engineers donnely and daniels to be part of your engineer crew etc.

+Combat is easily some of the best i've played for a third person shooter/RPG. the amount of guns, armor choices, powers, and various combinations you can make is just insane and will need another playthrough or two to try them all out. 

+multiplayer was something I was very concerned with but after my friend got a copy of ME3 it really came out as its own thing. I like how it affects the war prep but at the same time I can see how others wouldn't like it...still very well done on mulitplayer much better than I thought it would be.

The Bad

-Its very clear your love interest options are very limited here, I had a save with Jack as my LI from ME2 and needless to say it was basically bittersweet for nitpick moments where you meet her for a few moments and never see her again. It was very clear Liara and Ashley were being pushed as the main LI for shepard.

-I was disapointed not being able to see all my war assets in action during the assualt on Earth, there literally
was no point in getting some of them.

-This is more or less nitpicking but I would have liked to see Zaeed do more in ME3, he was my favorite squadmate in 2.

The Ugly

-The Ending...yes here's this again for the hundredth freakin time. It was disapointing. While the rest of the game is a masterpiece the ending is so terrible its enough to bring the whole game down a notch, the fact that the armada I assembled isn't even neccessary pissed me off beyond belief because even with the entire galaxy backing me up im still given THE SAME ENDING don't try to play off that its not the same IT IS. This isn't like the collector base where half my squad dies with the possibility of Shepard dying or living and keeping the base intact or destroying it. Nope same **** diffirent color. At the least I want an epilouge DLC or a patch that makes the ending more fitting to Mass Effect. I felt like the controller was literally slapped out of my hand as soon as I met the starchild and had to 'choose'. 

[wicked117]

 I finished the game a week ago but I waited to write my
review in hopes that I would have a change of heart. I haven’t so here goes. 

The game was awesome til the last 15 minutes. I loved
everything until the end. The game play was fantastic. Interactions with my
crew and characters in the story unforgettable. I laughed, I cried, I just down
right loved how they raised the bar with the moments in this game. The scene
with Garrus on the Citadel is by far my favorite but there are so many close
seconds. Great job you guys, you really did an awesome job with the majority of
the game. And I thank you for all your hard work.

I can get past the few bugs that I noticed. I can get past
the new quest log and how it doesn't update. What I can't get past is the end.
Seriously what was that? I can handle a bittersweet ending. In fact I actually
love them. Some of my favorite movies/books are the ones where the hero
sacrifices themselves for the greater good. But this was not bittersweet. It
was just bitter, sour and just plain stinky.

First off what happened to the rest of my crew? Why is Joker
racing away from the battle with Kaidan and Garrus who were both on earth with
me before we all got blown to heck by Harbinger?

 Second, what about the relays blowing up? In The Arrival DLC
the destruction of the Alpha Relay causes an explosion which annihilates the
Bahak system. So basically Shepard just wiped out almost everybody and
everything in the galaxy. Not my idea of saving it.

 And Third, and this one is a BIG on for me. What happened to
my choices throughout all three games? I was under the impression that they
would matter and play a part in the ending that I got. But they don’t. It didn’t
matter that I was able to broker peace between the Quarians and the Geth. It
didn’t matter that I saved the rachni queen. I didn’t matter that I destroyed the
collector base. It’s didn’t matter that I was able to keep my whole crew alive
at the end of ME 2. None of what I did mattered no matter how big or small!

 All that mattered was that my readiness score was high
enough to get very small variables of the same exact ending that everyone else
got. WTF!  I had no choice but to stand
there and take the nonsense the god child was spewing forth. I couldn’t argue.
I couldn’t really disagree. Heck I couldn’t even agree. I had no choice in the
matter other than “OOO! What color do I want?! Hmm… well red is pretty but I
also like green. And well shoot blue has always been my favorite color. Decisions
decisions."

 There are many other things about the end that gets to me
but those are the major ones. The fact is that the ending was so disappointing
that it quite literally disgusted me. I had a hallow sick feeling in the pit of
my stomach for 2 days. I still get sick about it when I think of the end. My
heart is broken over this game which sounds sad and pathetic but there it is. After
coming on the forums I know I’m not the only one.  

 The ending has completely destroyed all 3 games for me. I
think about playing any of them again and I get that same hallow feeling and I think
what’s the point. I know it will all end in nothing but a big pile of disappointment
and heartache. I will give it to Bioware though for creating a story that has
touched my heart in a way that no other story has. I’m just sad that they ended
it in such a way that I will probably never come back to that story or universe.

 So after the end I cannot honestly rate the game. Before the
end 10/10. After the end…. I don’t know. Its hard for me to give it anything
because I feel like the end just undid hundreds of hours of game play. I feel
like I’ve been sucker punched in the gut. I’m hoping you have something up your
sleeve Bioware. Something fantastic but I’m scared also scared to hope because I
don’t want to be disappointed again. Maybe I’m just grasping as straws. I guess
time will tell. But please don’t make me wait too long. 

Modifié par wicked117, 14 mars 2012 - 07:05 .

[Polyperkon]

I'll just start by saying the Mass Effect series is my all time favorite game series, I love it. I've put alot of money, hundreds of hours and most importantly, my EMOTIONS into these games and the story. I've only played with one character all the time, and I've felt very connected to my male, paragon Shepard. Now onto Mass Effect 3:

 I really liked the game up until the end. Here are my thoughts on that.

Before ME3 came out, I was kinda worried that the solution to defeating the reapers would be some stupid, far fetched solution that wouldn't make alot of sense. I felt early on in ME3 that the Crucible was a good solution, along with the unifying of the fleets and the galactic community, which I anticipated since the series has seen Shepard making alot of alliances and enemies along the way.

Now...to the ending. 

I could probably go on about this forever, but I can start with saying this: I'm disappointed. I was angry. I felt confused and robbed. 

When you reach the end, there aren't really any significant choices for you to make, choices and consequences that reflect how you have played and progressed throughout the entire series, which up to the end has been very focused on player choice, as we all know. 

Shepard dies. My male shepard had a romance with Liara, a romance that I really enjoyed and always looked forward to seeing how it progressed. But no. SHepard dies, no littel blue children and a life of peace and finally taking the time to be with the one he loves. No, he dies, after all we have been through.

The Reapers threat is gone, yay! But...so are the mass relays:

No mass relays = No more galactic community. All systems are isolated from each other. All inter-planetary communications are gone and the galactic society, community, basically the entire background to the game and the world you've explored is shattered. Then....how much is really won? Who will know what happened? 

And here's a thing I don't get. The mass relays are destroyed, so...what happens to the gigantic fleet and all the people who fight at the battle for Earth? They're all stuck on the battlefield, outside the wasteland that is Earth, and all the giant armies and navies and all the great races and people you've fought so hard to unite and band together, they're going to starve in their spaceships and in the ruins on Earth. That's great, atleast they looked happy when the Reapers were gone. Lets see how they like it when they realize they're all stuck in the Sol system. I bet Tali must be really happy, the quarians finally regained they're homeworld just so they can be stuck on the other side of the galaxy.

As for the more familiar characters that, I guess, escaped on the Normandy: They get stranded on some tropical planet with a crashed ship. Shepard is dead, and so are all their friends and society and civilization as they knew it. But they all look happy and releaved, cause atleast it's warm and sunny!!!!

Suppose I could add that the little boy you meet at the end doesn't really offer any answers. Basically, the end is all just, as someone put it earlier in the thread, a very philosophical and mysterious end to a very un-philosophical game and story. 

To me, it feels as if the games have been very consistent all the way, the endings to ME1 and ME2 were very good and if you played it right, most characters survived and you got to see their stories and lives develop, along with the story of the galactic civilization. But then in the ending for Me3, I just felt like the devs sat down and figured:

- Hey, instead of some boring "10 years later, everyone made it and they all lived happily ever after"-ending, lets try something new, now that people have invested a ton of money, time and EMOTIONS into the story and depend on us to make it good.

There must be someone out there who liked the ending or thought it was fine, good for you. And there might be things that someone else would see differently and so on. But after all the talk about accomnplishing the impossible, will they make it, building a future with Shepard's love interest, having a beer with Jacob Taylor at a bar in Rio after it's all over, I would have been so happy to see my paragon Shepard survive, retire and live a life in peace with Liara, and if that is too cliché, put him in a wheelchair for some reason.

Some people have been talking about wanting a DLC with an alternative ending, I would support that. Even if that were to happen though, it's still just...not the same. Everything felt great up until the last 20 min or so. The last 20 min of the last game of the game series left me feeling confused, disappointed and robbed of a good, decisive, well-earned ending. And a nice, well-earned retirement with blue litte children and beer with good friends in ab ar in RIo. That would have made me so happy to see.

Mass Effect has been a big part of my "gamer life" and gamer identity. And now it just feels like a big disappointing, confusing, non-consistent anti-climax.

Thank you for everything, it's been an amazing journey and I loved playing the games, but the ending sucked and it ruined everything.

[lonewolfassault]

Chris Priestly wrote...

We also want to hear from you, the Mass Effect Customer. What did you think about ME3?Waht score would you give it?What were your likes? What were your dislikes? Please post in like the below:

(Start with) My Mass Effect 3 score: X/100 (where X = your score. 95, 67, 42, 6, etc)
(And then why you gave it that score) I really liked/disliked ME3 and here is why....

Out of 100 breaking it down into five groups of twenty points each. - Gameplay, Sound, Video, Characters, Ending

Gameplay
[20/20]

Gameplay was amazing. All the descisions leading up from way back in the first game I kept seeing popping up throughout the three. Saving Wrex was obviously a big one, the Kaidan Ashley desicion, even the dlc from Mass Effect was present with Balak showing up. Two threw in it's own assortment of past affecting present and those were all major breadwinners here.

But even if you didn't play one and two, three had so many unique points of its own. The support random people options, galactic readiness, the mini quests to go out and help random people. Even taunting the reapers with my pulses before escaping the systems was a great joy to me. (Very childishly, I would run away from the reapers in a system and upon escape have a laugh and flip them the bird while I zoomed off elsewhere.)

Combat dynamic was great. Mind you I do not have a kinect, I tried it at my friends out with kinect, and I am still of the opinion, it is completely fine without Kinect. It was neat sure. But certainly not better with or without it. Beyond that little push for gedgetry, fighting with all the available weapons, combat styles, and abilities was great. Absolutly loved it.

The story was great, and I was personally able to feel the struggle when I entered a planet like Palavin or Thessia and saw each time the magnitude of what was being faced. The fight felt worth it to me, and each objective had it's own urgency about it.


Sound
[19/20]

To me the soundtrack was in well kept pace with the game. No problems with music, voices, or the rat tat tat of gunfire. The first mission as you flee from earth, Shep watching the people trying to flee the planet only to be stopped by the reaper, the music was so on cue for that, the first time I watched it I was amazed after picking my jaw off the ground from watching those people get vaporized. Quite a bit of shock value there.

However! - One point off for every time I jumped into a mass relay and had to turn my volume down. It always seemed that the volume went up way too high on those jumps. Things rattled in my house when the speakers didn't get turned down for those moments.

And for the last few missions where you end up using the Cain. The little mini nuke made my Shep (or at least my speakers) deaf. After firing it, I went up to talk to people and couldn't hear what they were saying. Although standing next to Wrex while he addressed the Krogan shouting what was presumably "Raugh grugh urgh burr argh rgaugh!" was worth a laugh or two. A quick mission restart after turning off my xbox fixed that though.

Video
[20/20]
Again with the technical reviews, video was pretty awesome. Crisp, clean, and from what I saw, no random area glitches or missing zones. The environments were awe inspiring, and the effeicency of load times left little to be desired. Cutscenes were well done and I never had any problems with them loading or playing through. No points off in this department.

Characters
[19/20]
Many of the characters were as amazing as they had already been evolving to be. Getting to go in depth with several of them such as Miranda was just gravy after excellence. Recruiting each of your squadmates back onto your team was wonderful and the missions for them individually were certainly attention grabbing.

Having said that. I had become used to talking to my squadmates on my ship and getting the dialouge options to revisit old subjects. The "Hello Shepard" and "Busy right now, come back later." responses irked me a bit, but they were useful in their own right for seeing what needed to be done.

Some characters weren't as in depth as I had originally hoped for. Even delving deeper into old friends would have been personally fun for me. But in the immediate problem were characters like Spc. Traynor, Lt. Cortez, and Diana Allers who all felt like they were thrown in with little to no depth in them. Traynor had the most background that I felt, but Cortez really did feel like he was there to be a sideline gay romance character. Allers was in all effects to me "Eye-candy" or was presented as such and once again didn't have the dialouge necessessary to feel like a good developed character for Shep to have a relationship with. Not a huge issue considering all the other depth in characters.

The romances were all special in their own certain ways, and many of them had the heartwarming feeling of two lovers lost in the big galaxy. It was easy to attach ourselves to the people that Shep came to love and care for. Whether it was the slightly socially aqkward Liara, rough and tough Garrus, survivors Ashley or Kadian, psychotic Jack, or any of the other many many characters Shep pursued a relationship with. Even Kelly had a chance to come back, which was amazingly wonderful in it's own right! But for this reason especially, the final category takes a big hit.

Endings
[5/20]

It took quite some time for me to simmer down after finally "beating" the game. After time to think, and reflect on the ending, I can say I am more disappointed in the way the developers have presently ended this triology than I have been with any other game I have ever played. As a long time enjoyer of video games as both a social hobby and personal enjoyment, that's a pretty bad state of affairs.

Thusly, the list of issues I found with the ending is as follows -

Three endings - One outcome.
Every single ending results in somebody/something dying that was critically important to us at one time. Two out of three endings see the death of our hero that we worked so hard with for 40+ hours of dedicated gameplay. The only option that we get to see ourself live through is the death of synthetic life. So congratulations, your now very awesome companion EDI, and all of the Geth everywhere that you may have worked your arse off to get a peace with the Quarians, along with every other AI, and probably VI in the galaxy - THEY ARE NOW DEAD. But that's okay, because Shep is alive somewhere in the wreckage of the citadel.

The other two options are good, and while they certainly have boons to them, wind up with Shep dead.

You may be thinking, that's no so bad. He's a self sacrificng kind of guy. He saved the galaxy from the cycle. Yep. Sure. So what about [Romance Interest]? For me, it was Liara. So break it down. Back in two for the DLC: Lair of the Shadow Broker, Liara and Shep start talking about all the wonderful little blue kids they are going to have. I was so eager to see an ending where an older Shep was happily at home with beloved wifey, pushing a little blue child on a swing or something... but no. No. If I don't choose to commit mass genocide against synthetic life (which really should be a renegade option in my opinion), there are no little blue kids. There is no Shep with whoever he/she loved and wanted to be with. It's just too damn bad. But know what, go control the reapers if that's what floats your boat. Or choose synergy. That seems the least evil of all the options.

Or is it?

My underlining theorey with each and EVERY single option, is that glactic life is presently screwed. Why?

THE MASS EFFECT RELAYS ARE GONE!

Once again, at first glance, not such a bad thing. People lived right? They will move on? On any of the homeplanets, it's going to take quite a handful of centures to get life back to the way it was. But for a little system called Sol, my theorey is that whoever survived is about to die.

The mass amount of fleets that gathered for the final battle are now effectively stranded in the Local Cluster. Let's give a fair estimate that 50% survived the battle. Of those fifty percent a magnitude are now in need of medical attention, food, and shelter. This includes Turians and Quarians, who cannot eat food that most other organics eat.

So we have a stranded fleet scurrying with whatever little supplies they have left, to mount rescue and recovery missions on a planet that just took the blunt of the reaper assault. How much of earth was left fertile for growing crops and even being able to handle life? The reapers set fire to forests, fields, mountains, and valleys. Ashes are raining from the sky, constant debris is falling to the planets surface, and I'm personally wondering whats going on with all the reaper ground forces that were left on the surface. For the sake of this argument I'm going with they were shutdown or simply fell over dead.

In simple form - the earth is now home to how ever many million if not fewer original survivors, all the ground forces that came to the final attack and are planetside, the different navy's, and hundreds of thousands of ships and personell floating high up. With so few resources available, and so much needed at present, order will quickly give way to chaos without a governing body such as a counvil between the races. The only people that have a decent shot at making it home are the Krogan, who are the local clusters next door neighbors. But that is still a trip of months that will need proper planning and adequate resources.

Among the many races in my playthough, I suspect earth is now home to -
Humans
Turians
Asari
Quarians
Salarians
Krogan
Vorcha
Elcor
Batarians
Drell
Geth

All of whom save for the Geth need food and shelter. Shelter shouldnt be such a huge problem. It can probably be managed. But with Earth in the state that it is, food is not going to be a viable option for that many races. People are going to die, most likely the Drell, Batarians, Elcor, Vorcha, and Krogan if they do not make it back to Tuchanka (As they did not bring any females with them). These races are most likely to die off due to lack in viable populations. The salarians might also be aomng them if there were not enough females present to maintain a suitable gene pool.

Even so, the Quarians and the Turians are going to have a hard time of it due to their specialized needs for sustanence. Which leaves the Humans, Asari, and Geth if the other two don't make it. And that is once again provided order can be maintained long enough for a governing body to get things organized and put a relief effort together.

The saving grace though, can be the Geth. With a tireless workforce that is stranded with the rest of the races, by creating more geth and asking them to help with terraforming and rebuilding, each race stands a chance. That is if you didn't destroy all synthetic life.



Now off my little soapbox for that. I have adamantly strong feelings that more actuall endings need to be added to the game. If not replace the ones at present. Not just variations of the same ending three times over based on how much you did or how much multiplayer time you put in. Long time fans want more, and have already expressed those feelings. There are donations, petitions, and even people attempting legal action because the bottom line came down to it - fans are angry.

Shepard deserved better than these hollow excuses for an end to his/her legacy. And so do the fans who have supported Bioware and Electronic Arts throughout the years.



-------------------------------------------------

Final score -
Gameplay - 20
Sound - 19
Video - 20
Characters - 19
Ending - 5

83/100 - Great game, awesome multiplayer, wonderful development. Bottom line - Shepard deserves a better if not happier ending to his legacy, if also to add in sharing with the romantic interest of a players choice. And fans deserve a better memory of a great trilogy than "Yeah, good game, but the ending was so damn terrible."


Quick Edit - Friend brought up another issue with the ending. Where is Harbinger and why do we not get to murder it until it's dead? This was another of the issues that should have been present, because that thing has been screwing with us since Mass Effect 2 with the collectors. Grab your torches and pitchforks, that reaper needs a reaping.

Modifié par lonewolfassault, 14 mars 2012 - 07:36 .

[Menagra]

OriginalTibs wrote...

Mr. Priestly I have admired the wonderful artistry of the Mass Effect series, but am so incensed by the endings I am considering even cancelling my SWTOR sub in protest, let alone providing further patronage of Mass Effect.

That I would even think of nudging the elbow of the artist has me conflicted, but these documented endings, and how they have been handled, no matter what masterful tricks you have prepared for purchasable DLC, violate your own artistry and have me quite close to an EA-wide boycott.

Strongarming DLC sales from your customers is bullying them.

"Bullies have no friends when they really need them." ~The Salarian Dalatross

One guy is as nothing, it is true. Yet I have been a stalwart Bioware patron.

If many of us do similarly, then you will discover that the artist also has responsibilities.

This is exactly how I feel.

[NorDee65]

I just finished ME 3 today. Yesterday I was already planning my next run through, but after the game ended, so did my enthusiasm. A sad thing, because before the last mission, I had enjoyed myself immensely: I liked the revamped graphics, laughed or cried at the appropiate scenes, and occasionally got so angry at Cerberus that I felt the need to pummel my way through its lackeys, even though my Shepard is no melee-fighter. That's how immersed I was. The NPCs (old and new) were wonderfully portrayed, most quests were good, and I even liked the new version of scanning missions. I noticed a few minor bugs, but to me they were not game-breaking. Since some were mentioned elsewhere, I do not doubt they will be rectified.

whole game but last mission: 100/100
last mission: 20/100

The ending:

Since so many have already pointed out, what they disliked about it - many points I do agree with - I will offer what I would have liked as an ending, based on the endings on offer:

1) the basic three choices (red,blue and green), but instead of three choices available, Shepard's alignment will determine what is available: red for maxed renegade, blue for maxed paragon and green to both. Only paragade or renegon get all three choices.

alternatively:

2) Andersen falls unconcious, does not die, and when Shepard makes her way towards the console he is there for her. Both get "uplifted" and confront the catalyst. The choices as in 1) but Andersen offers to take her place, so Shepard must choose not only the ending, but which of the two will bring it about. The diologue between them should be heartbreaking!

3) both 1 and/ or 2 plus the possibility to convince the catalyst, that peaceful co-existence is possible, showing as proof stories from the morning war, the fact that the geth and EDI have chosen to fight with the organics against the synthetics. The catalyst then offers as a choice a variant of the green choice in which Shepard must give up her corporeal existence and join with the citadel (maybe like EDI and  Normandy), and become something like a caretaker or guardian of this co-existence.

Since I do not understand nor agree with the destruction of the maas effect relays, I'd rather they stayed whole.

The epilogue would show - depending on the choices - the rebuilding of the worlds, united or not. The scene with the fleeing Normandy could also be written out.

With endings like that the whole game would have gotten a 100,but alas.

Modifié par NorDee65, 14 mars 2012 - 08:18 .

[KennethAFTopp]

I am surprised no one is more outraged by the unnecessary use of Autodialogue, seems to be a bigger no-no in my opinion, your Shepard loses his Identity.

[ForTreehill]

I'll keep it short, and just write the most important thoughts I have about ME3.
Mass Effect 3 is the BEST and WORST game I have ever played.

Why ME3 is the BEST game ever:
The emotions the game brought out of me was amazing. I sad screaming like a little school girl, and cried my heart out like a mother who lost her child. The story was just amazing, and one that I will never forget. I could talk about it all day, its just that good. The amount of small details brought from ME1 and ME2 + DLC blew my mind. Every known face from the series was seen in ME3, and I was extremly blown away by that. The sound of the shooting and the underlying music was just nothing short of amazing. The combat was great, and I was never bored. The emotional connection I got with this game, made me think I was crazy. The story, themes and lessons this game gave me, were better than any movie or book has ever given. The impliment of homosexual relationship (Kaidan/mShepard) was for someone like me just the final brick to the masterpiece that is ME3. I would without a doubt give the game a 10/10 if not for the ending.

Why ME3 is the WORST game ever:
The amount of disappointment that came from the, what I feel was half-assed, ending just ruined nearly the entire 3 games for me. So many questions still unanswered and that you did not get a conclusion to the amazing story that was Commander Shepard. Everything I had fighted for meant nothing. I did not get the satisfaction from a closure. No epilouge/cutscene that told me what happend to the universe, and how I affected it. No closure to the amazing characters I grew to love. I felt so hollow when the credits rolled. That feeling is why this game was also the worst. I was/am so sad about a game that should give me chills just by remembering it.
And then there is the loopholes of logic. Why was Joker + the crew (even the ones with you running to the beam) flying away through the mass relay? Now with the mass relays destroyed everything is hopeless. A giant army stranded in the Sol system with only a destroyed Earth to support them. I hope that you have something up your sleves that will make this game THE BEST game ever again. Something that will make all my problems with the ending worth nothing.

Cause I am amazed by this amazing game. And I should not be forced to remember it by the dissapointment that is the ending. Please, when you have created a game that is so amazing as it is, why did you mess up with the ending? I do not get it. But I cannot give it 10/10 solely because of the ending. It takes me to the low rating 7/10 that does not in any way honor the game that is ME3, but I can't let the ending go "unpunished".

Thank you for making an incredible game! Please, instead of leaving it at incredible, hear our cries and make the game: THE BEST ****ING GAME EVER!

Modifié par ForTreehill, 14 mars 2012 - 08:43 .

[Phate Phoenix]

This review will be split into two parts: without the ending, and with the ending.

Without the ending, I would honestly give this game a 70/100. There are issues here that, while I was playing, I was willing to overlook. The Journal is a mess: trying to track what sidequests you're doing, what you've done, and where you're at is impossible. The dialogue has completely changed: auto-dialogue is more prevalent, which can be a bit frustrating at times. Interacting with the squad aboard the Normandy is completely different as well, more like Zaeed and Kasumi.(I like this change, but I wished for more in-depth conversations.) There are many glitches, like people being invisible or mute, or characters not looking at each other when the talk (Liara's info-drone was absolutely fascinating to my FemShep for some reason). There have also been several import issues reported, although I only experienced one: my FemShep's face wouldn't import. Annoying, but I, personally, could overlook it.

I liked a lot of things, though. Combat was great, and the new leveling system is leaps and bounds ahead of ME2's. The weapon upgrade system was pretty useless, but better than ME2's because it had numbers and bars so I could compare what each weapon could do (yay!). The armor system was like ME2's, which I liked, so that was good. Buying pieces for weapons and amor was odd, though. There are several stores like ME and ME2 to buy things from, and the game gets back to it's roots and lets you buy things from the ship. Unfortunately, each store is segmented into its own section, so cycling through all of them is a bit of a hassle. I wished they'd just done it like ME and had it as one, big section. I don't need to know where each mod comes from. I just want to buy the darn thing. XD

The story is really good. It takes a lot from ME2, I feel, in that it's very character focused. In ME the story is stopping Saren. The characters are there, and they add to the story, but they aren't really the driving force. ME2 was very different: it didn't really have much of a plot. "Gathering a team for the SM" was it, so the story had to be tightly bound up in the characters. ME3, on the other hand, has a plot, but the magnitude of it is so immense that it needs to be personalized. So your squad tells you the story of war through their lives. It's a great way to go about it, and gives the player a real stake in the war. I will say that the dreams of the child were far to dramatic and eyeroll worthy, though. Another few bright spots in the story were getting to address the big issues in the previous games: Quarians vs Geth, and the Genophage. I love how our imports can really affect how these play out.

Something very annoying was that, as a FemShep who had romanced no one in the previous games and left Kaiden to die in ME, I was stuck with only females as romance choices. I, uh, what? O_o Hetero-MaleSheps get Allers and T'Soni. Hetero-FemSheps get... celibacy? Really a sucky thing to do.


And now, the second part: with the ending.

With the ending, the game gets a 25/100. I don't quite know how the explain the feeling I got after beating the game. It was a sort of... empty disappointment. Or the kind of feeling I get when I try to write through writer's block. Bricks on my stomach and arms. A "crushing disappointment". I'm not even mad, really. Just... disappointed. All other issues in the game I was willing to overlook as I was playing, because I was enjoying myself. But this ending literally sucked all the fun out of it. All of it.

Okay, anyway. I hated the God-Child. What is he? Why is he there? If he controls the Reapers, why did Sovereign linger in the galaxy? Why did Saren need to manually do anything to the Citadel if the God-Child was there, since he admitted he was the Citadel? The God-Child is a huge mess, story-wise. The questions surrounding just him alone are ridiculous and annoying. Making it into the figure of the child my Shepard keeps dreaming about does not endear me to it, by the way. It just makes me more irritated. Also, I watch horror movies: you never trust the creepy ghost-god-child. Never.

The three colors. Er. Choices. I don't quite know how this was thought to be a great idea. Really, it's the illusion of choice. Pick one, any one, but it all ends up the same. The Reapers are gone, the Relays are destroyed, the Normandy and all your squadmates (even the ones fighting besides you minutes prior) fled the battled and end up stranded on a planet, and the fleets you brought with you the fight the war are all doomed to starve to death. Oh, there's a chance that Shepard might live if Red is picked, but whatever. They'll die of starvation, too. Or atmospheric re-entry. It makes every decision that the Player ever made pointless in the scheme of things. No matter how they play the game, this is how it ends. Rocks fall, we all die.

That makes this entire game unbearable to play. It makes the previous two games unbearable to play. That's why the ending alone makes this game not worth buying.

The combat is good, fun. The characters are great, the story is heart-breaking and emotional. And it's all meaningless. Man. It sucks.

[MStango]

Pros
Great Sound Design
Amazing Voice Acting
Good looking Graphics
Fun Multiplayer
Great 3th Person Shooting
Involving World and Characters
First 98% of the game is Phenomenal

Cons
One Very Dominant class in Multiplayer
Broken Weapon System
Logical Problems
Bad Romance
Despite being full of Giant Horrors from beyond, there are few Boss Battles and none worth rembering
The ending roundly destroys any semblance of sense the plot was trying to make
Legendarily bad way to close a trilogy

Conclusion 7.2
I love this game and I hate it at the same time

Normally I don’t want for DLC, but if Bioware pulls a Fallout 3 and changes the ending via extended content/repcons the current ending out of existence, I will happily debase myself in praise. I was truly in love with this title up until the last twenty minuets or so. This is the worst misstep in the history of the company and I say that knowing that non-epilogs and unsatisfying endings are the norm for them. This series is Bioware’s masterpiece and this title a chance to show everyone that games can be, not just art, but surpass every other form of media through the power of the interactive narrative, only to throw all of that away in favor of censorship, standardization and an ending which could apply to any story. It does not grow organically from the plot, it is not effected by the heroes many choices and actions and it is completely separate from the universe the games build themselves around. More then ever I find myself thinking of the first game, despite Mass Effect’s many problems it took chances like no game since and I deeply miss the company that had the strength of character to weave a tail that uncompromising.

full review here http://www.gamefaqs....s/review-149976

[Penguinlover]

My Review,

This trilogy is the best series I have ever played. There was so much love that went into the final game. The story telling was amazing and I felt so many emotions during the game. I rarely feel moved by games to be honest and just play for fun but this series has taken playing computer games to a whole new level for me. I feel very re-assured about the future of games and how amazing they are going to be with the right guidance.

Graphics, seemed a little better to Mass Effect 2, not a massive improvement but I felt the characters were starting to look amazing whilst the environments looked very similar in detail to ME2. They are still very good but I think we have reached the limitations of what the Xbox can achieve.

Music - incredibly powerful. The leaving Earth music combined with some of the cinematic pieces were fantastic. Seeing the young boy die at the start with that haunting music really got me excited about what was going to be achieved in this game.

Characters - Loved the relationship you can have with your LI. Very intimate and tender and emotional. I felt very close to Kaiden during the speeches and the writing is so perfect, even the love scene was tasteful and romantic. This is the way it should be done in the future, the only problem was the VS disappears for a long time and you could really have set up a stronger bond through the 3 games, i think there were too many characters in hindsight and I agree that less is more here. I will say that the section where Shepard is disheartened over the Cerberus victory and loses his temper with joker was unexpected and I really enjoyed seeing this side of the hero, the imperfect man, was actually human, but the Kaiden offers no support and brushes me off when the rest of the crew sense this internal struggle and offer some re-assurance. That would be the time when you would expect your LI to offer that shoulder to lean on. Also, this is first game I can play a great m/m relationship in, I cannot thank you enough for that

Combat - I am not a massively talented shooter fan. I struggled with the roll and cover facility as I had to face things directly and if I was not alligned properly I would roll instead of cover and end up somewhere I didn't want to be, I would also get impatient and click too many times and get out of cover when I rolled towards somewhere.

Loved the biotic melee combat, very exciting and the enemies rarely let me do it but rewarding when it worked. I liked the differnet styles of enemy but I am not a massive fan of waves of enemies, I hated this with DA2 and I don't enjoy it I just want to get through it to the next part. The last battle before the citadel was particularly annoying, I struggled with some of the rolling around and just having more and more enemies that I had seen before was starting to grain on me, I did too many side quests maybe?

I didn't like the loading screen between the war room and the command centre. I know the lift is no different but ....... sorry I can't explain why.

Dialogue options - I didn't like not being able to choose a neutral option, just paragon or renegrade. Sometimes I didn't want to do either option but just play neutral until I had more information to make a decision, maybe this was intended but I have a sneaky suspiscion that the options didn't make a lot of difference, I replayed the Salarian/Krogan arguement scence and the end result turned out the same with the bully speech no matter which I chose. Though there are big choices to be made later on. I was expecting something with EDI with her asking about overriding commands if she believed the decision was morally questionable. I pondered really hard how to answer that question, in case she may ignore a command I gave her at a later date. It turned out it didn't really make a difference but a conversation about joker did.

I am very angry about having to play Multiplayer to get better endings. I really do not want to be forced to play multiplayer for this kind of thing, I cannot object in stronger terms. Please do not do this again. I do not want to buy an XBox live godl membership so I can unlock an ending to a game at the final furlong.

and finally - Endings. I do not know how to say I felt hocked I would feel so strongly about this after finishing the game. I love sad endings, I love games where you need to think about the story and what actually happened, but with such amazing storytelling throughout the game and then suddenly this. I felt 2 things - one annoyance that I had to play multiplayer to get the best ending and 2 that it contradicts and undermines what I have been doing.

I am not upset the ending causes Shepard to die, I hate cliche Disney endings where american flags drop form the sky and you and your loved one walk into the sunset with fireworks explode in the background.

Since I cannot get the best ending cos I wont play multplayer all my previous decisions = nothing. Not because the lesson is the futility of life and the eternal circle of destruction - but because - saving rachni = 75 points. Everything I did was turned to a number and I had to catch em all. I expected seeing Rachni fighting the armies by myside in an epic battle with geth ships fighting over the skies of Earth. But no - Rachni = 75 and I have to get to 5000 which I cannot cos I don't play multiplayer so It halves it to penalise me. Seeing that number bar filling up saddened me as it made the process seem less an emotional investment but just a collect as many as you can game, 'Gotta catch em all'.

I didn't know which option to chose since I couldnt talk with the child or discuss anything, just listen and respond. I chose the right path simply for no reason as I hadn't realised the game was showing me the different paths during each peice of the speech. (My own fault probably).

Then - suddenly Joker is flying through the relay with the Normandy for some reason, with Kaiden, who was only 5 minutes before fighting with me back on Earth before I was hit by the reaper beam. How did Anderson and Illusive Man get there before me, when I saw none of them before, though Anderson does say the rooms are shifting but he enters the ship after me and gets there before me. Some tropical planet with two moons. Shepard dies, London bruns, reapers die, some cheering. fade to credits.

I felt emotionally sick at the time, and I am ashamed to say that a game could have such an influence over me. Maybe it is testament to how amazing the story was and how strongly I felt for the characters. However, part of me feels that the inconsistancies are too strong too reason away and the confusion of what I have ended up with is not a deep thoughtful ending but a last minute slap on ending and all my previous choiced meant nothing, oh yeah - Rachni = 75.

Overall score before ending 95%. I cannot score with the ending as i know i will just mark itlow out of frustration. I would like to add that I will find it very difficult to replay this game now. I feel that a game should have replayability like the previous 2 games did. I don't know if changing the ending will make any difference to it now, knowing what I know, I will still remember this was the ending to the most fantastic game I ever played and I don;t ever want to play it again.

Modifié par Penguinlover, 14 mars 2012 - 10:07 .

[BlackAceAngel]

Score: 20/100 BECAUSE OF THE ENDING

-(SPOILER IN THIS POST)-

Ps sorry spelling or bad grammer I usually dont write in forums.

I going to start with the bad first

- Use/Run/Crouch binding to one key
This has got me killed so many times in this game and ME2 - I why you guys thought was good idea.  It would be better and easy to separate use/run/crouch to different keys or give us a option to do so on the PC.

- Cant import my character face
I play ME1 & 2 with this face, I loved my character face - so when I was unable to import it, it did not feel like my Shepard which completely broke the immersion.

- No mini-map like in ME 1
Ok the minimap in ME1 was not great - but did help a little.  Something like in ME3 would help me not to get lost.

- Teleport and AI bug return from ME2
In battle sometimes my squad member would teleport or move in front of me and get kill.

- Questlog was a bit confusing
like SyyRaaaN at begin of the post, In this game it should have been splitted in 3: Primary Quests, Side Quests, Timed Quests.  ME2 did a better job on this.

- Sidequest
Some of the big sidequest was fun to do but there way too many "scan type" sidequest mission and no action.

- That blue wall
You know, the one in Normandy's CIC it's very annoying.

- Cant Carry Heavy weapon like in ME2
One shot heavy weapons do not count.

- Shepard getting stuck again
Not as bad as it was in ME2, but when I talk to EDI or Joker in the Normandy's cockpit, sometime my Shepard gets stuck I have to reload from a save point.

- Tali face
Why use a photoshop - why not give money to Ash Sroka (she done voice of Tali btw) and make a 3D model of her face and use that as a image, as she is Tali to her fans (well to me aways).

- That auto-dialogue thing
There was more dialogue but feeling that you’re playing a game is now replaced with the feeling of watching a movie.

- Game felt more linear to ME2.
Its a RPG game FIRST, and shooter SECOND, not the other way round.  My problem with the story, You have to play Krogan/Turian alliance and then Geth/Quarian war in that order.  It would have been better to play these side by side so game felt less linear or add some other major mission.

- Begin did felt rushed.
I get that the reaper attacked and its not a good idea to hang around (it be very short game if you did, funny did it you did had that option mind you).  I was hoping for a court room scene here, so we can re-cap what happened in the last two games.

- I wanted to kick Harbinger in Quad
Harbinger He voice by Keith Szarabajka (these who old like me may remember from The Equalizer) easy best bad guy in all ME and not seen until end ME3 and you dont fight him, that sucks.

- Little or no replay value
ME1 and more so in ME2 which does have a great replay value.  But because of the end there no point replaying ME3.

- THE DLC THING
If you dont know this then please read following link about this http://www.pcmag.com...,2401449,00.asp or Totalbiscuit mass effect 3 boycott.  I have no problem with company like EA/Bioware wanting to make money, but dont lie about stripped out portions of ME3 and then rip off your fans.  Shame on you Broware for doing this to us.

- NO CLOSURE AT THE ENDING
OMG WTF was Bioware thinking.  I want to make this clear - My problem is not the story itself (until the end), I think Bioware have done an very good job on making us care about our Shepard's and this is why so many people are setup about this.

The problem I have and it's a big problem (said is before and say it again) is that the ending felt like an Deus Ex ending and not an true blue Mass Effact ending, dont get me wrong love Deus Ex.  But this is Mass Effect 3, I was hoping for a Epic ending like in ME2 which had one of best ending in game I ever played.  This guy said it best

I know while playing the game you can change how the character like Mordin Solus and Thane Krios how they die, and I know you effect Tali and Kelly live or die, but I would like see more loyalty missions so I see if they live or die at the end.  Also the closure to end Joker crashing in that planet WTF was that all about, what happen to all my squadmates? How did my squadmates that was on last mission with me get back on the Normandy? What's point in having that ghost kid?

I was so hoping to see if my squadmates having drinks in Rio (sad face) or brunt to a crisp.

The good things I like about ME3

- The story
The emotion build up as I played along was very done. Krogan/Turian alliance and then Geth/Quarian story line was done very well.

Storyline theme about sacrifice was also well done.  Missions were Mordin Solus, Thane Krios, Legion and Tali die felt like a train hit me and boy, did it hurt.  I cryed like elcor.

The scene with Garrus in the citadel and Liara with the timecapule was nice touch and something I will not forget.

- Combat system improved
Not great, but feel little better than ME2 like the new melee option and nice to have grenades back (apart from Use/run/crouch which was is still pain).

- Weapon customization
This was needed and welcome.  Made combat little bit more fun.

- The Citadel
Looks great and feels great.  I would like to see more hub worlds.

- The Characters
As with most Bioware games the characters are very well written, there no characters in I did not like. I like the new character too, mainly Vega which was surprising - guy who did his voice is married Buffy and I hate him for that <_< .  The thing I change is Kai Leng, make him a bit mean to aliens and a bit back story on why he hate aliens (a bit like Magua in the film verison of Last of the Mohicans), maybe get him kidnap the one you in romance with so when you have the boss fight against him, bit more satisfaction in killing him at the end.
Joker still is mentally sick (which is good) as well now got an robot girlfriend .  Garrus is the one I going miss the most, I did not like him when I first met him in ME1 but he grow on me and now in mission with me all the time.

- Same sex romance
I not gay (I just want point that out) but well done Bioware for having the quad putting this in the game.  Mind you, my Shep's cant talk to Steve Cortez I think my Shep's has homophobia. 

- Squadmate Interaction
This was something that was missing in ME2, in ME3 my squadmates now talk to each other, they feel more alive and real it fun listening in there talks.

- Mutiplayer
To be honest I thought multiplayer was going to be a joke, but having a lot fun with it.

- Soundtrack
Not as good as ME2, but still great, nice to hear Tali theme again. PS dont listen to people about cutting less piano/violins and adding in more synth.  I'm old and I hate this new techno thing:P

- The big CG fleet battle at the end
Way better then a Star War, and there are some consequence of not getting a enough war asset in the battle will effect the battle, maybe have another ending here would have been nice here.

- I'm sad, but good way
Apart from way the ending was done which a mass fail, I'm going miss all characters this story to point I may have to doctor about this - last time I felt so down like this was Baldur's Gate.  I hoping there will be more story set in the Mass Effect universe.

I would give the game a Score: 80/100 but because the Deus Ex type ending I cant. So 20/100.

PS Also please fix the ending with dlc, maybe free one.

PPS love Bioware game I alway have, but please get away from EA - They not good you and will change your name in future, remember Bullfrog:(

Modifié par BlackAceAngel, 14 juin 2012 - 11:00 .

[T-Zero]

 I would like to first of all thank Bioware for making this game and the Mass Effect series in general.  Both ME and ME2 have provided me with endless hours of enjoyment.  I've been a fan of Bioware since the days of Baldur's Gate, and look forward to their future games.

For those who like numbers:  Without Ending:  9/10.  With Ending:  2/10 

Let me start my review with what I loved in ME3:

The music;  while ME2 had a good soundtrack, there were very few songs that I would listen to outside of the game.  With ME3, there are several.  Bioware tagging a new composer for the game was a bold step, and one that fails in most other games.  I'm glad to say that this was not the case for ME3.

The gameplay:  The amount of effort the developers put into making the action in ME3 shine really shows.  Although the new movement dynamics were a bit difficult to master, even a little unwieldy, they really make for the sort of combat that you can sink your teeth into.  Even the physics of the guns were played with more realism that made the gritty ordeal of combat more life-like.  
With ME2, every battle felt more or less the same.  Not so in this game.  Even a battle I've played through before will go differently when I retry it, due to the more advanced tactics and mechanics that ME3 employs.  I really have to think on my toes and employ real tactics to get through even the most basic of fights!  And being able to close on an enemy and deliver a sword to the gut is very, very satsifying.

 Thanks  to this, I'm glad to say that ME3 really deserves its upgrade to multiplayer -it can definitely compete with games that feature online combat as their main selling point.

The story (by which I mean everything *except* the ending):  Bioware really delivers in this game.  From the very start, I felt drawn into the war against the reapers.  I felt sadness and even despair when confronted with the reality of the terrifying monsters who had come to take away everything there was, to reduce the galaxy I had come to love ever since I first stepped into it  into absolutely nothing.  There were moments of melancholy joy, laughter, anger, and of course, the ever-present sense of desperation and anxiety at the monumental task given to Shephard, with just the right number of moments of hope to make me feel the very visceral emotional impact of the mission I was undertaking.
The dialogue flowed and choices were tough to make,  Even the ubiquitous paragon and renegade choices came down to more than what was "blue" and what was "red," and I really had to think about how to handle a situation.  Bioware employs a dedicated and talented writing force, and I hope they continue to put their all into their products.

Multiplayer:  I'm not a big fan of multiplayer play, but ME3's is fun.  I don't indulge often, but I do enjoy this component.  

<Update> I was not aware when writing this review that multiplayer had such a large impact on the SP campaign.  In effect, in order to get to the 'best' ending (even though calling any of the endings the best leaves a sour taste in the mouth) a player  *has* to play MP.  Not everyone likes multiplayer, and this is a severe drag on the process of playing through a game for someone who doesn't like MP.  Myself, I find MP fun enough every now and again, but dislike that I *have* to play it to get everything ready in my SP campaign.  And what happens when the game's older and very few people play it anymore?  Are the players simply going to have to accept not  getting the ending they want?  This is something that *must* be changed with a patch.

Now, for those elements of the game that I feel could have used a bit more love:

The upgrade system:  All in all, it's an enjoyable mechanic.  Players with different approaches to the game can tailor what they want in their combat delivery package.  But I wish the upgrades offered us something other than "more damage," "more bullets, or "a sighting package."  
I hope to see DLC that offers some truly unique options for customization, otherwise this element will have to go down in my book as, "good, but could always have been much better."

The classes:  I'm glad that bioware finally decided to do away with each class being restricted on what weapons choices they had available, but the weight system leaves much to be desired.  It wasn't great in that while I was technically free to pick what I wanted to wield, I was still being penalized for departing significantly from the weapons packages that had been 'native' to any class from the first game.  And the heavy weapons being relegated to what I could find on the battle field despite having walked around all last game with one strapped to my back now matter what class I was?  Yeah, that was decidedly a bad way to go about working them into game mechanics.

The squad NPCs and what could have been:  I was left wanting with my NPC loadout.  I worked extremely hard during the last game to keep everyone alive, and when I come back to them in ME3 most of the characters are relegated to short cameos?  Yeah, that definitely could have used more love.  I can understand some of them just moving on with their lives, and I see the need to open up room for new and interesting characters to take the spotlight.... but I wish we'd been given more options for characters in our squad, as well as more evolved plotlines for some of those who were with us in the last game.  As is, Miranda got the most love, her side-story was well written, and I saw her making and impact on the game's main story... but still, even that was a little less than could have been hoped for.

Now, the unpleasant part of this review, and, unfortunately, the one that's been spoken of the most on this forum and in player reviews everywhere: the ending.

First, let me say: I *get* it.  I really do.  I understand the art that was being employed in the storyline's end.  It was meant to have an impact on the audience.  It was meant to convey a message.  We, the players, were meant to be left pondering the futility of it all, we were supposed to realize how small we truly were in the face of a galaxy's fate, and understand that against an enemy that threated a civilization that spanned the stars, even the mightiest hero is still just a speck in the cosmic eye.

But here's the thing; as art, the ending both succeeds... and fails *miserably.*

It succeeds in that it conveys the artist's meaning completely.  It was the terminus of a well-written, well-thought out story.  It provided a climax that stayed true to what those who wrote the story wanted.  It did what they wanted it to do.

But art isn't all on the artist's side.  It's a two-way street.  In traditional media, whether it's a painting, sculpture, or even film, the artist is conveying a message that the audience must receive.  The artist creates, the audience reacts.  But video games, especially RPGs, are a different sort of media than the older forms.  In a game, and especially in the Mass Effect series and other Bioware staples, we've come to enjoy a form of art where the audience participates, not passively, as one would in admiring a painting or watching a movie, but *actively.*  We are as much a part of the creative and motive powers of the story as the developers themselves are.  What makes RPGs so truly unique as an artform is that the *audience* are the motive force in how the artwork evolves.  *We* make the choices.  *We* mold the events.  We do not replace the artist who writes, or draws the picture, we *join* them.  That's what makes RPGs great.  Mass Effect has always understood that.  It was what made the games such great works of art.

But in the final moments of this piece of art, the developers decided that none of that mattered, and wrote the ending as though it were a different medium.  They removed the audience from the process.  And it left the piece, the games... unsatisfying.  It became a piece of art whose meaning became nothing, since process that created it was untrue to itself.

All the work we did meant nothing in the end.  Not our choices in the first or second games, not all the work we put into this game.  That whole galactic preparedness?   Means nothing.  Building up the fleets, soldiers, and citadel defense group?  Means nothing.  Saving or leaving people/characters to die?  Means nothing.  Defeating Cerberus?  No change.  Hannibal lecturing the Illusive Man?  Nothing.  

And at the end?  No matter what choice you make, you lose.  Choose Anderson's approach? You loose all synthetics and the mass relays blow up, destroying nearly every major civilization's homeworld and many of the colonies.  Choose the Illusive Man's approach?  The reapers are still around and the mass relays blow up.  Choose to take the third option?  Not only do you change everyone, but the mass relays blow up.  Short version?  The reapers *win* with every choice.

I get that this is the message.  But that's not the way an RPG works.  That's not the way Mass Effect works.  The games story was supposed to evolve with the audience, not in spite of it.  That's why it failed.  

I hope this changes.  I hope that Bioware releases materiel, whether it's a simple DLC or an out-right expansion pack, that returns true to the artform we've all worked together on.  You Bioware, and we the players, deserve better.

Modifié par T-Zero, 17 mars 2012 - 12:23 .

[Darth Krytie]

Score: 95/100 for everything but the end. The end: 80/100.


To start, I've played Mass Effect almost from the beginning. I've put in 100s of hours of game time. And I love-adore-my Shepard. Mer Shepard is, and has been, my Shepard for years now. Spacer, War Hero, mostly Paragon. The voice acting was superb and the bits of Shepard I didn't choose-some of the conversations--always felt like something my Shepard would do or say anyhow.

Pro--The Garrus relationship is the best relationship in the entire series. From start to finish, it was excellent. Regardless if you're friends or lovers, it's just perfection. The Shepard and Garrus forever scene before the end was tugging at my heart. I was so pleased with it.

The relationship with Liara was also wonderful, from start to finish. As is the romance with her.

The way you can create meaningful moments in ME3, without it being romantic was one of my favourite parts. I can drink with Cortez and shoot bottles with Garrus and play chess with Traynor without it being a prelude to something more. I loved all these moments.

The tricky political maneuvering rang true to me, as did in-fighting regardless of the threat. It made sense. I never felt the missions were wasting time. Every thing I did felt important towards that final goal.

The battles were awesome as was the overwhelming feeling of despair...the enormity of the mission. It was truly awe-inspiring.

I loved that Shepard wore down under the stress. So much was on her shoulders and it was nice to see it had an impact.

I loved seeing the reflection of my choices in this game...how choices that seemed right had a negative impact. It made it feel more real. It made me want to play through the series all over again.

I thought it made sense that most of my former squaddies weren't with me, especially with the crises that were popping up. I thought those who died had fitting and heroic ends, even though it made me cry a few times.

The gameplay was harder this time around, but it made sense for it to be. I had to retry a few battles, but the payoff felt worth it.

I liked the end of the Illusive Man plot line. It fit with the lore in the games and books and comics.

The appearances and references to the books and comics added a whole depth to the game which made it more enjoyable. I loved seeing Kahlee for the first time and Kai Leng.

Cons-
There's not much about Mass Effect that I don't like. Not through any part of the series...but I was disappointed in the ending. Not entirely. I wasn't upset that Shepard died (maybe). I was disappointed that the endings were so similar. I wished for a more varied ending. Like...maybe in one, Shepard doesn't win. Or something. I really wanted a final scene where Garrus pulls Shepard out of the rubble and they go off together forever.

Failing a happy ending with Shepard+LI, I mostly wanted to know what happened to my squaddies. Is Miranda okay? Is Jack? Are Garrus and Liara still kicking? What about Wrex? Even a few codex entries or screenies showing me what happened ala epilogue fashion would have soothed my feathers a bit.

Still, it's not a huge con. I do look forward to more DLC. I need DLC. I am not quite ready for ME universe to end.

The thing that irritated me most, though, was the fact that the Council never admits to being wrong and Shepard never gets to tell them she told them so. Years of them denying the Reapers exist. I wanted more of a raspberry moment where people admit to being dumbasses. I truly did.

Modifié par Darth Krytie, 14 mars 2012 - 10:31 .

[AlienSpaceBats]

I'm going to keep this brief because, well, look at the walls of text above this.

I'd score the game about 75/100.

At it's core is a game I loved playing and didn't want to put down until I finished it, which I guess is as good an indication of a good game as you can get. It was lots of fun and it had some really memorable moments (for the right reasons). The Rannoch and Tuchunka missions were probably my favourite, and the cutscenes of space battles were fantastic.

I didn't like some of the writing but that's personal preference, some aspects seemed a little rushed, there were some graphic glitches, some animations and models didn't work properly or clipped a bit, characters couldn't decide whether helmets were on or off during mission conversations, model texture resolutions were a wee bit low, my Shepard's face data wouldn't import and for some reason I can't get him to have anything but black hair in the game engine and there were some weird head / eye things going on with my Shepard at times. Small beans, but hey.

Regarding multiplayer; I hadn't played MP since Baldur's Gate 2 came out and you could play Co-Op, so I gave Me3's MP a go and am enjoying that too, and I didn't think I would even bother with it.

Overall, it definitely wasn't as bad as I'd read it was after March 6 and I look forward to future DLC.

[StonedMagician99]

So, Mass Effect 3. My thoughts, the concise version:

Pros:
Nearly everything. The tone was perfectly bleak and dark, serving as a great backdrop for the war going on. The combat was very good, with full weapon customization finally making its appearance. The combination of the best elements of ME1 and ME2 was pulled off almost flawlessly, with the RPG elements of 1 and the greatly improved gameplay of 2. The story and writing were, as usual, amazing, as were the characters. I really liked seeing the old favorites return in their different ways (I NEVER expected Jack to turn out as she did). Finally being able to meet Kai Leng and Kahlee Sanders was something I never thought I'd get to do in any of the games. Oh, and I have to mention the addition of a gay crew member on the Normandy. I thought that that was a cool touch and added a lot to the cast. The new music was all-around excellent, with Leaving Earth being the standout (awesome piano work gets me every time). The weapon sounds were awesomely punchy. Thank you so much for your help on this front, DICE. The combination of that, the added difficulty, and the dismemberment possibility really makes it feel like you're fighting a war. I also really liked the weapon weight-power recharge system. It adds real strategy into the weapon selection process. The multiplayer is surprisingly fun and frantic, and fits nicely into the single-player side.

Cons:
Not many at all. I felt like Shepard sometimes tended to roll around when I meant to take cover. And the ending left a bit (but only a bit) to be desired (the rolling thing irked me way more than the ending).

Overall score of ME series:
Mass Effect: 9
Mass Effect 2: 9.5
Mass Effect 3: 10

Congratulations, BioWare, and thank you for this amazing series.

[Samzo77]

 My ME3 Rating: 95/100

Why did I score it so high? Because it was a good game.
- Great story
- Good game mechanics
- Fun customizations
- Fantastic support characters
- Challenging enemies

What were a couple things I thought could have been executed better?
- The Tali reveal could have been handled better. I liked that you had to Romance her to get it, and I liked that it was a photograph. I thought it was cool of Bioware to try to give the fans what they wanted, a chance to see under the suit, but I think it also serves as a point on why you shouldn't always get what you want. I was personally surprised to find out it was a photoshop of a Getty stock photo, and was also surprised at how "human" she looked (not that she couldn't look human). It might have been better to just leave it a mystery, and allow the fans to speculate.
- The endings were interesting. It would have been nice if the three endings were more distinct. The fact that they were not left me to believe Bioware had an image they wanted to leave you with to stir your imagination, which is fine. Reading a quote from a Bioware employee today on Gameinformer left me to believe that was exactly what they wanted, to leave you wondering and guessing at what was to come for the galaxy, and perhaps Shepard and the companions. I think that was an admirable goal, but it seemed to fall flat a bit. The overall purpose of the reapers as explained at the end, I think, is what really flattened it.
To clarify, I didn't dislike the endings, nor did I think they ruined the game, I just didn't feel they matched up with the quality of writing you become acustomed to in the ME series. But it was a great attempt.
- I will replay this game, but in order to do so, I must start at ME1 for each play through to feel like I got the best experience. The addition of an interactive comic may have been a great way to help players jump in, or see different outcomes without going all the way back.

Great job guys. I love Bioware's work, they have some of the best writers in the business. I look forward to any DLC, or additional games in the ME series, and can't wait to hear about DA3.

[Subject M]

I am going to keep it short.

positive:

-The game overall

-Very good voice acting in general

-ME1/ME2 team member cameos well done, particularly the endings of Thane (I have not played the LI version) Mordin and Legion. It felt a lot and my eyes got a little wet. Excellent.

-Gameplay and story was good overall, some minor nitpicks that I see no reason bringing up here.


Negative:

Mimor annoyances:  No Emily Wong as far as I noticed.

Major annoyances:  The ending. It did not reflect the choices that have carried the narrative of ME-series forward and it both felt rushed with story elements out of noware and illogical in critical areas. To many questions unanswered and the implications of stranding people where they are in the universe seems extremely negative for every species in the galaxy. A bit depressing actually.

The crucible being the combined research of many earlier races was better then it just being a prothean invention, but it was still a bit deus ex machina. How come they did construct a super weapon requiring the non-organic entity that supposedly designed the Reapers?

I agree that there can be no "Rainbow ending" but some endings where the relays are not blown up, the Reaper threat are neutralized (through in one way or another closing the book on the problem that sustained the previous cycles, like geth-quarian peace, and building a new future) and Shepard and the surviving team members starting to rebuild in the burned ruins of what is left of galactic civilization would not constitute a "happy ending" just one that is happy and hopeful enough.
It could also have given opportunities to a more "post apocalyptic" continuation of the Franchise following another character as she or he travels the slowly rebuilding remnants of the once well oiled galactic society.

Its very hard to score. 95% of it was good to exellent. The rest was unsatisfying and when the end-note is a part of the problem, its a major one.

Modifié par Subject M, 14 mars 2012 - 11:18 .

[NGC1300]

>>>This<<<  my hopefully full (positive outlooks) review on every aspect of the game including the endings minus the rant. Made me feel like writing a book but since I like ME so much, figured I should go full out. Hope you guys got time to read, esp. the devs

Modifié par NGC1300, 14 mars 2012 - 11:15 .

[hawkins626]

I have been a long time fan of bioware since kotor. And this is the first time I havd writen a review. I have played masseffect 1&2 many times. 

First the gameplay was great the combat was the best out of all 3 games. I was missing alot of the old rpg feel. the customization felt weak. and i enjoyed the story till the end. the game till the end 95/100 great game.
 
The DLC was a great extra to the game. it brought alot more about the protheans and the story
 
multiplayer was good and fun but not enough to pay for. their are far better multiplayer games for free

The End OF THE GAME WAS HORRIBLE! the story felt very rushed. it didnt answer any questions about the reapers, where they came from , who made them ,ect. and then a child vi? WTF! and the only real option renegade after playing all 3 games the oposite? and no boss fight at the end? and the ending made no sense when your crew is back on the ship flying? with such detail to the whole story and 3 great games and give us this ending? WTF!

After putting in several hours playing each mass effect more than once. It was a huge slap in the face to have an ending like this! 
 
the ending was one of the worst ive played and would expect it from another company. bioware you let me down!

40/100    replay 0/100

Modifié par hawkins626, 15 mars 2012 - 12:09 .

[Robotel]

Most engrossing games i've played. All the three games.