1966 réponses à ce sujet

[Mira]

Despite controversial ending Mass Effect 3 is IMHO a perfect conclusion to the best triology in the world of the computer games. I would give it 9/10 points even though my favorite part is still original ME on xbox 360.

What I liked:

- Finally we can use any weapon we want no matter what class we choose. Weight incorporation was a very good decision.

- The return of weapon modding

- The story and camoes of various characters from ME 1 and ME 2

- The return of Virmire survivor / LI and possibility to rekindle your old love.

- The moments that made me cry

- Presidium Commons on Citadel

- EDI gaining body and her romance with Joker

- Curing Genophage and making peace between Quarians and the Geth

- The combat is harder. In ME 3 "Hardcore" was a challange for me. In ME 2 "Insanity" was joke.

- FemShep still dances and do funny things under alcohol influnce.


What I didn't like:


- The fact that in order to have the best ending you have to play multiplayer in a single player game. That's unacceptable.

- Lack of companions / squad members missions (akin to "loyalty missions" from ME 2)

- Lack of third "neutral" option during dialogues. In ME 3 we only have "paragon" and "renegate" options.

- Too few N7 missions

- Turian and Assari "chapters" should have more missions like the Krogan and Qurian ones.

- Too many "gathering" missions. In ME 2 planet scanning was fun - in ME 3 not so much.

- The game is too short while it's very addictive.

- FemShep still sits like a man

- confusing and user unfriendly Journal

- Changing of Kaidan's ME 1 skills.

Modifié par sean-camel, 16 mars 2012 - 12:49 .

[Ticondurus]

Here's my Mass Effect 3 review.

POSITIVES

+Awesome dialogue and meet-ups with all of your surviving crew from ME1/ME2.  The Comm Officer who connected you to them all once more in London was a nice, final touch.

+Overhearing people talking in the Citadel and getting quests that way.

+Supporting people when they are conversing near you.  Cool way to get involved and push people a certain way.

+Redesign of the Citadel: looked great! Plus, it's my favorite place in the ME Universe.  Also, the fight sequence on shuttles in the Citadel with Kai Leng was terrific.

+Codex had "new" indicator when scrolling down so you know when an item is well, new.  Improvement from ME2 as it was hard to know what was new.

+Your ship-mates moving locations around the ship, terrific! Finally!

+Thessia looked amazing.  Would have been nice to explore it outside of war time.

+The feeling of war time and urgency was done well, across all missions and planets.

+EDI being a squadmate I enjoyed.

+Curing the genophage and the final Tuchanka Reaper mission.

+Better facial customization and hair options.  Also, my Shephard looked best in ME3.  Thank God the Facecode worked because of the ME2 import bug.

+Allowing Kaidan to be romanceable by either sex.  Yes!  Including S/S male options, kudos!

+Always wanted a mission with Anderson.  Glad he was involved at the beginning and end.  He's one of the best characters!

+Music was great, especially when ME1 themes were used.

+Shephard's final walk to the London transport light to the Citadel and all the way up to Catalyst.  Great feeling of isolation and epicness.


NEGATIVES

- THE ENDING.  I'm actually okay with the decision you were faced with at the end, and I thought it was pretty epic in scope that your Shephard was about to make a choice that would effect the future of all life.  Totally felt like it was akin to rebooting 'The Matrix' with the Architect/Oracle- which is fine.  And I fully expected Shephard to die so that's not the issue.  It felt a bit tangential story-wise since the Synthetic vs. Human theme was such a small part of the larger ME Universe/Story.  ME, at least to me, was about exploring strange worlds, relationships between different species and getting different species to work together for the common good.   Though the final decisions were a 'gray' area, the Synergy ending seem to be the "Paragon" one to me since the Catalyst said that was the 'next step' in evolution. 

ENDING RE-VAMP SUGGESTIONS:

  A) For me, one thing missing was showing how your crew, former crew and the war assets you acquired were all involved in the final fight.  I would have been SO PLEASED to see things such as: Jack and her biotic squad in a fight, Miranda and Jacob fighting some Reaper forces, THE RACHNI QUEEN (where was SHE?!?) laying the smack down on a Reaper, the Geth (who you freed) attacking the Reapers, Aria and her team of Mercs, et cetera.  Also the Volus, Hanar and Elcor were missing. Would have be much more of a WIN if you showed the various forces and friends you had amassed in a montage of fighting while you are on the Citadel.  Especially the RACHNI QUEEN.  The time with her on that one ME3 quest was it? Boo! Fans have been waiting for her assault for two games! 

   Also helpful, take a page from the ending of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (Special Edition) and show celebrations on planets besides Earth (like Palaven, Tuchanka, Thessia, etc.) to make it feel like a more epic, emotional victory, not just Earth but galaxy-wide.  Mass Effect's charm was really how humans interacted with other races, and the other races felt left out in the endings. We get humans in every other game. 

  C) Also, clear up the confusion about destroying the mass relays and thus destroying all life in each system (a la Arrival)? If so, then everything dies and your final decision wouldn't matter.  I didn't read the ending that way but a lot of people want that cleared up.  I am okay with having some unanswered questions at the end.  Just needed to feel more emotionally satisfying, it would if my suggestions were included.

- THE JOURNAL.  So surprised about this, made it seem unfinished for the first time in this series.

   A) Quests pretty much DID NOT get updated.  This became a particular pain when scanning for various artifacts (such as for the Volus, Asari) -- then retrieving the artifact, but the Journal doesn't let me know.  Then it's up to the player to remember if they had completed the task.  Easy fix: update the quest with "Return to XXX at the Citadel with the XXX artifact."  Also, update quests with "stages" like you did with ME2: clicking a quest would show you the stages you had completed so far and what was left to do.

   Please get rid of the huge list of completed tasks/quests.  When you opened the Journal, it was annoying to start (especially later in the game) far down the "grayed" list and have to scroll up to unfinished quests.  Solution: put finished quests in a separate category.  The Journal worked MUCH better in ME2, refer to that model for the future.

- NORMANDY MAP SCANNING could have been implemented better. When something was found, would have been much easier to TAG the PLANET with a visual cue so the player knew not to scan in that area again.  Having to wait for the Reapers to leave in a system by doing a mission was a pain, and by the time I came back I forgot where I had scanned and what I had found.  Then I would waste scans on already scanned areas, and the Reapers come back.  If those places were marked more clearly, it would have been easier to scan when I returned, thus making me WANT to scan more and then improve my Galactic Readiness Level.

- GALACTIC READINESS LEVEL.  I played for 41 hours before I made the final push, exhausting all locations except some of the scanning systems for assets, for reasons I explain above.  I did every quest, N7 mission and accrued many bonus war assets.  I didn't (and won't) play MP but I still didn't get the 'best' Shephard Lives ending.  Would have been nice to know I needed to do more.   I was stuck at GRL at 50% the entire game.  I had 6730 final strength, divided in half for 3365 total.  The green bar was more than full.  Would be nice to not penalize people who don't play MP so I could increase the readiness level somehow.

- GAMEPLAY TIP LOADING SCREENS.  I found it annoying that the text would mention how to fight a Banshee before I even encountered one.  This happened multiple times and ruined the surprise of the new enemies.  Don't give combat advice on enemies UNTIL you actual encounter the enemy!

- WEAPON MODS.  Wasn't really into this upgrade system.  Found it annoying to have to check them before each mission.  Preferred the weapon system from ME2. 

- No conversation with "Harbinger."  Was looking forward to that.  I know you talked with one Reaper but Harbinger would have been cooler.  Also, a mission inside an active Reaper would have been cool.

- No missions in Reaper/Dark space.  Thought for sure that would happen.  Would have been fun.

- More Hanar interactions would have been cool, possibly a trip to their homeworld with the Drell?

FINAL VERDICT: 8.25/10.  Still love the ME Universe, hope it doesn't end here.  It's still my favorite game series.  The reason fans are in an uproar is a testament to how much they care about your games, and for that you should be proud.  The ending can be helped a bit, and some things can be tweaked, but still a highly enjoyable and emotional journey. 

Modifié par Ticondurus, 16 mars 2012 - 08:26 .

[Fiannawolf]

He sums up my feelings and general review of the game.

[basbaker]

90/100

Mass Effect 3, with a handful of notable exceptions, was the best game of the entire series.  Without just one of those notable exceptions, I consider this game a masterpiece approaching perfection.  It has elevated gaming to a form of entertainment more rewarding than anything I have experienced in movies or games by themselves.  The interactive storytelling made me feel very much a part of the ME universe, and I loved just about every single minute I spent there.  The positives below are pre-ending evaluations.  Many of these positives crash and burn the second the magical elevator takes Shepard to the Starchild, but even so, I love this game and plan to play the heck out of it for weeks to come.

Positives:

- Great character/squadmate interaction, especially since we got to see Shepard's humanity as never before.  I loved hearing the banter between my squadmates on missions.  I loved their comments in general.  One-on-one conversations were more personal and highlighted the friendships that Shepard has built over time.

- Treatment of most characters from previous games was very respectful and appropriate.  By this I mean that when the story took a character away from us, it generally did so in a way that was moving and made their deaths meaningful.  In my game, Mordin, Thane and Legion all died nobly.  Legion's death was a bit out of left field and doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but it was certainly noble.

- Excellent writing with much of the dialogue being truly memorable.  When Shepard tells Garrus, "There's no Shepard without Vakarian," well, that just tore me up.  Also memorable off the top of my head was Kaidan telling Shepard "You're real enough for me," and Kolyat saying that Thane wasn't praying for himself, he was praying for Shepard.  Additionally, I LOVED the down times when you just got to hang out with crew.  Talking to Vega while he gets his tattoo, playing chess with Traynor, discussing Liara's time capsule, having a shooting match with Garrus on the top of the Presidium - all of these were pure gold.  I also loved the way Shepard was able to help Cortez through a dark time despite how easy it would be to overlook something like that going on in the middle of galactic calamity.

- Moving, evocative scenes that by turns had me laughing, crying or wishing I could pick up my own gun and take care of the bad guys for real.  Exploring sanctuary actually turned my stomach.  Several points in the story were poignant enough for me to tear up - most notably Samara's mission, Mordin's sacrifice, Thane's death in the hospital, and Liara's gift to Shepard before the end mission.

- Good combat.  For the most part, it was fluid, challenging and enjoyable.  Since I don't play the ME series for the combat, being able to really enjoy the challenge was nice, and extends to my enjoyment of multi-player.

- Beautifully crafted levels/settings.  Thessia was gorgeous, what parts of it weren't being trashed of course.  Tuchanka was appropriately gritty.  Mars was just amazing.  That dust storm looming off in the distance was pretty dang ominous.  Eden Prime was very well done.  The Citadel was a masterpiece, especially the Presidium Commons.  Even the N7 maps and places like Grissom Academy and the Ardat-Yakshi monastery were very well done, with great attention to detail.

- Great musical score.  The music is an inextricable part of the moods this game strikes, and the emotions it evokes.  Most times I'm not even consciously aware of the music playing, even though it's such an integral part of the setting.  But to me, that's the mark of a great score.  Complements the scene without overpowering it.

- Despite the amount of auto-dialogue, Shepard seemed to remain true to character.  I was dismayed at first by the amount of auto-dialogue and the way it seemed to throw off the pacing of the game.  But the more I got to hear Shepard speak (thanks of course to the writing and Jennifer Hale's amazing talent), the more I came to enjoy it.  I can't think of any time before the ending that her auto-dialogue was out of character for 'my' Shepard.

- Visually beautiful game in all respects.  Cutscenes were fantastic.  Cinematography (or whatever the video game equivalent of that is) was right off the charts.  The angles we got of the characters during conversations were perfect.  The way you could pull back for a panoramic view of certain scenery and events during gameplay was outstanding.  The character animation was excellent, and even when characters were in close proximity to one another, the amount of clipping was kept to a minimum.  Graphical glitches were a rarity in my playthrough, and not worth mentioning even when they happened.

- Very stable game.  Once the game actually loads (see below), it stays that way.  I didn't have a single crash.  If there was even a minor bug in my game, I didn't notice it, which means it was minor to the point of insignificance.

- Game seemed to strike the perfect balance between being story-driven and combat-driven.

- The feel of the game was epic.  From start to finish, the scope of this game felt immense.  There was a level of immersion that I've never experienced in a game before now, where the story being told was so involved, so gripping, that I completely lost myself in it and didn't want to come back out.

Negatives:

- Ease of installation/startup on PC.  It installed from disc just fine.  It was only after this that the ordeal began.  It took me a considerable amount of time to get my game working at all (around 7 hours), and even when I finally did manage to start it, I could never do so (and still can't at times) from within Origin, which I am forced to have if I want to play it.  Having to download the same update to my game more than half a dozen times was beyond ridiculous.  The fact that it still won't load a good 50% of the time within Origin continues to be ridiculous, and while I realize Origin is not BioWare's product, the spotty interaction of their game with their parent company's framework reflects poorly on everyone involved.

- Unwieldy combat control.  I often got stuck on cover, or sliding from one cover to another when I really wanted to step out to get a clear shot.  Vaulting completely over cover when I really wanted to crouch behind it was even worse, and usually ended up in a swift death and a reload.

- No joy of discovery.  I understand time/budget constraints when there was so much story to tell, but I still missed being able to go down to the surface of some random world and explore a little on my way to my quest objective.  I would have enjoyed a handful of side missions involving either the Mako or Hammerhead.  Scanning for war assets was a poor substitute, though it was an improvement over the resource-scanning minigame of ME2.

- Boring fetch-it quests.  I didn't like these in DA2, and I don't like them in ME3.  At least in ME3, the delivery of the quest to my character is better.  I don't just stumble across Widget A in Cave B.  Shepard overhears a conversation, goes to find random item, returns to tell surprised party that my eavesdropping paid off for them.  I did like the way some of these tied into the Galactic Readiness as war assets or updates to the same.  But still, see above point for a way of doing this that would have been far more interesting.

- Co-op is almost certainly needed for the best possible outcome in single-player.  Although it may be possible to get the "perfect" ending in SP without MP, to me it seems prohibitively difficult.  I took more than 50 hours to finish my first playthrough and there isn't a lot I missed.  And yet even doing that, I still had to engage in MP to raise my EMS above 5000.  While this is fine for those who enjoy MP (and luckily I do), it's a drawback for those who don't.  And it doesn't make it very likely that I'll pick ME3 back up to play again a couple of years down the line, because by then who knows whether I'll be able to do MP for a truly favorable outcome?

- The Ending. (insert portentous music here)

Let me be clear - the ending I am speaking of begins when Hackett's voice comes over the comm.  The dialogue with TIM and Anderson is great, whether it's literally what happened or an extension of Shepard's warring halves.  The moment with Anderson where he tells Shepard that he's proud of her, and then quietly dies, would have had me crying like a baby if I had been given even 5 seconds to contemplate it.  But I had barely worked myself up to a sniffle when Hackett interrupted.  That is such a rotten way to treat one of the most potentially moving scenes of the entire game that I don't have any words to properly convey how jarring it was.

And while I am not incensed by the ending as many are, I still didn't really care for it.  Shepard was completely out of character for the entirety of the final sequence with the Starchild.  There was no questioning, just blind acceptance.  Shepard has never once been defined by blind acceptance, either by you as the writers or myself as the player.  Added to that, the choices offered were all equally abysmal.  I chose destruction simply because Shepard has been fighting the Reapers since Day One of this series and wasn't about to stop just because suddenly destroying them seemed a little extreme compared to the other options.  You might have decided to undermine Shepard's entire being as we know it by forcing her to blindly swallow what the Starchild was feeding her, but I wasn't so inclined.  

But for me, the worst parts of the ending were the ambiguity and near-total lack of meaning to Shepard's most momentous decisions of the past three years.  This ending should have been the jewel in the crown of the entire series.  It should have definitively ended the story, one way or another.  But it didn't.  Those involved with the game have said many times in the past year that this game will give the players closure, and that we will not have more questions at the end than we had at the beginning.  And maybe that's true, because Shepard did resolve some of the most troubling issues facing the galaxy at large.  So yes, many questions were answered and many story threads were tied into neat little bows.  And then they were set on fire.  I have fewer questions now than I had at the start of ME3, I admit, but the ones left are the big ones.

Does galactic civilization even exist anymore?  And if so, how?
What happened to Shepard's closest friends?
What happened to Shepard?

The rest of the inconsistencies of the ending I would be happy to overlook (even though Joker's actions and the Normandy's apparent fate are a HUGE stretch) if only those three big questions had been answered in even the briefest of epilogues.  Unfortunately, you decided against that, and the entire MassEffect story suffers for it.


And with all of that said, I would like to repeat that this is still my favorite game of the entire series.  And the entire series is the best I've ever played in a long history of gaming.  So thank you, BioWare, for the MassEffect universe and the characters that populate it.  Thank you for the writing that brings them to life.  Thank you for the investment of your time and talents in creating something truly extraordinary.  

Even with all the bumps at the end, it was a great ride. <3

[SogaBan]

Nilofeliu wrote...

Any news on future DLC?

There is no official announcement from BioWare Studio, but from what I have gathered - there is a DLC, probably under development, namely "The Truth".

Please follow this link to see the reference:

http://www.thevine.c...le20120314.aspx

Modifié par SogaBan, 16 mars 2012 - 01:17 .

[Sc2mashimaro]

Open letter reviewing, mostly, the end of the game, because the 99% leading up to the end was, in fact, perfect:

http://fourwordsfory...ter-to-bioware/

Modifié par Sc2mashimaro, 16 mars 2012 - 01:21 .

[Eudaemonium]

Mass Effect 3 is a masterpiece of videogame storytelling. The developers have created an emotional experience which surpasses any other I've experienced in gaming. The atmosphere of desperation that the game creates is astounding, combining the characters, backdrops, and music for great effect. I will always remember fighting on Menae as Palaven burned, Mordin and Legion's heroic sacrifices, and the sense of Shepard's despair and anger as Thessia fell around her and she'd lost the one thing that could have made it all better, among countless other unparalelled experiences.

Firstly, the characters are the heart of this story, and they are some of the most human I've seen in a game. Shooting with Garrus on the Citadel, sparring with Vega, and Liara writing Shepard's name in the stars are all brilliantly crafted moments. Thane's dying wish/prayer, Mordin's heartfelt 'I made a mistake!' when you try and stop him curing the genophage, Tali's suicide and Legion's sacrifice, the mistrust of Ashley or Kaidan and the building of that trust -- all of these are amazing moments.

This was also the first game in the series where I really felt that Shepard was a person. This likely stemmed in part from reduced player control, but I'm okay with that, because I felt the trade-offs were worth it and the crucial decisions were still included. Shepard's humanity took centre stage here, from the dreamscapes of the ones she'd lost to the soul-crushing stress and anger after facing defeat at the hands of Kai Leng. The romances (I've tried Garrus and Liara) were brilliantly executed and only contributed to making the characters more human than they'd ever been. While this was a story bout a galaxy at war, it really brought that down to the individual level. I believe one of the most heartbreaking moments for me was when I delivered the krogan poet Charr's last message to Ereba. It was a fetch-quest and it made me burst into tears. That is power.

This is one reason why I like the 'indoctrination theory' regarding the ending. Not because I want some form of DLC closure, but because I think the interpretation can be seen as the culmination of the exploration of a very human Shepard: the final battle is not her gunning down a Reaper with an orbital strike or a Thresher Maw, it's a fight inside her own mind and soul to not walk down the same path as her two greatest adversaries, Saren and the Illusive Man, who both gave into the Reapers trying to ensure some measure of survival. I find a certain beauty in that hypothesis.

The issue with the endings, for me, is not simply that I find the indoctrination theory more elegant and poetic, however. I also find them somewhat nonsensical and poorly explained when taken at face value, filled with inconsistencies and plot holes. The presence on the Normandy of the squadmates who were, mere minutes before behind, you until they were nuked by Harbinger being one of them. It's not even that the endings don't necessarily work, it's that they are presented in such a way that ultimately leaves the player dissatisfied. They do not present closure in any meaningful way, instead leaving--as many have testified to--a crushing sense that Shepard's decisions didn't really matter. The grand philosophical themes regarding synthetics and organics also seems to be at odds with many aspects of the narrative presented up to that point (for example the individuation of EDI and the Geth), as well as offering a poor reason for the Reapers and the cycle they serve to exist.

Despite the endings, however, the game is 99% pefection. Honestly, if Bioware had simply ended the game with Shepard and Anderson lookng out over Earth, possibly dying as the Crucible activating and defeating the Reapers, followed by a brief epilogue -- maybe even a memorial service which presented the result of some of our decisions, that would ahve been far more satisfying. That si assuming the endings should be taken at face value. If the indoctrination theory holds water, then I will tip my hat to Bioware for creating one of the most daring and brilliant endings in gaming history, regardless of whether they follow through with it.

Turning away from narrative, the gameplay is tight, elegant and, above all, deliciously fun. I have played two classes, Vanguard and Infiltrator, which feel varied and different but equally enjoyable. The weapon and armor customisation is simple yet enjoyable and varied, with a wide variety of firearms to choose from. Including Heavy Weapons as part of missions rather than as a loadout weapon was, I think, a stroke of genius, if only because I don't have to walk around with the Cain on my back - the damned thing looks horrible. Essentially, the way the game systems work is masterful, and contributes to the variety of playstyles and experiences. For example, my Vanguard only went into battle with the M-76 Revenant, because I consider it to be Shepard's signature weapon. The powers, similarly, are wonderfully varied with the different evolutions serving different squad makeups and other player preferences.

In short, Mass Effect 3 is a masterpiece, an emotional tour de force unlike anything I have experienced. The sheer variety encompassed by it--not merely in terms of playstyles but in terms of prior decisions and how they impact the unfolding narrative--is staggering, and the team have done an amazing job. The ending is, however brilliant it might secretly be, the weakest part of the story, and it is something which has been turning away many players, making their struggles and attachment seem worthless. This is unlikely something Bioware intended. The ending does not break the game for me, but that is likely because I have chosen to take a probably non-canonical reading of it which makes it more palatable and intellectually fascinating to me, on par with the rest of the experience. But many people want closure, and none of the endings provide that under any possible interpretations.

Overall, despite the ending, I would give Mass Effect 3 9.5/10, because it is simply an incredible journey which I think everyone should experience. It is deserving of the highest praise, but that also means the harshest criticism for the areas, maybe simply area, where it just doesn't match up to the rest of the product.

[Kyzee]

I can't my earlier review, so I'll have to add this here: I've just read about the Final Hours app, and my once restored faith has been shaken again. I'm going to take a "wait and see" policy with BioWare from now on. Sadly, probably means reading spoilers for future games and ruining any mystery or joy just to make sure that I'm not subjected to what I to with ME3.

In the meanwhile, I'm maintaining the Indoctrination Theory as canon, because I cannot abide by poorly written endings.

[shadowfreakz]

 .

[1337Goblin]

I don't need to write another review, but I really didn't enjoy the soundtrack in ME3 than I did with ME2.

The 'sad' music worked perfect, especially the music over the endings, bad as they were, I was still upset seeing my Shepard do what he did with the music over it.

The rest of it... not so much. At the end of the Collector base and the main ME2 music started playing, it gave me that motivation feeling and made it all the more epic. In London, most of it has no music at all, and when it does, it's the same 'action' music replayed over most epic moments.

[Phattee Buttz]

There's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said. The game can be split into two parts: pre-beam and post-beam. Pre-beam my only complaint is that the difficulty spikes significantly when you get to Kai Leng, and then stays that way all through London. Post-beam I can't think of anything good to say. The music maybe? That's about it.

[weedyfun]

Okay, I played through the game and I stick with my previous comment: I enjoyed ME3 a lot.. Loved it, in fact. The endings made me feel rather depressed for a few days after, and I felt like I don't want to play anymore. The end of the game didn't really make any sense with regard to the previous two games. Seems like you just shot yourself in the foot, it just comes across as pointless to play the series again and if someone who's new to ME, I wouldn't recommend they play it. Why waste 250 + hours on a game series that, at the end completely contradicts the start?

But then somebody convinced me to play some multiplayer with them and now I am addicted.

The game is extremely buggy, sometimes I have to reload. Not even ME1 was this buggy. I expect better quality prouct from you, BioWare... This is where a console (like The Elder Scrolls series) comes in very handy.

Kai Leng and Diana Allers just annoyed me, and, Y U NO SHOW TALI'S FACE, BIOWARE?! I think I'd appreciate Tali's characted more if I could have just one peek at what her face looks like (maybe I'm just too curious for my own good).

But, I appreciate the hard work you guys at BioWare has put into this series...

EDIT: I forgot to mention my WTF moment when Shepard appeared in front of the galaxy map after the credits, telling me that I can continue my game and play through the DLC. It makes absolutely no sense at all to get DLC and play it with a supposed dead Space Jesus.. ME2 handled its ending perfectly, but this.. pffft.. I'm not going to spend money on any DLC.

Modifié par weedyfun, 16 mars 2012 - 07:46 .

[ChildOfEden]

Right now, Chris Priestly I'm giving this game a 3/5. Honestly, the ending was WHY I got the collector's edition and played the game for what seems like 39 hours straight. As for the rest of the game it was amazing, that's why I played a second time (finished at about 29 hours) however, I'm so depressed in finding out that the ending I chose from my first play through were mirror images of each other. (I chose synthesis then renegade.) I have no idea what's happening story wise, actually I'm just really depressed and angry and fatigued... I just want a reason, a reason why you decidedly thought it would be a good idea to give me (and the majority of ME players) the greatest eff you of my lifetime. Then the greatest insult of my life by telling me that I got to get DLC to continue the legacy of Commander Shepard? YOU KILLED THE GUY! Right?
Again, just so.... depressed.
I'm replaying the game with dozens of my play throughs I've made from ME and ME2 but I'm not finishing them; in hopes one day you'll understand what you have done to us (and I guess to not go through the ordeal of the ending again.)
I'm not even going to bother checking over what I just wrote cause, again, I'm depressed as hell...

[BismarkYamato]

I'm not gonna give a long detailed review, but keep it short and sweet. I'd give ME3 a 8.5/10

-1 for the ending, story was perhaps the most important thing about ME3 to me, and I feel the ending not only ruined the story of ME3, but the story of ME and ME2. A game shouldn't leave me feeling depressed when I finish, especially when it's completely unexpected.

-0.5 for control issues, graphical bugs, and other small glitches. Too many times I've tried to 'activate' something and instead I go into cover ACK!

Everything else is pure perfection as far as I'm concerned, combat felt fun and fair (aside from the seemingly overpowered banshees, give them a cooldown on their biotic charge or whatever it is that allows them to zoom to your location). The music was appropriate and well done throughout the game. The story (up until the ending) was epic, emotional, and deep. What I really loved was the amount of customization, all the facial features, armor, and weapons felt varied and fleshed out, making it feel like Shepard was your own character. And the character interaction is some of the best I've seen, in a video game, movie, or book. Graphics were well done, nothing ground breaking but it didn't need to be, a few glitches here and there though (Shepard's hair in Javik's room would seemingly become transparent...). Well, that's about it, so much for a short and sweet review >.>;

EDIT: What's the deal with removing the Hammerhead? I didn't like the thing as much as the Mako but it managed to add a bit of variety to the game, but I guess it would've took up a lot of data space for more important things *shrug*. There's also a few other things like it being seemingly impossible to get enough EMS for the 'best' ending without playing online, knowing the way these things work online play wont be around forever, so that should probably be altered.

Modifié par BismarkYamato, 16 mars 2012 - 08:09 .

[Mushufasa1512]

Well bioware, here I am just as you intended. I am not someone who generally frequents gaming forums, but my experience with mass effect 3 was so gutwrenching that I have been compelled to sign in and make my way here. I have already perused many of the reviews and other threads on these forums, and what I have to add may not be that earthshattering from what other players have already noted, but hopefully it is at least somewhat therapuetic for myself and hopefully, someone out there is listening.

Ok review time, we'll start with the good

-The interaction between my crew members was amazing. Let us not forget many of Shep's crew members have been through various adventures with each other as well as shep. Having them actually act like friends towards each other instead of just standing there awating Shep's intrusion was great.
- Combat was intense and epic. I know many people have complained about "gears of mass effect" but the way I look at it, I'm commander sheppard, killer of reapers, I think i can handle curb stomping a zombie here and there.
- The voice acting was excellent as per usual.
- Cameos from various characters were great. I was slightly disappointed you could not acquire more ME2 characters as crew members, but some of the cameos like Thane's were excellent additions.
- I felt the new gathering system was vastly better. I think the less "tedium" as I call it, that you have in a game the better. Mining platinum or falling down a few cliffs in the Mako to get that last tech node can only be interesting for so long. I felt the new gathering system was quick and efficient.
- I know alot of people have complained about the music, but I really liked it espeically for the more poignant moments.
- The new enemies were excellent. The reaper asari were especially creepy and dangerous. The final battle right before running for the citadel beam with mutliple converted asari bearing down on you was epic.
- I felt the designers did and excellent job rewarding players who have been in it the whole time for all 3 games. Little convos like conrad talking about why the hell did we switch from guns with unlimited ammo to thermal clips were great.

The bad
- Why is cerberus such a big deal? I mean I realize TIM has a ton of resources but I have a hard time believing they could pull off doing things like capturing the citadel.
- Certain plot points were somewhat sketchy. Like how exactly did the genophage cure get dispersed around the entire planet when the vehicle of its disperal gets blown up 10 seconds after its activated?
- Some bugs like in dialogue cut scenes the camer focusing on a blank wall instead of the talking character. Also in dialogue outside of cut scenes voices would sometimes cut out
- While I did not have many major complaints as many of the auto responses were in line with how i played shep in previous games, some more dialogue wheel choices would have been nice when talking with the crew.

The ugly.
Ok here we go /deep breath. If you have been paying attention at all, you know exactly what we are going to talk about in this section, the ending. I actually waited a couple of days to post anything as I did not want to come off as a raving lunatic who just had his guts ripped out. Instead I hope to discuss this in a fairly calm and logical manner. First off let me start by saying I do not play many video games. When I do play them however, I commit to them fully. I have been a massive bioware fan going back to the Baldur's Gate days so I know the quality of work you guys put out. When I discovered mass effect 1 and 2, I instantly found my new favorite franchise. For everyone out there comparing ME to a movie, novel or work of art, you are dead wrong. Video games are designed for complete immersion. The designers want you to feel like you ARE your character. In other storytelling vehicles, you are just a bystander watching things unfold. In video games I am the one doing the shooting, talking or whatever the game calls for. Bioware has always succeeded in this regard for me, and never more strongly than in mass effect. I love my character, i love my crew, and i love the universe they artfully created.

Thus this ending came as a massive shock to me, and not the good kind. In fact after I finished Mass Effect 3 I had to walk away from my computer before I did anything unpleasent to it, and felt physically ill. The ending just does not fit with what mass effect has come to stand for. Mass effect has always felt like a very "real" game for me. Obvioulsy in real life there are no reapers or geth running around, but problems were always solved by talking, shooting or bioticing your way to victory. There was no magical hibbity bibbity or supernatural mojo going on. So why, after all of that is the ending ultimately determined in an ethereal and seemingly super natural way? I mean a final convo with some mysterious star being instead of a show down with Harbinger is how we are going to go out? Does not seem very mass effect like.

Secondly, sheppard is a fighter. Whether it is for humanity, himself, his crew or whatever the case, he fights. So why does he just so blithely accept these ultimately terrible terms the star child lays down? When confronted with a seemingly unbeatable ancient machine ship, he destroys it. When confronted with a suicide mission, he pulls it off with everyone or almost everyone making it back the other side. So why does he just lay down for this? Mass effect has always been about beating the odds, doing the impossible and somehow surviving to talk about it the next day. I feel like sheppard would be far more inclined to tell the star child to go f off while he looks for a way back down planet side rather than just going along with it.

Which brings me to my next issue. As stated I feel like a big part of mass effect has always been being able to pull of the impossible. As long as your team had your back, you always had a chance of succeeding and living to talk about it. Call it foolish, childish, or "unimaginative" but I want an ending in keeping with the rest of the series. I want to be able to laugh in harbingers face while I'm ending his existance and then go retire on a beach somewhere with my LI and garrus talking about the good old days and how crazy we were to take on the most badass force in the known universe. You have stated that you were going for something "edgy" and "memorable" but there is a fine line between edgy and cruel. Arbitrarily just killing the character I have come to enjoy so much where I have 0 say in the matter infuriates me on a base emotional level that is hard to articulate. I understand the idea of the "noble sacrifice," and indeed it is an excellent tool in many stories. But not this story. Not this character. Paragon or renegade, sheppard doesn't just lie down and sacrifice his life without fighting first.

Even worse than killing sheppard and stranding my crew (which how did they all get in the ship anyway?) on some random planet was the destruction of the universe as we know it. With all of the relays destroyed and the citadel exploded, who knows how long it will be before the various races can connect once again? I feel like you did such an excellent job crafting the mass effect universe, that it was completely unfathomable as to why you would choose to destroy it. From a purely business standpoint the ME universe is a cash cow that could keep on giving and from a gamers perspective the destruction of the relays was the last straw. Shep may die, my crew may die, but I WILL NOT accept the entire universe being completely and totally altered and thrown back however many thousands of years. Not to mention the earth is now inhabited by large krogan, asari, turian, quarian and possibly geth forces. What is the next game going to be? take earth back from the angry krogan hordes? oh yeah and that nice note we got from wrex about his kids, I guess he is never going to get to see them. The homeworld Tali has been fighting for all this time? Yeah not setting foot on it again. I just do not understand why this decision was made.

The biggest tragedy in all of this for me however is not that the ending ruined mass effect 3 for me, but that it ruined the entire series. I have played mass effect 1 and 2 more times than I can count. I fully anticipated 3 ending and me being sad that it was over, then consoling myself by making a new shep and replaying the entire trilogy. Now I have no interest in touching anything involved with mass effect. Everything I have fought for in the games means absolutely nothing. I mean what is the point? In the end no matter what I am going to run into some weird star being who is going to give me three terrible choices all of which end in my death and the destruction of the travel networks throughout the universe. Even future DLC such as the often suggested "take back Omega' would have no traction with me. Anything that takes place before the ending of ME3 is pointless unless somehow this end is not the actual end. I know I will not be investing in any further dlc if that is the case and I do not think I am alone. I mean hell i am probably in the minority on this but even the multiplayer holds no interest now. What is the point of fighting off those geth forces if they are all going to be vaporized soon anyway? Who cares about cerberus trying to steal something if we are all stuck in this system anyway? The way this game ended has just killed all enjoyment of any facet of the series for me.

So now I have become a completely obsessive conspiracy theorist. I cling to every indoctronation theory and mysterious tweet in the hopes that they will shed a clue into something which will save this series for me. If there is indeed a final DLC with an ending more in line with the other games, I will curse your genius while acquiring the new content as quickly as possible, free or otherwise. Maybe this is exactly what you wanted, but if this is indeed how it all ends, I will have no interest in anything associated with Mass Effect in the future which is a huge tragedy for me as I truly enjoyed the masterpiece you created until those last unfathomable 10 minutes.

Please, I shamelessly beg you, give us something.

Modifié par Mushufasa1512, 16 mars 2012 - 08:33 .

[BismarkYamato]

Mushufasa1512 wrote...

Well bioware, here I am just as you intended. I am not someone who generally frequents gaming forums, but my experience with mass effect 3 was so gutwrenching that I have been compelled to sign in and make my way here. I have already perused many of the reviews and other threads on these forums, and what I have to add may not be that earthshattering from whate other players have already noted, but hopefully it is at least somewhat therapuetic for mysely and hopefully, someone out there is listening.

Ok review time, we'll start with the good...
*put review here*
...Please, I shamelessly beg you, give us something.

Damn, why'd I bother to write my review? you said it perfectly.

[Frozen83]

Let me state first that the overall impression of the game is very good. Good graphics, amazing soundtrack (I play it in my car) and beautiful planets' vistas are the most impressive features of the game. I didn't like small user interface, quickbar, conversation text and dialogue wheel on 1080 resolution. Also, radar permanently visible on the screen would make life easier in many instances. Almost invisible guide arrows and poorly visible red "object of interest" markers are among the weaknesses of the game, as well as journal which is neither informative nor intuitive. Many different, interesting mission which are well conceived, follow a logical course and have a real and visible impact on the story. Many errand missions on the Citadel, however, aren't as fun, but they do provide somewhat less significant, but still relevant impact on the story, which makes them worthwhile. They are, also, significantly improved by the "Reaper catch-me-if-you-can" minigames.
I've mostly enjoyed the fact that the characters from ME1 and ME2 reappear in this game. Their personalities have evolved over the game and their friendship with the main character has become strong by the third game. Interesting dialogues and their responses in different situation are all very well written and believable. The connection between the player, his/hers Shepard and the squad is really deep and emotional for a game because the involvement of the main character with the squad over the three games has sometimes subtle (Garuss' and Shepard's conversations are one of the best examples), sometimes profoundly (most of the romantic involvement in which Shepard engages) altered the squad characters from their ME1/2 personalities (for example, Tali's view on the geth or Jack's change from "angry ****" in beginning of ME2 to "hardcore and starting to heal" towards the end, to ME3's "resolved, strong person with purpose").
Another big plus point for the game goes for the ability to invoke emotions in players. Some scenes are especially good in this – my favorite is on the Grissom Academy when Shepard meets David Archer again (from Overlord). There are numerous other with strong emotional impact on the player – most notably the deaths of former crewmembers, either by doing something noble or by being devastated by the grim outcome of events unfolding. The interaction between various crewmembers also contributes to the depth of the characters in game. NPC dialogues which could be heard throughout the Citadel also take the personal involvement of Shepard in the game to a whole new level through many well-known motives to which many players can relate (kid waiting for her parents, turain and asari farewell etc.). I would also want to point out Kai Leng's character, which is weak and simply annoying. Unable to defeat Shepard during the first encounter, unable on Thessia (needed to call in a gunship), and finally, in the third round, just an annoyance, rather than the real adversary. I really didn't like his character.
The story is tense, interesting, logical and really well written, except in two segments. First – in the very beginning of the game a miraculous finding discovered on Mars – a deus ex machina, which would be able to defeat the Reapers, although nobody really knows what it does or how it works. That was in my opinion the first weak point of the game. More clues about it through the first third of the game (similarly to ME1/2) would be more plausible story vise. Also, this is a very big turn from general ME1/2 concept of the "ways" how to defend the Reapers. Second, and this has been discussed on this forums extensively, is (are?) of course the end(s). Until the last battle, everything is going fine and what you would have expected from "taking back Earth" concept. But from the moment when the Reaper's beam hits Shepard until the end, it is just downhill regarding the gameplay experience (fun) and especially storywise. I have been wandering for quite some time now why is the story familiar to me, and then I remembered – ST:DS9 (Dominion) and Bab5 (The Shadows) with a bit of "bringing order into chaos" from ST series and Borg. But lets discuss ending a bit.
The next 15 or so minutes are comprised mostly of extremely slow limping of wounded Shepard, then some dialogue choices which result in Shepard's one-liners and the Illusive Man's long monologues, total anticlimactic shot in the head (already seen with Saren), and the view of the Earth and last talk of Anderson and Shepard. Up until this, the game already has been going in a downward spiral for some time. If the game would have been ended here, then I believe the story of commander Shepard would have been at least somewhat "saved". But no, in the last moment, admiral Hackett calls Shepard and tells him that nothing is happening. At this point, the only possible reaction should have been "solve it yourself, I'm bleeding here and I'm DONE with saving the galaxy issue". But no, Shepard continues to crawl towards the console. But that obviously wasn't enough, no, another deus ex machina must appear in the form of child (all right, I can swallow that)... And then the child speaks about creating the Reapers who destroy too intelligent organics in order to stop the organics in creating AI which would destroy them... Totally logical! And then offers three choices – control, destruction and synthesis. The funny thing is, that if Shepard manages to secure peace between the geth and the quarians, the Catalyst still does not acknowledge his opinion about peaceful coexistence of synthetics and organics. But, on the other hand, sees that Shepard is special, and unique, the only one who can make the choice and either control, destroy or merge with the Reapers. So, Shepard's opinion based on his experience and character isn't relevant, but Shepard, because of his experience and character is. Great logic no. 2!
Let us continue with the endings... Bioware claims there are a total of 16 different endings. The differences are whether you choose destruction, synthesis or control, then whether the Earth is destroyed, somewhat destroyed, or saved. Great... But the KEY features in ALL ending are the SAME. Normandy with its crew gets catapulted to some god forsaken planet and mass relays are destroyed. And it appears that EVERYBODY is again on the Normandy, regardless of all of them being in Earth with you just an hour ago, or at least your two squad mates on the last mission just minutes ago, and Normandy being engaged in fight above Earth. It is somewhat plausible that the Normandy was caught in the explosion which catapulted it in FTL, similarly to mass relay, across the galaxy, but highly unlikely that the ship would be able to survive that AND the crash landing. Great logic no. 3! Unless this is either a glitch or, as some claim on this forum, a consequence of indoctrination (in which case, I don't understand why would Reapers indoctrinate Shepard into thinking that he would dye (kid says so – you will die). Who in the right mind would try to convince someone into doing something with "you will die in the process" line?!
Considering the destruction of mass relays – I could understand it in "destroy" option [but why destruction of ALL synthetic life, and not just Reapers (ships)? geth and EDI do have some Reaper programming in them, but it can be purged from their software, even more, if there is "Shepard lives" who is also partly synthetic, ending], even in synthesis options, but how the hell does control of the Reapers (and all their technology) equate with the destruction of mass relays (which are Reaper technology). Great logic no. 4! You look at everything getting burned, mass relays exploding, bla-bla... Game ends... And then grandfather and kid. I mean WTF? On, apparently the same planet where where Normandy crashed(two moons, but different climate zone?)... Great, the story of Shepard is being told in future in which evidently organics still exists but are unable to travel between the stars. Yeah, we knew that already when THE DAMNED RELAYS GOT DESTROYED AND SHEPARD SAVED THE ORGANICS! The cheesy ending moment was the last nail in the ending-coffin Bioware made for this, otherwise GREAT game. I was thinking, why wansn't there a "Reaper kill switch", something similar what happens in ME1 when Shepard kills Saren - Sovereign's shield go down and the fleet can destroy it. This would have been a rather simple and logical solution (since we found out that the Citadel-Catalyst is controlling the Reapers).
There are few things to consider here – this is a story about Shepard as much as his crew. Players are interested in what happens to all of them. And we simply do not get a satisfactory answer beyond "they survived on random planet and Shepard dies or they survived on random planet and Shepard is alive in London". That isn't closure. I am sorry that the most of this review is about the ending, but when comparing it to the rest of the game it is the weakest link, the worst part of the game. And when I say worst, I mean the most horrific part of the game, considering story and gameplay.
Minor bugs/glitches/possible plotholes (seen on MShep only)
1) Matriarch Aethyta thinks your Shepard is in relationship with Liara (call you her boyfriend with Cerberus) even if you didn't romance Liara; in fact Shepard also talks with her as if he were in relationship with Liara
2) Head rotations in talk with Liara and Glyph for the first time aboard Normandy (the glitch occurs when you ask the question about Glyph)
3) Liara doesn't remember LofSB relationship continuation
4) Shepard got stuck on the bridge once when I was talking with EDI after Thessia missions; talked with Joker, then EDI (reload didn't solve the issue, has to revert to previous save)
5) How did Cerberus manage to get through Omega 4 relay without the Reaper IFF (which according to EDI in ME2) activates a certain protocol which enables safe passage through the relay?

M.

Modifié par Frozen83, 17 mars 2012 - 09:02 .

[Scott Uhl]

Score 75/100

liked the updated graphics
liked all the missions (until teleported to the citadel)
liked the weapon modding
liked the new combat gameplay
liked the new scanning technique
liked the cut-scenes of the fleets arriving to earth (could have been longer)
liked the multiplayer (it is nice to have something to play when done with the single-player)
liked access into the shuttle bay/cargo hold

disliked the lack of intro scene that transitions me2 into me3
disliked the lack of credits to purchase all items/upgrades from stores
disliked the how character gets "sucked" to cover and walls when not wanted
disliked everything after being teleported to the citadel
disliked the kei leng character (he was pointless)
disliked the explaination of why the reaper cycle happens
disliked the distruction of the mass relays
disliked the security barrier between the cic and the war room
disliked the dream sequences
disliked not seeing tali's actual face
disliked the extremely high number of cut-scenes
disliked the ending on how it was not clear which was realy paragon or renegade
disliked the lack of options on the conversation wheel

[GreaseMeUp]

Mass Effect 3
is GREAT. Action Packed an smooth.... but you still miss the Massive structure
that gave the series its "EDGE".




*Looses
points for lack of Textures. Consoles are out dated an More attention to the
graphical power of PC's now running 2 graphic cards is needed please. High Res
Texture patch required.




*Also looses
points for lack of Dialogue an wheel bar options. In ME1 & 2 we had the
opportunity to create our conversation, to turn the conversation to any degree
we wanted, sometimes having 6 choices only to pick 1. ME3 most of the
time only gives you 2 an has a major lack of paragon / renegade speech bars.




* War Assets
feel cheap. you send in a probe an viola. you have a fleet. didnt work for me.
Side mission are exactly the same. There's almost zero exploration, and in a game
that has a universe full of exploration over multiple galaxies, you sure missed
this.




* The choices
that are dismissed from the first 2 ie. the Rachni / Toombs an council etc etc.
You know this is missed along with much more. A massive lack of Harbinger.




* The ending.
Indoctrination. Hellucination. whatever it is, or whatever people are trying to
make fans believe has failed. You cant just throw Udina on the council when i
had Anderson in charge an then expect me to believe im Indoctrinated from the
start. It doesn't fit an if i was i certainly wouldn't have driven my character
along a path to stop the Reapers for the whole course of the Journey to give in at
the end.

I have gone
over this multiple times an it just sweeps me away like a great biotic wind.

Ever since
mass effect was released fans have followed the story, it has had an impact on
many lunch conversations. When we create our character in a journey, we are
following a story, but we are creating OUR story. We make a character that
looks like us, we make decisions based on what we would do as such commander.
You achieved everything we wanted an more. You went to so much trouble in mass
effect 1 & 2 creating different scenes, squad members living an dying in different
cut scenes, creating Chaos & Choices on what should have reflected the 3rd
inclusion to the series, it's quite sad to see all the this culled in the sum
of 5 minutes.




I still believe this game / trilogy / Quad trilogy??? is
amazing, The Choices, the cut scenes, the battles, the choices, Cerberus, All of it. An emotional an inspiring story to be involved in. 
 i just believe its the lack of detail you have ignored which has the
fan base in an uproar.  Solid game with
alot of missed opportunities that could of been addressed.




Bugs. quite a few. everytime i talk to joker i cant move. a
reload is required. an the obvious, importing Character error.  Peoples heads perform a full 180 degrees to talk to sheppard. etc. The
trailer take back earth is amazing, It gave me hope an excitement on the inevitable final battle & wrath of the Reapers, an for me this is the ending. 
What's
the point of having all these war assets of previous squad members if they are
not in the final battle fighting side by side with us, where was the cut scenes
of the war on different fronts. Myself i was excited to see major Kirrahe's
squad holding the line in the final battle, but sadly this was also absent.

I wanted to see Reapers die by my hand, I want the option to take in the whole galactic army i created an watch the reapers annihilate all civilizations like the Protheans. I wanted to destroy Harbinger an so on. Where were these options?  This is probably the greatest trilogy ever, yet the ending in the 3rd is undenyable. All those amazing choices that affected us from 1st - 2nd - 3rd all for naught. 
The game itself is amazing an fans are not denying that fact, it's the countless
upon countless of hours wasted to see what is potentially the same game over
all characters all summed up in an ending that occurs all the same
way. 



Thanks for listening. You guys are a set from the rest. An
is why you are my favorite developer since '95. 

[Triad330670]

Being as vague as possible: 14 readiness level paths, 3 endings, standard. Turn around press A to run bypass on Citadel AI, new ending option activated. Why not?

[Triad330670]

That wasn't that vague now that I look back, still I think that is a simple lead in for a alternate ending

[Vergil_dgk]

Chris Priestly wrote...

Hi Everyone

We now have a thread collecting the press reviews for Mass Effect 3. You can read all the reviews we collect here.

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.....

We want to hear from you.

I'll go ahead and give it 85/100. I thought it was a compelling game - perhaps not quite as good as number 2, but the sheer number of things carrying over with my savegames got me very emotionally engaged. The shooting was fun, the missions were exciting and I enjoyed collecting stuff from planets for the war effort. I even misted up when Mordin died, which is unheard of for a video game. I would have liked a few more side missions connected to specific crewmembers - didn't feel like I got quite enough quality time with my -LI Liara (a character who has developed extremely well from bland beggings in number 1. As you know by now, the ending was a huge disappointment. It ruined replayability for me (and I was planning to go back and play through the whole trilogy again). I just can't see myself doing that or buying DLC when I know how badly the ball is dropped at the end. I would probably give the game a score in the 90'ies if the last five minutes had not been such a disappointment. It's not Shepard dying - it's the lack of choice, interaction and closure and the poor, poor delivery. It drags the whole trilogy down imo.

[AllThatJazz]

 Nowhere near finished yet - I'm taking it really slowly because I don't want to get to the end for various reasons (yes, I know what the endings are), but a couple of thoughts as I go:

- the amount of auto dialogue is bothering me more than I thought it would. The dialogue itself is of a decent standard, and some of it fantastic (loving the increased squad banter), but there have been a few scenes where I thought my Shep should have had some more input. The scene where I get the support of the Blood Pack is one notable example. It was just a cut scene, I was waiting for my Shep to be able to do something - anything, but I just stood there and let the scene play out. It isn't a huge, game-destroying deal, but I dislike feeling so passive in what is supposed to be my experience.

- I like the idea of the war assets, and I enjoy making decisions such as whether to have Chakwas or Michel on the Normandy and whatnot,  but I'm not fully happy with how the system is implemented in SP. Basically, the only ending I'll be remotely satisfied with is the one where Shep gets to take a breath at the end. Because that's the only ending that appears to indicate some hope for Shep, and personally I need to finish the trilogy with that note of hope. I can't get that ending in SP unless I play multiplayer or go back to ME1 and metagame the entire trilogy. The former I'm not keen on, plus my ethernet cable for my 360 is currently kind of broken anyway, the latter is not a good way to play an RPG which surely relies partly on player immersion to be successful. If I have to deliberately break immersion in order to secure the best outcome to the game, then the role-playing aspect is defunct.

- that said, I'm having much more fun with actually gathering the assets and running away from the reapers than I was anticipating. I actually feel nervous when I hear them entering the system, and I like the sense of urgency it imparts.

- I don't have a problem with the journal. It suits my playstyle, which is always tackling sidequests before moving on with the story, and doing a lot of wandering around. I like that I'm not being led around. One example. During the conversation with the Eclipse leader in C-Sec prison, she mentions her second-in-command. Rather than agree to her demands, I decide to investigate Sayd. My journal hasn't updated, so I have no idea whether this is even possible. After a bit of wandering, I find the guy and manage to secure a different outcome for that quest. That was cool, I felt a sense of achievement, and one that I had attained independently rather than being led to it by the journal and minimap.

 - Love the Citadel. I love the atmosphere, the overheard conversations, the different areas, the fact that my squaddies can be found dotted around the place, the Spectre office, everything. So much better than ME2, on par with ME1 for me.

 - Some great levels and sidequests. Grissom Academy was fantastic. Plot, pacing, level design, fights (the two final fights there were very challenging on hardcore and crazily good fun!), the cameos, the choice at the end. All good. Favourite level so far. 

 - Soundtrack is gorgeous, voice acting is top notch, sound effects great, weapons and powers are sounding nice and 'weighty'. No problems there.

 - some great dialogue and writing. Vega is definitely a pleasant surprise, Cortez likewise, Garrus is awesome as usual. Also am not rolling my eyes at Sexbot as much as I thought I would. Blasto 6 is the best moment. 'Does the criminal scum consider itself fortunate? Does it?' is the funniest line in the entire trilogy for me so far. Pure win. Also, whoever replaced Michael Beattie as Mordin is doing an outstanding job. The occasional moment of sounding a tiny bit 'off', but otherwise pitch perfect in my opinion.

That's all I've got so far. 

[Yokokorama]

I'm not done with the game yet, but two things I've noticed so far:

1) Too much autodialogue. It almost feels like my Shepard is a pre-set character. He talks WAY too much on his own without a dialogue wheel appearing.

2) Utter lack of squadmates. Mass Effect 2 had 13 squadmates (12 if you don't count Kasumi), and then this game has . . . six. Two of those six (Garrus and Tali) won't even be in the game if they died in ME2, so you could potentially be stuck with only 4 squadmates. Why such a downgrade on the roster?

[RogueState]

I'm going to give Mass Effect 3 a solid 90/100

Things I like:
* Excellent story telling - Genophage plot, Geth/Quarian conflict and the main quest all fantastically done

* The atmosphere - I really felt the sense that a major galactic war was underway

* Squad banter and interaction - vastly improved and highly enjoyable. There were some really good moments. I loved the banter between Vega and Steve and drunk Tali was just hilarious "emergency induction port" will stay with me for a long time!

* RPG elements were much better than ME2. The weapon modding was great and it was nice to have alot of customisation over my armour again. far more choice with Squad appearence was nice too.

* More squad power choice. This was one of my biggest let downs in ME2, squad mates only having 2 (or 3) powers.

* The soundtrack was amazing. I felt every piece of music was suited to the mood of the scenes, it really added to the atmosphere and gave me chills more than once. The Normandy piece on Earth as it swoops into pick up Shep for instance was great and the romance scene music was perfect.

* LI's - I was very impressed with the MaleShep/Kaidan romance, I felt it was excellently done. As a gay player it was great to finally be able to pursue a romance option that I wanted and I really felt that the relationship was a genuine loving and committed one, and not just a fling tagged on to appease the gay fans! So a big thank you to Bioware for that one, can't wait to explore Steves romance in my next playthrough.

A few things I didn't like:
* The story did feel a little bit too linear at times. In ME1 and ME2 the exploartion and side quests felt much more free and open to explore at anytime but in ME3 I felt like I had to do them as soon as they appeared and to be honest the amount of side quests was a little lacking.
* Mordin's scripted death, how could you Bioware!

* Diana Allers - I didn't dislike the character but I didn't really see the point of her! Her role could have been filled just as well with Emily Wong or Kalisha and kept an established character in the game.

* And I really wasn't going to complain about the endings but it is the major reason for the 90/100 instead of 100/100 for me. I didn't dislike the ending that I had, it worked for the Shep I was playing. But if all the endings are pretty much the same, which they are, that is very disappointing.

I fully expected it to be a less than perfect everybody lives ending but seriously, not even an ending where Shep and everyone on the Normandy who did survive get to count their loses and have a big group hug, not cool! Sorry but not having at least one semi-happy ending is really, really rubbish!

So on the whole I give ME3 a very enthusiastic thumbs up. For me there were far more pros than cons and I shall be having many more playthroughs in the future. Alas I will just have to head canon myself a slightly (just slightly) more happy ending for at least one of my Sheps 

Modifié par Lordy12, 16 mars 2012 - 12:53 .