Me:
Okay, so I’ll bite and write my own user review of Mass Effect 3. Bear in mind, that I’m no hardcore gamer and I’m quite convinced that every time someone says: “Core fan base”, an angel loses a tooth and a child accidentally colors outside the page and leaves ink marks on the family heir loom and makes another one of mother’s hair turn gray. So I can’t as such address the technical aspects of the game in terms common to developers and players with years of experience, but only point out what I thought to be glitches interfering with my enjoyment. To further indicate who this particular reviewer is and in what context the review should be read, I’m a 33 year old married guy from Denmark who works with film, art and design. Role playing games are my favorite games, though I’ve also been found to enjoy the more puzzling games like Machinarium and Limbo, but before Mass Effect, there really hasn’t been a role playing game with which I could identify and therefore my list of purchased games is very short. I mention I’m married, because that means, that whenever I feel giddy enough about a game to spend money on it, my husband will give me the “look” and wonder if we couldn’t have spend the money more wisely. He was somehow convinced, like myself, that the entire series of Mass Effect was worth it, because of the good reputation and praises Bioware receives in the gay press, plus he got to buy himself Skyrim and have fun with that .. but that’s an entirely different story.
The short story is, I’m new to this outfit, having never met a game that dared to include someone like
me.
The game:This is the game I played: Mass Effect 3, standard edition (called “Nordic Edition” at my gaming pusher) for PC. I installed the “From Ashes” and all the patches available to me (the first two) before loading the game the first time. I’ve played Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 before, and had save files on desk, with
their story related DLC’s bought as well.
The review:
Technical aspects and game play:The first thing I’ll mention would be the first thing I encountered when popping my DVD in the PC: Origin.
I don’t mind installing what appeared to be a superfluous program to run my game, but I had quite some problems making it work, as the installment stopped, froze and started over again before telling me it had stopped at 67 percent and was unwilling to discuss the matter with me any further. None of this ruined my opinions on Mass Effect as a game as such, but it did make me a bit nervous if this final game was going to cause more technical problems than enjoyment. I’m the kind of guy who just wants to press a button, let the thing do its thing, and start playing; so I could hope that future games from Bioware with Origin could have an “An Idiot’s Guide to .. Just Relax and Wait, Okay?”. Yeah. I
said I was new to this outfit, but my first impression was bad, none the less.
My second impression of Mass Effect 3 was great though. It looked great, ran smoothly and started with a bang. I thought the introduction to the various ways of controlling Shepard (like introducing his new jump skill) worked really well without feeling patronizing even the slightest. In Mass Effect 2, I had the distinct impression of playing the introduction like it was a lesson in basic gaming and felt I simply had to just get the introduction over with to get to the real game afterwards; but in Mass Effect 3 this seemed more seamless. The story had me involved in less than two minutes and the various fades between cut scenes and controlling my Shepard was exemplarily well done, a trend I thought the entire game lived up to throughout. There was also quite a nice balance to emotion, action and the plot’s forward movement.
I personally only encountered very few technical things with the game play that annoyed me and hindered me in staying in the illusion of the game, and one was the constant ability to have Shepard get stuck wherever I made him duck from enemies. This would often mean that my Shepard would get killed due to his inability to get away from an enemy or an enemy’s grenade. On the other hand, I really liked the easy new way to jump over tables and blocks and how his new ability to jump affected and manipulated how I sometimes perceived an area as a dead end, before realizing there was more to it than it appeared. This particularly made some areas more interesting, because I felt I had to make more of an effort, where the two previous games sometimes gave away too many clues to where I should go and how many enemies I could expect to meet (specifically I’m referring to how blocks of stone or railings in front of the characters often gave away the surprise of a sudden attack, because when they occurred it usually meant enemies were ahead). This was a great upgrade from the previous games and gave me the experience of occasionally feeling lost in the levels – which is a
good thing.
Another minor irritation I had with the game play was the slight shift towards a more autonomic Shepard and his way of engaging with his surroundings. I’m ambivalent towards how he picked up side quests on the Citadel by merely passing strangers, as I often found it irritating to have assignments thrown in my direction, without realizing most of the time
who or
what specific character had thrown it at me, thus giving me a clue to if the assignments themselves were for the greater good or part of a conspiracy. It made the quests lack transparency and lacked a direct contact to the stories of Reapers and Cerberus (I imagine, that some of these quests could have been questionable, since I could in effect be helping Cerberus agenda by not questioning their motives). On the other hand, I’m glad that more resources wasn’t invested in these bystander-characters with their important causes, since I can envision how endlessly dull I would have found it, if I had to spend endless time talking with them.
More worrying to me was that I often found Shepard engage in conversation with his crew members without me wanting him to beyond the point of interest, or when I engaged in conversation and saw it played out without player control. I didn’t object to the things the character said or even thought the automatic banter and occasional quirky remarks were out of place; but each time the game took over control, I felt I lost my connection to the game. This remains true, especially because of the
way these auto-dialogues arise when they are not cut-scenes: Shepard as a default stands with his back towards the player, which much like in a film alters the way we perceive the character. In short we go from
being the character, to essentially eavesdropping on a private conversation with the main character cutting us off from view. I think game developers could or should consider if the camera should automatically shift to the side, whenever an auto dialogue starts and if that would fix the player’s detachment to the moment, or if other things should be considered. In Mass Effect 3, I often felt I was shifting towards watching, more than playing.
And while I’m still talking about the game play, I think I should have to just briefly mention, that the Journal upgrades this time around seemed messy. I was perfectly happy with the previous lay outs in Mass Effect and
struggled with the new one. I can understand the wish to integrate Shepard’s personal messages, news and assignments, given the theory that the sheer amount of information about what’s going on beyond what’s happening on the Normandy will create an even bigger universe to get lost in; but –if true- I’d rather see future Journals as it was in Mass Effect 2 and figure out a way to bring galaxy news into the Normandy in another way, and perhaps integrate this new news-outlet, so certain missions came from keeping up to date with them.
And personally? I so
dearly missed the spam mails persuading me to get a bigger penis so I could please even the weirdest of species out there. They were hilarious.
I should perhaps also, just briefly, mention the new scanning system when the Normandy is flying in a solar system. I was perfectly happy with the scanning system in Mass effect 2, but can see why Bioware chose to update the feature. I did however miss landing on some of all these planets and enjoy some small missions with minor enemies, and I sometimes felt that it was just slightly too easy to find everything. The Reapers’ alert system was however a total win for me, since it brought tension to one of features most commonly thought of as “slow”.
My main let down with the new technical ideas to Mass Effect is the multiplayer part. I have no doubt, that “Galaxy at War” is an exciting multiplayer experience, and I won’t be too arrogant to dismiss the quality of that particular branch of Mass Effect 3, since I only played it for five minutes, before remembering why I hate multiplayer games. One thing is that I don’t enjoy shooting games, if the shooting leads to nowhere but more shootings (unlike the story portion of the Mass Effect 3 game, where a fight is relevant to the outcome of the story, and therefore a more fun fight), but I also play games to get far away from reality, and feel instantly depressed with racial and homophobic slurs being shouted in microphones around the world. To summarize: I really loathe multiplayer games, but can appreciate that it has its fans; but I was seriously disappointed that “Galaxy at War” wasn’t a bonus, but an integrated part of how well my story would end. I felt I had bought an engaging role playing game, but was being forced to play a totally different genre of game to get my money’s worth. It is perhaps my strongest argument to newcomers of Mass Effect 3: Do they really want to pay for a game of which a substantial part of it isn’t even in the same genre?
Characters, romances and finally story:All of that was mostly technical aspect of the game, and I have to admit, that they don’t grind me down nor do they excite me, since I’m playing this for the story and the experience and the universe created by the Bioware team.
Characters and romances:I won’t go into a detailed description of each character and write out thoughts on each one of them, but focus on the ones I personally engaged mostly with and the ones I connected with the most, leaving the ones I don’t mention to fans or haters of those particular ones.
A huge plus, and not the very least, a
big selling point for me, was the inclusion of male same-sex options. This exact thing is what made me interested in Bioware and specifically take notice of Mass Effect (and I’m happy to say, that the game
itself was what kept me as a fan, even if it was the inclusiveness of the game that initially inspired interest), so I’ll mention
Kaidan and
Steve Cortez as characters that meant a great deal to me.
I don’t really think I can underplay the importance of being able to identify with the characters in games (and films, commercials, songs, novels – you name it) and how welcomed I personally felt in the Mass Effect universe by the male same-sex relationship options (I mean, I
am the generation who saw the early stumblings of 70s and 80s games, stick men and cool worms you could code to move from left to right, through 12 flobby disc Indiana Jones adventures, the first Wolfenstein, Tomb Raider and Elder Scrolls; and yet, no one has ever before really thought of including me? My entire life, and this is the first time, done seriously?)
And I’m also quite thrilled, that the writing for it wasn’t badly done, but respectful, neutral and in the example of Steve Cortez
actually serious about standing by his sexuality. I missed Kaidan being written as a bisexual (meaning: he didn’t have lines to imply his sexuality outside the choices I made to make him my love interest) and felt he was written to hide it away from the “normal” players, though I also felt the time and thought put into the male Shepard and Kaidan’s sex scene was amazingly realized with no hint of an animator just wanting to get the scene over with. Both Steve Cortez and Kaidan were also excellently voice casted.
I can respect the choices Bioware took with bisexuality and homosexuality and accept how it turned out, since I realize very little actual experience with the subject has ever been produced in games. I’ve written
extensively on the subject elsewhere in these forums, and will try not to repeat myself endlessly, so if I had one wish for the future of norm-breaking sexualities, it would be that the characters, like Steve Cortez, dared to admit their sexuality, if the story allowed them to be in a position where such a subject would come up. And I’d also hope to one day see a fully fledged crew member with action skills who was gay, without having to hide it.
I should also mention
James Vega as a character, though I’m sorry he, like Steve Cortez, could have been enjoyable in a bigger role. He was hilarious to be around, and I enjoyed how another negative stereotype was taken down: That white, straight men have to be homophobic bigots. The banters overheard on the shuttle deck were a real plus from my perspective.
Story:The story this time around, compared to Mass Effect 1 & 2, was very, very simple, yet soap opera complex with its politics. This worked well, I thought, since this would be the last installment to a trilogy, and every plotline should be focused to the one thing the two previous games build up to: The Reapers. Cerberus had a bigger role to play this time around, and I liked the more sinister direction The Illusive Man took this time around. I haven’t read or seen or heard anything about the universe of Mass Effect outside of the games, so the introduction of the henchman
Kai Leng had me sigh very deeply, as he reminded me of another trilogy who shortly had a henchman call Darth Maul, who also looked really cool, but was inconsequential in that anybody could fill his shoes, and he wouldn't be missed if he was never there. But alright, I’ll accept him as the new random evil henchman.
I won’t go deeply into the story, as I mostly thought it was rather good, but just write about the events I thought were brilliantly done, and those I was disappointed in. The story developed well and seemed nuanced, though the universe seemed much smaller in scale from previous games, since I could only really dock at the Citadel – but I accept that, while appreciating the attempts of the developers to slowly, but surely, crank up the results of the war and their consequences to the people at the Citadel. The refugee camp was a nice addition, though I could have wished to see a far greater number of lost souls spread out over the entire Citadel.
The Mars mission in the beginning was really well done: story wise, but also in design, animation, lighting and transitions to cut scenes. It ran smoothly and touched on emotional layers, while remaining true to its intent of being action thrilling.
The Rannoch mission, where you could create peace or lose an allied was especially a high light. It was engaging, meaningful and very well written. It worked to get closure to an arc that has been affecting the story throughout the entire series, and provided a bittersweet moment of vague hope in a grand war. This sort of writing
gives the player content and context to why any of the characters or their action matter and seemed to stay in the same realm of emotion, action and character growth Bioware also showed us in the DLC to Mass Effect 2: “Lair of the Shadow Broker”. Just excellent.
Outstanding was also the subplot of the
Genophage and all that leads up to it. Slowly throughout the games the character Shepard has been getting more and more involved and we are now forced to make awful choices, going from passive to actively choosing life or death for millions. Again there was a great balance between spectacular action, design (the whole level of the underground tunnels was effective and well designed, I must say) and character growth. I really appreciate the ambiguity and the tough choices I’m as a player is forced to take.
The ending however was a sore moment for me. It wasn’t so much that I completely rejected it, but as a player, I felt kept out of the loop, while watching the rest of the game play itself to the credits. I can fully appreciate that Shepard has to sacrifice himself, but not having the means to reject or affect the events as they happened, meant that the game decided for me and I never felt Shepard’s sacrifice was ultimately worth it. I disliked the child coming forward to me, not because of design, but because he as a concept felt too abrupt and lacked any resonance with the themes otherwise played with in the series. The choices he offered Shepard was, to put it as simple as possible, neither realistic in this particular universe, nor were they logic or necessary. I couldn’t see any of the endings as anything but as everybody losing to the Reapers, either directly or indirectly because of what damage the solution of choice would cause to the galaxy. And I’m sorry that the brilliant series of games had to end in a B-film like manor.
Beyond that, the ending raises some questions, although I can ignore them once I’ve accepted that it’s just B-film logic, like the whereabouts of the Normandy and the people on board; and in general how people seemed able to tele-transport themselves at will to any place at any time.
To finish this review, would I recommend it to others? Yes, definitely. I’d advise them to consider if they really wanted to pay full price for a game with a big chunk of it being what feels like a forced multiplayer, but otherwise, still yes. The ending felt sloppy and sporadic, but I’m more disappointed than anything near enraged.
Am I on board to buy new adventures in the Mass Effect universe? Yes, definitely, if multiplayer is optional.
So. 8 out of 10.
Modifié par Hvlukas, 07 juin 2012 - 11:59 .
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