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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: BioWare
System requirements: Windows XP (SP3)/Vista (SP1)/Win 7, 1.8 GHz Core2Duo or better CPU, 1 GB RAM (XP)/2 GB RAM (Vista/Win 7), 256 MB Nvidia 7900/ATI X1800 or better graphics card, 15 GB hard-drive space
Genre: RPG/Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now
The word “epic” is passed around liberally in critical media, be it the movies or videogames. The unquestioned master of the epic film was director Cecil B. DeMille, whose films carried such massive scope and reach that only Cinemascope could hold them. In gaming, developer BioWare has crafted perhaps the first true epic story in the industry’s short history with the Mass Effect series. The 80 to 100-hour journey finally reaches its end in Mass Effect 3, in which one person truly shapes the future of billions.
Following the battle at the Collector base at the end of Mass Effect 2, Cmdr. Shepard has been relieved of his duties and brought to Earth. He’s been trying to convince galactic leaders that the Reapers, a devastating alien force bent on universal destruction, are on the way to cull the herd in the Milky Way galaxy, but none of them seem to want to believe him, in spite of past events that make an invasion seem imminent. His warnings prove correct when a Reaper force arrives on Earth and starts reducing the world’s cities to rubble. Leaving his friend Adm. Anderson to organize a resistance, Shepard reluctantly returns to his ship, the Normandy, and heads to Mars, where plans for a superweapon that could defeat the Reapers are said to have been found.
 During the next few dozen hours of gameplay, you guide Shepard across the galaxy in search of alien races to join you in your quest to stop the Reapers. But it’s not as simple as dropping by and saying “pretty please?”. The various galactic powers have their own problems that have to be solved before they consider taking up your cause, so you travel from system to system, scratching their backs so that they would scratch yours. As you gain allies, a bar graph fills in from left to right, indicating your fleet’s readiness level and troop strength. You can move on to the end of the story at any time, but how well you might fare in the final battle is determined by your readiness level.
One of the great things about the Mass Effect series has been the small but significant improvements in the gameplay from the first game to the last. Combat has evolved from a simple, cover-based squad shooter to a more balanced combination of shooting and melee action. Resource-gathering, the bane of RPG players everywhere, has seen the biggest improvement. Instead of strip-mining every planet in the galaxy for raw materials (used to buy upgrades for weapons and the Normandy), now you scan each star system for anomalies, then only launch probes at planets where those anomalies are found — but scan too thoroughly and you can attract the attention of the Reapers, who can chase you back to hyperspace if you linger too long. The fruits of these explorations include fuel, alien artifacts, and lost military assets that help to grow your fleet. The acquisition of side quests has been changed, as well. Now all you have to do is eavesdrop on casual conversations to receive new quests; no exclamation points over the heads of NPCs, and your journal automatically updates to let you know what you need to find, where you can find it and to whom to deliver it when you’re done. And there’s one new (and slightly controversial) addition to the series: a multiplayer mode. This takes the form of a four-player co-op survival mode, played on various maps from the single-player game. Completing a dozen or so waves of enemies gains you XP to improve your MP character, as well as a bump in your battle-readiness percentage in the campaign, which helps determine which ending you get after the final battle. I’ve never been a fan of online multiplayer, but I found myself really enjoying it here. Waves are short but fast-paced, there’s plenty of ammo, and each wave is a little bit different from the one before. Fans of the series who’ve complained about the inclusion of MP should try it out; if a lone-wolf gamer such as I can get into it, then the haters might like it, too.
 I feel sorry for the poor souls at BioWare who had to write the voluminous descriptive material for the game’s codex and the planets that you visit and scan; most players never bother to read it, since reading all of it would add another couple of hours to your playtime. But it’s this attention to detail that has helped make the series what it is. However, there are still a few blemishes that need to be mentioned. The battle scenes tend to be the same on every planet you visit: first wave is cannon-fodder, next waves are a bit more challenging, final wave is very tough (be prepared to die frequently); a little variation would’ve been welcome. Actually, there is one mission that’s considerably different from the others, but it takes far too long to finish and tries to fill in backstory that doesn’t really need filling in. The cover mechanic can sometimes be unreliable, exposing you to enemy fire longer than you might want. There’s a graphics glitch in the cockpit of the Normandy in which your Shepard can get stuck and not be able to move, requiring a reload. NPC crewmembers can be found in exactly the same places, doing exactly the same things, through the entire game; don’t these people have duties to perform? (And a minor gripe — only one crewmember ever salutes Shepard as he moves through the ship; aren’t these people in the military?) The galactic map indicates where any uncompleted quests can be found, but there’s no way to tell where the fuel depots are; this is important, since travel between star systems uses fuel. Moving a tiny little Normandy through the galactic map is the cheesiest thing in the entire series, and unfortunately it returns in ME3. I also had some serious sound glitches; some dialogue sounded muffled, as if the voice actors were standing too far away from the microphones. And then there’s the ending. I won’t go into the extreme drama that has been generated by the ending (that’s for another forum), but I found the ending to be completely appropriate. The fight scene leading to the final sequence is the most unrelentingly intense battle scene in the entire series. However, I did want to know what happened to my friends whom I didn’t select to go with me in the final fight. Also, BioWare has made it very inconvenient to go back and see the endings that you didn’t select in your original playthrough; the quick-save feature is disabled in the final sequence, and the last autosave is overwritten after the credits, so you have to sit through 15 minutes of exposition three times to see all of the endings.
Let’s take a look at the Mass Effect series as a whole. BioWare has crafted a story that Mr. DeMille himself would envy, a story in which the Butterfly Effect is definitely in play (a single decision that you made way back in the first game can have serious ramifications at the end of the series). You meet dozens of memorable characters for whom you feel actual emotions; few games get you so personally invested. The series is a landmark achievement in gaming, and Mass Effect 3 is a fine conclusion. It’s not the prettiest game, and it has more than it’s share of controversy attached to it, but it’s the ending to a gaming experience that should not be missed.
Our Score: 
Our Recommendation: 
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Michael: You talk about the readiness meter, the “Butterfly effect” and the rest of the deep experience in which your decisions are everything. And yet you think an ending in which nothing you’ve done up to that point matters at all is “entirely appropriate”..? And then there’s this:
“Also, BioWare has made it very inconvenient to go back and see the endings that you didn’t select in your original playthrough..”
LOL!!!! Are you serious??? Well, if by some chance you DO live under a rock, worry not – if you’ve seen one ending you’ve quite literally seen them all!
I mean, wow. Just..wow. I’m not sure I can ever trust Avault again, and certainly not anything written by yourself. Being the self-proclaimed apologist of the staff is one thing – completely ignoring perhaps the biggest artistic sell-out in gaming history is quite another. We already know that EA has bought off several big review sites. I’d really hoped their tentacles hadn’t spread to the smaller independent outlets, but now I’m not so certain.
I will buy the third game when it is clear how they will abuse DLC this time to milk us dry.
I bought the first two games as collectors/special editions, but I was shocked about the way Bioware tried to rape the fans with the DLC for the second game. I did not buy a single DLC for the second game and I did not even buy this third ME game at all, even though Mass Effect is my favorite SciFi game franchise.
I did however play the third game and I had not that many problems with the ending as most did. I did not really mind. Perhaps I did not feel connected as much anymore to ME because of the way Bioware had abused DLC. So… I did not really care about the way it ended. An end is an end.
The only thing I really missed was a way to side with the Reapers. I think they were right all the time.
In general I think ME 3 is a great game. The ME franchise fills the gap that was left behind after the shameful demise of the Star Wars franchise. ME simply has no competition in the space opera action/RPG niche, which is weird, because there is a lot that could be done there. But in stead we are flooded with all kinds of MMO bullshit, fantasy genre lookalike clones and more repetitive battlefield/call of duty etc type stuff. It is a shame.
Why is there no immersive space trading/action game in the star wars universe?
Why can’t I play a boutyhunter roaming the streets of Nar Shaddaa?
Why is nobody picking up on the the immense popularity of the vampire mythology with a new large scale open world vampire action/rpg?
Why is there no grand cyberpunk open city world Blade Runner type game where I have to hunt the latest nexus models?
etc.
etc.
I didn’t want to go into any detail about the last scene because, since the game is so long, there are lots of players who haven’t finished it yet, and we all know how gamers hate spoilers; I had to avoid several podcasts I listen to every week for the past several weeks so that the ending wouldn’t be spoiled for me. But since you’ve gone ahead and done that, yes, it is annoying that all three endings lead to the same place. I found the ending appropriate on the whole because, after countless battles and a cast of millions, the fate of the galaxy ultimately hinges on one person (there is a fourth choice, by the way — you can choose not to choose, with a predictable result). It’s the perfect end to an epic story, in my opinion.
As for my alleged bias, I don’t recall every proclaiming myself the staff apologist. And if choosing to appreciate BioWare for not taking the easy path (giant explosion, medal ceremonies, everybody living happily ever after) puts me in EA and BioWare’s pocket, then so be it. I stand by my opinion of ME3: an excellent ending to a great series.
For me, I only started to dislike the ending long after I finished it and picked it apart. My ending seemed very fitting, but it was only after comparing my ending did I realize the whole color explosion thing. But that’s sausage making. If you pick apart all the little bits of ME’s choose-your-own-adventure formula I’m pretty certain it would be less compelling afterwards.
I am looking forward to the Extended Cut free DLC later this summer. A bit more exposition is just what it needs to reach peak ripeness.
As for my alleged bias, I don’t recall every proclaiming myself the staff apologist.
You’ve made it pretty clear that you’re the most forgiving member of the team and that you always tend to see the good in every game and downplay the bad. I suppose that “apologist” might be a little strong for describing what is really just a character trait and far less an emotionally-based or calculated position..so I’ll be happy to correct myself there. I’ve just seen so many sites attacking the fans lately. You can practically hear the bills rustling as EA loads their palms with payola, so my BS detector is probably over-sensitized. I realize nothing new has been produced since Shakespeare, and I accept that. I also have no problem with a creator trying to craft a less cliche closing for an epic (although one might argue that in Japanese sci-fantasy, the ME3 ending is extremely cliche). What I and hundreds of thousands of fans DO have an issue with is an ending that makes absolutely no sense in the context of three full games worth of experiences, or even in terms of the final installment alone. In that final sequence we get a complete 180 from the high standard Bioware set in the first two games and for much of the third. (I did have issues with ME1, mostly relating to UI, but there was no arguing the overall depth and production quality.) Not only do our decisions suddenly mean nothing in terms of getting to this climax, they mean nothing during it. It leaves me wondering about three other possibilities regarding the end of ME3: did they just get lazy, did they run out of time and had to slap an ending together, or was there a conscious decision by Bioware and/or EA to leave fans disappointed in some absurd belief it would leave them hungry for the “real” ending..available for a modest fee in DLC, of course. I’ve seen companies do stupider things. In any case, I respect you standing by your review and in hindsight I realize I was wrong to question your motives. Thanks for continually providing us with a unique take on gaming and I look forward to more from you and the rest of Avault.
Well ive just tryed a few hours on my freinds Xbox , while I already hate the disconnection from the PC-Centric Bioware games of old. It really IS an epic tale thus far. That being said i HAVE seen the ending and already see some pretty massive plot holes in the first few hours of play.. While im not ruling a final verdict on this iteration of the ME universe , i am very much of the same mind i was before it shipped.. Im going to wait a year or so. and purchase it on the cheap, or used.. for pc.
Besides, Diablo ships this month so i will have plenty to do
Psycros:
It’s true, I tend to lean towards the Paragon side of review-writing, although if you go back to some of my one- and two-star reviews, you might find me slipping a bit towards the Renegade. But I’ve always tried to keep in mind that developers don’t start a project with the intention of making a bad game, and that these very talented people invest considerable chunks of time and money to bring their games to market. It’s really easy to write a super-critical review, but it’s much harder to write one in a way that acknowledges the time and effort it takes to create a modern game; a review that states your honest opinion without being hurtful or sensationalistic. There’s an old saying: “Tell them to go hell, but make them look forward to the trip.”
Thank you for sharing your opinions. It’s passionate gamers such as yourself who make this job fun for us in games journalism. We value the input of all the fans and players who make the videogame hobby one of the best in the world.
And I’m with you on the DLC — if we find out that BioWare has used the ending of ME3 to prod players into buying another one, then I think we’ll all feel disappointed and betrayed. But I have to think that they know better than that. Gamers are smart people and they won’t take kindly to being manipulated. But it will be fascinating to see how it all shakes out.
You know what? My biggest problem is not so much the ending as the fact that BioWare did not even remotely deliver on a promise they’ve been making for five years, that all of our decisions across all three games would influence the ending. Instead, the only thing our decisions influence (more or less) is some dialogue that occurs long before the ending. My reaction to the ending was something along the lines of, “And you pulled thousands of variables from my saved games for THIS crap?”
In BioWare’s defense, the script somehow got leaked last November, and Bioware altered the story following the leak. Whether or not EA forced them to alter the story is unknown, though… given EA’s track record… I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. (“If everyone already knows the story, nobody’s going to buy the game, amirite? Alter the story so we can get the game out the door before everybody’s already read the script.”)
ALSO in Bioware’s defense, I like the new ending better than what Drew Karpeshyn (who wrote Mass Effect’s script and was heavily involved with Mass Effect 2′s script) had planned. The short version: Remember how Haelstrom’s sun was aging prematurely due to some sort of “dark energy”?
Karpeshyn said: “The Reapers as a whole were ‘nations’ of people who had fused together in the most horrific way possible to help find a way to stop the spread of the Dark Energy. The real reason for the Human Reaper was supposed to be the Reapers saving throw because they had run out of time. Humanity in Mass Effect is supposedly unique because of its genetic diversity and represented the universe’s best chance at stopping Dark Energy’s spread.
“The original final choice was going to be ‘Kill the Reapers and put your faith in the races of the galaxy in finding another way to stop the spread with what little time is left’ or ‘Sacrifice humanity, allowing them to be horrifically processed in hopes that the end result will justify the means.’”
Ah, but at least either way it ends with “….and then buy the sequel to find out what happens.”
“You know what? My biggest problem is not so much the ending as the fact that BioWare did not even remotely deliver on a promise they’ve been making for five years, that all of our decisions across all three games would influence the ending. Instead, the only thing our decisions influence (more or less) is some dialogue that occurs long before the ending. My reaction to the ending was something along the lines of, ‘And you pulled thousands of variables from my saved games for THIS crap?’”
That was exactly my thinking as well. My actions/decisions made in my prior gameplay went for naught. Very disappointing really. I enjoyed playing the game but how the ending plays out is underwhelming. Unlike upon finishing both ME1 and Me2, I felt no sense of accomplishment whatsoever.
That last paragraph in the review….sorry Michael, I just can’t support that. It’s just a complete false statement.
BioWare has finally released the “Extended Cut” of Mass Effect 3. Those of you who were lighting torches, grabbing pitchforks and getting ready to storm the BioWare offices will most likely not be pleased. I’ve watched a couple of the new endings. They’re not new endings, actually. BioWare has fleshed out the existing endings to help provide more clarity. And they’ve added a female version of the Stargazer for the epilogue, so it might not be Buzz Aldrin’s voice you hear after the closing credits. To see the new material, I had to restart the game from the autosave just before Shepard returns to the Citadel after the final battle, but I’ve heard that some players have had to go back as far as three hours before the end. Or, you can just watch all of the endings on YouTube.
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