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Tuesday, Aug 4
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Platform: PC
Edition: Standard
Features
- Battle as Commander Shepard on many worlds across the galaxy as you unite the ultimate force to take back the Earth before it's too late
- Enormous enemies and take on a smarter type of foe that will consistently challenge your best combat tactics and put you on the edge of your seat
- Customize your Commander Shepard, your squad and weapons to engage the enemy on your terms
- Allows the option to import decisions from both of the previous games into the new game, but can also be played as a standalone game
- Experience a new emphasis on melee combat, movement and an improved cover system
Description
Earth is burning. Striking from beyond known space, a race of terrifying machines have begun their destruction of the human race. As Commander Shepard, an Alliance Marine, your only hope for saving mankind is to rally the civilizations of the galaxy and launch one final mission to take back the Earth. Mass Effect 3 is a Role-playing Game (RPG) / Third- Person Shooter hybrid set in a Science Fiction universe. Mass Effect 3 is the third game in the popular Mass Effect series, and is rumored to be the final installment. In it players continue the adventures of Commander Shepard utilizing extreme character customization which is the hallmark feature of the series. Additional features include: the ability to import decisions from both of the previous games into the new game, ownership/play of previous games not required, customizable weapons, improved mobility and melee combat, many returning characters (if they were not killed off in previous imported games), an improved cover system that allows for more action and more. Join Commander Shepard in the struggle against the Reapers in the conclusion to the Mass Effect trilogy. View larger. The Final Chapter in the Mass Effect Trilogy Not everyone will survive. An ancient alien race, known only as "Reapers," has launched an all-out invasion leaving nothing but a trail of destruction in their wake. Earth has been taken, the galaxy is on the verge of total annihilation, and you are the only one who can stop them. The price of failure is extinction. You are Commander Shepard, a character that you can forge in your own image. You determine how events will play out, which planets to explore, and whom to form alliances with as you rally a force to eliminate the Reaper threat once and for all. How you wage this war is completely up to you: go into combat with guns blazing or use cover to plan a more tactical assault. Utilize your squad to full effect or take a lone wolf approach. Rain death from a distance or go toe-to-toe with enemies using devastating melee attacks. Mass Effect 3 will react to each decision you make as you play through a truly unique experience of your own creation. Key Game FeaturesA Rich, Branching Storyline - Experience a sci-fi epic with multiple endings determined by your choices and actions throughout the gameMassive in Scope - Battle on many worlds across the galaxy as you unite the ultimate force to take back the Earth before it's too lateLarge-scale and Intelligent Enemies - Battle enormous enemies and take on a smarter type of foe that will consistently challenge your best combat tactics and put you on the edge of your seatUnlock a Customizable Arsenal - Tailor each weapon with devastating upgrades including scopes, grips, barrels and dozens of other unique attachments. Each weapon boasts its own powerful impact and visual flairUnleash Death from Afar or Go Toe-to-Toe - Customize your soldier and squad to engage the enemy on your terms. A huge variety of weapons, abilities and equipment allow you to combat the enemy in your preferred style of playAdditional Screenshots
Number of Players: 1-4 players
Publication Date: March 6, 2012
Computer Platform: PC
Global Trade Identification Number: 58
UPC: 014633195835 146331958358
Release date: March 6, 2012
Product Dimensions: 5.35 x 0.55 x 7.5 inches; 2.4 ounces
Type of item: Video Game
Rated: Rating Pending
Item model number: 19583
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer: No
Item Weight: 2.4 ounces
Manufacturer: Electronic Arts
Date First Available: December 12, 2010
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If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is:
Tuesday, Aug 4
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Top Amazon Reviews
Platform: PC
Edition: Standard
I have loved the world of Mass Effect ever since diving into the first game a few years ago. The characters, story presentation, and the environments in game are amazing. I thought that Mass Effect 3 did a good job of carrying over the feel of the first 2 games and providing hours of fantastic gameplay. Pros: Great graphics - looks amazing on my PC running a GTX580 Great Sound - The music and voice acting has always been top notch in the Mass Effect series. The same is true here. Challenging gameplay - The default difficulty feels right and can be adjusted to suit your skill level. Story and Characters - When I play an RPG I want a well written story seen through the eyes of interesting characters. Mass Effect 3's Commander Shepard is a prime example of an excellent video game character. One of the best. Cons: Some of the quests have you fetching different things from one side of the Citadel to the other. It got old after awhile. I would have liked more armor customization. THE ENDING.... Why Bioware? I'm sorry to agree with all the others but the story was amazing up until the very ending. I wish there were other ending choices that felt less cheap but hey, they made the ending they wanted to make. Just my opinion I wanted to see the story end differently. Overall 91 out of 100.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2012 by EG
Platform: PC
Edition: Standard
As a long time fan of BioWare, I loved the entire experience of this game. I've only played through one character I have transferred over from the first two, but already, I'm looking forward to replaying it with future transfers. I believe this game, overall, builds on a combination of strengths from the first two in the series and makes for what as a very excellent gaming experience. From the release of the demo in February, I've been eagerly anticipating this game, and if you're indecisive, I feel it's a good intro to the feel of the game. Much like the Dragon Age II demo (which, for me, appropriately anticipated the disappointment for that game) I feel that the ME3 demo has the same effect. If you like the demo, odds are you'll have a good experience with the game. A listing of pros and cons: + - The story is the best that it's ever been. Unlike ME1, where the story faded to the background until the finale, and ME2, where the story was more concerned with the collection of party members than the threat of the Collectors, ME3 has a story - Earth (and the galaxy) are invaded by Reapers - and it actually informs the entirety of the game. It's a constant presence in every aspect, from every environment you visit, to each piece of the storyline, which primarily involves the amassing of the galaxy's forces (and by doing so, resolving many centuries-long inter-species conflicts). Unlike the first two game, I actually felt it was a strong story that *mattered*. More than that, it is epic. In a way ME2 never accomplished past its brilliant beginning, and ME1 only managed during its last two hours. I haven't been this tense, nervous, or excited playing a game in a *long* time. + - BioWare said they lessened the amount of squad mates to improve character interaction, and it shows. More than that, not just with commentary from your squad mates on missions, there's a much greater sense of them being individuals with lives and personalities outside of Shepard's presence. When you visit the Citadel, various crew members (not just your squad mates) will be found at various places throughout (often changing depending on what point during the game) with unique interactions. Similarly, instead of staying in one place, many will move throughout the ship and be found interacting with one another (my personal favorite was when I came upon Garrus and Joker exchanging jokes). There's also simple interactions that don't necessarily play into cutscenes, which I feel strengthens alongside the ambient dialogue, and has a unique role in the new morality system. + - The sheer breadth of environments explored in this game is amazing. Honestly, I was not near this impressed with the first two games; the major plot playthroughs stand out the most significantly, and I was stunned and thrilled at the places I got to see and explore as Shephard. Something even more impressive given how many worlds are visited that appeared in the first two games - and not one is a re-used environment. Long gone are the cookie cutter environments of the first game - ME3 even manages to significantly improve on the second game. + - The cover system has been somewhat improved. And I really enjoyed not only the diversity of weapons available (weapons, alongside with armor upgrades - more than what was in ME2 - and credits are scattered throughout combat environments when you explore off the main path) but also the ability to mod each of your weapons. There's also the option to pick how few or many weapons you want to carry, with weight (and class) affecting the cooldown of your powers. I also feel they managed to find a nice balance between the first two games - more diversity and customization than the second, without becoming bogged down in inventory management. When a new weapon or mod is bought/found of the next tier, it automatically is replaced (meaning no time wasted having to sell older versions to clear out inventory). + - I also feel the power system found a nice balance between the first two games. More customization (six levels instead of four, with the last three a decision between two different options) without the overblown tediousness of the first game (where I felt so overloaded with points and powers that it was hard to tell if any were making a difference in their use). - - More auto-dialogue than in previous games. In addition to the neutral (middle) option being entirely eliminated, the option for the player to choose Shephard's dialogue happens much less frequently. I find the writing to be overall fantastic, but it did somewhat take away from the feel of Shepard being *my* character. - - The journal system is considerably pared down from what it was in the second game. I would even cite this as my biggest beef with the game - and much of the overall sidequest system in regards to planet scanning. Not all quests logged in your journal are done so with enough details of where to go (for example, one quest required me to find the Elcor homeworld and though it gave me the name, it didn't tell me where the homeworld was located). And unlike ME2, they aren't automatically logged onto your galaxy map (the way there would be an arrow with info telling you that this specific quest could be completed at this specific location). What's worse, they changed the planet scanning to one where you send out a radar-like signal from the Normandy, and EDI tells you if she's located anything within that vicinity - but if the system is occupied by Reapers, each scan results in increasing their awareness, and the only way to bring it back down again is to come back after you've completed a mission. I think the idea of it could've worked in theory, except that there's no way to keep track of which parts of a system you've already scanned. So I found myself returning to systems over and over, likely scanning the exact same area with the 2-3 times I had available to me before the Reapers appeared and I had to escape. It definitely gives a feeling of tedium, and I feel is something that could've been easily rectified. +/- - Once again, aspects of the morality (Paragon vs. Renegade) system have been changed, and though I'm still not entirely sure I understand, I do think it was done for the better. When receiving points after character interactions, oftentimes it will be given as general Reputation points - which, from my understanding, adds to the combined scores of your Paragon and Renegade scores, while keeping them balanced (so the overall changes, while the difference between each bar remains the same, if that makes sense). I think it's a nice idea, because it definitely adds to the ability of playing as pure Renegade or pure Paragon (since not every interaction is going to give points strictly one way or the other). On the other hand, I felt like there were overall fewer Charm/Intimidate options spread throughout the game, and oftentimes when I used them, it was difficult to tell how/if they were making a difference in the conversation. - - My first playthrough clocked in at just over 30 hours. About ten hours less than ME2. I'm hoping this will improve with more playthroughs, as I attempt to reach closer to 100% completion. A little bit disappointing, though. EDIT 4/15: I'm actually opting to change my opinion on this - a single-play through is shorter than ME2, but from what I understand, the script was longer, which I imagine was due to the sheer amount of permutations for how the story can play out. Really, the more I read around on-line, the more I find the variety (whether your have Ashley or Kaidan in your squad, who you romance, and a countless number of minor and major decisions from the first two games) and how it can be altered in this game is staggering. It gives an unprecedented amount of replay-value, more than almost any other game I've ever played. + - The climax is epic. Much more so than anything in ME2, and I feel it gives the last two hours of ME1 a serious run for its money. Of course, this is all not addressing the elephant in the room, being the fact that this game has a very controversial ending that has displeased a great number of fans. Though I realize this puts me in the overwhelming minority, I enjoyed the ending. Perhaps it came in part because I went into it knowing that others were upset about it, but despite what I feel others have argued as justifiable holes, it really, really worked for me. More than that, without wanting to invalidate the opinions of those who disagree with me, all I can offer is my perspective, which is this: It took me long enough to beat this game that by the time I did, I was already well aware the ending was controversial. And in those days leading up to it, I thought about it a lot, and I couldn't name one game that I've played to completion where the ending fundamentally altered my overall experience of a game. ME1 has a fantastic ending, but is still a bit of a chore to replay. Dragon Age II has a so-so ending in keeping with a so-so game - and even if it did have a great ending, it would still be a so-so game. ME2 has a lackluster ending, but is overall an amazing game. And so what really matters to me is how I feel when I'm playing a game. And throughout the *entire* experience of this game, I loved it. When I wasn't playing it, I was thinking about it, and wanting to play it more. And I feel confident that had I been unhappy with the ending, I would still be on here gushing about what a great game this is. Because I feel the experience of a game is more than just one piece, like the ending, or the combat mechanics, or the story, or what have you. If the majority of elements are working - which I feel they are here - then I think, for me, the game can be called a success. Enough so that I'm willing to forgive the elements which I felt were weaknesses (like the journal/side-quests). So all I can say is that I understand why others are unhappy, but I loved it, I loved the game, and I love the series overall. And I think if you skip this because others warn you away from the ending, I think you're missing out on participating on one of the greatest video gaming experiences ever. Battlestar Galatica is still an amazing tv series, even if it does have an ending this is rushed and incoherent. I also am appreciative of BioWare's approach to having both Male and FemShep. In an era and industry where it's still too easy for people to dismiss female gamers as a relative minority (and thus don't need to be given notice), BioWare went the opposite direction, incorporating FemShep into the marketing for the first time (with two trailers, and appearances in combat videos), as well as making the insert reversible, so I can have FemShep on my cover. It might not be an issue to others, but as a female gamer, I really appreciate it. Overall, Mass Effect 3 is an amazing end to an amazing series. For myself, I would rank it up there just below Dragon Age: Origins and Baldur's Gate II among my all time favorites. And I know that I will be playing this for many years to come.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2012 by IdrilCelebrindal
Platform: PC
Edition: Standard
Overall, I highly recommend this game to fans of the series. Especially if you've kept up with the Mass Effect comics or books. And even if you've only played ME2, I think you have enough investment in the story to enjoy this game. As a trilogy of games, The Mass Effect series is nearly perfect for game players like me who may be more attuned to the RPG elements than to endless action (although I found it's action to be quite fun too). My experience was playing the single player campaign in Windows (specifically a bootcamp partition of a MacBook Pro). Purchased physical copy through Amazon. **No Spoilers** Story: ME3 does an outstanding job of incorporating story lines from the previous two games as well as the books and comics. This game is a true finale of the series and has an appropriate weight of importance which emerges several times in Shepard's interaction with other characters. I felt emotionally invested in this story and it's a great example of how games can be the evolution of Art and story. The ending has caused controversy but my suggestion is to avoid the spoilers, enjoy the game and look forward to finding out what happens. Action: Loved that your class doesn't determine your weapon specializations and credits don't seem as hard to come by for upgrading. The action elements/gameplay is very much like ME2 but you are more often flushed from cover by enemy flanking and grenades so you'll find you will move more in combat. However, moving controls have been refined. When sprinting, you are faster and no longer tire out. Shepard can now roll/evade and can leap over cover in a single motion. Even as a sniper, I found myself in imminent danger and sprinting to retreat to cover often as the action gets more intense. Other: Your Galactic Readiness rating is raised through the multi-player portion of the game as well as iphone/ipod/ipad apps N7 Datapad and Mass Effect Infiltrator. It's important for raising your Effective Military strength which can affect the final missions of the game. While that seems sorta neat to incorporate outside items, I found it difficult to max that out (I may have been at 70%) by the end only using the N7 Datapad app (free). Maybe muliti-player advances you more quickly. A [known] glitch that I encountered was that my custom face (from an imported ME2 save) didn't quite look right to me and I had to re-make it. Even so, I was pretty amazed at how improved the visuals were from the last game especially the faces. * * **Spoiler Warning** * * UPDATE: I'm not "mad" at Bioware or EA. I don't feel like the ending RUINS the game like so many people have said but OH MY WORD, If you haven't seen the "Indoctrination Theory" explained on youtube, go check it out. The indoctrination theory is so significant, it's right up there with the Han shot first vs. Greedo shot first debate in Star Wars. (and I think it's better to just recognize that the fans are right in both scenarios). I do still stand by my first impression evaluation below. I think they achieved an amazingly emotional ending but although Bioware/EA stands by this ending, there's a much more engaging explanation buried in the details. Maybe one day when they want some more money, we'll see the Indoctrination Theory ending. Heck, if Hollywood can call "do-over" and remake the Incredible Hulk movie, why not this? The End: I Just finished up the single player campaign a couple days ago and after I recover I'll revisit the game to try a few different options and endings. I can see why a lot of people can complain about the ending but it was all leading up to this and it had to end. I stayed up late the last night playing the final missions and during those few hours you couldn't have dragged me away from my computer with a team of horses. The intensity of the final few scenes was amazing. I chose the middle (tech organic evolution) solution on the citadel. So I want to try the others. The reveal of the origin of the reapers and their actual purpose was heavy and although the clues are all there, it really effects how you understand every aspect of the mass effect canon. I woke up thinking about it and the emotional weight of such an amazing story. For me, I can already say that this (trilogy/story) was a work of art and even if I can't say the end made me feel good, It did draw me further into the story and the character of CDR Shepard. The final choice, really meant something to me. I would say that there is such controversy online over the end goes to show how intense this thing is. I did read that I can talk the illusive man down instead of shooting him but I must have missed a paragon choice somewhere in our dealings so I'll have to read up on that and try it. I've read there is a possibility of saving Shepard with the destruction option. Seems like the optimal ending (as envisioned by bioware) is probably the one I took. Characters (& Deaths): First off, there weren't as many deaths as I feared from reading reviews that complain "everybody dies." However, it isn't insignificant people that meet their end over the course of the game and it adds to the emotional impact of the story telling. This is not new remembering that you had to chose between Ash and Kaiden in the first game. I really missed having Thane, Legion and Miranda in my group but I liked how old non-squad characters were included in the game even up to the end where you can contact them before the final push. I felt like there was a lack of biotics available for my squad and sometimes felt forced to take Liara along for singularity/warp and EDI/Garrus for Overload. I'll have to do a new character build next time to free my squad choices up.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2012 by John C
Platform: PC
Edition: Standard
Yes, I'm still a loyal ME 3 player and still love all the scenes and role playing. I never agreed with the endings, but with me it's more about the journey every time to get there. All the plots and side quests just adds to the fun. I kinda wish they remade it with the upgraded graphics we have now-a-days. I'd bet that would be a real feast for the eyes. While their at it, go ahead and give it the ending all the loyal fans deserve and not the trashed out so called artistic vision which got it all wrong. Thank goodness for the modding community. Yes I played 1063 hours of ME 3 and is still going...It will always be one my all time favorites. [Update- 02-24-2024] Yes I still play this game since it came out in 2012. Yeah, 12 years and still enjoy playing it today. But Origin always makes a billion updates to their App that connects with your ME3 and verifies it's legit. Well, I lost my initial email address that I installed my ME3 with and that was a serious problem with Origin which locked me out stating I needed it to reactivate my game. After trying lots of things including contacting them, I gave up. I just brought a new copy for like 5 bucks now on Amazon and wiped everything out: Origin and ME3 and installed everything from the Disks using the unused registration code. Perfect and worked. Sure, it said that the Origin App was outdated. Ok, so remove and redownload it, np. But the key was now I have an installed ME3 copy and a known email address and registered registration code. I then logged on in using my current EA email and redownloaded all my add-ons. Problem solved for good now since I have that for the next radical Origin App update(s). I'm back enjoying ME3 again.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2020 by IT Developer 2028
Platform: PC
Edition: Standard
As a fan of the franchise, I would like to say that for my money this is the best of the series. The story brings together most of the various themes and strands from the previous games, such as the Quarian exile and the Krogan Genophage, and DOES give you real power over how they turn out, and thankfully everything is really well done so far as writing and voice acting is concerned. The most emotional power of the series, definitely. As for the infamous ending, there are a wide variety of complaints, from complaints of its bleakness to complaints that none of the player's choices matter. Without giving too much away, I don't think it necessarily is bleak, not more so than could be expected under the circumstances, and certain elements people complained about make perfect sense to me: SPOILERS! Given that the Mass Relays were created by the Reapers as part of their trap, to control and harvest organic civilizations, ending the Reapers' reign of terror should involve destroying the Mass Relays too. In fact, I kind of saw that coming since we found out about the relays' origin back in the first game. END SPOILERS As for complaints that choices do not matter in the end, I don't think that's true. The choices you make, including the final choice, DO make a real difference in the fate of the galaxy. The final cutscenes just don't show you those consequences, which is definitely a problem, which BioWare is fixing. Granted, I was aware of the ending before hand, so I could see how someone who came on it unawares could be outraged and flabbergasted. They did skimp out on the final cutscenes, definitely.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2012 by Terrie
Platform: PC
Edition: Standard
I didn't get into Mass Effect until it was on Steam for one of their weekend sales. I had decided not to bother with it when it was scooped up by Microsoft as an XBox exclusive. I am glad I got into it, though, it reminded me of the same fun I had when Star Wars first came out. Except this time, you were the hero in a movie that you could shape as you went along. The story was compelling and varied depending on how you played out various decisions. Then came the second installment of this trilogy. There were complaints as to its drift from RPG elements into more shooter elements but I didn't mind so much. I enjoyed interacting with my crew and expanding the story through another game. The end of Mass Effect 2 was done extremely well, though I found the terminator robot boss to be a bit hokey. The decisions you made throughout the game came together with real consequences on how the end mission played out. You could have anything from nobody surviving the end to everyone surviving the end. You even had to know a bit about your crew so you could assign them tasks that matched their skills (or not, if you wanted to be mean like that). Even then, those decisions made a difference in how the end played out. After that, I recommended the game series to my friends. When Mass Effect 3 came out, my expectations were set by the previous installments. I had no doubt that the end result would be to the same quality of the previous games in the series. For the most part, it was. There were some oddities. Apparently to get the full story out you had to read the comics and twitter feeds, which I didn't. I could let that go. I had no idea who James was or cared. The game didn't make me care, either. That was different from ME2. I didn't know who Kai Leng was or cared, and the game didn't make me care. I still enjoyed the game, however. Then comes the contraversial ending. Things began to fall apart at the Cerberus station, but maybe you can let that go. Then you get to what turns out to be the final push to the ending. It just didn't match up to the ending of the previous game. I wasn't wanting a direct copy but it incorporated none of the mechanics (that is, your choices made real differences in how it played out). It gets worse. I had heard early finishers complain the ending was disappointing, I decided they were just complaining and/or trolling people. Then I saw the ending myself. The game became something completely different than what it had been for all the rest of the series. I had hoped that teddy bears weren't going to save the universe, and to be fair we don't get that, but what we do get is more like a slideshow of random art with the only choice that has any effect on the being what color do you like (from three choices). Since part of this game is its story, and the end just falls apart, I can't give this game a high review. It was fun up until the end. I wouldn't say it is really set up to replay as the previous ones were. Its more like re watching a great movie that the end is cut off of and replaced with a stick figure drawing of various slightly related scenes that might fit in the movie except they are never explained. Basically, the end goes Twin Peaks on us. If you are a fan of Mass Effect, either play ME2 and just imagine the end or go ahead and play 3 and just pretend the end is something that you don't see here.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2012 by Eric Smith
Platform: PC
Edition: Standard
For obvious reason, the ending of Mass Effect 3 is where I will start my review to get it out of the way. Having played ME1 four times and ME2 six times - along with various saves with various sets of decisions, I really looked forward to ME3 - but with apprehension. Needless to say, much to my disappointment, my apprehension became a reality in an unexpected way: A highflying tale of high adventure - and one of the best of all time - crash landed both literally and figuratively at the final moment. And it does not matter how I will attempt to salvage the wreckage of an ending that was stolen from Ion Storm's Deus Ex (and badly applied to ME3), whether by believing that it's all is a marketing scam to sell more DLCs; or get indoctrinated into believing the `Indoctrination Theory'; or pandering to some cop-out philosophical concepts like cosmicism, the circle of life, the galactic cycle, cyclical history, etc.; or wait patiently for EA/bioware to release the CE (*complete* edition in this case); or simply made one up on my own... The ending still remains what it is, and just like the Normandy, it's a wreck. In other words, no matter what I dress it up in, and how many times I take it out on the dance floor for a spin, and what tune we dance to, the ending still sucks -- That's that and it's now out of the way as far as my review is concerned. In spite of the pretentious ending, not all is lost because there is still a good 30 hours or so of excellent gameplay here if one can somehow temporarily put aside the ending. Granted, a 30-hours game is noticeably shorter than ME1 or ME2, but whatever length there is - after whatever EA/bioware ripped out for DLC(s), or never get the time to complete - is excellent for the most part. In terms of gameplay, ME3 is the undisputed winner in the combat arena for the ME series. Although the different races that you can fight against are now narrowed down to human, Geth, and reapers, the sub classes within each race have increased significantly and will require you to employ different tactics and team members. Also, melee combat is also improved with the addition of a strong melee attack - which your enemies also employed - with a new weapon, the Omni blade featured on the DVD cover. The cover system have also improved - but still need work; Shepard is now more mobile and agile than ever, but still can inadvertently get into cover position at inopportune time. The most significant improvement of all combat-wise is that the enemies have vastly improved AI which really boosts aggressiveness. They will now try to flank you; use smoke screen for concealment; melee specialists will close in on you; snipers will harass you; and some enemies even camp out behind a wall or a corner until you sauntered past. Unfortunately, your fire team members'AI improvement is a no-match to your enemies' AI. Although your teammates can now shoot a little better from cover, without tight management, they still run head first into hostile fire or into friendly line of fire (blocking my view), or worse yet, come up behind me and try to shoot at the enemies through my helmet. Also, another minor let down is that, for about half of the game, in spite of the improved elements, the combat itself boils down to holding an area against waves of enemies until a certain event took place; this gets progressively worse especially when you returned to Earth. In terms of RPG, in general, ME3 is a mixed result between ME1 and ME2. To be sure, ME1 is still has the best RPG elements in the series; while ME3 is better than ME2 is some ways, but worse in others. To be more precise, in tern of conversational options, ME3 is the worst by far. Way too often - and almost to the point of all the time, your choices are limited to either paragon or renegade; whereas in ME1 and ME2, there is almost always at least one neutral option. However, the weapon mods in ME1 - which I really like - are making a big comeback, along with a significant increase in weapon upgrades and selections. As for armor, there is now a wider selection of armor and armor components for Shepard. Your team mates' armors, unfortunately, remain purely cosmetic. BTW, The Normandy also saw some improvement, most notable is the fact that you can now move about the ship freely. Incidentally, your teammates also move around the ship - which certainly adds a touch of more realism than before. Thankfully, the mini games have been almost completely eliminated. Scanning the planet is now a painless task - And along with planet scanning, there is also a totally optional mini game of `eluding the reapers' - which I do not mind playing (I also discover a startling fact while playing this mini-game: Under normal propulsion, reapers can move faster than the Normandy !) Story wise, which is the heart and soul of the ME series, (not counting the disastrous ending), ME3 also shines brightly in the relatively short amount of game time. The highlight of the story, and one that is extremely well done, is the resolution of the Krogan/Turian/Salarian conflict and the Geth vs. Quarian war - And this part alone is the saving grace of the game for me. Also, it suffices to say that you will meet all of your former teammates again - provided they did not kick the bucket. Some of these former teammates will happily rejoin you again - and if you have hooked up with them before, needless to say, you will get the chance to rekindle the romance. In short, in terms of the story, everything that takes place away from Earth is noteworthy - if not superb. If I have to rank the game in the series, it'd be ranked precisely in its chronological order of 1, 2, 3. It's too bad ME3 is a cracked diamond. Otherwise, the ranking would have been 3,1,2. For what it's worth, I still recommend this game to ME fans and new comers alike - but not at full retail price. In conclusion, for better or for worse, it is what it is; and as is, the Mass Effect story has come to an end in my book - And for the most part, it certainly was a grand adventure while it lasted. Keelah' Selai. -------------------------------------------- Update: With the Extended Cut DLC, although still no where worthy of the Mass Effect series, the ending is definitely an improvement. Unfortunately, due to EA's Origin client and DRM - which is a vastly inferior copycat of Steam - being completely broken during the initial installation process - and if you download any DLC, offline mode no longer work and the DRM becomes the much-hated persistent internet connection DRM scheme - I cannot raise the product rating any higher than 2 stars; but I did give the fun factor an additional star.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2012 by H.Le
Platform: PC
Edition: Standard
3.5 stars - but you'll play it and love it, just like me. Incredibly fun, but incredibly disappointing as well. First. No controller support. Ughhhhh. How annoying! I thought the reason why we played PC games was because we wanted choices and options? Whatever, so I downloaded xpadder and had to torture myself slowly mousing across the screen with my gamepad. I only play keyboard and mouse while at a desk, don't hate! I also got beat up by James Vega because it took me a while to account for the L/R interrupts switch. Don't get beat up, kids. I also had to rename save files to get the game to cooperate with the import I spent about 20 minutes in a panic thinking I was going to lose all my great ME1&2 data. My face translated perfectly, so I'm sorry for those of you who look terrible. I love Mass Effect and play a few replays, as well as numerous saves to get all the good options. I took off half of a star for the release date DLC, which was 10 dollars. I purchased it, foolishly, for the extra conversations with my teammates. I didn't feel chock full of great conversations like I did in Mass Effect 2. I liked that the support roles played a bigger part... the reporter, the Kelly Replacement, the shuttle pilot.. but I was able to have very few conversations with my teammates, Liara seemed to have the most options for talk. I imagine if I had one less conversation with every member because I didn't purchase the DLC I would have been pretty disappointed. So many early quests are "Do something that helps the war effort and happens to bring you in contact with one of your old crewmates." I took off a half star for this because it wasn't natural. Everyplace I went, I met an old buddy. It just didn't feel natural, and each time I was surprised like, "OMG, I thought I'd never see you again" but the reality was, I was pretty much in the phone book looking up old contacts. I took off a half star for the endings. Literally, there are 3 endings, which apparently they call 16 endings even though they only have teensie weensie minor differences based on your "War readiness". I took off half a star for the fact that I have to play Multiplayer to get my war readiness high enough to get the third ending. I have a feeling this is an anti-piracy ploy, but for those of us who don't really care to play non first-person-shooter multiplayer, it kind of sucks. Mass Effect doesn't have roots in online multiplayer, why should I have to do that? I added a star because of the cute conversations that happen when your team roams around the Normandy. My favorite? Catching two beloved friends having a day-before-we-die makeout session. I also loved how they would be on the talking on the intercom with the others. Cute. I liked the new and improved weapons loadout, which was simple but not as simple as ME2. The addition of weight and it's affect on your power-recharging speeds is pretty neat. Gameplay and strategy feels great on hardcore, and I'm looking forward to some frustration if I do decide to play insanity. I liked the balance of powers. I didn't much care for the fact that there wasn't a tech-combat character on the squad. I kind of feel like I didn't have enough playable characters. That said, I wish they had picked push over pull as far as biotic powers. I removed a half star because there were a few parts that didn't make sense with the plot. They're not huge, but just kind of nonsensical. No spoilers! Not all are focused around the messy endings but a lot of them are. On one hand, I want to play to see if I had not saved some characters in ME2 how my experiences would have gone. On the other hand, I realize it just brings me to those three bland endings and I get kind of sad. I do want the character interaction, so perhaps I'll just replay the first few quests (the meet-former-squadmates on the war effort ones) and see what happens there. I'll tell you after romancing the Drell (Thane) in ME2, I can say I was pretty short on romance in my life and pretty high on tears. Those scenes were great. The growing desperation of other races and the scope of the game? Fan-tastic. Bringing the universe together to fight on a single front? Oh my! I had feared that side quests would either be phased out or seem out of place, but they all seemed quite reasonable. They're all "Bring this to me if you see it during your search". What's really cool is that your shipmates come aboard the citadel, so you can speak to them elsewhere. I thought this was a nice touch. I was impressed with a lot of things, but I don't think it's the same caliber as the first two games. If I hadn't played Me1 and Me2, I would probably give this game a 4.5, but coming down from SO MUCH CONVERSATION and these great cinematic endings that just made you feel so goddamned good to these weak cinematic endings that pretend to give you options and choices. I think it's a natural progression, though.. when handling something with such scope it's very hard to strike the balance that pleases. Also, it's not that the ending is bittersweet or unhappy that bothers me, it's just the way it's done. It's almost worse than the Matrix. I know the writers are great, so I'm going to have to ask for an ending re-do! OH. And I read that Dietz book in the Mass Effect universe, so if you have, look forward to some nice bits from there.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2012 by Areta