Story/Plot: The galaxy is in dire need of hope as an ancient race of intelligent machines known as the Reapers have come to obliterate all organic life as they see fit and as they have done so every 50,000 years in an an ever going cycle that is beyond present day's comprehension. Humans at this time have reached the pinnacle of technology and had claimed a name for themselves in the galaxy that is full life, some far more advanced than humanity itself. But all the races in the galaxy would have been side swiped by extinction if The Reapers proceeded with their usual tactics. If not for Commander Shepard reaching the Beacon of an extinct race known as the Protheans, then all would succumbed to their deaths with no warning, without a fight. With the help of his allies and his squad of humans and aliens, Shepard was able to delay and eventually cease the war with the Reapers but with a cost. He became that hope the Galaxy called for in what seemed to be their end of days.
While ME1 and ME2 were collectively just to rouse the inevitable war, Mass Effect 3 was the end all be all of the series where the Reapers now came to initiate what they have always done every cycle. As a leader and hope for humanity and all other races, Commander Shepard must lead his team one last time into missions to unite all species, end centuries of conflict, and of course tie up loose ends with some friends so that they may join him and the rest of all existence to the suicide battle against the greatest enemy of organic life. With their hope cascading on an ancient device that could possibly defeat the Reapers, their strife only builds up when the organization known as Cerberus seems to have their own plans for the war which only added to more unnecessary conflict aside from the Reapers. Hope seems dire at every turn, consequences causing millions of lives, and the ever growing thought of guilt.
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| We Finally See Earth for the first time in the ME universe; and it looks bad. |
These are the things one will go through as s/he steps inside the N7 armor of Commander Shepard. Like the previous games, one must make choices that will either rival ethics of the Shepard one chose to be, or shape logic in an epic war where even the smallest decisions can cause a ripple the could wipe out an entire race, or maybe just a really close friend.
The series had always been written well along with the progression of the story, and as well as the character development. These are some of the thins that made this game EPIC for me. Following the series for the last 7 or so years and watching it finally end brought tears to my eyes. The way they know how to press certain emotional buttons as well as keep the player wanting more until the end, well I'd say this was the epic game of all time, that and I can also say its one of the best, if not close to the best Game series I have ever played.
10/10
Gameplay: A third person shooter with the elements of an rpg feel. It also touches base with the the real aspect of role playing by enabling players to make choices for good or bad which has major to minor affects in the game as well as the sequels following it. That had been what Mass Effect was about since the first game and tickled over to ME2 and finally coming together in ME3. With trials and tribulations, the gameplay itself smoothed out to the final product of the third game. While Mass Effect never lacked in fire fights and chaos, it did have many quirks that needed modifications which deterred the full potential of the game as we felt through ME1 and ME2. Cover system fully functional as well as the added perk of being able to roll, which made running into safety from being swiss cheesed much easier. The varieties of enemies and the threat they posses made one's tactics away from being bland; it deterred the player from merely staying in one cover area to aim and shoot. Certain parts of the game also forced the player to engage the battle differently depending on what is required for the story: Protection, survival, run and gun, and of course the epic Destroyer a Reaper head on was very much well appreciated and added so much flavor. It forces the player to be open with all kinds of tactics and very versatile which in the grand scheme of things makes the game less likely to feel stale even after the many hours and a couple of playthroughs.
One of the things that immediately stands out as a difference in the battle game play is the melee system, now much more effective and plays a huge roll in some areas for tactics. While the ability to beat an enemy with the butt of the gun had always been present in the previous two games, Mass Effect 3 added a much stronger melee. The blade omni tool is the most advertised one out of all of the class' use of the new perk, but each of them have their own specific animation which adds a sense of variety when playing as an Adept or an Engineer. There are also the cover melee which proves to be an instant kill, making cover not such a complete useless post when an enemy gets pass all the cross fires. |
| I like the idea that each class has a different cinematic action. The role playing part of leveling up one's character kept the same functional feel as it did in ME2 with more choices in the characters' play style. After level three, each power can branch out in two choices depending on what the player wants that particular skill to do which makes squad mates even more interesting. I was more inclined to take characters that I myself don't particularly like because of the skill they are able to perform and what they can do for the party as a whole. Shepard's powers depending on the class one picks for him are also more diverse as they are also provided with a two way branch system, which of course adds to a more functional team depending on the player's way of going through the game. On insanity level, the once simple choice of this grid over the other one could be the leading cause of failure or victory. |
Of course the biggest addition to Mass Effect 3 that was not a present at all in the first two games is the multiplayer. I have to admit I was very skeptic of the idea of adding multiplayer. A handful of good single player games seemed to have paid reverence to the idea of the need to 'have' an online presence and in my opinion did little to boost the games' entertainment level; to me it merely took away from the effort on the single player campaign thus diminishing its full potential when the product came out into the market. But of course that argument is digressing on a different field of battle completely so let me just say this, I thought the effort they were going to put into Mass Effect 3's multiplayer would have the same vicious circle result. I thought Mass Effect 3 would be another mediocre at best game with a appalling online presence. But to my surprise the game online is pretty decent; in fact it's rather entertaining. The gameplay is an exact replica of the single player campaign which of course equates to a smooth, fast paced, and very engaging and in turn could only mean a good addition to the whole game. There is only one mission to the multiplayer: obliterate all enemies in the location the player is placed in. A simple said fact which of course is nothing less than a good transition from dealing with story to just plain barrage of targets for either guns or the chosen power of the player. A definite good way to take a break from the abundance of story the player has to go through in one
sitting.
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| I chose Quarian as my favorite race; Tali! |
10/10
Graphics: Probably the least polished quality of the third game. While I'm not going to say that Mass Effect 3 is ugly by any means, there doesn't seem to be too big of a jump from the second game. While don't get me wrong I don't think the aesthetics of each race are something to look pass when it comes to conveying a very intriguing world, I did find some grainy areas and sometimes it seems that limbs would somehow go through the customized armor as if the material is made out of water. But looking at the game as a whole it is a rather exhilarating sight from the stand point of in game fire fights, the facial expressions of characters as they talk their lives away in the middle of a Reaper invasion, and I can never stay away from feeling the infatuation from how intricately each race is thought out. While cut scenes may be scarce, they still offer a good sight when they did appear. All in all the game itself is a good looking game; the minor qualms I have does nothing to take away from the attraction it offers.
9/10
Audio/Voice Acting: The characters are defined not only by their visuals, but also by the way their Voice actors convey the emotions of their specific role. The actors' ability to play out the feelings when under duress, the way one can interact in a certain mood, the use of their imagination and being able to project that through their voice, and also of course the effort they have put into studying and playing their characters. All of these came into play throughout the trilogy with each memorable character. Let's give a good example, shall we? Tali (and yes, I am a biased fan of the Quarian, but hear me out for a moment, please!). The girl had been a major crush for many gamers. Choose to disagree and we can pull up many 'Tali Appreciation' Threads, websites, blogs, etc. etc. My point will come swift and pretty apparent when I see that Tali's main attracting trait is her personality that is highly underlined by the way her actress, Liz Sroka, convey that through her voice. Her ability to make her voice fluctuate in parts of the game that required worry, fear, intimacy, intimidation, and anger was anything but impressive and not solely because she has that ability to use her voice acting well, but also she had that skill to make a 'faceless' character have such a compelling personality for many gamers. While the others such as Martin Sheen (Illusive Man), Seth Green (Joker), Mark Meer (Male Shepard), Keith David (Anderson), Brandon Keener(Garrus), and pretty much the whole cast did a stellar job throughout the series, most of their characters had the facial expression to aid them. While again it is no small feat to make a character that is not your own face convey the emotion the director/game requires of you, it's even a harder challenge to do so when the character has had enigma cover her face the whole entire time. Of course it is also a great asset to have a character with a very well developed story within her as a person and her whole entire race, but needless to say if the voice wasn't up to par, Tali would have been a mediocre character in my opinion. That statement also applies to the whole entire cast.As for the background music, honestly, while I don't think it was terrible, it didn't really stand out too much like a lot of other classic RPGs. Maybe I was jut too damn busy paying attention to everything else the game had to offer that it didn't weigh heavily for or against me. Let's put it this way, it didn't make my ears screech to hear them. I mean generally the music fits the scene. The classic tune when exploring the galaxy was always nice for nostalgia but the battle theme was completely over taken by all the amounts of action and the trade fire going on all over the place. But let's just say what I got out of the voice overs was more than enough to make up for the back ground music.
10/10
Difficulty: There was an article that I came across on the web mentioning that Mass Effect 3’s difficulty would be slightly more challenging than its predecessor to make it a bit more of a task for modern day gamers. As I recall, Mass Effect 2’s insanity was definitely no cake walk, however, having played the game three times through three different characters, the game is only as difficult as how one knows the game, what class one decides to take, the skill of the player in regards to the gameplay, and also just like any other game it heavily depended on how knowledgeable a player is in regards to the whole enemy set up and how they react through the different scenarios.
While to be fair, in Mass Effect 3 I only have the experience playing on hardcore as a Vanguard and an Adept, but it is quick to see that the difference in class also plays a factor along with everything else I mentioned. While as a female Adept, I have to be more cautious on how much fire I take while being out of cover while as a Vanguard I can take a little bit more damage before having to cover myself again. The Adept has the advantage of bombarding enemies with more biotic than my other class. Certain areas are easier as one, a few enemies were a lot more of a task as the other, and vice versa. But all in all I can only say that it still all depends highly on the player’s skill and tactics. While I am having a bit more of a hard time as an Adept on hardcore, one of you guys may find it a little casual as the same class in insanity difficulty. But regardless of skill I still think Bioware did a good job laying out the enemies and the set up.
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| The Banshees. They are a pain in the ass. |
I may have a different point of view once I go through Insanity, but all in all I believe the challenge is note worthy but still fun.
9/10
Overall: The game had been a major title in the gaming world for the past 6 years offering 40 plus hours of gaming each, highly responsive gameplay that only improves with each game, compelling story and ever so colorful parade of characters, a multitude universe that was well written and creatively thought off, and of course there is just the beautiful way the whole world was put together graphic wise. With all the great things that Mass Effect offered, the unfortunate thing is that it has a flaw. I wouldn't say it was major, but it does put it in one critical point of a trilogy. The ending as well all know it wasn't up to par with the rest of the game. For lack of better words the ending was rather vague and depriving. I won't spoil it, although I'm sure there are many other sites out there that can further add the details I won't put in but like I said, for a game that took 6 years to finish, I felt like the ending was rushed and poorly told. It almost felt like they ran out of money, time, or space to put all the details they need to make an ending; furthermore make it actually have some sort of closure. It was almost as bad as FFXIII-2 (that was a joke; The game and even it's horrendous ending will not come close to FFXIII-2).But Bioware is taking their steps to try and deal with the backlash of negative fan feedback. They already had many announcement on the steps they will be taking for the future to try and fix this 'crisis'. So to me no real foul done as long as there are some sort of remedy for it and this summer there will be. I played a great game for the last few years, enjoyed ever minute I played, met some really good characters and took in the plight of the entire galaxy on my hands and 'saved' them in some odd way. I think my experience was anything but astonishing, epic, and memorable. I didn't and won't let the last ten minutes (as confusing and inadequate as it was) ruin the whole spectrum. Mass Effect 3 as a whole gave excellence like the previous two games. I'm going to say it now despite how early we are in that it is probably going to be game of the year for 2012.
10/10
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