Review: Mass Effect 3
Since Play Estate is no longer operational, I'll be posting my reviews of Mass Effect 3 here.
It’s been a long ride.
Since its initial release in 2007, Mass
Effect has captivated millions with its rich and imaginative world. From chasing a rogue agent to uncovering a
plan to annihilate nearly every living thing in the galaxy, our future would be
a grim one if not for the exploits of one Commander Shepard. Mass
Effect 3 marks the end of what can only be considered one of gaming’s
greatest trilogies. With so much
anticipation, can Mass Effect 3 live
up to its own legend?
Picking up months after the events of Mass Effect 2’s DLC, Arrival,
Commander Shepard is on Earth facing trial for his hand in the death of 300,000
batarian colonists. During his
testimony, reports begin flooding in that outposts in our solar system are
going offline. It’s only moments before
the Reapers arrive on Earth and begin laying waste to its population. After narrowly escaping the initial assault
and being reunited with the Normandy and her crew, it falls on Shepard’s
shoulders to unite the various species of the galaxy and find a way to put an
end to the Reapers once and for all.
Needless to say, the events in Mass Effect 3 play out in grand style. The Reaper invasion sets the tone for the
rest of the game as everything comes across as larger than life. While everything plays out at such a large
scale, it feels a bit rushed after the initial missions. The Reapers are an ever present threat in the
game and as such, the majority of missions revolve around rallying forces and
finding a way to combat this nigh-invulnerable menace. This doesn’t leave a lot of room for side
missions which can now be picked up by eavesdropping on conversations. As the main storyline progresses and the
Reapers invade more of our galaxy, some planets end up cut off and their side
mission objectives are lost forever.
When compared to the series’ past entries, Mass Effect 3 feels a little light in sheer quantity of
missions. It’s clearly focused on
telling the grand finale and tying up loose ends versus expounding on much more
of the universe. This does make sense
from a story telling perspective as many of the side missions are not that
important. What is particularly great is
how content from media outside of the books has found its way into the
game. It fleshes out certain events and
is a great reward for those fans extremely dedicated to the series.
While a lot is done incredibly well with the story, which is
par for any BioWare game, Mass Effect 3
falls apart at the most critical point, the ending. Without spoiling too much, the player is
confronted with a series of choices with which the outcome isn’t influenced by
any of the decisions made across the span of the three games. For a series where decisions drastically
change the landscape of an entire galaxy, it’s hard to understand why the
ending of the series would be painted with such broad strokes. On top of that, there isn’t much that is
resolved with any of the endings. In
fact, they lead to more questions than they answer and it’s up to the players’
imagination to fill in the gaps. As
tremendous as the series and Mass Effect
3 in particular is, the ending is definitely wanting for more.
Accompanying Shepard are plenty of familiar faces and a few
new ones. While some series staples like
Liara, Garrus, and Tali join Shepard on-board the Normandy, many others do
not. Nearly every squad member from past
games has a reason not to join Shepard.
While this makes room in the spotlight for the new characters, said
characters don’t hold up well in that spotlight. New squad members James and Javik are rough,
abrasive characters who don’t provide much after their trust is earned. It’s disappointing, especially in the case of
Javik, whose race has been clouded in so much mystery, when he ends up just
being a dick and never makes it into the squad rotation.
Combat is nearly identical to Mass Effect 2. Voice
commands can now be issued via the Kinect, but it can be hit or miss as far as
squad mates responding to commands.
Enemy AI has definitely seen an improvement as enemies work more as a
team to flank, outmaneuver, or flush out players from cover. There’s greater variety in the enemy types as
well with armored Cerberus mechs, deadly ninja assassins, and Reaper mutants
joining the fray. Enemies aren’t the
only ones with new abilities though.
Commander Shepard now has greater mobility in the battlefield and can
seamlessly slip to new cover positions, roll out of the way, and devastate foes
with a new melee attack. These changes
provide a more active and engaging experience versus past entries’ cover-and-shoot
style.
This refined combat finds its way into the new multiplayer
mode, Galaxy at War. Four players must
survive 11 waves of nearly unending enemy hordes. Choosing one of the various single player
classes, species, and weapons, players have an incredible amount of
customization at their fingertips.
Matches typically take a half hour to complete and this makes it easy to
get quick doses of the fantastic multiplayer.
Throughout the 11 waves, players will have to complete random objectives
like eliminating enemy targets, capturing control points, or retrieving enemy
data. It’s a great touch and helps break
up the monotony of endlessly shooting AI targets in the face. Completing matches awards experience and
credits. Characters can reach level 20
and have many of the abilities available that are in the single player portion
of the game. Credits are used to
purchase equipment packs which contain random weapons, mods, classes, species,
and customization options. The quick
play sessions combined with the anticipation of getting that next great item
makes for some incredibly addictive gameplay that gives Mass Effect 3 some much needed longevity after players have completed
the story.
Stunning doesn’t even begin to describe the visuals. Every planet and set piece is rife with painstaking
detail and beauty. There isn’t a single
area in the game that doesn’t feel wholly unique or out of place. Like a neatly lined row of dominoes,
everything falls into place. From
environments to character models to skill and weapon effects, Mass Effect 3 is a feast for the
eyes. There is the occasional collision
issue and overlap, but these blemishes are few and far between. It’s incredibly easy to get lost and
transported to the worlds that inhabit the vast reaches of space.
Much like previous entries, Mass Effect 3’s soundtrack is just as powerful and moving. Combined with the spot on sound effects and
world class voice acting, there is just as much love for the ears as the eyes
when playing.
Mass Effect 3 is a
great ending point for the series, but not a perfect one. While so much was done near perfection, the
ending casts a long shadow over the entire experience because of how
unfulfilling it is. This is not a series
that can be casually stepped into and most players have not. They have spent the course of five years
playing and the reward for such dedication is simply lackluster. Despite the ending, Mass Effect 3 is definitely worth purchasing and the series as a
whole is truly unlike any other. Even
with a stumble at the end, BioWare has struck gold once more.
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