Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Instant classic"

When Mass Effect was first released, it felt very much like a BioWare game, a kind of sci-fi shooter RPG that didn't feel too different from previous BioWare efforts while also paying direct homage to the halcyon days of sci-fi cinema, even including a visual film grain filter. It's easy to forget how the series started out, how the gameplay has improved dramatically, how the storytelling has grown more rich, the characters more fleshed-out, as the saga of Commander Shepard has rolled on. And with Mass Effect 3, the trilogy has come to a close, and with the Extended Cut DLC, the series has ended on a powerful and moving note, one which leaves no doubt in my mind that BioWare has crowned their achievement appropriately.

After the events of Mass Effect 2, Shepard is effectively grounded until the Reapers show up and start reaping. While it might seem like a rehash of the previous game's approach of rounding up a rogue's gallery of colorful characters, Mass Effect 3 differs in that it's not about putting together a motley crew of heroes and ant-heroes- it's about marshalling the strength of many different sentient races to try to save Earth, and hopefully do what it takes to stop the reapers altogether, to break the cycle of growth and destruction.

One can't say too much about the story without spoiling it, and the conclusion is still problematic for those who wanted a more customized ending, but ital goes back to what players wanted. The actions you chose, the decisions you made, were more about the journey than the destination. BioWare oversold their ability to provide a customized ending for sure, but at the end, there's only so much you can do, and BioWare's ending is stronger than most. The action gameplay is really fine-tuned, and isn't far from genre standards like Gears of War. Powers and special ammo still aren't perfectly suited to the 360 conroller, as players can only map three special moves to hotkeys on the controller, but it's still much better than the first game, where only one move could be mapped at a time. Some of the cover-shooter problems inherent to the genre are here as well, but the attention to detail on what makes a cover shooter fun, namely varied and organic environs coupled with challenging enemies, are present here

BioWare just couldn't leave well enough alone when it came to exploration, however. While the tedious ground exploration levels are completely gone, and mining has been drastically simplified, much of the solar exploration runs afoul of Reapers, who come flocking when the player scans an area of a solar system. It makes for annoying games of cat and mouse that don't do a good job of enticing players to explore the corners of the galaxy, nor do they make much narrative sense.

The graphics are wonderful, though somewhat similar to Mass Effect 2, and the score is the culmination of the themes brought forth throughout. The seams show sometimes in movement that seems "off" or delayed, but it's all leaps and bounds ahead of the first game in the trilogy, and the overall sound design, from voice acting to the sound effects, is all top-notch.

There are concerns that EA is influencing BioWare's decisions as they continue on, and it remains to be seen how the company will operate going forward, but there's no doubt that Mass Effect 3 caps a tremendous trilogy of games, even with some of the nigglng problems of exploration and expanding paid DLC. Once you've beaten it, you'll likely just want to go back and try it all over again, and when you look back at the entire story, BioWare did a good job of delivering a dramatic space action experience tht will be hard to top.

I beat this game with the Extended Cut DLC already downlodaed, and I spent several days with the game in my head, in my heart, as I thought about the characters I'd interacted with, the Shepard I created years ago and guided through all three games. It was a heck of a run, and I found I cared more about that character than any I'd created in an MMO - this was my Shepard, and it was tremendous to have a small influence on the story that way. The ending was uncompromising to the vision of the story, and I spent quite a lot of time reflecting on it. Mass Effect is one of those all-time greats, like Calvin & Hobbes or Lord of the Rings, that is wonderful and magical to experience, and leaves you with a hole in your heart when over, a hole that can only be filled by diving back into that world once again. Games like these don't come along often. Cherish them.