Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Amazing"

*** MASS EFFECT 3 ***

THE GOOD

-Engaging story and characters
-Enhanced leveling system
-Improved combat flexibility
-Powerful dialog options and past game choices personalize the experience
-Beautiful graphics and voice work

THE BAD

-Glitches, bugs, and frame rate issues

OVERVIEW

This is it, the beginning of the end. BioWare's final chapter is in the books for famed Mass Effect franchise. The legendary hero Commander Shepard has been warning political leaders to rally their forces in preparation for the return of the Reapers. The Reapers are a highly powerful and ancient synthetic race obsessed with maintaining order and eradicating chaos. Unfortunately, only a select few heed the call to action. When the Reapers finally arrive a start their genocide of all advanced organic life, the scattered military factions can only muster up a weak and feeble defense. Talk about bringing a knife to a gun fight! The entire galaxy is now in survival mode as Krogans, Turians, Salarians, Humans, and other races try to fight for their homelands or flee to the deeper parts of space. We've seen Shepard time and time again win countless impossible battles but this effort requires the entire galaxy to work together in order to even have a fighting chance. After a reluctant Shepard is forced to leave Earth during the Reaper invasion he undertakes his biggest challenge yet, the unification of the Milky Way galaxy. Thankfully, he still has one of the most highly advanced starships in the Alliance navy, the Normandy SR-2.

Mass Effect 3 builds upon the other stellar games in the series and brings closure to Shepard's epic journey. Gamers new to the series and starting with ME3 will find it very enjoyable as a standalone game. However, those loyal fans who kept there saved data will have a much more meaningful experience. The choices you've made in the previous games are presented in greater detail and our galactic hero will have many more difficult decisions make in this final adventure. Shepard will encounter many familiar faces from his past if they survived the events in ME1 and ME2. The endearing cast of characters (both playable and non-playable) are intent on following or helping Shepard to the bitter end and their lives will be in your hands as you make those tough calls during dire situations. Let's just say that death is woven all throughout Mass Effect 3, making this powerful tale a long and emotional roller coaster. When Shepard loses a loved one you can be certain that you'll also feel the loss. The player driven story is really what makes this game so enthralling.

GAMEPLAY

When starting Mass Effect 3 you have the option to import your Mass Effect 2 character or start from scratch. If you refuse to import, you'll be prompted to answer a few quick questions about Shepard's history. However, most of the past major plot points are unchangeable. Whether you import or not you'll still have the option to customize Shepard's look and character class. The same six classes (Soldier, Infiltrator, Vanguard, Sentinel, Adept, and Engineer) are available and each offers unique abilities to use on the battlefield. Before each mission you'll have a chance to select two other party members each with unique abilities so pairing up the right combination of skills is paramount; especially on a tougher difficulty. Even though you'll be doing most of the heavy lifting in combat, your AI counterparts do an excellent job in making you feel like you're not alone.

This action RPG isn't all about running and gunning. In fact, a large portion of your time is devoted to progressing the story through many, many lines of dialog. The conversation wheel is broken up into Paragon (selfless) and Renegade (selfish) choices and most of the time you'll have the option to investigate further. Additionally, the lower part of the screen during a cut scene may flash a blue Paragon icon or a red Renegade icon. These dynamic feature lets you make gut reactions on the fly, like a real commander in the field. What's nice about Mass Effect 3 is that you can freely choose how to react to certain events without loosing out on some of the higher level charm and intimidation options. In short, you're not punished for playing the game in shades of gray. The new reputation meter builds up each time you take a side during an event. Those higher level dialog options become available as your reputation increases. For those paramours out there, you are able to peruse a romantic relationship with colleagues on or off the Normandy. If monogamy is your game, you can even attempt to rekindle a past love interest.

BioWare listened to fan feedback from ME2 and greatly expanded upon the leveling system in ME3. Shepard and his crew all share the same experience so you never have to worry about someone lagging behind. Each ability has its own 6-tiered skilled tree and offers two choices (instead of one) for the more powerful enhancements (4th tier and higher). This system moves away from the monotony of a static build to one with more freedom. As your characters level-up you'll earn skill points to use whenever and wherever you want but keep in mind that once they are spent, they are no longer available. Your weapons have a slightly different leveling system. With the right amount of credits you can procure upgrades and modifiers from Citadel merchants (or remotely from the Normandy). If you are short on funds you could always check those nooks and crannies and salvage for goods. On the defensive side, you can find or purchase armored suits or custom fit pieces together. The armor you wear doesn't just look cool in combat but also provides some additional bonuses to your base attributes. Ultimately, this overhauled system offers full customization and flexibility on the battlefield to suit your style of play.

The maneuverability in combat is nice and smooth. The dive roll and heavy melee abilities were a welcomed new feature. You can hotkey up to three abilities to the RB, LB and Y buttons, on the controller, to keep from pausing the action and cycling through your menu. The cover system has a few headaches but for the most part it works decent enough. The shooting mechanics are top-notch, easy-to-use, and highly gratifying when you massacre your enemies. The Kinect voice commands really shine and actually come in quite handy. Calling out orders to your teammates is done with ease and the authentic feel really makes it seem like you really are a commander leading the team.

The multiplayer aspect at first was a little unnerving. Multiplayer in a RPG? Blasphemy! However, to my surprise, this feature was actually pretty fun. It by no means rivals other popular third person shooters on the market but it does its job decent enough for ME3. As an added bonus, your multiplayer efforts help your "Galactic Readiness" in the single player campaign, which increases the effectiveness of your war assets in the story's final battle. Multiplayer is a simple survival mode that lets up to four players battle through waves of baddies at various locations in the galaxy. Defeating all the enemies progresses you to the next wave but there are other minor time attack objectives to complete for extra credits. All the class characters are available here and you can also play as a different race too. Additionally, you have the option of turning in credits or Microsoft points to receive new weapons and equipment.

Unfortunately, this game is litter with bugs and glitches. BioWare's debugging team should really get the axe for this one because the same issues kept popping up throughout the entire Mass Effect series. Long loading times, game crashes, frame rate issues, and other minor annoyances were bothersome but thankfully only happened on rare occasions.

GRAPHICS & SOUND

Beauty permeates all throughout this game. Everything from the character models to the level design and all aspects in between are captivating. Even the cut scenes are rich in detail and really bring Mass Effect 3 to life. Couple that with an exciting musical score and the entertainment value goes through the roof. Plus, the excellent voice work with many returning stars and notable actors and actresses adds another dynamic level to the storytelling.

CONCLUSION

Mass Effect 3 delivers on all fronts. The powerful story is superbly scripted and the abundance of player choices makes this final chapter meaningful and emotional for the gamer. You will care about what happens to Commander Shepard and his friends based upon your decisions. The action packed combat keeps you on your toes while the leveling system and equipment customization completely compliments your play style. Add in some stunning visuals and an all-star lineup of voice actors and you have one remarkable experience. Although there are a few technical blemishes they by no means ruin this game. BioWare has truly created something special here. Fans and newcomers alike will definitely enjoy the conclusion to the Mass Effect saga.