Mass Effect 3 Review

We bid farewell all that Mess.

With a few rounds of technical difficulties at the end and some Mass Effect game play, I've spent over 200 hours in games in the last month. It's not surprising that I didn't finish the fight in the trilogy’s final entry. Although Mass Effect 3 is a more complex game, it doesn't have the same bloat. For reasons that we'll be discussing in a moment, I'm very happy it did.

We can begin to understand Mass Effect 3 in its fundamental form, since the game itself starts there. The first indication that something is wrong with the final installment in this trilogy is that it begins at Earth. Shepard spends an intentionally vague amount on Earth since the events that occurred in the previous game. Although they do tell you how long it will take if your digging deep or paying attention to offhand conversation, it feels more like six months. Narratively it feels like it took a few years. Multiple characters will mention that you are still in administrative limbo. They have to go on with their lives. Miranda, six month is not that long. This is Earth. This is the very first time Earth has been featured in a Mass Effect gaming game as a place that you interact with or visit (you do go to Moon in the initial game, but this is as close as it gets). This isn't a scam, it's not of the standard kind. You will find that the game is about Earth no matter where in the galaxy you go.

Another warning sign appears in the opening section: Admiral David Anderson is still voiced perfectly by Keith David. In this 30-minute-long setpiece, the Reapers ignore all Shepard warnings and seize Vancouver's human resources attached to Shepard as the tutorial. Anderson is more than the tutorial figure. He is the one giving orders, demanding actions and doing all things. Shepard follows along with Anderson, most notably in the awkward symbolism of trying to save a human infant from the destruction.

Soon Shepard will be flying into space, leaving Anderson behind to defend Earth as head of Resistance. But Anderson continues to watch over the proceedings. Anderson's main goal is to return to Anderson, and not just by his polite ability to call Shepard from space on a regular basis to check in. Mass Effect 3 does not hesitate to confuse this primary narrative with Shepard’s main goal of creating "the Crucible," a superweapon capable of destroying the Reapers at a single hit. This is absurd except for the game's characters insisting that it does. And it would work better if you had more time to think it through. You can expect this game to last between 40-60 hours depending upon the DLC you choose. This will allow you plenty of time for thought. It will take you a long time to think about it, while you gather war materiel and run into Anderson's on/off-again lover Kahlee. You may even encounter Anderson's long-standing nemesis character, who isn’t actually from Shepard’s present, but from Anderson’s.

Once you get to the endgame, and begin the hard work of tying it up in rough knots, it becomes the David Anderson story. With London looking like a typical war-torn military-shooter environment with only the red anachronistic phones that are placed on every street corner reminding you that this is London), the last two hours will be spent listening to Anderson's comms chatter and his English and Scottish hard-lad officers as they race towards certain death. Shepard, Anderson, and their company are stuffed so tight into the passenger's seats that in the original release (before the Citadel DCL), the only proper way to bid farewell to half of the important NPCs involved phoning them up on the satellite phone to check in. Anderson even gives a big motivational speech! Anderson is always there at the Citadel to finish all things. BioWare could have made David Anderson the protagonist of this videogame if that was what they wanted to tell.

But, it's the story that fifty-five hours of play are not. It is the story of the universe-historically special and precious Commander Shepard. As absurd as the diegetic admiration and glory for the commander might sound, it is earned by the middle Mass Effect 3. Since this is Shepard’s final ride (hopefully, not least), it is entirely appropriate that it leans into it. This game's most enjoyable parts, and they are all agreed upon by all. They do they relate to the actual story of Mass Effect 3? It's not. In the long, extravagant cutscene of the assembled war force flying into the Reapers, it was clear that they didn’t bother modeling in the Geth fleet. It’s too much work for a fraction of players, and would not even save the Geth. The problem would be much less if things like this and the Tuchanka genophage cure were the main focus. As it is, you reconcile a civilization-defining conflict between two species and the only interaction it has with the trials and tribulations of Admiral Anderson is Joker saying "Geth fleet standing by" during roll call.

It is however amazing to see the Quarian homeworld and genophage content. Based on the choices made in the previous game, the tone of either setpiece may vary greatly. This is mainly dependent on whether Maelon's data was saved from the previous title. It doesn't really make a difference what game outcome you pick; you'll get War ScorePoints to fill up the War Score Meter, regardless of whether or not the genophage has been cured. There are a few variations in the distributions, but they can all be very different depending on the way you like your Mass Effect 3. Mordin Solus or Legion are both dying. It is not possible to have spooky dreams influenced by the voices the dead if only the people you left behind on Virmire back in the first games are there.

Mass Effect 3's writing makes it incredibly easy to accept that you may not be making the right plays in these situations. Even if you've imported the file that made the right moves, this is still a great thing. You can also fuck over the Krogans. You can also decide to murder the Geth or totally screw over the Quarian/Geth sides. Although you will see a lot sad scenes and characters die, the Destruction ending where Shepard resides is not possible to avoid. There are enough War Scores hidden in the Milky Way to support a lot more Shepard messing about and ruining the world. It takes a certain personality type to make it through two games and then wish to ruin the game on purpose just so you can see it. This is similar to how it takes someone to want to play through the Caesar's Legion plotline . It's a good thing that this type of content exists for a few. After eight playthroughs, I still haven’t seen the Citadel movie where Kai Leng murders Miranda in place of Thane (because Thane’s already dead). Or, if both of them are dead, Captain Kirrahe takes it. I have too many memories of the previous games that I don't want to give up on trying to find the best ending for my Shepard before the third title.

Kai Leng. Kai Leng. Someone was involved with this game's creation -- I bet it's Mac Walters. Walters was also the lead writer of Mass Effect 3, and he had his hands in several other Mass Effect 3-related comics and media. However, it doesn’t really matter who -- they thought they had Kai Leng in their sights. It's clear that Mac Walters was the lead writer of Mass Effect 3. He also had a lot of other Mass Effect 3-related comics and media. But, he is what is. And what he really is is a Space Ninja. He spends a lot time in cutscenes showing off, winning fights during cutscenes, then scarpering away in cutscenes until Shepard can do anything about it.

Kai Leng is a question that I have doubts about. It is a major problem, for example, that this is Kai Leng's first appearance in series (as stated before, he is from Admiral Anderson, not Shepards' backstory). There's a simpler person, who is clearly obvious, who should be in the role as cyborg reconstructed soldier hunting down Shepard with vengeance: whoever Shepard left behind to die on Virmire. Kaiden and Ashley, the voice actors, were already performing full companion work for their characters. They were also going to be spending a lot time in-studio. This would go against the spooky nightmare mandate above, and, perhaps, reduce the sacrifices made by the characters in the first games.

Even if Kaiden, Ashley, or Ashley took that role, it's not the main problem. Anderson and the others are constantly sending emails to you saying, "Whoa Shepard. This is one o the real tough guys." "Watch out!" Anyone who is familiar with professional wrestling will know about heel heat. This is what the bad guys build by hitting the good guys with chairs while the ref doesn't watch and other cheating. A heel who builds heat in the right way, arguably like Saren did in Mass Effect - you'll want to keep watching to see him get his comeuppance. But if he's wrong, you just tune out and forget about that story. Kai Leng basically only builds bad heat. It's not as bad, as most people remember, because Kai Leng doesn't appear to be as active once you have the Omega, Citadel and Leviathan DLCs installed. But there is an annoying tone deafness to his entire deal due to how Mass Effect 2 and 3 use cutscenes. After you beat the Cerberus bossfight, you will get the prompt for killing him. Shepard's ability for them to assert their protagonism as well as alter the flow is a big part of their deal in the second, third and fourth games. If you are going to have Shepard bumble and flatfooted in every encounters with this guy and to give him all the interrupts for things like killing Thane then you should bring something more compelling than Troy Baker, who is a terrifying space ninja.

Kai Leng will be present less often if you have more DLC installed. The three main DLC modules, however, are absolutely worth the effort. Javik, a racist Prothean and "DLC party Member" is also there. Although he's a joke about the hubris and paleoanthropology that Dr. Tsoni is guilty of, he's a portent for bad content trends. Javik is an extremely small file. Javik's data was already stored on the hard disk when Mass Effect 3 was released in 2013. Javik is a joke, but he shouldn't be in the game. His jokes are a farce compared to what it would have cost to place him in the game instead of a Krogan (this is not a game with krog companions). Or, perhaps more important, a Batarian. This was the moment that the Batarians, who were brutally killed in the Arrival and opening phases of the Reaper invasions, finally had a humanizing NPC. Shepard was challenged about Shepard’s preconceptions regarding their species. While serving with distinction, Nope! This is a strange asshole that explores conceptual space Mass Effect 2 already tightly tied off. Citadel, Omega, Leviathan, and Omega are all much larger investments. They each add at least 3 hours of gameplay time depending on how difficult you set it to. Citadel even adds three hours of fanservice footage of Shepard spending time with their friends after the main content of the DLC ends.

The Legendary Edition Mass Effect 3 has the multiplayer part missing. This can either be a source or relief depending on who you're. In the original release of Mass Effect 3, half the War Score rating you Shepard had to earn in the main game came down to how you used the multiplayer. This was a brutal force and an unwelcome way to get people who were looking for a single player experience to engage with a prototype-live service implementation. If you're curious about why that decision was made, keep in mind that BioWare (an Electronic Arts brand) is responsible. BioWare decided to change that when they released the ending DLC for free. This was in an attempt to manage the negative press that came with this game's debut. There are a few things you might have missed. It's huge. Check out the planets. At the beginning of the Quarian missions, I had a full bar. My Shepard was able to get deeper into the hole than other players by saving the Alliance fleet, Mass Effect 2, and not doing Arrival DLC (which results in a lot less marine deaths). You will never return home for those few, vocal fans of the multiplayer version. You probably didn't want 2021 Electronic Arts to do it.

That brings us to Commander Shepard's final game. This was one fumble. The game rushes towards finding a way for you to join the "build superweapon to destroy the Reapers” plot with the "save Earth." plot. This is because, offscreen, you have to make the Citadel move halfway across space to Earth ("so that the Reapers can better defend it") since the Citadel is once again the twist-ending maguffin. Hour 58 of 60 is when you realize this Catalyst actually is the Citadel. In a casual callback to Vigil upon Ilos Vigil, all this is told to you by Prothean VI. This guy doesn't pretend to be an ancient echo or a dead race. He just tells you the story of events that would take longer to animate, or involve Shepard. It is much better to simply move all the pieces wherever they are needed on the chessboard through narrative fiat.

After you pass London, it's you and Anderson alone on the Citadel together with the Illusive Man. There's another version, where Cerberus is with Commander Shepard and the Illusive Man are on the side and allies with him. Admiral Hackett and Admiral Anderson go to war against the Alliance. That is the best use of talent. The much bigger strike against this final confrontation is that it is done...with Commander Shepard...limping...through...the Citadel...as slow as they can possibly go. It was not what I enjoyed when Kojima, company did it Metal Gear Solid 5. However, they made it work! They really put Snake through a lot of hardship! While it is only two to three minutes of stumbling but you are so close at nailing it in, it can take a while.

I believe the Illusive Man's plot has been resolved well. It doesn’t break the top 3 of “convincing criminal CRPG characters to kill their own”, and it doesn’t even exceed Saren’s attempt back Mass Effect. However, this is a callback. The real bullshit comes when you go upstairs to talk with the Reaper subroutine in the disguise of the child you had been dreaming about for so long. Now it's almost common knowledge what happens: He makes a speech about his plan all along to get your here, at this moment, to decide how the fate and destiny of the galaxy. Which ending do you prefer?

These endings are often criticized because they all seem "the same". While the original version had a lot more, it's worthwhile acknowledging some differences in order not to be scathing about them. Did you know the Illusive Men was correct in every detail? You knew that the Reapers could potentially be harnessed to benefit humanity, the galaxy, or anyone else the intelligence commanding it. He thought he could do it all himself. Commander Shepard the sainted hand galactic destiny, was the only thing wrong. That's Control's ending. This ending is what we don't choose in this household.

For my renegade Shepards, who are less concerned about the future of our galaxy than they are about their friends and relatives on the Normandy. The Destruction ending is the best ending for them. If you do everything right, it's the only one where Shepard can survive. Synthesis, also known as the "good" end, was the choice I made for this playthrough. It sees all of the galaxy's life become an organic-synthetic blend, ending all conflict and creating a shared gestalt consciousness that can lead the Milky Way galaxy into a golden era and perhaps defeating death. Everybody gets to have these silly circuit board meshes applied and glowing green eyes. For complete galactic harmony, it's a small price. Even in the expanded endings DLC, the endings are still disappointing. BioWare clearly regrets it now. I hope they don’t go back to the original endings' scope and say, "Well Shepard you want back, but we can’t figure how to tell stories with Shepard and gang, so let's just cheapen everything and give you more slop." The fans will soon discover that what they claimed they wanted wasn't what they actually wanted.

Overall, Mass Effect 3 was an enjoyable experience. I think this is due to the Legendary Edition improvements. I saw the ending to Conrad Verner’s tale for the first time, which was bizarrely funny, and I've learned to appreciate some of its less-pleasing aspects. This edition will not be the first edition for most people. I can only say to them that this game still stinks. Is this the only thing left of it? It was pretty awful. You'll still get a lot from this game with all of the DLC and the wounds that have healed over these eight years.

At the very least, until you're ready to travel to London.

Final Verdict:

Glad I bought it. Glad I played it. Glad I reviewed it. One of the greatest products EA ever made. It might not be the most flattering compliment, but it is still very good.