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    Mass Effect 3

    Game » consists of 19 releases. Released Mar 06, 2012

    When Earth begins to fall in an ancient cycle of destruction, Commander Shepard must unite the forces of the galaxy to stop the Reapers in the final chapter of the original Mass Effect trilogy.

    sashimix's Mass Effect 3 (PC) review

    Avatar image for sashimix

    The more you think about it, the more this game falls apart.

    Mass Effect, oh how I love thee. One of the best and most original sci-fi Ip's to come along in a very long time. It manages to do away with some old cliches and walked that fine line between plausible and completely fiction. The first installment was released in 2007 and mass Effect 2 in 2009. The trilogy has given us an unprecedented ability to carry over our previous saves from the past games to shape the new one. Every decision you make has an impact over the duration of the trilogy. Enter Mass Effect 3... Where that tradition continues, up to a point.

    Nope no copycats here
    Nope no copycats here

    The final installment has the epic face off between the living beings of the galaxy and the Reapers, a race of giant machines that wipe out all life every 50,000 years. Yes machines want to destroy organic life, where have I heard that before?

    Or here
    Or here

    The only hope for the galaxy is of course the intrepid Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy. Your mission is to unite the races of the galaxy and fight off the Reapers. Sounds simple right? One problem, your enemy is the size of the Empire State building and drops death rays the size of Nebraska on things. Oh and there is a few thousand of them. Oh and by the way the first target they hit was Earth... something tells me they hold a grudge.

    Gameplay hasn't changed much since Mass Effect 2. You control the Normandy from the Galaxy map and bop around on various quests some of which are fluff side quests and some of which advance the story. Pretty standard and what we have come to expect from Bioware. Combat has never really been Mass Effect's strong suit but it's just engaging enough to keep you playing. Think of a watered down Gears of War, stop and pop style of gameplay.

    Where you will start to loathe this game is in the story *WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD*

    Plot holes you can drive a bus though are all over this game leading to now one of the most infamous game endings not only in gaming history but in all the history of works of fiction. No hyperbole here, it is actually that bad.

    All your Reapers are belong to me
    All your Reapers are belong to me

    The mysterious pro human organization Cerberus takes center stage as the main antagonist for most of the game. I know what you're thinking I just said that this game was all about fighting Reapers... Well it is.. sort of. The Reapers actually play second banana to Cerberus for 85% of the game. So much so it feels like the Reapers are spectators in their own show- just standing back waiting for their turn. The Illusive man has completely flipped his s*** and decides the best way to save humanity is to try and control the skyscraper tall machines with the aforementioned death ray instead of trying to destroy them. Naturally this causes Cerberus to butt heads with Shepard every step of their respective journeys. Once where the Illusive man was calculating, dangerous and cunning, Here is is just the most cliche power hungry fool you can imagine. Totally Assassinating his character arc from mass Effect 2. Cerberus had it's time in Mass Effect 2, Why in the world do we need them to take center stage in Mass Effect 3 when the point here was supposed to be about impending doom from the Reapers?

    Annoying Cerberus plot aside your main goal is to gather resources and man power to assemble a Prothan super-weapon dubbed the Crucible. No one knows what it does but everyone is sure it can stop the Reapers for good. Wait.. what? You're telling me that this unknown object that was never completed ever and no one has idea one as to what it might do is the key to stopping these kill crazy death ray wielding toasters? For all anyone knows it might be a galactic daquari maker.

    So you go around convincing the Krogan to not kill and eat the Salarians and turians (and after the Genophage I wouldent blame the Korgans if they did) and if you're a nice guy curing said Genophage in the process, despite alot of canon saying it was damn near impossible to cure.

    In possibly the dumbest move since Greedo shooting first, our favorite exo suited race the Quarians decide to take this chance to once again throw themselves desperately at the Geth to try and reclaim their homeworld. ... ... WTF!? You take this time, with an invasion on a galactic scale of machines hell bent on complete and utter annihilation of all organic life, to launch a half assed attack against and enemy you haven't defeated for centuries? Apparently their fancy suits don't come with a Common Sense simulator.

    Then finally the Asari who get completely punked out by the Reapers in like a day. Wait a minute... Didn't we establish that Asari Commandos were some of the most bad ass biotic fighters in the galaxy? Earth lasts about 10 times longer and Earth doesn't even have any Galactically renowned warriors. Oh I figured out why the Asari homeworld didn't even make it though round one with the Reapers, because the super b**** Asari councilor keeps doing nothing but breaking Shepards balls and dismissing the reaper threat. Three games of this blue pain in the a** saying the same thing and constantly denying there is any trouble in the galaxy. Maybe if you took the now obvious threat seriously your home planet might not be a flaming lump of carbon right now.

    Now the climax... the most nut achingly, butt itchingly frustrating letdown of a climax to a trilogy ever. There is no triumph, there is no closure. In fact the ending only causes more problems then it was supposed to solve. The story is simply not finished. Too many unanswered question. It really makes me think Bioware did it on purpose to sell some more DLC or a new Mass Effect game. The ending goes against established canon so badly, you can't even call it a Deus Ex Machnia. They broke their own rules to solve nothing. When the dust settles no questions are answered. No epilogue, no nothing.

    Let's just do some quick and dirty math. if you bought all three games at MSRP thats about $180. THen DLC, comics, swag ect lets say another $100. For almost $300 bucks we deserve a much much better end to the story then what we got. Before you think I'm exaggerating believe me it is that bad. it's a slap in the face to everyone that loves and supported this franchise over the years.

    I love mass Effect and I have spent many hours loving the adventures of Commander Shepard. Mass effect 3 however just leaves me sad, and feeling a bit used. A titanic franchise that ended on a very very sour note.

    Other reviews for Mass Effect 3 (PC)

      The beginning of the end 0

      It's been 5 years coming, but the ending to the critically-acclaimed Mass Effect trilogy is finally here. From what began as a relatively hopeful foray into RPG-space with Mass Effect 1 has now come full circle as the fight returns home to good old planet Earth. Can BioWare deliver excellence three times in a row and tie up all the loose ends in time for dinner? Read on to find out.Dissecting the technical aspect of the game, it quickly becomes evident that an immense amount of resources have be...

      5 out of 6 found this review helpful.

      Mixed Emotions 0

      As a fan of Bioware and, in this specific case, the Mass Effect series, this review is one of mixed emotions. There are parts about it that I absolutely love, the parts that kept me playing for well over thirty hours, but there were also things that I would say range from being mildly disappointing to cringe inducing.The one area of Mass Effect 3 that leaves me with the most emotional confusion is the story. But, truth be told, I think that is something that dates back from the second game in th...

      4 out of 5 found this review helpful.

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