Mass Effect 3 Review
In a an era when game sequels are the norm Mass Effect 3 enters the fray in an attempt to show its peers how it's done. With a revamped combat system, a spankin' new multiplayer mode and doomsday laden climax to the series' plot, Does Mass Effect 3 surpass its predecessor and provide a memorable experience?
Mass Effect 3 was clearly made in mind with not only catering to the older fans of the series, but to gamers who enter the Mass Effect galaxy right on the third installment. This is made evident by the three new ways to play the single player story. You can either choose to skip dialogue altogether (converting dialogue to cut-scenes), make combat easier while maintaining the dialogue options intact. Or you can go ahead and play Mass Effect the way it was meant to be played. There's no reason to explore the other game options as the core game at hand has a short learning curve. However the biggest addition to the gameplay are the revamped combat controls. Bioware has made it that much easier to dig into and dive out of cover, all the while maintaining your ability to commmand your squadmates. They've added a touch of Gears of War, frankly making it easier to avoid being flanked while monitoring power cooldowns and team mate health. The controls are still lacking in precision and you can often find yourself not being able to turn as qucikly as you'd like, but all-in-all Shepard's movements are much improved. One thing that did annoy me to no end was the fact that if I didn't pop out of cover when using a power, my Shepard would just hit the cover right in front of him. In Mass Effect 2 using powers from behind cover was a much more seamless act, where Shepard would pop out and hit the enemy with a power, without me having to worrying about wasting precious seconds on another cooldown.
As before you have the option to start the game as one of six character classes. The same return albeit with the subtraction of specializations, this time players are granted expanded skill trees for more choice in leveling bonuses. Bioware has taken a more RPG approach with weapons and armor. You can now choose a large selection of guns each which can be maxed to level ten. You're also granted the ability to mod your weapons and armor, allowing you to choose to change weight, firing power or accuracy. Best of all you can do all of this purchasing from the Normandy, a shame dialogue and questing couldn't have been handled the same. Mass Effect 3 once again brings back the dialogue trees of the previous games. Just as the first game dialogue remains largely uncahanged, where the player is presented with any number of queries and of course the ever popular moral choices. As before you can choose a good, bad or neutral option in certain sitations netting you Paragon (good) or renegade (bad) "points". You will also have a reputation meter which serves as your charisma stat, giving you the ability to pass or fail speech checks when encountering extreme circumstances. This type of mechanic is starting to lose its allure, and I would have hoped for less cookie cutter options when making choices. Although this game more than the last two presents the player with choices that will have unforeseen circumstances. Another lament of mines is the removal of "courting" your teammates, which will ensure their loyalty and grant you an intriguing side mission to embark on. This added weight to the relationship with your team mates and their survival or death had much more of an impact on the player. Continuing on that, the majority of the side missions in Mass Effect 3 flat out stink. It's a shame that the game regressed and now instead of receiving compelling side quests, Commander Shepard like creep will eavesdrop on conversations in the Citadel in order to add missions to his quest log. The majority of side missions are boring fetch quests, that are cumbersome to obtain, and complete. It can also take you out of the game when you're searching for fuel rods or ancient Krogan fossils, while the galaxy is on hte verge of obliteration. It is also incomprehensible as to why I have to sit through four to five load screens when traveling through either the Citadel or the Normandy. They could have easily streamlined this with a phone... no seriously. But of course we can't forget about the mining which has been stripped away for just simple probing. this would have been great would it not have been for the annoying miniature Reapers that will attack you after being alerted. Yet another waste of time when you have to exit a system and re-enter it numerous times just to scan one measly planet.
You will also have to monitor your Galactic readiness as well as your total war assets. Your assets are accrued as you play through the game, aiding the various races found throghout the galaxy. It will supposedly affect your end game, however more on that later. The galactic readiness denoted by the different sectors of the milky way galaxy is tied to Bioware's newest additon to Mass Effect 3, multiplayer. You can now level up a generic character in one of the many classes you can use in single player. you then enter what is essentially a horde mode with three other players and fight against, Cerberus, Geth or Reaper forces gaingin XP and upgrading your powers and equipment much in the same way you do in the single player. The only caveat is you also get credits which can be used to purchase special packs granting you items, XP, weapons and sometimes special characters. you could also shell out real world money to obtain these packs. The multiplayer is a lot more fun than expected, but nothing world changing, and certainly not as robust as most other Horde modes out there. The effect on your single player expereince is also minimal as you can prestige your character and make him or her, or it into a war asset for single player. Continuous play of the multplayer will also icnrease your galactic readiness in signle player.
The sights and sounds of Mass Effect are as great as ever, with still arguably one of the best soundtracks in gaming. Whether youre lsitening to the galaxy map tune or fully entranched in warfare, the subtle 80's synth of the soundtrack is nothing short of glorious. the weapon sounds are alos much improved as they have a more visceral and weighty feel to them while still maintiaining futuristic tones. While custom characters will still look like wax figures, the default characters still look great. the environments all maitain a rather impressive look, and I can't think of a game that makes space look as gorgeous as Mass Effect. Finally the plot manages to pull at your heart strings without becoming chessy and hokey. The sheer destructive power of the reapers creates a foreboding dread and hopelessness in not only the characters around you, but in Shepard himself. Let's be clear the many plot points throughout the sereis are tied up within the story itself and while the end may be a tad bit too open ended Bioware still put things together masterfully.
While not as great as Mass Effect 2 due to a few short comings, Mass Effect 3 is still a great entry for fans of the genre and fans of the series.
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