Mass Effect 3

 PC
User Score
6.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 7228 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,703 out of 7228
  2. Mixed: 1,119 out of 7228
  3. Negative: 2,406 out of 7228
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. unotavailable
    Sep 5, 2023
    0
    The game that killed the whole series. Hardly anything about it is good, but the worst part is of course the story/ending. Stay away.
  2. ObamasSon
    Apr 2, 2023
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I finished almost the whole game and didn't know that Ashley can join the team and I always thought she is not supposedt to be in the squad.
    I played the whole fn game without a major character that was there since the very first mass effect mission. Destroyed the entire expierence.
    F this game The game is actually good but the fact that you can mess up someone joining your squad is fd up    … Expand
  3. vova22379
    Jan 30, 2023
    4
    ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
  4. ryeli
    Sep 12, 2022
    0
    This game is the weakest of the trilogy. I wouldn't recommend playing it unless you are absolutely in love with the characters. The plot is weak and the writing is boring. The intro was very strong and had me ready for a compelling story but it immediately falls off and stays off. The gameplay loop is repetitive with the only interesting changes being that you might get in a turret at someThis game is the weakest of the trilogy. I wouldn't recommend playing it unless you are absolutely in love with the characters. The plot is weak and the writing is boring. The intro was very strong and had me ready for a compelling story but it immediately falls off and stays off. The gameplay loop is repetitive with the only interesting changes being that you might get in a turret at some point. I have to give it props for being the most cinematic entry in the trilogy but it doesn't make up for the rest of it's shortcomings. A huge disappointment.… Expand
  5. ydi
    Jul 21, 2022
    0
    Mass Effect serisine 2022 yılında başlayan biri olarak ME1 eski olmasına rağmen hikayesiyle kurtardı. ME2'de eski gibiydi ama oynanışı, hikayesi, açık dünyası ve görevleri olarak üzerine o kadar şey koymuş ki. Ondan sonra büyük beklentiyle ME3'e geçtim ve dibe çakıldım. O kadar hayal kırıklığına uğradım ki oyuna devam bile etmeyeceğim. Bir öncekinin üzerine bir şey koymadıkları gibi güzelMass Effect serisine 2022 yılında başlayan biri olarak ME1 eski olmasına rağmen hikayesiyle kurtardı. ME2'de eski gibiydi ama oynanışı, hikayesi, açık dünyası ve görevleri olarak üzerine o kadar şey koymuş ki. Ondan sonra büyük beklentiyle ME3'e geçtim ve dibe çakıldım. O kadar hayal kırıklığına uğradım ki oyuna devam bile etmeyeceğim. Bir öncekinin üzerine bir şey koymadıkları gibi güzel yanlarını da çıkarmışlar. Dialoglar berbat olmuş ve çok çizgisel giden bir oyuna dönmüş, üzüldüm.… Expand
  6. Ltom
    Sep 24, 2021
    4
    Mass Effect 3 is a mess of overdesign and copying from other games it has no job copying from. For clarities sake, I played this game right after I finished Mass Effect 1 and 2. And I got to say, it is by far the weakest Mass Effect game I've played. Playing this game feels like seeing a good friend go down a depression spiral, it's unfocused, it's pacing is trash, character'sMass Effect 3 is a mess of overdesign and copying from other games it has no job copying from. For clarities sake, I played this game right after I finished Mass Effect 1 and 2. And I got to say, it is by far the weakest Mass Effect game I've played. Playing this game feels like seeing a good friend go down a depression spiral, it's unfocused, it's pacing is trash, character's personalities are changed to make this whole game feel more like gears of war and the expendables, instead of what Mass Effect was. It's not all bad of course, it does have it's moments, like any other game does. And it is a really good experience when it wants to be. The problem is, it doesn't want to be good often. The new characters are also painfully bad, such as james who I wish I could let die from the first mission. Or cortez who is a semi replacement for joker, only worse and way more annoying than he has any right to be (but he can die on the final mission so that gave me a smile at least).

    When Mass Effect 3 is good is when it is actually Mass Effect. When you hang around with Garrus, Tali, Liara. You know, the usual suspects, and have fun. It does happen a lot and before playing the casino DLC party ending, I was going to give this game a 1 or 0 out of 10. But I have to admit that, no matter how disappointed I am in this game, and no matter how much I disliked most of the game. It does have those moments that put a smile on your face and a tear in your eye. So, for that alone I'll give it a 4. I don't think it worth more than that and I will get into it later. For now, let's focus on the pros and cons.

    Pros: Biotics have nicer effects and some biotics that used to not have much impact in the game now feel a lot better.
    Gunplay is arguably better.

    Cons: The characters introduced in the third game are borderline horrendous, with the exception of traynor. Other than that, they are either forgettable or asinine.

    The pacing of the story is way off, it tries to give this sense of urgency that is destroyed the moment you stop to find cables for some random schmuck

    Old characters you know and love turn into action movie protagonist level of dumb and annoying sometimes. Something that's fine for the new ones (since that's what they are supposed to be I guess), but not for the older ones who where never like that.

    Shepard feels weird when compared to other games of the series. He feels disconnected and turns into a military **** only to make a 180 in the final mission. Which leads me to believe that there was some push from EA to make him like that. But I wouldn't know and assuming gets us nowhere (nor does it change the fact).

    Side missions and companions feel "weaker" than in previous titles (not combat wise, story wise).

    That's for the big ones, in my opinion. I could go on about how the gameplay feels clunky and a bad ripoff from gears of war, or how the game forces you to interact with characters you don't want to, or how everybody talks too much all the **** time. "Oh, here's a ladder, oh here's the door) it's like a constant tutorial. A constant tutorials I didn't and for and don't want. Or how military mumbo jumbo makes every dialogue feel stupid and annoying and how there are less than half dialogue options, compared to ME2. But, I digress.

    The main problem with ME3 is that it trying to be something it's not. It's trying to be gears of war and the expendables, when it should have just be something more akin to band of brothers. And it works when it is more like it, that's the frustrating part, they know how to make the game good and just didn't. The voice acting is a toss frankly, some voice acting is amazing and some is trash with everything in between. The ending is something that will divide opinions a lot. As a starters, I love bitter endings. I like it when the ending puts a tear in my eye, when someone isn't making it back this time. The last hurrah! If you will. So the ending isn't something I completely dislikes and there is some amazing award worthy voice acting in the final mission in my opinion. But that is not enough to carry this one home I'm afraid. For context. I 100% this game in 35 hours (roughly 3-4 I was afk but just go with it) and for 20-24 of them I was out of my mind, pissed off with how they treated the old characters and the fact that I had to interact with the new, annoying, boring, pieces of **** they put in the story. I got the """good""" ending with 8000 military strength points (you don't need that much you need 7400 I believe) and I would be lying if I said that I didn't like doing any of it. Or that I wasn't sentimental in the final mission. But it's just not enough. So, I can't in good faith recommend this game. If you want to play it for the trilogy, do it. However, be prepared to be disappointed a lot of times. That's that... Hopefully the new one will be better though I wouldn't hold my breath. Oh, one last thing. ME Andromeda was way **** better than ME3    … Expand
  7. Piruz
    May 30, 2021
    3
    Not as exhausting as Mass Effect 2, not as fun to play as ME 1( if we consider that it was fun at all). Just ended the whole trilogy and i have to say, that they keep that ME level on stable "peace of **** All games around 4/10, but i gave my emotional rate to ME 2( 1/10) and considering ME 1 is the best and that ME 3 is the THIRD game in superpopular series and it is still so bad i'llNot as exhausting as Mass Effect 2, not as fun to play as ME 1( if we consider that it was fun at all). Just ended the whole trilogy and i have to say, that they keep that ME level on stable "peace of **** All games around 4/10, but i gave my emotional rate to ME 2( 1/10) and considering ME 1 is the best and that ME 3 is the THIRD game in superpopular series and it is still so bad i'll give 3 to ME3… Expand
  8. NicoCC
    Apr 24, 2021
    1
    Whoever wrote this concluding story and whoever produced the 3rd ME should be placed in the gulags. I'm sick and tired of lazy and idiotic writing. Not to mention the bs neo-marxist agenda placed into media and games.
  9. ppytry
    Mar 24, 2021
    0
    Самый классный шутер из всех в которые я когда-либо играл. Динамичный, крутой, не слишком длинный и не короткий. Самое то.
  10. Torgall
    Dec 12, 2020
    3
    Eh the game that ruined this series. You build up truly phenomenal plot and characters just to take a huge crap at it in the end. Even after their attempt to subdue the backlash with DLC leaves distaste.
  11. TwiggX
    Aug 30, 2020
    0
    Am shocked how an amazing series, all based on what you choose, can end like this, a game that carry you choice, from first, to third game, at the end just spits on all you do true out those three games, did not count any of you choices, just give you three colors to end with. Cant imagine it be that bad.
  12. Evil_User
    Jul 6, 2020
    4
    It would be a good game, if not for the ending. She puts an end to all parts of the game. You can safely follow the path of the apostate from the first part, because in the end there will still be garbage that will cover all the good that you tried to do for the world and your team. 4 precisely because of the ending. so would put 9
  13. rabidmonkfish
    Jun 25, 2020
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. great game up until that ending.......so bad it was like eating a nice meal at a restaurant and then just as your finishing your told that all the ingredients had been stuck up the chefs bum before cooking it.

    this is the kind of ending i would make if my sole intent was to spoil the entire franchise. Touted as "your adventure where your choices matter" with hundreds of hours spent over 3 games only to get a selection of multiple colour endings....i honestly still think that the fan theories of indoctrination must be the real answer and i am still waiting 8 years later for bioware/EA to fess up and release the real ending. This game goes down in my memory of the worst F U ending in gaming history...    … Expand
  14. zbysiek123456
    Sep 16, 2019
    4
    The weakest part of trilogy of Shepard. We get almost identical game like ME2. But this time we have feeling like we saw this somwhere else. Again we need to buy tons of DLC (And some of them was brutally cut from game and you are able to activate some parts with no buying DLC because it is in base game but locked. For example Javik :/) Quest are good, story is also good but after fightingThe weakest part of trilogy of Shepard. We get almost identical game like ME2. But this time we have feeling like we saw this somwhere else. Again we need to buy tons of DLC (And some of them was brutally cut from game and you are able to activate some parts with no buying DLC because it is in base game but locked. For example Javik :/) Quest are good, story is also good but after fighting for many hours in ME, ME2 and this game we going to point where ending is disappointed and have nothing to our decisions in past 2 game and even in what you was doing in 3 :(… Expand
  15. sp00kym0053
    May 29, 2019
    0
    This game is an abomination. A lazy, hackneyed, largely unfinished atrocity that cheapens and sullies the entire franchise. 0 is usually a hyperbolic score but this would genuinely be a better game if it was never made.
  16. BarelyLewd
    Mar 15, 2019
    3
    3 words sum up this game, red, blue, or green. Your choices in the previous games don't matter, just pick yo fav color.
  17. Avoidedknave
    Jan 9, 2019
    0
    Great game, horrible ending, but it is at least nice in the beginning and the middle, I still will never forgive what the had done to the ending
  18. Inheritance92
    Nov 23, 2018
    4
    The game is one big, unskippable cutscene. Most sidequests deal with your former party members, the space exploration is ruined, and it feels like a big nostalgia train.
    Many mechanics from ME1 are back, there are climbable ladders, and the Sheppard can (finally) move between covers and jump over the obstacles.
    It is a specimen of technical mastery combined with creative impotence.
  19. GingerBeardMan1
    Nov 17, 2018
    0
    Biggest Letdown Ever, the games combat system hasn't bean updated It's Riddled with micro transactions and it's ending is the biggest Disappointment.

    Don't Buy it.
  20. MillersWeeb
    Nov 16, 2018
    0
    Ну это вообще говно из говна. Сюжет говно, боевка говно, геймплей говно, аддоны говно, концовки просто пиздец какое говно.
  21. StevenD
    Aug 27, 2018
    0
    Came back to this after a couple of years thinking that the ending is what ruined the game for me the first time around. After going through the end this time around I can honestly say that this game got it's correct score in the initial user review and not in the critic review.
    Nothing about this game would have made me keep playing it until the end were it not for how good the first two    Came back to this after a couple of years thinking that the ending is what ruined the game for me the first time around. After going through the end this time around I can honestly say that this game got it's correct score in the initial user review and not in the critic review.
    Nothing about this game would have made me keep playing it until the end were it not for how good the first two were and my wishful thinking that maybe it will get better.    … Expand
  22. VeryNoob
    Jun 22, 2017
    3
    I spent more than 160 hours in this trilogy. Bought all available DLCs to date, always bought the most complete version of the game. And as a such hardcore Mass Effect fan I must say that I'm nothing more than sad. I had high expectation towards the trilogy ending. But ME3 did the impossible, they just screwed up the series.
    I can't do anything but laugh from some magazine reviews that    I spent more than 160 hours in this trilogy. Bought all available DLCs to date, always bought the most complete version of the game. And as a such hardcore Mass Effect fan I must say that I'm nothing more than sad. I had high expectation towards the trilogy ending. But ME3 did the impossible, they just screwed up the series.
    I can't do anything but laugh from some magazine reviews that says that ME3 is a proper ending to the series. Sadly many reviews don't even understand the idea behind the game, or just forgotten how awesome ME and ME2 were. The user's score can't lie, just compare ME and ME2 user's score to this one.. it speaks by itself.
    The combat is too much simplified, the game is about go to the planets, scan, delivery assets and sometimes do some mission. And that's it, no epic bosses, no epic battles, even my last section of game had a taste of "common battle". The games looks rushed, no proper characters involvement...

    Didn't think Bioware would miss twice.. first my deception with Dragon Age 2, now this? Why would you guys screw up Mass Effect? It's supposed to be THE epic trilogy. Be the benchmark, the reference to follow, simply the best. But today, Mass Effect is just one more.

    The 3/10 score is due to the hard work I saw in Bioware trying to do the game, sadly the execution failed. A lot.    … Expand
  23. malcolm22
    May 9, 2017
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. There are some things that are just so dam stupid about this game... If you spend millions on a finely tuned graphics engine, you would there be some cool boss fights or something other then the exact same mobs over and over gain. The worst part of the game is the missile battery defense level at the end where they just add more high HP mobs instead of coming up with anything interesting. The result is a frustrating terrible experience where its you VS an dumb AI enemy's HP bar over and over again,thinking the whole time, these stupid monkeys who got this far and gave up by the last level.... Screw you level designers resorting to that, you are huge idiots. Just look at all the 0 reviews below.... speaks for itself.… Expand
  24. 7ShadesOfEffort
    Apr 18, 2017
    0
    The day BioWare just stopped trying. Sometimes I think that every single person from Electronic Arts hates me personally. Why else would they brutally murder two of my favorite game developing companies?

    1 out of 7: zero effort.
  25. SyriusZ
    Apr 11, 2017
    0
    UNPLAYABLE on 1080p, 1440p or 4k. The HUD DOESN'T SCALES WITH THE RESOLUTION. On 4k it's soooo small i can't EVEN **** SEE IT. Also the worst ending in video game history.
  26. Shmorgan
    Mar 20, 2017
    1
    3RD entry in one of my favorite games. Writing isn't that good, but gameplay is.

    Pros + Character emotions seem ok. + World + The gunplay and engaging in combat seems a lot more improved than in ME1, is more fun and doesn't feel stiff. Cons - Dialogue wheel, I prefer to see texts in sentences to select. Yeah I just really hate dialogue wheels in games. - The item    3RD entry in one of my favorite games. Writing isn't that good, but gameplay is.

    Pros

    + Character emotions seem ok.

    + World

    + The gunplay and engaging in combat seems a lot more improved than in ME1, is more fun and doesn't feel stiff.

    Cons

    - Dialogue wheel, I prefer to see texts in sentences to select. Yeah I just really hate dialogue wheels in games.

    - The item management in your inventory is a bit terrible.

    - No looting like in ME1.

    - No open planets to explore driving a vehicle like in ME1.

    - MP has P2P instead of dedicated servers and no server browser list.

    - Micro-transactions in MP, I remember good ol' days when devs used to give dlcs like this for free like maps and gear. Shame on your greed EA/Bioware.    … Expand
  27. Khalazza
    Mar 13, 2017
    3
    Never forget that ending :(
    10 for all of the game up until the ending. 1 for the ending. Bioware managed to destroy 100+ hours of great gameplay across all 3 parts of the trilogy with last 10 minutes of the game. Impressive achievement, but I don't like it.
    The game is awesome in every aspect up until the very end. Don't know why Bioware did this but they did. They killed DA    Never forget that ending :(
    10 for all of the game up until the ending. 1 for the ending. Bioware managed to destroy 100+ hours of great gameplay across all 3 parts of the trilogy with last 10 minutes of the game. Impressive achievement, but I don't like it.

    The game is awesome in every aspect up until the very end. Don't know why Bioware did this but they did.

    They killed DA franchise with DA2 and now this. Not pre-ordering any Bioware game. Will wait until reviews come in    … Expand
  28. Maragdus
    Mar 7, 2017
    0
    Extremely disappointing ending to an otherwise great game series in which the developers spend more time and effort in shoving marxist propaganda in their game then staying true to the lore and the universe.
  29. munkybushwa
    Nov 17, 2016
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game spat in the face of all true Mass Effect fans. My carefully chosen choices from the previous ME games didn't matter in the end. I refuse to play a Mass Effect game without Shepard. Shepard IS Mass Effect.… Expand
  30. AlexsanderL
    Sep 11, 2016
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is the most stupid story and bad graphics (technically).In the story there are inconsistencies:What boy?What kind of catalyst,like a boy?Why did you decide to kill Shepard?Why at the end of destruction,when Shepard survived the destruction of the reapers in the video Shepard (Fe)Male alive,the ending was not added in the Extended Cut DLC?As one of the passions I realized that he(She) still alive?Why are the eyes of Shepard in the Control ending and Synthesis lit?And why they made a new ending Failure?After all, they said they don't want to create a new ending?These questions are not answered.That strange in-game Shepard's dream of those who were lost, and even in the final at the shepherd appeared hallucinations,even the Extended Cut DLC,the developers have added that was justified by the "Theory of Indoctrination" from the fans.I don't understand the game made a profit of 1.85 million copies,but for some reason they decided to do the alternate ending,or they are too lazy to do that or they decided to do it to spite fans of the series.I don't care what Casey Hudson decided to kill the main character,in a few years ago,a person should be their choice and I'm glad that a fan of Mr.Fob to do the alternate ending MEHEM.Mass Effect 3 is one of the worst games of 2012.… Expand
  31. SVS
    Jul 15, 2016
    0
    Когда я думаю о "МЕ3", у меня в воображении непременно возникает такая примерно сцена:

    Центральный офис "Биовар". На стене - огромное табло с надписью: "До релиза - N дней". Все суетятся, носятся, сталкиваются друг с другом. В собственном кабинете сидит Начальник - глаз дергается, руки дрожат, всюду бумажки и прочий хлам. Появляется такой же взмыленный Помощник. П.: Босс, у нас    Когда я думаю о "МЕ3", у меня в воображении непременно возникает такая примерно сцена:

    Центральный офис "Биовар". На стене - огромное табло с надписью: "До релиза - N дней". Все суетятся, носятся, сталкиваются друг с другом. В собственном кабинете сидит Начальник - глаз дергается, руки дрожат, всюду бумажки и прочий хлам. Появляется такой же взмыленный Помощник.
    П.: Босс, у нас проблемы!
    Н.(ядовито): Да неужели?
    П. (протягивает Боссу очередные бумаги): Вот! Никак не успеваем закончить в срок эту линию.
    Н. (нервно): Ну так постарайтесь!
    П.: Уже сделали все возможное.
    Н.: Так сделайте невозможное!
    П.: А на невозможное ни людей нет, ни денег.
    Н. (Хватаясь за голову): Ох ты, Господи! Ну, ладно, что ж делать. Вырезаем линию.
    П.: Так ведь, босс... Без нее половина сюжета летит вверх тормашками.
    Н.: А то я сам не знаю! Ну, напряги сценаристов. Поставь им ведро кофе, пусть ночь не поспят и к завтра что-то придумают.
    П.: Да что они придумают за ночь-то, да на кофеине?
    Н.: Без разницы, лишь бы к утру готово было.
    П.: А тут еще проблемка, босс. Вот, здесь в миссии этот момент какой-то корявый получается...
    Н. (не дослушав): Да ты прикалываешься! Мы тут основной сюжет бензопилой кромсаем, а ты ко мне пристаешь с какой-то побочной миссией. Оставляй все как есть или убирай на фиг, как хочешь, но чтобы при мне о такой чепухе и не заикался!..
    Ну и т. д.

    Вот за такое отношение к делу - заслуженная оценка 0/10.    … Expand
  32. GAGMR
    May 20, 2016
    0
    An insult & slap in the face to anyone who played the first two games in the series. It takes everything that made the first two games great & throws it out the window for some stupid multiplayer cover shooter Gears of War clone. And the ending is the absolute most disgusting thing I've ever seen in any modern video game to date. Even with the so called "Remastered Ending" that stainAn insult & slap in the face to anyone who played the first two games in the series. It takes everything that made the first two games great & throws it out the window for some stupid multiplayer cover shooter Gears of War clone. And the ending is the absolute most disgusting thing I've ever seen in any modern video game to date. Even with the so called "Remastered Ending" that stain will never be wiped from anyone's mind who experienced it. Every time I think "Mass Effect" now, all I can see is that Go Buy DLC message. Never buying another Bioware or EA game again.… Expand
  33. Sirik_Matak
    Jan 22, 2016
    4
    Mass Effect 3 is a schizohprenic conclusion of the serie's contradiction. The Mass Effect, seeing it in its full spectrum, seems to go in two separate ways - backwards and forward at the same time. While the gameplay part of the series was progressing into more and more competent pop-a-mole TPS, reaching a strong mediocrity with moderate speed of the fights and a better encounters' design;Mass Effect 3 is a schizohprenic conclusion of the serie's contradiction. The Mass Effect, seeing it in its full spectrum, seems to go in two separate ways - backwards and forward at the same time. While the gameplay part of the series was progressing into more and more competent pop-a-mole TPS, reaching a strong mediocrity with moderate speed of the fights and a better encounters' design; the storytelling and writing departments were slipping into the pit of awfulness of tumblr level of quality. No, really. I hope you didn't cringe too much at the "persuasion" of Saren in the first game, because Mass Effect 3 is really thousand times worse. It's so bad, that they even copy-pasted the said scene with the Illusive Man. There are still some average bits that can be counted in favor, like solving the Genophage and uniting the Geth with their old folks - in fact they feel like they were written by absolutely different people that wrote the major parts of the main quest - like the wunderwaffe, a living Protean or the Reapers invasion itself, not to mention the ending. I think it's enough to said that they efficiently turned the Reapers from vague masterminds of unknown, through the "I will get you next time Gadget!" cartoony villains, into space dragons with their own zombie hordes. What I'm saying is that the premise that was present in the first game, a premise for fantasy space-opera with s-f paint all over it was lost in favor of generic high-fantasy shlock where tumblrian fan-service was more important than its integrity itself. Enough said that the first two games are absolutely irrelevant after the first minute of the third game, since apparently all the Reapers needed were 5 years to reach the galaxy and take it in a matter of weeks. Sovereign and Harbringer are pretty dumb, if they tried to pull some more elaborate schemes (it's a fan-fic level of quality I've mentioned earlier) that were equally pointless and stupid. Why to activate the Citadel and uncover yourself in trying to do so, if in other case you need and extra 5 years to reach all of the Galaxy? Why to collect people to "build" a Reaper (there's some cartoon science right there) and then when you finally have material, time and safety to do so (after the invasion) to abandon the idea all together and just sit there doing nothing?
    Do you know what's the biggest irony here? That despite the absolutely garbage writing with some cherries among it, I enjoyed the third game the most of the three, The pop-a-mole part keeps you involved enough to finish the game, assuming you start on the Insane difficulty (anything less is pointless). It's the worst game overall, because the ratio of good vs bad is off the chart, unlikely to the first Mass Effect, that is sitting in one circle of mediocrity altogether.
    You can see that there was little thought and work put into the technical side of the game. The texture quality was really sub-par, voice acting is just terrible (accompanied by awfully written lines it gives a really bad outcime) and don't even let me start to talk about animations.    … Expand
  34. Vinayaiyappa
    Dec 31, 2015
    0
    This game is a massive shift towards the worse, after the great first two games. The RPG element is completely gone, exploring is gone, character development is gone, all your decisions in the first two games are for squat as you get the same, **** rage-inducing ending. All those great choices you had to make, the Rachni's survival, Wrex, Samara/Morinth, Mordin's data, they are allThis game is a massive shift towards the worse, after the great first two games. The RPG element is completely gone, exploring is gone, character development is gone, all your decisions in the first two games are for squat as you get the same, **** rage-inducing ending. All those great choices you had to make, the Rachni's survival, Wrex, Samara/Morinth, Mordin's data, they are all inconsequential as you get the same **** ending anyway. Don't get me started about the ending, it's got to be the worst ending to one of the most anticipated games ever. I was worried about ME3 after the horrible experience of Dragon Age 2, and all my fears have come true. This is a rushed, terribly dumbed down game which feels like an insult to the dedicated fan base that Mass Effect had built in the past. All in all, the worst possible experience possible if you were a fan of the first two games. Please stay away.… Expand
  35. tonycmac
    Oct 16, 2015
    0
    I rate this game at a zero out of ten. I loved ME 1 and 2. I loved the character interactions, the choices, the worlds they made. ME1 had amazing words and vistas to see, and lots of them. ME2 had better game-play and amazing voice acting. Both games filled me with suspense and trepidation concerning the Reapers and the all out battle to come. ME3 did not deliver for this all out, beI rate this game at a zero out of ten. I loved ME 1 and 2. I loved the character interactions, the choices, the worlds they made. ME1 had amazing words and vistas to see, and lots of them. ME2 had better game-play and amazing voice acting. Both games filled me with suspense and trepidation concerning the Reapers and the all out battle to come. ME3 did not deliver for this all out, be all- end all battle with the Sentient machines. The ending(s) were the biggest letdown I have ever experienced. My recommendation: Do not get this game.

    For all of the hype, the writing was appalling, thanks to the lead writer Mac Walters. The entire mood of the game, the characters and interactions, even the ending was nothing but pathetic doom and gloom. There is no "win", merely completion of the game (which has absolutely zero replay value). What could have been the best game in history turned out to be a massive let down that leaves you wondering if you messed something up to get such a disgraceful ending.

    BioWare has lost the spark. Sadly, the talent that made wonderful and fun games have all left. While the visual artists did a good job (with the exception of 8-bit running models and worse graphics than ME2) the stories that brought us joy and fun and the feeling of fresh and new worlds are simply not there in ME3. The overall arc/plot of this game is horrendous - clearly indicating a lack of skill and / or talent from the writing leads.    … Expand
  36. Thylbanus
    Sep 23, 2015
    4
    Now that I have been able to actually play it, I thought I'd post about the actual game. I'm not going to go into any spoilers, but I will address some of the furor about the game in the end.

    First off, the gameplay is probably the worst in the series. Control is a mess. A single control is used for running, ducking into cover, mantling, and using. Nothing is worse than running    Now that I have been able to actually play it, I thought I'd post about the actual game. I'm not going to go into any spoilers, but I will address some of the furor about the game in the end.

    First off, the gameplay is probably the worst in the series.

    Control is a mess. A single control is used for running, ducking into cover, mantling, and using. Nothing is worse than running down a hallway to put some distance between you and an opponent and get caught near a wall or ledge and duck into cover, or having to stop to use an interactable object. Simply stupid. There still is no jump option, but a double click of the said "universal" button will cause you to make a dive roll. While melee attacks make an appearance, it's totally useless with the "universal" button, except in surprise.

    Missions finally received a notification on the map, but only the important ones. Hell, you have to actually keep track of side quests on your own. You woun't know if you completed a sidequest until you try to go back and do it again. There is no notification that you have what you need and are allowed to turn it in. Some of these are actually worth turning in for the assets they provide.

    Inventory is even more opaque than ME2. While they did have a comparison guide that showed the difference between your equipped item and an observed item, it's done in bars and not numbers. Call me simple, but I prefer numbers to bar graphs. This is where ease of information ends. Once you have a certain brand of weapon, you can then purchase the next in the series (I, II, III, IV, V), but all it says is that it improves the item. Doesn't give any specifics on what is improved, or give comparisons to justify the cost. WHEN you find the weapon makes no difference in it's ability. The crappiest shotgun in the game isn't found until late the second act and it costs more than the better selections to upgrade. So price does not equal benefit.

    Level design is questionable, at best. Some is just downright mindboggling. It's like the level designers had no idea how the mechanics of the game would function. Few are designed reasonably well, good flow and logical objectives with just enough variety to allow for varied gameplay. Most of the time, run and gun is simply the best option. After a while, you get locked into the mindset of run and gun when they try to force you into a different mindset and you have to die before realising that you needed to go easy this time. There was simply more bad than good here.

    Saying that the difficulty was cranked up is a like saying 1.01 is technically greater than 1.

    For all the complaints about the ending, it's not really a surprise that it ends the way it does. This game promised unprecedented agency, but realistically speaking couldn't deliver within the formats it was targeting. The ending, viewed through a lense of time and complaints past, really highlights that it was a big furor for all the wrong reasons. The ending was completely viable as an ending. An anticlimactic ending. The omissions in narrative aside, the whole story was well done. This is about the only thing that was.

    The rest of the game is what was messed up. This whole climactic build up that was pretty much spent in a cutscene. A cutscene that is the same in every way, no matter what the play though. No, I'm not talking about the red/green/blue ending, but the assault on Earth. All the running around you did meant nothing to the game other that what color ending you got. There is no pitched battle for Earth. I honestly expected some movement around the globe to take back strongholds and then finally attack the the main objective.

    Nope, just a final board upon landing. The moments of fighting among the your various rallied troops is but a passing nod to what you did. The real loss of the illusion of agency wasn't the ending, it's everything that built up to it. None of it mattered. If you rallied factions A, B, C, E, and G and lost D and F. No biggie. Didn't cost you anything, but MAYBE a missing person to talk to. Hell, one faction is pretty much completely missing even if you had not done any of the others.

    Maybe if each faction was tasked with taking back a part of Earth and was as long as the final objective and the final objective was twice as long, it might have felt like an accomplishment. As it is, the final level is noticeably short and plainly evident that what you did meant nothing. I never once thought to myself, "I'm sure glad I have faction X at my side in this fight!" Doesn't matter. That is the real problem.

    TL:DR - Story good. Gameplay bad. EA failed to deliver in gameplay what the excellent narrative provided.

    Shame.    … Expand
  37. KaienShiba
    Sep 15, 2015
    0
    The storyline was epic, well until you had to make the choice, then it became an dramatically epic failure unless you had HEMEM dlc, no it wasn't that they made it an epic failure it was your team mates being utter morons like those who wrote the so called AI for them, good thing the experts aren't leading our soldiers in real life, bileware you might want to hire real experts in modernThe storyline was epic, well until you had to make the choice, then it became an dramatically epic failure unless you had HEMEM dlc, no it wasn't that they made it an epic failure it was your team mates being utter morons like those who wrote the so called AI for them, good thing the experts aren't leading our soldiers in real life, bileware you might want to hire real experts in modern combat techniques to write the programming or send the one's they have now to train ISIS fighters then at least they would be useful, since that way ISIS wouldn't be able to hit the broadside of the planet… Expand
  38. Redwarrior1up
    Sep 11, 2015
    3
    I really REALLY wanted to love this game, I've been a long time fan of the series.

    I will say this game expanded upon the high points of the series like combat, the great lore and story behind the universe. However after almost $200 dollars into the series and a number of playthroughs I find the 3rd installment to be a mockery of the actual idea behind the game itself. I also hate to    I really REALLY wanted to love this game, I've been a long time fan of the series.

    I will say this game expanded upon the high points of the series like combat, the great lore and story behind the universe.

    However after almost $200 dollars into the series and a number of playthroughs I find the 3rd installment to be a mockery of the actual idea behind the game itself. I also hate to rehash the same things everyone else says but the ending was terrible, I would've liked more after all the time invested in the story, my choices to mean more than a choice between three colors of fireworks.

    I would also point out before the first game came out a much more compelling story was planned but somehow leaked onto the internet and was exchanged for the story we have now.    … Expand
  39. Ume
    Sep 10, 2015
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The worst game in the series by a wide margin. Every place you visit is just corridors with cover all over the place. Mars? Palaven? Rannoch? Once you get to the locations, it could be anywhere. Nothing about them stands out. The dialogue is painfully bad, the story and pacing are terrible, even previously beloved squad members are just disappointing this time. None of previous choices matter at all, and the ending to the trilogy? Well, it's just...dumb. Do yourself a favor and don't waste money on this piece of corporate shill.… Expand
  40. Ziviz
    Jun 6, 2015
    0
    After 2 or 3 years and 2 computers, I still cannot even truly start this game. Near the beginning, during the tutorial there is a door. It refuses to open. I can't fairly rate the rest of the game, but so far what I have personally experienced is:
    Un-skippable cutscenes
    Poor Controls A game breaking bug at the beginning of the game Weird physics and general glitchyness (Sheppard    After 2 or 3 years and 2 computers, I still cannot even truly start this game. Near the beginning, during the tutorial there is a door. It refuses to open. I can't fairly rate the rest of the game, but so far what I have personally experienced is:
    Un-skippable cutscenes
    Poor Controls
    A game breaking bug at the beginning of the game
    Weird physics and general glitchyness (Sheppard noticeably sunk into the floor for example)
    Poor graphics control (Got motion sickness? Good luck.)    … Expand
  41. Sonus
    Jun 1, 2015
    3
    wtf was that ending??? The game is very fun... unite the galaxy to fight the reapers. But that end?? **** it. don't have words to describe how **** this end was.
  42. Stormcloud72
    May 15, 2015
    0
    The game play felt more like a action game than a Epic Space Role Playing Game this time around. They dumbed everything down massively, why I have no ideal. I kept playing and playing, to get to the end which, you simply should not even do. Once I did get to the end, even with the extended ending, it makes you feel as though all the hundreds of hours you spent with Mass Effect 1 and 2 wereThe game play felt more like a action game than a Epic Space Role Playing Game this time around. They dumbed everything down massively, why I have no ideal. I kept playing and playing, to get to the end which, you simply should not even do. Once I did get to the end, even with the extended ending, it makes you feel as though all the hundreds of hours you spent with Mass Effect 1 and 2 were a complete waste of time. The ending of the game destroys the entire series, and makes you feel as though the entire series was a waste of time. For some bizarre reason, the makers of the game defend this ending, even though it ruins the entire franchise.… Expand
  43. Danman
    Apr 20, 2015
    0
    Less choice. Less rpg elements. Bad story. Loved Bioware. can't believe this is the same company that made jade empire and kotor. i guess all good things come to an end.
  44. BiribiriUC
    Mar 25, 2015
    4
    I loved this franchise, but they really crashed and burned this game, no longer do you feel like you're going on an adventure exploring a galaxy, no longer you get the feeling of your choices making an impact in your game
    Most redeeming feature is the Multiplayer, that's still pretty fun
  45. sisco900
    Jan 17, 2015
    0
    A huge disappointment compared to Mass Effect 1. Just as bad as Mass Effect 2. No RPG elements, **** upgrading, awful main story, **** dialogue and characters...
  46. marc5477
    Jan 15, 2015
    4
    Preface: I played the original game without any DLC. For the most part, the game feels like Mass Effect 2. Combat is basically the same and RPG elements are still reduced to minimal. It really does play more like a shooter or adventure game than an RPG. Loot is still minimal and customization is basically non-existent aside from choosing from a very limited number of weapons and armor,Preface: I played the original game without any DLC. For the most part, the game feels like Mass Effect 2. Combat is basically the same and RPG elements are still reduced to minimal. It really does play more like a shooter or adventure game than an RPG. Loot is still minimal and customization is basically non-existent aside from choosing from a very limited number of weapons and armor, many of which were very similar to each other. There is never a feeling of progression that is associated with RPG's but for what its worth, combat was actually fun in the same way that shooters are fun.

    Many things annoyed me in this game aside from not going back to its ME1 RPG roots. The biggest is the planet exploration... if we can even call it that. Orbit a planet, click a button and thats is all there is to it. Very silly and reminded me of playing ET on the Atari. The only challenge to it is to escape from the flying Reapers which was entirely trivial and mind numbingly boring.

    I liked how they tried to make every mission have an impact on the ending of the game. The more you complete the better your odds of getting a better ending. Unfortunately they completely dropped the ball on the impact of the score on the story as all the endings were pretty much the same regardless of score. I also hated the fact that you cannot get the best ending without playing multiplayer. I do not want to play with others in a 1 player game. Yet I could not get my readiness high enough to get the best ending. Besides, by the time I reached the end, I was so bored of the game I just wanted to end it not play more with people I never met.

    Next, I thought the ending was rushed. As it turns out, much of what you do in the game was not necessary because the endings would be about the same if you rushed through the game anyway. You are always presented with the same options and there is very little difference between the high readiness endings and the minimal endings. It felt like I wasted my time running around finishing missions especially since there was minimal RPG progression. I dont think the endings are terrible, but they were definitely not as exciting as I would have expected them to be given it was a trilogy.

    Last, there is only 1 real boss battle in the entire game and it was too easy. Most of the other battle finales were not really bosses but rather assignments like painting a target or surviving a few minutes. There were no imposing battles at any point in the game and I never felt like I was in danger. There were a few battles that were cheap since you did not know where the enemies were coming from but after you saw it once it became trivial. Which brings me to annoyance, there is no mini map. If you want to see the map you have to bring it up manually and it still did not show enemy position thus taking away any form of strategy you might want to employ. its kind of ironic that there was no mini map but you could always see your mission objective target painted clearly without the map.

    I ran into two game breaking bugs that could have ended my games early (and neither were ever fixed). One was on the deck of the ship. Shepard simply gets stuck near Joker and cannot move no matter what you do. This bug can happen any time in the game. It is a well known bug and has not been fixed. The only way to work around it is through loading a previous save and making sure to save before entering the area. If you quick-saved while stuck hoping a reload would fix the issue, then you can really mess up your game because you will load into the game stuck. The only other solution is to get a 3rd party save game editor where you have to manually edit your save and change your save position.

    The other game breaking crash happened while on a mission. At some point, as you progressed, you walk through a door and the game simply crashes every time. This is also a common bug and has not been fixed. Luckily there was a work around. You have to inch through the door and continuously quick save until the game crashes. If you quick saved inside the room, you will be able to load the new save inside the room and the crash will stop. Still, its unbelievable that this has not been fixed.

    Overall, the game was not great. It lacked any innovation compared to parts 1 and 2 and felt rushed when you account for the game breaking bugs, lazy endings, lack of exciting fights/bosses, and weak story tie ins. Essentially, all your decisions ultimately did not matter very much from previous games, and much of what you do in ME3 is pointless since the ending are all very similar. Its not a horrible game but it was definitely boring after the 1st hour due to lack of RPG progression and lack of gameplay-story impact. I do not recommend this game if you are looking for an RPG. If you are a heavy FPS fan I would give this a 6/10 instead of a 4/10.    … Expand
  47. art4321
    Nov 12, 2014
    0
    Best Ending ever!!!!! .
  48. Pallowin
    Oct 16, 2014
    4
    This used to be my favorite franchise. I have put at least 500 hours into ME1 and ME2, all in preparation for ME3. I wanted to have the perfect save file ready, so I could see how my choices would add up in ME3.

    What I got, however, was a rushed mess, that didn't even deliver on half of the promises made. The game knew that it had a lot of knots to tie, relating to the different side    This used to be my favorite franchise. I have put at least 500 hours into ME1 and ME2, all in preparation for ME3. I wanted to have the perfect save file ready, so I could see how my choices would add up in ME3.

    What I got, however, was a rushed mess, that didn't even deliver on half of the promises made.

    The game knew that it had a lot of knots to tie, relating to the different side missions and characters I had interacted with in my many playthroughs of ME1+2. This was solved mostly by lazily sending an email to you ingame, telling you that "This char did this, and now he/she is dead" or "Hello, I am xxx you helped my with yyy a while back, thanks"

    The characters didn't feel like the characters from the first two games, they felt a little "off". Like they were written by a different person (which turned out to be correct). This became blatantly obvious the farther I got. I often had the feeling that "this person would not say this" or "this person would not do this"

    The zones/planets/places you visited felt small and confined, I felt like I traversed one long corridor with no option to explore or branch off the given path.

    Decisions you made felt superficial, and I didn't feel like I had an impact on the world, contrary to the two previous games, This was mostly because the game focused on completing old storylines, poorly, instead of creating some new ones as well.

    The whole game I had a bad feeling about these occurrences, and when I reached the end, the game simply caved in on itself. I could only sit there and stare at the screen completely silent. Then, as something I can only assume was a joke, the DLC message popped up: "Commander Shepard has become a legend by ending the Reaper threat. Now you can continue to build that legend through further gameplay and downloadable content"

    I simply shut the game off, uninstalled Origin, and I haven't touched an EA game since. The fact that I stumbled over this in late 2014 and still feel angry, is a testament to how much this game disappointed me.

    This game has ruined my love for the two previous ones as well, as I sit back with a "what's to point" feeling whenever I feel like playing ME1 or ME2.

    If you haven't played the Mass Effect series, I would recommend you to only play the first two games, and forget that this stinker exists.

    ...And lastly, looking at the professional critic score, is a perfect indicator of what is wrong with game journalism today.    … Expand
  49. aciphex
    Oct 14, 2014
    2
    Mass effect one and two were among the best story driven experiences available across any medium...which evokes the rage of the real mass effect fan base...the ones who played over and over again, the ones who feel in love with this galaxy and all its occupants...the ending is worse than "he woke up it was all a dream"..the developers gave a big **** you to the fan base which they laterMass effect one and two were among the best story driven experiences available across any medium...which evokes the rage of the real mass effect fan base...the ones who played over and over again, the ones who feel in love with this galaxy and all its occupants...the ending is worse than "he woke up it was all a dream"..the developers gave a big **** you to the fan base which they later regretted by giving us dlc they intended to charge us for to shut us up...yes the ending is bad enough to be considered worst ever across any medium… Expand
  50. Harbyinger
    Oct 2, 2014
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. this game is one of the worst games i've ever played
    it completely destroyed what ME stood for

    Gameplay
    The gameplay is a TPS Gears of war clone,forcing you on action sequenceshorde mode to finish the levels
    all you have to do is point and shoot,point and shoot
    ME2 removed many RPG elements from the original ME1,but this game,this abomination,it destroyed it completely
    for example,in ME2 you could chat with squadmates and they could tell you random things that would get you in a long and interesting conversation with various investigate options,here is different,you get a 1 minute long conversation at best,and the autodialogue takes 90% of your conversation away,and after that said conversation after 1 main mission,you think you can talk with them some more?
    NO,they greet you randomly with 'hey' 'hi' 'hi shepard' like Zaeed in ME2 did..that pissed me off so badly
    i hated the Zaeed system in ME2,that's why i never spoke with him at all in ME2
    The interactivity is reduced to none on the ship,you don't have a reason to check out the other parts of the ship
    The dialogue wheel is reduced to 2 options,and doesn't appear so often,since Shepard talks on his own for 30 minutes before you can do something,and that something is another shooter section
    they force you to do shooting sections over and over,long shooting galleries
    i remember in ME1-2 there were missions where you didn't even have to use weapons
    exploration has been dumbed down to a pacman like game
    you scan the solar systems with a circle like transmission that detects items on nearby planets and attracks the reapers,if they reach you there's no space battle or something cool,it's game over
    so retarded
    side quests are ridicolous,you overhear people talking about a random object lost in the reaper conquered space and you automatically have the quest,you have to do the annoying search minigame with 3 loading screens and then give it to them for 10.000 credits and sometimes a war asset
    N7 missions are like 5-6 of them,and are ripped straight from the multiplayer
    The Story

    the story is bad,but the kind of bad that would make you facepalm for the entire game
    Shepard is warped from the Normandy (ME2 ending) to Earth,and 6 months have passed.
    WTF? what shepard said to the illusive man in the ME2 ending?
    'the reapers are still out there,and i'm gonna stop them without sacrificing our species' soul'
    yeah,one that does want to stop the reapers goes to Earth to be jailed.
    spectre authority?Doesn't matter
    all you did before doesn't matter,at all:
    you could do whatever you want and all you get is a slightly different line of dialogue instead of another
    the rachni for example,a critical choice in ME1
    is completely invalidated,the rachni are there,regardless of what you have chosen
    WHY GIVE US THE CHOICE AT ALL?
    all it changes it's a number
    that's all it changes in ME3
    EMS,when in ME2 we had flags that determinated who died or who survived here is a number that,you've guessed it,doesn't matter,it just determinates if the space magic device is intact or not
    each story arch is forced and boring
    screwing over lore whatever they could
    like the Geth and the Quarians
    there are many other story **** that you can imagine

    Action or RPG 'mode'
    What the hell is this?
    is some kind of pandering to COD?
    stop this **** so tired of it
    from the description
    RPG mode would give you total control over what your character says
    Action mode all dialogue becomes autodialogue,renegade options
    but it's not like this,at least not in the 'RPG' mode
    Autodialogue sucks out 90% of what you say and what you do
    Shepard becomes a retard approving all they say to him without being able to ask questions
    Tali's Face ....,bioware,why did you **** it up? why do a Photoshopped image,A BAD PHOTOSHOPPED image FOR A CHARACTER THAT WE WERE WAITING 5 YEARS TO SEE? you heard right,they didn't even bother to give her a 3d model,it's all hidden like in ME2,only that photoshopped image pisses me off. especially when i know that a certain Mary Sue (Liara)is given a lot more focus this game has made me hate her I hate Mac Walters and Casey Hudson too. Including the multiplayer Why the hell did you include multiplayer? it's stupid,cheap and idiotic it's just a overglorified Horde mode from GOW with different playable characters of course,then there's the infamous ending it's the worst ending of all time,i cannot express how much hatred i've got for it,and how much i've got it for the game now so much potential,wasted Advice Stay the hell away from this piece of crap    … Expand
  51. kristoak
    Aug 28, 2014
    0
    Bad game. Tries to hard to be cool. Badly written, a ruined story. Over simplified aimed at those that don't like to think or use their brains to delve into imagination, just like that character in the game says "Aim for the head, because she has no heart" just like mass effect 2, this game is simple and is a try hard. It's lost. Spend the money elsewhere.
  52. Buu
    Jun 17, 2014
    0
    Mass Effect 3 seems like a experiment to get everything present at Video-Games 101 and throw it out of the window. Even the usual "Boss Fight" was sold as "too videogamey" idea and cut from it. Things that don't work include poorly designed introduction, quests that are gotten without indication or interaction with NPCs, and always end in a mini-game of scan-and-run fetch. Inventory stillMass Effect 3 seems like a experiment to get everything present at Video-Games 101 and throw it out of the window. Even the usual "Boss Fight" was sold as "too videogamey" idea and cut from it. Things that don't work include poorly designed introduction, quests that are gotten without indication or interaction with NPCs, and always end in a mini-game of scan-and-run fetch. Inventory still horrible to manage, and quest details and progress are inexistent.
    The great voice actors from the previous games are faded by the bad story and cheesy lines. In fact most of the older characters return completely "out-of-character", to progress a story with lots of violence and deaths.
    Even classic features from the series are defaced. The dialog wheel doesn't follow the classic options of decisions, investigation and actions anymore, and the amount of auto-dialog is significant.
    Besides that, most of the history is preset and don't change based on your decisions and what changes are only showed as scores, changing nothing in the actual game, until the very end, when you're just told that had a consequence. Not showed, just TOLD.
    DLCs still being sold only by Bioware points, which never change price. Thing that cause the each of larger DLCs, which are just a fraction of the game, to cost even MORE than the base game.
    And the worst feature of the game was the ending. One ending that retroactively ruined the 2 great game that precede it. An ending that was included in literature college courses as subject of how to not deliver a narrative. Mass Effect was once called the Star Trek of this generation, but this third game was so revolting that made writers from "the Next Generation" to rise their voices and protest to what was made with the story. It's an ending that will live forever in infamy and is revolting in many levels.
    If you're a fan of the franchise and loved the first two games, but never touched this third instance, refrain yourself, and consider the second game the end of Shepard's tale.
    There is always hope that in the future the IP will fall in more competent hands, and they will consider ME3 never happened, and write a proper end for this Epic.    … Expand
  53. Paulystan
    Jun 4, 2014
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. How come this game scored so highly from the critics? It's like DA2. Are the critics actually real people or are the just programs that a large developer can hack into and create their own review? Maybe they were bought off, maybe they didn't even play the game and stayed at home that day.

    I enjoyed the game play and the flash look but it is a game limited by a LOT of stuff. Firstly the epic story that had been developed in ME and ME2 took a nose dive... New writer? My first confusion and concern was the real opening mission... So Earth has finally been invaded by the Reapers and the first stop on the galactic getaway plan is... Mars (I think it's Mars), where you have to fight the reapers who have naturally attacked there too seeing as the Solar System is so small and they need to wipe out all humans... No wait, that's not it... Where you fight Cerberus Who in their attempt to save humanity are ignoring (for most of the game) the upcoming human extinction. So... Put another way, humans are being wiped out in their millions and what do the most powerful humans do in response, that's right, fight each other. Good plan man. There's nothing like the threat of galactic extinction to bring a race together, it's so touching. The interaction with the NPCs seems quite limited to previous games. Every one seems much more 'teenage angst' too which is a bit annoying if you're not 15. It's like everybody suddenly turned emo. Of course the biggest example of the games poor writing and failure to follow the previous games is the fragile time frame and odd 'MUST SAVE THE HUMANS' thing going on... Exactly how long can earth last anyway and why are all the other races planning to go there abandoning their own species and home worlds? Sorry but no matter what excuse you give that will NEVER make sense. Then... (after many more stupid ideas and plot 'twists') the ending/endings/ending (one, three... Who knows). Um... After seeing it once, I will never play the game again and will not engage with the ME universe again. I my opinion it is the worst possible conclusion. Not only do the game mechanics totally break i.e. your decisions change the fate of humanity etc comes down to 'how do you want to die? like this or this or this?' It also doesn't make sense. Are we supposed to all be on drugs or something and go like 'oh double rainbow... starting to look like a triple rainbow'? It doesn't make sense, is trippy and kind of heartbreaking. The time, engagement, people, conversations, romance (way overplayed romance by the way), heart that many players put into the game is crushed by the ending. The ending ruined the whole journey. It would be like Frodo, fighting tyranny and disaster all the way to Mount Doom only to pat his pockets and have forgotten the damn ring. All the choices made- pointless, all the conversations, pointless, all the hope, drive, passion desire... pointless. YOU LOSE is the feeling you're left with and that is just a plain daft decision. It may have tried to be clever but it is quite the opposite. We didn't need clever either, we needed conclusion satisfaction. What we have is a maybe... kind of conclusion and no satisfaction. Does EA have some sort of existential problem it is trying to resolve all of a sudden? Has money made this the case? Can I help by relieving some of the raked money weight?

    Then... The mixed game play. Some great stuff, some linear stuff and some frustrating stuff. Enough from me, if you enjoyed it, good on you. All in all, I found it to be as tangled and frustrating as a ball of wool rolled into a room full of kittens.    … Expand
  54. Charlemagne
    Jun 2, 2014
    0
    It's mediocre as a movie but complete fails as a game. It's the kind of game where I would rather the game just play itself and I watch (twice - once good guy, once bad guy). There is no real freedom, you are on a railroad, and now and then there is a fork (a choice)... but usually the game designer has decided that some choices are less valid than others and will punish you for makingIt's mediocre as a movie but complete fails as a game. It's the kind of game where I would rather the game just play itself and I watch (twice - once good guy, once bad guy). There is no real freedom, you are on a railroad, and now and then there is a fork (a choice)... but usually the game designer has decided that some choices are less valid than others and will punish you for making them, basically forcing their moral world view on you. And the rhyme and reason of it is quite irrational - the game rewards you for picking fights with strangers doing things the designers expect you to disapprove of, but punishes you for not committing genocide of the last of some ant creature. It's fitting that it has such a bad ending, because the entire thing was bad. Most levels offer no freedom of movement, you are funneled by invisible walls, and have fixed objections that you must complete. Which might be right for a racing car game, but not in what is suppose to be an 'adventure' game... an 'adventure' game where you are not free to actually adventure. It fails as an adventure game because of the lack of freedom, and it fails as an action game because of the lack of depth to the combat... leaving the player with nothing rewarding except a mediocre story that the game demands you jump through hoops to see. I didn't play it through, I watched what I missed on YouTube.… Expand
  55. Jago1877
    May 10, 2014
    1
    Such a massive disappointment on so many levels, I the game play is still fairly solid which is why i gave it a 3 instead of a zero. However the script writing I have no idea what happened with.... In the original mass effect we had these deep different characters with altering personalities that you could converse with, now all we have is broadly drawn characters like every alien in theSuch a massive disappointment on so many levels, I the game play is still fairly solid which is why i gave it a 3 instead of a zero. However the script writing I have no idea what happened with.... In the original mass effect we had these deep different characters with altering personalities that you could converse with, now all we have is broadly drawn characters like every alien in the galaxy wants to be like the rock or vin diesel or meghan fox..... The ending made me want to light the games studio on fire.

    I see bioware to the likes of baldurs gate 1 tales of the sword coast and baldurs gate 2 shadows of amn and unfortunately there i believe is now external influences "cough EA" "EA cough" ruining what used to be a fantastic games development company.    … Expand
  56. AndrewLB
    Apr 21, 2014
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Mass Effect 3 had some absolutely wonderful high points, but the lows completely ruined the series I had come to love over the years. Lets get the high points out of the way first since they are few and while great, are completely overshadowed by what's wrong with the game.
    First off, the graphics were outstanding even though the game was a console port, as was the music. The genophage cure series of events were absolutely incredible as long as Rex was not killed off in ME1. The paragon resolution to the genophage was heartwarming and the renegade resolution (if Mordin didn't die in ME2) was one of the most painful things I've ever done in a video game. Shooting the guy in the back was soooo wrong.
    I also enjoyed many of the aspects with previous squad members and friends from both ME1 and ME2. Running into Major Kirrahe from ME1 was a real treat and the deathbed prayer was so unexpected and moving that I actually got all teary eyed... a feat no video game had achieved in almost 30 years of gaming.

    Now... onto the bad. The whole opening sequence was absolute garbage. You can't just throw a new player into a situation assuming they already know these key people from previous games... add in a brand new main character not even ME veterans know even though the game treats the player like they should (Meat-head Vega), and after no buildup have earth attacked where they slap a pistol in your hand and expect you to fight wave after wave of f*cking aliens. You want to see a great opening to a game? Just look at Mass Effect 2. That introduction was one of the most brilliant in video game history. The player gets a sense of how to control movement through the environment, allowing them to get a feel for things, and aren't pressed to instant combat with zero idea what they're doing.
    Second... whatever happened to the promise that all these decisions in ME1 and ME2 having clear and distinct effects on the end of the trilogy?? Where was the payoff for saving/killing the Rachni? Or saving/destroying the Geth deep-space station? or most importantly... saving/destroying the Collector station at the end of ME2? And WTF is up with Cerberus still having the human-reaper even though I nuked the station from orbit? Only my ship had the Reaper IFF to activate the Omega 4 relay and my ship was dropped into Alliance hands as soon as I returned from the galactic center.
    Those are just a few of my problems with the game, but the biggest issue started from when you set foot on the Illusive Man's space station and didn't end till the credits stopped rolling. The entire space-ninja thing with Kai was beyond retarded, and as I said earlier... the human-reaper being there was complete BS... but it really got bad when you return to Earth. The space battle started good, but with no clear payoff for gathering every race in the galaxy to help other than one heavily damaged reaper and no show of the massive firepower you've amassed for the Normandy herself was deplorable.
    The "say goodbye" sequence was hollow, unfeeling, and didn't contain anything that showed the player the deep emotional bonds you've developed with your friends and loved ones. The whole thing was pointless.

    Last and least is my problem with the run to the beam and the f*cking star-brat. Your whole squad gets vaporized, no fight with Harbinger, no dialogue with him. Nothing. He just fries Shepard and leaves the scene. Oh... I can't forget the final boss battle!!! Shepard VS Marauder Shields!!! Bioware were too stupid to come up with a proper end fight so instead they had Shepard face THE ONLY MARAUDER IN THE GAME WITH SHIELDS.... as the final battle. Pathetic.
    Then... after three games where Shepards life was completely dedicated to stopping the reapers, preventing human extinction.... the trilogies antagonist.... the reapers... are pi$$ed out the window for Martin Sheen and a light-up ghost of the brat you tried to help at the beginning of ME3. W....T....F....

    Casey Hudson said in an interview prior to ME3's release that all your decisions mattered and how you would NEVER see a cookie cutter ending where you choose A, B, or C. But that's exactly what they did. It's like the development team at Bioware all went on vacation just after finishing the Illusive Man's space station, handed the keys to the newest Intern who previously was fetching them coffee, and told him to finish the game himself even though he had never played ME1 or ME2 and only was allowed to see a few bits and pieces of ME3 while in development.

    I, along with millions of others absolutely loved the Mass Effect series. So much so that we actually had an emotional attachment to the characters. Other game studios would KILL to achieve such a thing. And the way that Bioware said "f*ck it" and rushed the game out the door to meet EA's deadline for release, which was just in time boost quarterly profits for EA has disgusted me to a level that i'll never pay money for another one of their games. Pi$$ off!    … Expand
  57. zweilinkehaende
    Apr 18, 2014
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I really liked Mass Effect 1 and especially 2, so i was really hyped to play Mass Effect 3. But after the first 5 minutes of the game i almost started crying about how the developers managed to ruin "my" Mass Effect. The story starts out with the earth being attacked. So far nothing really unexpected. Although the story-writers already managed to screw up this part. Firstly there is no explanation give on how the reapers managed to come to the milky way. Why the hassle with the sovereign if the reapers don't need the citadel anyway? Second: How can the scanners of the alliance detect the reapers before there at the earth? They are moving faster than the radiation the scanners can pick up. Third: Shepard was locked up for an extended period of time, because they don't trust them. This guy is a hero! He saved mankind (twice!) and is a specter (and therefore not to be punished by any other authority than the council) and probably one of the most influential individuals in the whole universe. These are just fluff-related problems, but the technical ones were soon to follow. The game starts as we follow admiral Anderson. Anderson looks like a puppet. While he is running his upper body isn't moving. When finding the emergency beacon, he repeats the same animation all the time. For the first 10 minutes of a game, these are already really big problems. Afterwards we are taken on a scripted journey to Mars and the citadel afterwards, that took me in total almost 2 hours. Now i can move freely on the ship for the first time and the tutorial still isn't over! I wanted to explore but NO! i have to watch a tutorial on the different parts of the ship. Add to that the terrible and unsatisfying ending and you can understand my disappointment.

    The Mass Effect-franchise doesn't deserve this. This might be acceptable for someone who started with mass effect 3, but everyone who is used to the glorious storytelling of mass effect 1 & 2 will end up in tears over the missed opportunity. It has been over a year since then, but i'm still not over it.    … Expand
  58. ujmawielka
    Apr 12, 2014
    3
    this pathetic excuse for an rpg game was designed with multi player in mind primarily. the single player experience is only an afterthought thrown into multi player maps. radical departure from the masterpiece of a single player game mass effect 2 was. if you played mass effect 2 and liked it do yourself a favor and give me3 a miss.
  59. pjmeyer22
    Mar 31, 2014
    2
    Let's call this game what it is, a POS game. From the the word go Shepard's fate is sealed. Bioware spit in my face and kicked me in the groin. All my choices were rendered meaningless. In ME 2 an Arsai told me the rachni " Would burn clean the sky." I thought this meant they would come save me when things seemed hopeless. In other words they were the key to defeating the Reapers. BiowareLet's call this game what it is, a POS game. From the the word go Shepard's fate is sealed. Bioware spit in my face and kicked me in the groin. All my choices were rendered meaningless. In ME 2 an Arsai told me the rachni " Would burn clean the sky." I thought this meant they would come save me when things seemed hopeless. In other words they were the key to defeating the Reapers. Bioware "fixed the problem" when they killed most of them off by the Reapers.

    When I first read about Mass Effect Bioware had just finished Knights of the Old Republic. They were making a trilogy where your actions in all three games would affect the ending in third one. Bioware lied to me to the tune of 160 bucks. They only gave one ending with four options. In order to have your actions truly affect the ending, a happy ending has to be possible. The extended cut DLC is nothing more then damage control and selling Mass Effect 4. For me though, Bioware has noway to correct the mess they made. I can only hope they pissed off enough people so there is no Mass Effect 5.    … Expand
  60. gamesgonewild
    Mar 22, 2014
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Anyone who gives this game a good review is being payed to do so.

    Mass effect 3 could not be a worse conclusion to the story if Bioware had tried.

    This game has really put me off buying from E.A ever again. E.A's new game titanfall, can sit on the shelf until a sale comes along because i now refuse to pay full price for games anymore. Now i wait until a steam sale.

    I genuinely believe that somebody in E.A decided that it would not be cost efficient to produce a decent game and instead convinced everyone to produce a game that was quick and poor quality because lets face it, the fans will buy the game regardless. Fans have already invested in the other two games so who cares about this one lets make the game as cheap as possible and maximize profits.

    I cant believe that in the second game you have an extremely advanced ship with A.I computers and for some reason, you don't have a camera installed so you can prove to the rest of the galaxy that the reapers are coming so get prepared for war. Nope..that would be too simple. Instead you (the player) has to (for the second time) act like a diplomat to get other races on your side. Then to add insult to injury your crew, for the most part is gone...why? you just spent a whole game recruiting them, why wouldn't you use them in the third game you stupid fools!!

    then there are the small things, like every time you go from one side of the ship to the other (the cic to the war room) you have to go past airport scanners....why????? your the captain for **** sake!!

    This games not worth your time, so invest whatever time you have left on this planet into something else.    … Expand
  61. rhymesmatter
    Mar 1, 2014
    0
    0...There is nothing else you can give this travesty and attempt from EA to leech money out of their fans not thinking about the consequences. BioWare did everything wrong here: from unimportant and speedy sidequests to a toilet flush ending where NONE of the choices you made mattered(Please don't give us the crap about The Director's Cut DLC...BARELY made an impact and a little to late)0...There is nothing else you can give this travesty and attempt from EA to leech money out of their fans not thinking about the consequences. BioWare did everything wrong here: from unimportant and speedy sidequests to a toilet flush ending where NONE of the choices you made mattered(Please don't give us the crap about The Director's Cut DLC...BARELY made an impact and a little to late) Everything good that ME and ME2 managed to do with our Shepared experience was beaten to pulp and into submission by this horrendous closing to the Trilogy leaving me (and apparently half of the ppl that played it) a bitter aftertaste that's impossible to wash off.Well Done BioWare! Well Done EA! you can have your ME . That was not the game we came to love and enjoy. ME 4 is DEFINITELY going to be CoD clone! i am counting on that… Expand
  62. strogg
    Feb 25, 2014
    0
    Game is way over-hyped. Gameplay has been nerfed and the locations are not as exciting as Mass Effect 2. top it all off, the male-on-male love scenes are disgustingly inappropriate in my opinion. Dead Space is a better trilogy. Gamer beware.
  63. marelus
    Feb 24, 2014
    2
    This game is only for the series fans I guess.

    I felt like it had unbearably long, and boring cutscenes every 5 minutes, and horribly linear gameplay with an illusion of a choice. Annoyingly consolish controls for not demanding players, operated basically by one button to cover/use did not help either. Graphics were pretty good so not a complete zero. But this game was so seriously    This game is only for the series fans I guess.

    I felt like it had unbearably long, and boring cutscenes every 5 minutes, and horribly linear gameplay with an illusion of a choice. Annoyingly consolish controls for not demanding players, operated basically by one button to cover/use did not help either.

    Graphics were pretty good so not a complete zero. But this game was so seriously story oriented that in my case was just unplayable. I would rather spend that time watching good movie, than playing it as a video game.    … Expand
  64. amorphousblob
    Jan 25, 2014
    3
    The good and bad of Mass Effect 3:

    Good: 1. Vastly improved levelling system that gives a noticeable upgrade with every skill point added. 2. Much more weapon variety. 3. Good weapon modding. Bad: 1. Terrible controls which rely on one button for virtually every action. Attempting to use an object while moving often results in the character launching themselves across the room or    The good and bad of Mass Effect 3:

    Good:
    1. Vastly improved levelling system that gives a noticeable upgrade with every skill point added.
    2. Much more weapon variety.
    3. Good weapon modding.

    Bad:
    1. Terrible controls which rely on one button for virtually every action. Attempting to use an object while moving often results in the character launching themselves across the room or getting out of cover, also no crouch button means the character sometimes stands up in the middle of fire-fights.
    2. Stupid ally AI. Allies are happy to stand out of cover while getting shot at, disappear in the middle of fights or refuse to shoot at enemies.
    3. Levelling is way too fast. In the first mission for example I increased my level three times.
    4. Side missions are boring. The majority of side missions involve jumping to a sector and right clicking a few times. These are necessary for game completion and a real chore.
    5. Player interaction is limited. Much crew interaction does not occur in cut-scenes and player has no control over their own responses. Dialog during missions is within cut-scenes but player still does not get to choose as many responses as in previous games. A Cynical person might assume this problem is due to laziness on the writers/animators part.
    6. Non player characters are boring. Character development appears to have taken a back seat in this game as both new and returning characters have little to say. The only interesting development I caught was jokers relationship but I managed to miss its resolution.
    7. Decisions in previous games appear to have little impact.
    8. Terrible level design. Levels are designed in a boxy arena style and clearly just recycled multiplayer maps, recycled so lazily as to have loads of ammo caches everywhere.
    9. Mandatory multiplayer. In order to get a good ending player is required to play multiplayer battles. This effectively precludes players with poor internet from experiencing some of the single player content.
    10. Dull, dull, dull combat. Most of the interesting enemies appear to have been removed: In combat I have mostly just faced a load of dudes with progressively bigger guns.
    11. Plot points from previous games are ignored. Shepard appears to answer to the alliance now when he was a spectre in the previous game for example.

    There are tonne more issues but really it all boils down to this: In attempting to broaden their customer base Bioware have turned the most exciting and deep RPG/FPS ever into a complete mess with little appeal to lovers of either genre. Both of the prequels I have played many times, including all the DLC, but ME3 was only good enough to get me to play until about five minutes into the final mission once.

    A huge disappointment.

    (also my characters run animation makes her look like she has sh** her pants)    … Expand
  65. gobSIDES
    Jan 18, 2014
    2
    An absolutely terrible end to a great series. Reeks of a company trying to expand the target market of their game at the worse possible time and without taking proper concern as to the affect it would have on the game.

    Many of the original choices and decisions you make in previous game are not addressed and completely forgotten. The introduction of new character undermine existing ones    An absolutely terrible end to a great series. Reeks of a company trying to expand the target market of their game at the worse possible time and without taking proper concern as to the affect it would have on the game.

    Many of the original choices and decisions you make in previous game are not addressed and completely forgotten. The introduction of new character undermine existing ones and have zero depth.

    Gameplay is largely the same though let down by very far behind the times graphics and laughable animations.

    Bioware made a power play for the market when joining with EA and releasing 3 utterly abysmal games in TOR, ME3 and Dragon Age 2. These have pretty much condemned their reputation with the gaming community and undone over a decade of hard work from the company.

    Sad and poor.    … Expand
  66. Hanzojapa
    Jan 8, 2014
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A stupid Deus Ex machina ending, that deviates from the history, that make you sad after playing. If you play since the first one, you will fell betrayed.… Expand
  67. stern
    Jan 8, 2014
    3
    In this third and final release, slowly the narrative coherence of Mass Effect eroded, until near the end, at a fast pace it completly crumbled.
    In ME2 you could say that the villains were unjustified and meaningless in a narrative sense, you could say that choices, events and positions were forced into your character and many were literally asspulls, but at least ME2 provided plenty of    In this third and final release, slowly the narrative coherence of Mass Effect eroded, until near the end, at a fast pace it completly crumbled.
    In ME2 you could say that the villains were unjustified and meaningless in a narrative sense, you could say that choices, events and positions were forced into your character and many were literally asspulls, but at least ME2 provided plenty of well written and thoughtful content in the form of loyality missions for example, to couterbalance this. In ME3 there is no such thing and what starts as a contrived, average to bad story, end as a complete mess with giant holes where obviously the writers or devs didn't know what they were doing.
    Or if you played Deus Ex 1, a classical and mind-blowing game unlike ME3, you'll simply know that ME3 ending is a rip off, out of thone, feel and athmosphere from the rest of ME series and even from the rest of the third game itself, not addressing any of the questions and propositions that the ending should address.
    Mission after mission asspulls are thrown at the player and they are supposed to contain core elements of the narrative without any connection with the previous games. "Oh, you know, we found the ancient plans to this super-weapon, we don't even know what it does, but it's our only hope! Why didn't I mention these ancient plans before? I don't know", "Oh, the genophage was stabilished as a necessary evil, was even fully approached in a previous game? Too bad, let's use it again in the narrative in a total different way!", "You reproggammed heretic Geths? Nah, it didn't change anything!", "Forget Ilos and the Conduit, forget Haelstrom!" and so on, with even poorer resolutions than before, sometimes even with implausible forever happy conclusions, where magically everything worked out for everyone and butterflies and rainbows are in the sky.
    As for other aspects, some can be praised: they finally fleshed out powers, cooldowns and shields/armors/barriers, even adding power combos, making the gameplay as a pure adept or as an enginner very interesting. Too bad the game fail to explain this and you are supposed to search in the internet for a guide to which power detonates the other and what defense is vulnerable to what power (for example, energy drain is useless against armor, carnage is useless against shield, etc). The combat system is finally fun and interesting if you have patience to micromanage your squadmates, because they are useless otherwise and never use the proper powers if left by themselves.
    Other aspects must be criticized: the missions journal is confusing and doesn't match the missions name in the galaxy map, the weapons customization is dumbed down and mostly useless, upgrading equipment is a chore, side missions are utterly boring and repetitive, re-using multiplayer maps and the same mission model (active console A, hold postion B, etc), there are plenty and I mean plent of bugs even so long after release, sometimes advancing the main plot makes side missions expire and several, several characters are out of character or at least with very poorly written lines. The game feels short and I wonder if this is because they decided to focus on multiplayer instead.
    Unlike ME2, I can't recommend any DLC except for Javik. Citadel is cringe worthy and apparently made for 15 years old, Leviathan is stupid, inspired by movies such as Abyss and presents more implausible asspulls than answers, Omega is boring and will make you skip full dialogues out of boredom.
    ME3 is so bad that makes ME1 a master piece in comparison, it'll age bad and be a waste of your time. I recommend reading the relevant plot in wikis and skip this game.
    Too bad they are making a 4th installation, I predict a even worse product.    … Expand
  68. Asharel
    Dec 17, 2013
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This trainwreck was supposed to be the epitome of the trilogy and instead one gets gets generic and lazy design slapped in the face from the get go, fetch quests make you feel like a complete stalker since you never talk to the npc involved, all of your choices from previous games are either nullified or tossed into the abomination that is the gauge meter showing you how well you are on track.

    Another emphasis on laziness is using multiplayer match maps in the single player campain in order to make the game feel slightly bigger and remember all the characters you bonded with during mass effect 2? well you are out of luck my friend they are busy doing their own thing for some of the dumbest reasons available to date, at least you get your old crew back with the exeption of the gorilla face in the cellar of your ship that would have been better off dying to cause tension, and of course EDI (the artificial intelligence) becoming a fully fledged sex bot for joker.

    the story itself is a complete mess, instead of focusing on the reapers you get to battle you former employer for half of the game making the reapers feel like iretating bogeymen instead of a galactic menace, but the middle part is mediocre, the start is ****house but it pales in comparison to the ending that Bioware ripped off from Deux ex and somehow made it even ****tier, one would think the writers that gave us games like baldurs gate would deliver something else than horse manure sprinkled with cats piss but hey the EA overlords cant stand quality i guess....    … Expand
  69. morten_doboj
    Dec 12, 2013
    2
    I really enjoyed the first Mass Effect as I had almost all other Bioware titles, most of all the really immersing story. The story elements were continued in ME2, although the progress was halted quite a bit. Sadly Mass Effect 3 is without a doubt the weakest in the series. Even though the gameplay is a bit better than the previous games, and the story as engaging as ever, the endingI really enjoyed the first Mass Effect as I had almost all other Bioware titles, most of all the really immersing story. The story elements were continued in ME2, although the progress was halted quite a bit. Sadly Mass Effect 3 is without a doubt the weakest in the series. Even though the gameplay is a bit better than the previous games, and the story as engaging as ever, the ending ruined the whole trilogy for me. This is the first time that I ever stopped playing a series altogether because of a single flaw, but what a flaw.… Expand
  70. Evaldazz
    Dec 12, 2013
    2
    I tried to see this game through to the end, I truly tired. But I just couldn't do it. It is just appalling. I loved Mass effect 1 and though some people disliked mass effect 2 I thought the story was good enough to follow through and keep me entertained. Mass effect 3 has no redeeming qualities. The game play and physics are clunky, the graphics very outdated, the cover system gets youI tried to see this game through to the end, I truly tired. But I just couldn't do it. It is just appalling. I loved Mass effect 1 and though some people disliked mass effect 2 I thought the story was good enough to follow through and keep me entertained. Mass effect 3 has no redeeming qualities. The game play and physics are clunky, the graphics very outdated, the cover system gets you killed more often than it saves you. The Reapers, who are supposed to be the most devastating enemy we've ever seen, are so easy to take it, its laughable. I could go on and on like this, it really doesn't have anything going for it at all.

    If you want a good 3rd person shooter go for the dead space series, don't waste your time with this. I give it a 2/10 in honor of mass effect 1 and 2.    … Expand
  71. Gingerbread_Man
    Dec 11, 2013
    3
    Loved the first two games. Was nothing but disappointed with this one. Combat felt almost identical to the second, and was fine. Outside of that, everything was different. The characters the second game spent so long building felt largely absent except for cameos. The choices made in previous games had absolutely no noticeable impact. The lore from the first game felt completely abandonedLoved the first two games. Was nothing but disappointed with this one. Combat felt almost identical to the second, and was fine. Outside of that, everything was different. The characters the second game spent so long building felt largely absent except for cameos. The choices made in previous games had absolutely no noticeable impact. The lore from the first game felt completely abandoned by this point, and the replacement arc was nowhere near the scope or impact. I'm not sure if they completely changed the project director by the third game, but it felt like the someone was writing the ending to someone else's story. Wasn't very good in any aspect.… Expand
  72. avrell
    Nov 18, 2013
    3
    Storytelling, RPG elements and dialogue have all disintegrated a significant degree since ME2. Any illusion of some greater adventure is no longer there. You have an L shaped corridor after another to clear of enemies.

    With above in mind, this game can only be seen as a cover shooter such as Gears of War. Considering how other game elements have been either abandoned, simplified    Storytelling, RPG elements and dialogue have all disintegrated a significant degree since ME2. Any illusion of some greater adventure is no longer there. You have an L shaped corridor after another to clear of enemies.

    With above in mind, this game can only be seen as a cover shooter such as Gears of War. Considering how other game elements have been either abandoned, simplified or streamlined, it is curious how clumsy and void of fun the shoot em up bits are. Nothing about moving and controlling Shepard feels intuitive. Decision to cram taking cover and sprinting behind same button results in plenty of mid combat situations where you really have no idea what will happen when you press the lottery button.

    ME3 is essentially a clumsy cover shooter among others. I would not recommend this game to anyone. I am amazed meta score among reviewers is as high as it is.    … Expand
  73. Isengrim
    Sep 28, 2013
    2
    Disappointment, is the word I would sum this game up with. Mass Effect 3, being a last game in a ME trilogy abandons most of the things that made Mass Effect 1 or 2 so successful.
    The story of this game, revolving around a mysterious alien device nobody knows anything about is full of plotholes and irrationalities. The gameplay is an improved version of Mass Effect 2, which still abandons    Disappointment, is the word I would sum this game up with. Mass Effect 3, being a last game in a ME trilogy abandons most of the things that made Mass Effect 1 or 2 so successful.
    The story of this game, revolving around a mysterious alien device nobody knows anything about is full of plotholes and irrationalities. The gameplay is an improved version of Mass Effect 2, which still abandons most of RPG qualities as it's predecessor did. If that wasn't bad enough, Bioware decided to strip the player out of choices and if there is any they consequences are very similar making the choice itself meaningless. The characters and the world respond to every dialogue option in a very similar way making the whole Paragon/Renegade morality system totally worthless.
    While a player can import a save from the Mass Effect 2, he/she have to be aware that it doesn't make much of a difference, as possibly dead characters from Mass Effect 2 are replaced on the spot with another new/old character without any noteworthy consequence.
    There is no choice which mission you want to do, unlike in Mass Effect 1/2, here you just jump from one main mission to the other, linearly going forward to maybe the most disappointing ending in history of videogames.
    Bad writing, lack of logic, lack of choices and consequences means that this game isn't what it is advertised to be. Add annoying control scheme on PC and you have one of the worst game I have ever played and certainly the most disappointing one.
    Only redeeming quality of this game is it's soundtrack.
    Overall, 2/10 stay away.    … Expand
  74. nopc
    Sep 23, 2013
    0
    i have been spending hours upon hours trying to get mass effect 3 to work, its not my pc's fault, i keep on getting error after error from either origin and this DRM infested %"$!.
    i think i've spent more time trying to get the game to work than playing, once i get it to work, i play, when i finish my gaming session i go out, when i try to play it again i get another error, i spend    i have been spending hours upon hours trying to get mass effect 3 to work, its not my pc's fault, i keep on getting error after error from either origin and this DRM infested %"$!.
    i think i've spent more time trying to get the game to work than playing, once i get it to work, i play, when i finish my gaming session i go out, when i try to play it again i get another error, i spend another hour on the internet trying to find a fix to this junk..its starting to get really irritating...thanks EA for not letting me play the game i payed money for.    … Expand
  75. Type4101
    Sep 14, 2013
    2
    Still a letdown, years later. ME3 is a reminder that the world needs a real RPG revival. The age of dumbing down must end. Unfortunately, EA has announced that it has no intention of supporting future RPGs that don't involve micro-transactions, so there may be more dark days ahead. ME3 is, however, a decent cover-based shooter. It certainly has more characterization than mostStill a letdown, years later. ME3 is a reminder that the world needs a real RPG revival. The age of dumbing down must end. Unfortunately, EA has announced that it has no intention of supporting future RPGs that don't involve micro-transactions, so there may be more dark days ahead. ME3 is, however, a decent cover-based shooter. It certainly has more characterization than most shooters, which is nice. That is small consolation for RPG fans, who have plenty of options in the over-saturated shooter market, if that is what they wanted to play (it isn't). Don't support ME3, even if it is on sale in the bargain bin.… Expand
  76. Mr_NoFace
    Sep 12, 2013
    3
    friends and other people have been telling me to buy this, now I've finally got it and what a mistake that was, there are three options at the start of the game action I was tempted because most games these days only do action right? because they can't make a good story, role play no thanks I'm alright I'm not going to pretend that this is my life and finally story mode has a shooter thesefriends and other people have been telling me to buy this, now I've finally got it and what a mistake that was, there are three options at the start of the game action I was tempted because most games these days only do action right? because they can't make a good story, role play no thanks I'm alright I'm not going to pretend that this is my life and finally story mode has a shooter these days finally got a good story! no the story of this is the world is getting attacked! if that hasn't been used a load, so yeah I choose story because for once in these new games I want a good story not just go here and kill everyone then go here and press this, while i was playing i would be cut off by cut scenes it was constant and it got annoying I got bored so fast I don't know if that's just if you choose story or if its like that with action to but soon as I forget about this game I might give it another go… Expand
  77. EckSi
    Sep 10, 2013
    2
    The gameplay itself was great, but the direction that the writing leads decided to take the story at the end was terrible. Their faisco at writing a logical and well written ending on the first go around it why I am writing this review.

    They tore apart the lore by giving us an aweful space child. It completeley devalued and ruined the fear that I had of the reapers that I had had for    The gameplay itself was great, but the direction that the writing leads decided to take the story at the end was terrible. Their faisco at writing a logical and well written ending on the first go around it why I am writing this review.

    They tore apart the lore by giving us an aweful space child. It completeley devalued and ruined the fear that I had of the reapers that I had had for years since the first Mass Effect. They suddently because the mere toys of this stupid little ghost boy who just happened to be at the final place and happend to solved everything for you with some color.....

    I could have written an ending with an awesome battle scene involving you and all your collecting war assest fighting alotside you, showing strength through diversity... you either had enough to overcome and prevail with a phyric victory or you didnt have enough and were crushed. Either way, I would have given the fans of the series on hell of an awesome ending battle scene. Not some stupid ghost starbrat.    … Expand
  78. M8ass
    Sep 4, 2013
    3
    Mass effect 3 will have a special place in my heart, as my first rapist. They said when you were a kid never to take candy from strangers, never go into their creepy van, and never enter their homes, well the stranger was EA and they raped us, good and well.

    Their master plan involved deception and building the hype with excellent writing and clever storytelling, and they decide to end    Mass effect 3 will have a special place in my heart, as my first rapist. They said when you were a kid never to take candy from strangers, never go into their creepy van, and never enter their homes, well the stranger was EA and they raped us, good and well.

    Their master plan involved deception and building the hype with excellent writing and clever storytelling, and they decide to end it by raping the fan base, and destroying years of hype, destroying one of the most original sci-fi franchises in order to make a profit.

    I have learned my lesson and will never, ever again purchase another product by EA ever again on release date, i will wait until other suffers before i decide if i want to be a part of the carnage or not.    … Expand
  79. TailGunnner
    Aug 13, 2013
    3
    EA ruined this master piece and it made to suck it fans money. The every singe chose you make gets you to a realy stupid ending and each of all doesn't matters a little bit. They didn't relise the whole game so they can suck the money of their fans and lought at them and them make a "DLC" to fix it and say that they made it for fans... what kind of a sick mind would ruin a great fanbase.EA ruined this master piece and it made to suck it fans money. The every singe chose you make gets you to a realy stupid ending and each of all doesn't matters a little bit. They didn't relise the whole game so they can suck the money of their fans and lought at them and them make a "DLC" to fix it and say that they made it for fans... what kind of a sick mind would ruin a great fanbase. I am not inculuded to this fanbase. The only reason I gave this 3 is that the action might be good enught for someplayers who doesn't goes and chack out the storyline...… Expand
  80. GamersUprising
    Jul 23, 2013
    3
    It's by no means a bad game, the game play is amazing, the dialogue is great, the characters are relatable and it has that emotional tone that the first two games carried. What brought it down from a positive rating is the ending which managed to piss SO many gamers off. The ending of this game is a total slap in the face to fans of the Mass Effect games. It was like the developersIt's by no means a bad game, the game play is amazing, the dialogue is great, the characters are relatable and it has that emotional tone that the first two games carried. What brought it down from a positive rating is the ending which managed to piss SO many gamers off. The ending of this game is a total slap in the face to fans of the Mass Effect games. It was like the developers completely forgot about the fact that all of the games are based around choice, but the ending betrays that fact. All three endings are incredibly similar, which made us feel as if our choices never mattered in the first place. I love the Mass Effect games but the ending of this game just brought it down. Never has a game ending developed so much controversy than the ending of Mass Effect 3, and that's a damn shame.… Expand
  81. M0HAX
    Jul 19, 2013
    0
    2.9 Mass Effect games I played with the utmost fun. I absolutely love those games. I was astonished by their beauty in all aspects. After the last 0.1 of the last game I will probably never play them again within the next few years at the very least. I just can't bring myself to even install any of them, knowing how terribly bad it will end. Seriously there is no motivation to do anything2.9 Mass Effect games I played with the utmost fun. I absolutely love those games. I was astonished by their beauty in all aspects. After the last 0.1 of the last game I will probably never play them again within the next few years at the very least. I just can't bring myself to even install any of them, knowing how terribly bad it will end. Seriously there is no motivation to do anything anymore. Its as if you do something you believe to be worthwhile for years, and then you are told: "Oh sorry, but you know, no one needs it, so scram!"
    3 best games ruined with a single ending. Its a pity that the all so perfect Indoctrination theory didn't find place in a DLC.    … Expand
  82. cappugino
    Jul 3, 2013
    2
    Repetitive game! After 3-4 hours playing the game is going to get boring.
    Bad and boring K.I. and sometimes unfair difficulty.
    Only for fans! For people who never played such games its wasted money.
  83. Turk
    Jul 1, 2013
    4
    After the dust had settled and the brutal "star child" wars have been waged, I returned to ME3, and it still serves as the definitively example of how to disappoint on all levels.

    This game must have been designed to be a blockbuster with all those troublesome expenses related to quality cut out. The depth of the universe is gone, replaced by petty 3rd party dialogue microcosms that    After the dust had settled and the brutal "star child" wars have been waged, I returned to ME3, and it still serves as the definitively example of how to disappoint on all levels.

    This game must have been designed to be a blockbuster with all those troublesome expenses related to quality cut out. The depth of the universe is gone, replaced by petty 3rd party dialogue microcosms that read like bad soap operas. The gameplay is as simplistic and vapid as the ending- even the hardest levels offer only random chance as a mechanic rather than strategy. Level design, if you can even call it that, is reduced to a corridor with walls to hide behind. If you are on a planet there is a nice background of a vibrant world that you will by no means be able to interact with ever- kind of a final "f-you" from EA.

    There is more, so much more, but I'm getting tired and my love of the first two games can only create so much antipathy towards this one.    … Expand
  84. Smartchoy
    Jun 24, 2013
    1
    Such a disappointing end to a series. The problem with the ending is simply that it such a waste of opportunity. If Bioware wanted whatever ending is their decision but they don't really go through it, no funeral, no wedding, no epilogue, just laziness, just nonsense. FFXII opens with a great wedding and a funeral in its opening animation, I don't care if its happy or sad, I just wish toSuch a disappointing end to a series. The problem with the ending is simply that it such a waste of opportunity. If Bioware wanted whatever ending is their decision but they don't really go through it, no funeral, no wedding, no epilogue, just laziness, just nonsense. FFXII opens with a great wedding and a funeral in its opening animation, I don't care if its happy or sad, I just wish to enjoy the feelings, I am paying for this. Mass effect 3 had the perfect opportunity to make you feel so much, you have been playing so long with this crew, a reunion, or funeral, or big closure would have made me feel so much, but is just a big "thank you for playing, but we wont say what happened, bye"… Expand
  85. Cuz
    Jun 23, 2013
    2
    Over-dramatic and silly plot killed this one for me. I really had to muscle through the last half just to say I finished and this is from a huge fan of the first two games, I would suggest that you stay away if you can... not worth giving Bioware/EA any of your money for this mess.

    The professional reviewers that gave this game such high scores have to be on the payroll, it's just not    Over-dramatic and silly plot killed this one for me. I really had to muscle through the last half just to say I finished and this is from a huge fan of the first two games, I would suggest that you stay away if you can... not worth giving Bioware/EA any of your money for this mess.

    The professional reviewers that gave this game such high scores have to be on the payroll, it's just not a good game. Some of the worst writing I've sat through in years, unbelievable cringe-inducing.    … Expand
  86. davidpiksi
    May 11, 2013
    4
    I don't understand why critics are giving this game good reviews. The story the gameplay and every other mechanic that could be dumbed down was. I was disappointed at the ending because one of my all time favourite RPG games was turned into a third person shooter and not an RPG.
  87. AuldWolf
    Apr 30, 2013
    0
    I'd avoid it. If you want a really good RPG, try something by Larian Studios instead. It's mainstream mush... so you won't find any good stories here. BioWare hasn't made a good game in a long time, not since MDK2 or before.
  88. Logiwonk
    Apr 28, 2013
    4
    This game is a fistula. What is a fistula? In anatomic terms it's an abnormal hole connecting two things that should not be connected. One of the most problematic is obstetric fistula which connects the vagina (awesome) with the bowels (super not-awesome). This game connects amazing writing, good gameplay with a ending.

    You can't fix this game's ending but you can help women world-wide    This game is a fistula. What is a fistula? In anatomic terms it's an abnormal hole connecting two things that should not be connected. One of the most problematic is obstetric fistula which connects the vagina (awesome) with the bowels (super not-awesome). This game connects amazing writing, good gameplay with a ending.

    You can't fix this game's ending but you can help women world-wide suffering from obstetric fistula. Go to http://www.fistulafoundation.org/ and donate today!    … Expand
  89. 48Laws
    Apr 27, 2013
    4
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu731UtTFqo I wish I could have seen this before purchasing ME3.

    Personally, I was a loyal follower of the ME franchise since a year or so after the first game came out. I watched as a high-quality RPG turned into a fun storytelling-driven shooter hybrid. I enjoyed both of the first two games, but worried that Bioware may have been taking too many    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu731UtTFqo I wish I could have seen this before purchasing ME3.

    Personally, I was a loyal follower of the ME franchise since a year or so after the first game came out. I watched as a high-quality RPG turned into a fun storytelling-driven shooter hybrid. I enjoyed both of the first two games, but worried that Bioware may have been taking too many creative liberties with game play design. After DA2 became a malignant tumor on the whole DA franchise, I worried that marketing was steering video games toward a more obviously profit-driven path. I enjoyed seeing some of my favorite characters in ME3, but having the entire series to compare the game to I felt disappointed and wished I hadn't purchased it before it's price plummeted. The game screams linearity, entire plot lines promised to have wildly different conclusions were railroaded and some of the characters with strong convictions pulled a 180 in the (choo-choo) 6-month mandated shore leave Shep was put on after Arrival (whether or not it was even played). James Vega was chosen by Bioware, knowing fewer squad mates would be included in this game, to accommodate newer players and have someone dumber than them on the Normandy. 17% of your squad is new, has no clue what's going on, and was included solely for first-time players; It really sends a message to those who have played the game for 5+ years (notice Vega wasn't made DLC; he must have either been considered more 'essential' than a Prothean by the devs or EA thought nobody would buy it). A broken journal system ensures players will constantly be wondering whether they scanned the right section of space for an item or have yet to drop it off to the NPC on the citadel who's conversation Shep overheard (these are laughably called 'side missions'). After you're confused by wtf just happened after the endings, you can buy all the answers in DLC form for $10 in Leviathan. This game is complete rubbish without the answers in that DLC pack (and even so, the plot further devolves into a joke). What's worst of all for me: this game makes me feel embarrassed for all the recommendations I gave out for the series after ME1 and ME2. I know I've personally brought 6 friends into the Mass Effect world, and only one of them enjoyed the "experience" of ME3. The rest still joke about the endings over a year past the game's release, and according to much of the polling done the majority of the fan base feels the same way. After this debacle, I won't be making that mistake with Bioware products again.    … Expand
  90. arnror
    Apr 10, 2013
    0
    Oh my dear gaming-god(Tex Murphy)!!
    It's like Elvis would announce his greatest show ever, and then came out on stage naked, fat, drunk, balled, and then urinated on the first row people, slung feces on the rest, gave his finger to all, and then shot all the old people.
    Where did all the talent go, that I trusted with my hopes and dreams for Shepard and his friends. I mean how is this    Oh my dear gaming-god(Tex Murphy)!!
    It's like Elvis would announce his greatest show ever, and then came out on stage naked, fat, drunk, balled, and then urinated on the first row people, slung feces on the rest, gave his finger to all, and then shot all the old people.
    Where did all the talent go, that I trusted with my hopes and dreams for Shepard and his friends.
    I mean how is this possible;
    To write arguably the best story in gaming history(ME1), come up with two of the best bad guys in space(Saren and Sovereign)
    Then go on to make ME2 witch fixed all the problems from the previous game, only lacking bad guys with character.
    And then this.....
    Did they have a stroke, are they smoking crack, did someone replace their head with G.W.B's?

    Now it's all ruined. I cant even replay the first two. Shepard is dead to me now. Why you say??
    BECAUSE YOU'VE KILLED HIM STUPID    … Expand
  91. Metacriticfan4
    Mar 30, 2013
    2
    The fan reviews doesn't lie, the ME franchise was ruined with this game. The way the ending was done have completely ruined the great ME experience for me. This a long with other poor choices made in ME 3 has laid a foundation for a terrible game. 2 out of 10 is what I have given it. This development of the franchise really has me fearing for the future of the ME series.
  92. TheCuteKitten
    Mar 27, 2013
    4
    The only good thing about this game is the amount of weapons and customization for your skills. The voice acting is brilliant apart from Jessica Chobot. That's it. The story is full of plotholes, contradiction, retcons and downright nonsensical at times. The enemies and AI behaviour is subpar. Everything just bumrushes you and and do not use strategy of any sort. There is too littleThe only good thing about this game is the amount of weapons and customization for your skills. The voice acting is brilliant apart from Jessica Chobot. That's it. The story is full of plotholes, contradiction, retcons and downright nonsensical at times. The enemies and AI behaviour is subpar. Everything just bumrushes you and and do not use strategy of any sort. There is too little gameplay and too much cutscenes which makes the game feels like an interactive movie. There is also almost no RP element in the game apart from power customization. Your choices do not matter. The ending introduces new concepts altogether. Unnecessary inclusion of children to create emotions. So yeah, a botched job from Biower.… Expand
  93. HONOR-IS-ALL
    Mar 8, 2013
    1
    Mass Effect 3 will forever be the game that damaged the series and Bioware's image. There is no way that ME4 sales will ever get close to the sales of ME2 and ME3
  94. Gargus
    Mar 7, 2013
    1
    I'm not here to rip on ME3 just for the sake of doing so or because its what's cool to do on the internet like so many others.

    Basically ME3 is the worst of the series in every way possible compared to the other 2 games because it doesn't build or improve anything. It simply just tries to hurriedly finish the series for the sake of a cash in on the title. 1- There is no sense of    I'm not here to rip on ME3 just for the sake of doing so or because its what's cool to do on the internet like so many others.

    Basically ME3 is the worst of the series in every way possible compared to the other 2 games because it doesn't build or improve anything. It simply just tries to hurriedly finish the series for the sake of a cash in on the title.

    1- There is no sense of exploration. The game as efficiently as possible holds your hand every step the way and has you actually being on the ground doing things the least amount possible. Side missions are carried out by quickly scanning a planet ala ME2 and then firing a probe. That's it. You don't explore, you don't get to check out uncharted worlds simply for the sake of curiosity or anything. Scan, shoot probe, side mission done all without even leaving the galaxy map. This tactic accounts for the majority of side missions. ME1 you could explore the galaxy drive around in that horribly handling buggy and had a sense of discovering things, ME2 you could land on planets and explore doing side missions with some not even firing a single shot like the crashed cruiser balanced on the mountain peak but all of those things are gone in 3. The game just holds your hand and ushers you from mission to mission.

    2- You don't get to actually chose anything, everything is pre determined for you. Even if you chose the renegade or paragon path you get the exact same result and no one treats you differently and you get no alternative paths depending on your karma scale which makes it all incredibly pointless and just window dressing for the fact the story is entirely linear and so is your character.

    3- The characters are all the same ones, only less compelling. There are a couple new characters but they are highly disposable and not even worth messing with. James for instance is basically just a guy who talks 90% of the time like a generic white guy, 10% of the time he throws out some Mexican phrases like saying "loco" a lot in his generic white guy trying to impersonate a Mexican guy and he looks like he was taken from the show jersey shore. When a old character returns you can see it coming a mile away. For instance you go into a area where the mission briefing talks about geth then you can see 45 minutes before which old character is going to come back. All the characters themselves seem hollow and rushed, they lack the personality that made them endearing in the other games and most are there only long enough to be overly obvious in a very specific mission or they simply show up for 3 minutes of camera time practically winking at the player with a nod and then are gone.

    4- The story compared to the others sucks. The other games had side stories, character stories, side missions with their own short stories and so on. ME3 on the other is basically this "Everything is going to be destroyed". That's pretty much it because no matter where you go or what you do its always about the war specifically and nothing else. I also got sick of hearing phrases like "were here to save lives", "were doing this to save lives", "this weapon will save lives", "we need to stick together to save lives", "billions of lives are on the line and were here to save them", etc and after about 8 hours I was sick of hearing about the war and saving lives.

    5- The game play was basically just one big shooting gallery and hiding behind chest high walls. Every single fight is basically you hiding behind chest high walls to peak out and fire a few rounds only to hide back behind said wall. It was incredibly boring and has been done to death in dozens of other games. The combat was mindless and mediocre. It felt like they put absolutely no effort into the combat at all and rushed you through it in order to get to the next scene of hearing Sheppard say "saving lives".

    6- The ending was atrocious. This is a series that prides itself on story, characters and dialogue. We all spent over 100 bucks playing all 3 games and spent over 100 hours playing all 3 games but bioware seemed to say "This is the end of the trilogy so who cares about the ending". The ending is the most important part of any story of any kind because its the very last thing you leave the person with and its supposed to be a reward, the climax to everything leading up till then, basically the ending is the most important part of any story. But the ending of ME3 was over in just a minute or so despite the dozens of hours of dialogue, cut scenes and story in the rest of the series they got lazy at the end. It gives no satisfaction at all. I can honestly say it is the laziest segment of the series. I did like though they had the balls to do what they did with Sheppard, but the ending still sucks and doesn't make you glad to have finished the series.    … Expand
  95. behastie
    Mar 5, 2013
    1
    I'm not going to take some kind of moral stance on this game. The gameplay was fun, the ending ruined it for me. I was genuinely very unhappy when I stopped playing the game. That shouldn't happen.
  96. Morfiss
    Feb 9, 2013
    2
    Day 1 DLC: Disgraceful. taking content out of the game and selling it,
    Giant Plot Holes: Every 50,000 years the reapers wipe out everyone to stop synthetics from killing everyone.
    Game play: Is so boring it's just run and gun.
    1 Point: Customisation was good and the N7 armour looked cool.
    1 Point: Multiplayer had some simple but fun aspects.
  97. domak
    Jan 16, 2013
    4
    Anyone who played the previous Mass Effect game and still thinks that this one is good in comparison is just a delusional liar, this sad excuse of a game isn't even HALF of what the previous one was and the conclusion of the story is just unbelievably bad I wonder how is it possible to utterly destroy such a promising franchise.
  98. ActionBastard
    Jan 14, 2013
    4
    Perhaps one of the most unfortunate games in existence, both because it could never stand up to the expectations of fans and because it was played off by its creators and dozens of invested parties within gaming journalism as the second coming of Christ. It is a mediocre sequel and a disappointing finale to a well-loved series. Most unfortunate of all, however, is the way in which it andPerhaps one of the most unfortunate games in existence, both because it could never stand up to the expectations of fans and because it was played off by its creators and dozens of invested parties within gaming journalism as the second coming of Christ. It is a mediocre sequel and a disappointing finale to a well-loved series. Most unfortunate of all, however, is the way in which it and several other big-name titles of the last few years have come to represent the baldfaced corruption and lack of integrity within the video game industry. Games should judged as good based on their own merit, not on how many reviewers the publisher can manage to bribe. I give this game a four, for "bad." I would have given it an "average" of 6, but I subtracted one point for the paid-for reviews and one point for the way Bioware instructed journalists to attack their more critical fans. I regret having to look beyond the game itself and into the murk that surrounds it, but as the games industry continue to make video games less about games and more about the surrounding hype and media buzz, I have no choice but to add those factors to my score. Rent and return.… Expand
  99. vazait
    Jan 5, 2013
    2
    This game is not good as an RPG, it's not good as a cover-based shooter, and it's certainly not good as a hybrid of any sort. This game is atrocious, it truly is. And this comes from someone who liked ME2, despite its flaws. But anyways, what's wrong with the game? Well, I think the ridicilous ending has been covered well enough by a lot of other reviewers, so I won't go into detail on howThis game is not good as an RPG, it's not good as a cover-based shooter, and it's certainly not good as a hybrid of any sort. This game is atrocious, it truly is. And this comes from someone who liked ME2, despite its flaws. But anyways, what's wrong with the game? Well, I think the ridicilous ending has been covered well enough by a lot of other reviewers, so I won't go into detail on how stupid it was. Let's talk about the dumbed down dialogue instead. BioWare and EA apparently thought three choices as a standard was a bit overwhelming when playing ME1&2, so they had to remove the middleground. What is left is the **** and "Good Guy" options, and the occasional Renegade and Paragon option. The Renegade & Paragon system is also pretty stupid. 'If you aren't nice to people, you can't make rational choices'... The **** kind of sense does that make?
    And with the removal of dialogue options, comes the removal of dialogue too. Which I can see makes all kinds of sense. Why would you shift the focus from shooting endless hordes of Cerberus troops, over on the thoughts and psyche of the interesting and beloved crew. We all know thats why we loved the original games, right? It was the neverending cover-based shooting that attracted us all... ... right?
    With all irony aside, I find it pretty annoying that the crew is even less talkable in the third installment, than in the second. In like 19 hours, I had the total of THREE, unique dialogues with Liara (whom I had romanced in the previous games), whereas only TWO of them were private and on the Normandy. That kinda sucks, especially since she's one of my favourite characters in the entire series.
    Also: what's up with the character design? How come everyone dresses in the sexiest "armor" in the entire universe? Don't get me wrong, I am in fact a fan of the female body. But, why did Ashley throw away her giant power armor from ME1, in favor of the sleek, sexy outfit in the third? It looks stupid, and it doesn't make sense. But if she hadn't changed the armor, it would be significantly less time to show of her enlarged bazoongas. I'm not **** you when I say that the size of her **** have been increased from the first game. The entire game is so sexualized it just becomes silly. And to top it all off, they had to make EDI sexy too. I'm actually surprised she isn't a romance option. It would go along with the rest of this **** of a game perfectly. And while we're at EDI: what's her deal? Why does she act so out of character? She's not an AI, but she acts like one. When I think about, practically everyone acts out of character. The only one who doesn't do so, is Harbinger. He does the best job of sticking to his... 'personality' and agenda in the entirety of the game. Even Shepard acts out of character. What's the deal with the homosex-romance? I don't dislike homosexuals in any way, but the sudden change of sexuality is just weird.
    So, is there ANYTHING good about the game, you may ask. Well, kind of. The skill system is decent, better than ME2's (worse than ME1's). The weapons and attachments are pretty good, I prefer it over both the first and second installments' take on it. The armor and armor customization is vastly superior to both 1&2, so there are some good things about the game. One could say it looks pretty too - and I somewhat agree, but you feel like you don't always belong there. The game shows off what it can do and how beautiful it is, and sometimes, one ends up just as a watcher.
    My final complaint is in regards to Cerberus. Why did the story shift the focus away from the Reapers, and onto Cerberus? I don't feel like I'm saving the galaxy most of the time when I'm playing. Battling wave after wave of Cerberus-troops isn't fun, it doesn't make you feel like you're saving the galaxy, and it only makes you wonder why you are bothering with it. Feels kinda like busywork.

    All in all, this is one of the most disappointing games I have ever encountered. Mass Effect was one of my favorite games, and together with sequel one of my favourite game series. But now I can't even thoroughly enjoy the first installments, because I know it will all be in "vain", as this game is so butt****ingly stupid. This game is abominable. Steer clear away from this thing. The only reason this game isn't getting 1/10, is because it has Liara, Tali and Garrus in it (even though none of them want to speak with me).    … Expand
  100. Daverid
    Jan 5, 2013
    4
    These days I play just RPG's (And the occasional session on WoW), I have all but lost faith in the FPS and RTS Genres. Nothing quite sucks me in like an RPG with a; Riveting Plot, Interesting Characters, Good Gameplay and a powerful sense of Immersion. Mass Effect 1, although lacking in the Gameplay department, was 10/10 on every single other aspect of the game. Mass Effect 2 corrected theThese days I play just RPG's (And the occasional session on WoW), I have all but lost faith in the FPS and RTS Genres. Nothing quite sucks me in like an RPG with a; Riveting Plot, Interesting Characters, Good Gameplay and a powerful sense of Immersion. Mass Effect 1, although lacking in the Gameplay department, was 10/10 on every single other aspect of the game. Mass Effect 2 corrected the Gameplay errors that were extremely evident in ME1, however the plot took a MINOR hit, but still was extremely engaging. Then Mass Effect 3 rolled around, and I don't really know what went wrong. People blaming EA, People blaming BioWare... Who knows, all that's evident is this game was nowhere near the sequel we were waiting for.

    The gameplay didn't really improve from Mass Effect 2, but it was good in ME2 so it remains good in ME3. The Characters are still as interesting as ever (and as cool), but of course instead of the massive party selection we got in ME2 it was reduced down to ME1 numbers.
    And the plot, was just ... A mess (And that's giving it credit).

    If there's one thing I can say positive about BioWare, is that at least they still know how to write engaging and interesting characters. I cried several times throughout the game, simply because you get so attached (Or from the previous games) to these 3D people and it's hard to watch some of the tragedies happen, even if you can tell there was going to be casualties in the game. If it wasn't for BioWare still doing such an amazing job in the character department, this game would be lucky to receive a 2 or 3. The plot is just an abysmal mess. You can't really explain the mess without massive spoilers so I'll simply say this. Alot of people (Inlcuding myself) claim that it's 'The Ending' which was at fault, but frankly we just used the Ending as a scapegoat, we didn't/don't want to admit that the problem is in reality the entire game. Singular planet plots like Rannoch and Tuchanka is great, because you're concluding something that was setup in the other games, but the whole 'War Assets' and the nature of the 'Overarching Plot' is just a disgrace. And then after being taken on this wild ride where you go from, 'What the heck this doesn't make sense' ... To 'Omg this is fking awesome we are doing something massive and important' ... Back and forth multiple times, just to end on the 'This doesn't make sense' side of the fence was just the Ash sprinkles on top of the Crap Cake, and it hurt the fans deeply. It's clear alot of the story was designed with players who had been with the series for a long time in mind. Moments that would leave a normal person lifting an eyebrow, was leaving us fans who had been playing since ME1 bawling our eyes out. But then they made this Overarching plot to serve, I don't even know who, because it didn't make sense to the fans and it didn't make sense to anyone else. It was just some kind of strange mess.

    So if you're going to play this regardless of reviews, enjoy the characters, enjoy the locations and enjoy the decent gameplay. Enjoy the Single planet Arcs like Tuchanka and Rannoch, but don't expect to understand the overarching plot, and certainly don't expect to be satisfied and the end, because most likely you won't be.    … Expand
prev
Page:

Awards & Rankings

8
#8 Best PC Game of 2012
2
#2 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
5
#5 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
89

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. CPUGamer
    Apr 11, 2012
    90
    BioWare captures the scale of the conflict well, but always focuses on the people involved in it. It's pretty amazing just how badly EA disregarded the heart of the game – the characters and the world – when they began their marking blitzkrieg, but don't worry, it's oh so definitely there – Day 1 DLC, controversial endings, and questionable use of resources be damned. This is a fine, lovingly crafted game with a clear vision despite the realities of corporations and damning business practices.
    Read full review
  2. PC PowerPlay
    Apr 5, 2012
    80
    A game that's more shooter than role-playing, and a conclusion that's more spectacular than dramatic. [Apr 2012, p.47]
    Read full review
  3. Absolute Games
    Mar 31, 2012
    85
    Finishing a trilogy is always difficult. Tying off dozens of story threads which had been woven by players into many different tapestries is a daunting task. Mass Effect 3 is the first game that succeeded at this colossal undertaking.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »