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
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  1. johnson5
    Mar 21, 2012
    0
    I rarely review anything, I prefer to enjoy things myself (after paying such a large amount of money, for my income). But Mass Effect 3, just destroyed many things I was proud of about the whole series.

    First of all, beware of buying the game because of Origin. A blunt attempt to battle Valve, a bad one at that. Secondly, connecting the multiplayer portion of the game to your personal    I rarely review anything, I prefer to enjoy things myself (after paying such a large amount of money, for my income). But Mass Effect 3, just destroyed many things I was proud of about the whole series.

    First of all, beware of buying the game because of Origin. A blunt attempt to battle Valve, a bad one at that.

    Secondly, connecting the multiplayer portion of the game to your personal single-player experience and directly influencing your final score (thus the endings you can get), is just an awful way to promote the multiplayer part. And it's not even a small addition to the score...

    That doesn't mean much though, because as thousands have said before me, the ending is just despicable. Plot holes, no personal influence, not making much sense, seriously rushed and totally disappointing to anyone who has actually connected with the game. People are actually thinking of alternative theories, just to fool themselves that the ending was logical.

    This really feels like Dragon Age 2 (which had 5 dungeons in total and they were recycled in every way), Bioware having disappointed once again.    … Expand
  2. Feldane
    Mar 23, 2012
    1
    I want to state I personally started a metacritic account to rate this game. The game is not unplayable it just has some horrible flaws that ruin it as a whole. The good is as follows : The story it quite good, the voice acting is great ,it is a very emotional story, it really sucks you in and there is a lot more rpg elements(such as modifiable powers and weapons). The bad and it is reallyI want to state I personally started a metacritic account to rate this game. The game is not unplayable it just has some horrible flaws that ruin it as a whole. The good is as follows : The story it quite good, the voice acting is great ,it is a very emotional story, it really sucks you in and there is a lot more rpg elements(such as modifiable powers and weapons). The bad and it is really bad is as follows: The whole premise of the Mass Effect series is that chose matter, this is totally taken away from you in the ending(s). Even if you made the best chose in every three games import your character over all three, it doesn't matter. The thing that makes it incredibly frustrating is that you lose many character over the course of the games and you make friends and even lovers, and to be given an ending where in that all that sacrifice, all that character development means nothing, especially over the course of three game, is simply not acceptable. The ending honestly ruined the entire gaming experience for me. Other things that bad is decision you made in Mass Effect 2 dlc's & Mass Effect 1 general story are invalidated. Examples, You kill Wrex in ME1, he is back in ME3, you rekindled your relationship with Liara in ME2 Shadow broker dlc, she acts like she has seen you but for the brief time in ME3, You made Anderson a Counselor in ME1, Udena is the Counselor in ME3. A lot of fan favorites are also not playable character in ME3. Wrex is not playable, All of the added cast in ME2 are not playable, though they do make appearances, it is honestly really sad to see them take a back seat in ME3. There is also the day one on disc dlc, which I personally got the N7 special edition of ME3 so i got it for "free", it is actually quite vital to the story and should have been free in all additions.
    In conclusion i tried really hard to like this game. I loved it for the most part, but literally the last 10 minutes of the game ruin it. I know Bioware was aiming for a bitter sweet/deeper meaning ending. It honestly feels poorly executed at best and at worst a big slap in the face to the customer base that made this game so successful. I would not recommend this game to anyone. If you insist on playing it stop after you have your big chat with all your crew and friends, before the final battle, because the ending will ruin it for you. Just tell yourself you won and everyone lives happily ever after, because even the "best" ending is a sad one. So yourself a favor and pass on Mass Effect 3.    … Expand
  3. mackswift
    Apr 7, 2012
    4
    This is probably one of the few times I've written my review of a game, and those other few times were games like the original Deus Ex and Red Alert 1 & 2. But this.....this....ending, even a week after finished the game; nay the trilogy, and I've still got a bad taste in my mouth.
    Here I was on Earth with my squad and we just handed another Reaper its ass. And we're hightailing it to that    This is probably one of the few times I've written my review of a game, and those other few times were games like the original Deus Ex and Red Alert 1 & 2. But this.....this....ending, even a week after finished the game; nay the trilogy, and I've still got a bad taste in my mouth.
    Here I was on Earth with my squad and we just handed another Reaper its ass. And we're hightailing it to that transporter up to the Citadel. No clue what was going to be up there. And then one big laser blast from Harbinger......and it was the series finale to the Sopranos all over again.
    The first game was a great sci-fi RPG that introduced us to the universe and laid out the plot, problem, and all the tantalizing little bits and hints of what was to come. Mass Effect 2 was phenominal. I was so drawn into the story, I literally played all weekend until I finished.
    I was stoked for the third game, and while playing it; I was having a blast. I jumped into the multiplayer and had some fun there too. Remember the Reaper on Rinoch and all the choices you made right after that. My choice seriously **** things up and I ended up taking a mulligan! I never took a mulligan like that before; so understandably I was even further stoked as to what the end of the game was gonna entail.
    Yeah, um, Bill Lumburg style, um, yeeeahhh, that ending......
    It sucked. What happened to my squadmates? To Garrus? Tali? Liara? What a letdown. Not to mention that I read what was intended to be the ending that Drew Karpyshyn had drawn up for the series; that the use of the 'Mass Effect' fields was creating a large buildup of dark energy that was going to destroy the galaxy. And the Reapers were creatures that absorbed technologically advanced races and used their genetics in the hopes of finding an answer to stop the dark energy buildup.
    Now that would have been a cool frakking ending!!!!!!

    Not that Sopranos style series finale mess we were left with.    … Expand
  4. op8
    Mar 18, 2012
    0
    ADVICE (to ppl who have'nt finished the game): Stop playing 10 minutes before the end....seriously!! ...you will be happier. The ending will infect your brain with a malignant non-operable cancer that will then ruin the ENTIRE trilogy for you, meaning any replay of any of the games will feel utterly pointless.Mass Effect should deserve a 90% score for being one of the best action sci-fiADVICE (to ppl who have'nt finished the game): Stop playing 10 minutes before the end....seriously!! ...you will be happier. The ending will infect your brain with a malignant non-operable cancer that will then ruin the ENTIRE trilogy for you, meaning any replay of any of the games will feel utterly pointless.Mass Effect should deserve a 90% score for being one of the best action sci-fi trilogies we have available to us, but goddamnitt, why did they have to ruin it with such a ridiculously lazy ending!!… Expand
  5. kburstall
    Mar 11, 2012
    1
    Take away the compelling story from the mass effect series and what are you left with? Most people would agree we're left with little more than a sub-par shooter. Bioware often gets a pass on this because the story elements are so strong and interesting. NOT THIS TIME OUT. The story and especially the incomprehensible nonsense ending make for a tale that sucks the awesome not only out ofTake away the compelling story from the mass effect series and what are you left with? Most people would agree we're left with little more than a sub-par shooter. Bioware often gets a pass on this because the story elements are so strong and interesting. NOT THIS TIME OUT. The story and especially the incomprehensible nonsense ending make for a tale that sucks the awesome not only out of this game, but also out of the rest of the franchise which have been building up to an epic ending, where literally NONE of your choices throughout the entire series make an impact. Not having this strong story to keep you going, be prepared to suffer through this sub-par shooter… Expand
  6. LoLWHUT
    Mar 13, 2012
    0
    Plot is very bad.Endings are epic fail.This is just First-person-shooter with a number of useless dialogs.
    This is worst game of this trilogy.0 from 10.
  7. jaggysnake57
    Mar 13, 2012
    2
    well i liked me 1 and 2 but this is a huge disappointment. from the poor ai to the stop start nature of the story the game nver flows. but the thing that really disappoints is how different the official and user scores are. clearly this is a poor game and yet it sores so high. i feel that the days of impartial reviews are gone as is original game making.
  8. rebo
    Mar 16, 2012
    0
    Publisher lied to the fans, there is no choice, nothing you do matters, worst ending to a series in gaming history. I have never been more disappointed in a game in my life, having spent over 100+ hours playing all 3 in the series only to be lied to like this. Do not buy any Bioware game.
  9. Thalth
    Mar 19, 2012
    0
    Not only did the ending ruin THIS game for me, but I cant even bring myself to play the previous games. It literally brought me to tears in places, but the last 5 minutes devolved into utter nonsense and bad logic. I'm ashamed that I actually paid for this travesty, I should have just let my imagination end the series.
  10. makemenuconfig
    Mar 22, 2012
    0
    OK, I really loved ME1 and 2. I anxiously waited for the 3rd game and see how is it going to end, what is going to happen to the characters and the galaxy. Up until the last 5 minutes of the game, it was completely blown!

    But, suddenly, the game took a U turn and started going downhill fast.It betrayed not only me for insulting my intelligence, but it insulted the game itself. It ended    OK, I really loved ME1 and 2. I anxiously waited for the 3rd game and see how is it going to end, what is going to happen to the characters and the galaxy. Up until the last 5 minutes of the game, it was completely blown!

    But, suddenly, the game took a U turn and started going downhill fast.It betrayed not only me for insulting my intelligence, but it insulted the game itself. It ended without explaining anything or giving any kind of closure. And on top of it, it doesn't make any sense, not even for fiction standards.

    The reason I am giving a score of 0 is the ending. If I were to score the game prior to seeing the ending I would have given it a 8 or 9.    … Expand
  11. Radzap
    Mar 17, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Good:
    1. Weapons upgrade system. 2. Getting squadmate's abilities.
    3. Umm, reaching here, but the war effort meter gave me some motivation to visit all the systems.

    Bad.
    1. Your choices in the previous games get retconned.
    2. The cover system is totally stupid and can get you killed if you just want to leap over an object.
    3, The space bar is the default interact button for everything (Blizzard is dumbing down their button schemes too to pander to casuals)
    4. The game will try and force you to go homosexual, freaking Garrus made a pass at me and wouldn't leave me alone! Cortez gets all emo on you and wants to hold hands with you every time you see him.
    5. More retcons: Ashley was a man? So where does that come out in the game? Oh it doesn't, it's just something a writer said in an interview later. 6. Stupid boss fights: Fight a giant Reaper dreadnought and blow it up solo when it takes a whole damn army and loads of missiles to blow one up in the final chapter. WTFPWN Leng in both both boss fight against him using shield drain and maxxed out inferno rounds.
    7. Stupid Ripped Off Ending: Instead of a stupid boss fight (which would have been preferable at this point) they give you a half an hour of UNSKIPPABLE CUTSCENES and then give you a choice of three endings which have no bearing on your progress in the game. Yeah, that was satisfying.
    8. DAY ONE DLC! Yeah, the greedy A-holes want to touch you up for another $10 after you already kickd them the $60. Good job EA.
    9. Stupid missions are all the same. Go in a base, kill a bunch of dudes that rush you. Collect data, mats, or some dude and get back to the ship. Timed missions have no timer. It doesn't matter, all of the missions are stupid easy.
    10. The exploration system got even more simplified so that 100% exploration can be achieved in about an hour.
    11. The War Resources Meter has no effect on the game. I freaking rescued the Volus Dreadnought, and I wanted to see it deployed in the final battle. It was no where to be seen. You liberate a bunch of viscous gangs for T'Lara for the war effort and it has absolutely no consequences. You also free T'Lara's murderous associate from jail and nothing negative happens after she swears to go on a killing spree. You don't even get in to any trouble with Bailey the head of C-Sec about it. Basically, nothing that isn't directly linked to the main story affects the game.
    12. I have a top of the line PC and the game graphics are crap. Artifacting and noise everywhere.
    13. The final encounter with the elusive man is a JOKE. Choose the renegade option or die and restart. LOL!!

    I played this game in order to complete the trilogy and make use of my game saves. The whole thing was a serious let down from the minute I saw the message about the day one DLC. All three endings that I had involved Shepard dying in some way and even though they attempted to give you some closure by talking to the characters on a vid screen before embarking on the last mission, it just felt empty and that the sacrifice was for nothing. If you are just learning about this series, just pass on it. It's not worth the investment as the experience degrades seriously as the game progresses from box to box.    … Expand
  12. SirCabbage
    Mar 16, 2012
    1
    ** SPOILERS ARE IN THIS REVIEW ** The game was amazing, every story felt tailored to my choices and I felt rewarded when I could chose things others could not due to my diligence in the end of the game. The sound, music, both amazing, and while the graphics seemed a little aged they still worked. (well, bar the random 2D sprites and textures that sometimes popped up which looked like they** SPOILERS ARE IN THIS REVIEW ** The game was amazing, every story felt tailored to my choices and I felt rewarded when I could chose things others could not due to my diligence in the end of the game. The sound, music, both amazing, and while the graphics seemed a little aged they still worked. (well, bar the random 2D sprites and textures that sometimes popped up which looked like they were done in paint. As of now, I would have put a rating up for 9, or 10 for this game, it was fun, loads of stuff to do, explore, listen to, learn about.. the multi-player is damn addictive and the pokemon trading cards TCG booster pack system is both annoying but addicting. Then comes the bad, the bad that is so bad I am forced to rate this amazing game so low. The bad that is so terrible that it not only ruined ME3 for me, but also made me less likely to ever replay ME1 and ME2. Im sure you all see where I am going, and that is the ending. The endings themselves were weakly explained in story, full of story cannon errors and worse.. but thats not what makes me hate them. The fact is, that no matter what you do, no matter how well you play, no matter if you saved the rachni, made the geth and quarians be at peace.. anything.. Nothing you have done in the past 3 games matters to the ending, you could be good, or evil, and still get the exact damn same choices. The differences between the ending movies are also minor, with a simple colour change being the only thing to stand between controlling them, joining them and destroying them. In all three endings the major transport hubs used by the galaxy are destroyed, meaning that burning civilizations are basically forever alone in the universe and unable to build, travel or anything. A huge fleet of ships is either destroyed, or remains in orbit around earth with no way to get home, and basically all your choices didn't matter since in the end you essentially destroy the universe. Plotholes like my LI who was presumably killed during the final run to the beam mysteriously showing up on the normandy after, the weird joker trying to escape the beam for no reason, The starchild's excuse not mentioning anything to do with the dark energy mentioned all through ME2, or Shepards apparent inability to even question his reasoning. So lets recap why ME3 is good/bad

    Good
    - Epic Soundtrack
    - Rewarding to Import Savegames (during game itself)
    - Fun gameplay/combat
    - Improved squad interactions

    Bad - Ending Scenes are identical. - Ending ignors 3 years of your choices, no epilogue or future games possible unless during/in past. - Plotholes all over - Getting 100%, doing everything correctly, still you get punished by dying in all but one ending.

    Overall. Bleh

    Game 10/10
    Sound 10/10
    Ending -20/10
    Total 0/30 :P Seriously, dont pass this game if you want to still love the franchise.    … Expand
  13. Tocy
    Mar 13, 2012
    3
    I was and still am a big fan of the first two episodes of the series and I've been waiting for the third one as if it was some sort of messiah - in vain. The graphics and the combat system are ok for me, however many elements of the story line - including the so-called "endings" themselves - are simple rip-offs of other games.

    One of the most annoying aspects of the game is, however, that    I was and still am a big fan of the first two episodes of the series and I've been waiting for the third one as if it was some sort of messiah - in vain. The graphics and the combat system are ok for me, however many elements of the story line - including the so-called "endings" themselves - are simple rip-offs of other games.

    One of the most annoying aspects of the game is, however, that if you haven't had a save from ME2, then you can not really make good choices. I can not explain it further without revealing details from the story, but I can tell you that the game punishes players who did not play the previous episode(s), trying to motivate players to purchase those episodes as well.

    Summa summarum, the bad business model, the really... controversial ending and the constant feeling, that I have seen this before somewhere else makes me to advise everyone to avoid this game. I am, at least, seriously pissed because I spent money on this.    … Expand
  14. Masseffectfail
    Mar 13, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. *spoilers*

    Last night I was so excited because I was at the final mission. I was thinking to myself, "This is the best game I have ever played." Tonight I feel saddened because I went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. The ending was cheap. I am fine with the 3 choices provided at the end but the execution was miserable. You get 3 almost identical scenes with a lousy text message at the end asking you to buy more DLC. I know the only real way to effect change is to vote with your dollars so I will be boycotting all future bioware games. It's a sad day to be a gamer when it's clear the companies would rather try to exploit you to buy more DLC than provide a good ending to a series they put so much work into.    … Expand
  15. purpleoctopus
    Mar 13, 2012
    3
    Seriously horrified by the ending. Horrified. This game went from a serious 9-10 to a 3. No joke - it's that infuriating. You play for 100+ hours being told that your choices matter and the game developer, after taking your cash, essentially says "well, sorry, we don't care about your decisions - here's the worst ending of all time. Enjoy." Buy this game used or rent. And you'll probablySeriously horrified by the ending. Horrified. This game went from a serious 9-10 to a 3. No joke - it's that infuriating. You play for 100+ hours being told that your choices matter and the game developer, after taking your cash, essentially says "well, sorry, we don't care about your decisions - here's the worst ending of all time. Enjoy." Buy this game used or rent. And you'll probably want to do the same when they release Dragon Age 3. I know I will.… Expand
  16. iao
    Mar 14, 2012
    0
    Mass Effect 3 was such a disappointment. Really just feels like they're just trying to get money without giving the product in exchange. Nothing that you do in the game actually matters, the endings are incredibly similar and unsatisfying. The release-day DLC was just a slap in the face on top of it all.
  17. sjh0399
    Mar 14, 2012
    0
    ME3 is really worst ME series

    i want to refund Deluxe

    ME3's Ending lacks consistency

    and only color magic ending

    i'm so disappointed

    i never will buy Bioware games
  18. jessejplatt
    Mar 14, 2012
    3
    They really have been dumbing this game down since the first ME. I didn't really mind it because I actually really enjoyed the story and getting to know all the characters and spending hours learning back story and molding my story how I wanted. However the "ending" of the series really bothered me. It just plain out sucked. I've read all the theories behind why it was the way it was butThey really have been dumbing this game down since the first ME. I didn't really mind it because I actually really enjoyed the story and getting to know all the characters and spending hours learning back story and molding my story how I wanted. However the "ending" of the series really bothered me. It just plain out sucked. I've read all the theories behind why it was the way it was but it still doesn't explain why I get an ending that I have no say in. I can go through the 3rd game literally just do the story arc and get the same ending as someone who has played through all 3 games making all the big decisions and putting their time in to get to know the whole background of other characters. So many plot holes and unanswered questions. I literally would've given this game a 10 if not for the ending. The ending really ruined this game for me that I don't even want to go back and play the multiplayer. Which is actually decent in my opinion. It just bothers me to think about it. Bioware has really left a bad taste in my mouth. I can kind of forgive them for what they did to Dragon Age, but what they did to ME, no. Been a fan of the company since Neverwinter Nights and thought they could do no wrong, but this was the final straw.

    On a side note to people saying "quit whining it's their game and can do what they want, you just want a stupid happy ending!" No. Just no. I wanted a game like Bioware promised where my choices actually made a difference. Instead of them abandoning all the idea and themes from the first two games and forcing me a **** ending. I wouldn't mind a happy or sad ending. I just want a good ending with some closure and not huge plot holes. It is their game but they owe to the fans to deliver what we want. We are the ones who pay for the experience. $120 for a lot of people just to be slapped in the face and told that your choices didn't matter like we said they would. I specifically made an account just so I could rant about this. It felt good.    … Expand
  19. grmbrand
    Mar 19, 2012
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Contrary to the formula of the first two games, all plots lead to a single set of endings that feel out of place with the rest of the franchise (including much of what happens in ME3 prior to the ending itself). I am hopeful that this was a brilliant marketing move on Bioware's part and that DLC can clarify the outcome. I'll update my rating accordingly should this happen.… Expand
  20. CTSV
    Mar 19, 2012
    0
    I'm almost ready to take it back and demand a refund. Most will comment on the endings, but the fact is, nearly the entire game is linear to the point of being comical. Frankly from what I can gather, none of your decisions in ME 1 or 2 have any real meaning past dialog or EMS changes in ME3. There is so much extra opportunity built in that anyone can pick the game up and play through itI'm almost ready to take it back and demand a refund. Most will comment on the endings, but the fact is, nearly the entire game is linear to the point of being comical. Frankly from what I can gather, none of your decisions in ME 1 or 2 have any real meaning past dialog or EMS changes in ME3. There is so much extra opportunity built in that anyone can pick the game up and play through it nearly identically as if someone had imported their save game. You can recruit the same species and complete the same quests.… Expand
  21. BigPush
    Mar 19, 2012
    2
    Whereas Mass Effect 1 and 2 were conventional action-adventure stories set against a sci-fi background, the third and final installment in the Mass Effect trilogy attempts to address "darker", "deeper", and more "mature" themes. Unfortunately, the writers lacked the depth and maturity themselves to properly execute this sort of change in tone. The result is a poorly-constructed storyWhereas Mass Effect 1 and 2 were conventional action-adventure stories set against a sci-fi background, the third and final installment in the Mass Effect trilogy attempts to address "darker", "deeper", and more "mature" themes. Unfortunately, the writers lacked the depth and maturity themselves to properly execute this sort of change in tone. The result is a poorly-constructed story poorly told.

    While I would argue that these problems begin almost as soon as the game does (where Shepard watches a child -- the first ever portrayed in the series -- being killed), the game's ending has generated the most controversy and so is where I will focus the rest of this review. It's an attempt at a tragic ending without understanding what makes tragic endings work.

    Tragedies have a long history in Western literature. While there is and has been a great deal of debate as to the structure of a tragedy, the core idea that makes a tragedy work well is that the hero's sad fate is the inevitable result of his or her character. Aristotle referred to this as the tragic hero's hamartia (which means "mistake", though it's often translated as "fatal flaw"). This is a very important idea because as Nietzsche argued, tragedies resonate with us because they contradict, not confirm, a pessimistic view of the universe: the tragic hero doesn't experience pain and misfortune for no reason, but instead experiences this pain as a direct consequence of his or her own nature. In other words, an ending is only truly tragic if it's the result of the tragic hero's shortcomings; an ending where "rocks fall, everyone dies" may be rather sad, but because it happened at random it's not tragic.

    Mass Effect 3's ending fails because Shepard is not a tragic hero. In fact, Shepard does everything absolutely right up until the last 5 to 10 minutes of the game. Only then, by pure writer fiat, does he or she fail. There's no catharsis for the player, no satisfactory explanation, no hope. There is only "deep", "mature" death and despair.

    If games are ever going to be art, they need to pay better attention to the artistic traditions that have shaped our culture.    … Expand
  22. Zenks
    Mar 19, 2012
    0
    This is the first metacritic review I have ever done as I have never felt inclined to do so before on any previous games. Mass Effect 3 was nothing short of the biggest disappointment in recent gaming history, the day one DLC was insulting to the fan base to say it nicely, the ending was a sheer abomination that has disgraced the franchise terribly with Casey Hudson simply going on to talkThis is the first metacritic review I have ever done as I have never felt inclined to do so before on any previous games. Mass Effect 3 was nothing short of the biggest disappointment in recent gaming history, the day one DLC was insulting to the fan base to say it nicely, the ending was a sheer abomination that has disgraced the franchise terribly with Casey Hudson simply going on to talk about more dlc to be released pre game ending that doesn't address any of the current issues. All in all it's honesty 120+ hours of my game time I'd rather have back… Expand
  23. JKflipflop
    Mar 19, 2012
    3
    Game is an epic 10/10 up until the last 10 minutes. The ending of this game is so bad that it not only ruins the rest of this game, but indeed it brings down this entire trilogy. In one stroke this went from being this generation's "Star Wars" to a joke. Your choices don't matter. At all. It was all so you could be force fed some BS by StarChild and forced to picked between differentGame is an epic 10/10 up until the last 10 minutes. The ending of this game is so bad that it not only ruins the rest of this game, but indeed it brings down this entire trilogy. In one stroke this went from being this generation's "Star Wars" to a joke. Your choices don't matter. At all. It was all so you could be force fed some BS by StarChild and forced to picked between different colored explosions. Honestly, I'm still in shock. I can't fathom how the writing team that gave us this series completely imploded on itself in the home stretch like this. Abhorrent.… Expand
  24. Irraticspasm
    Mar 19, 2012
    1
    Mass Effect 3 is nothing less then BioWare and EAs betrayal of their fan base for the sake of making money. Any reviews touting this game as a ten are lies! Im pointing my finger at Game Informer and The Escapist, two sites which I frequent.

    The trilogy once hallmarked an epic story, a story where the players decisions matters, and shape the future of the universe. This has all been    Mass Effect 3 is nothing less then BioWare and EAs betrayal of their fan base for the sake of making money. Any reviews touting this game as a ten are lies! Im pointing my finger at Game Informer and The Escapist, two sites which I frequent.

    The trilogy once hallmarked an epic story, a story where the players decisions matters, and shape the future of the universe. This has all been sacrificed, cut out of the game leaving nothing but a hollow sixty dollar shell of a game, seventy if you bought the DLC, seventy five if you purchased the Collectors Edition.

    The story and writing are an utter wreck, characters you have come to care about are as hollow and lifeless as the rest of the game. Most of the squad mates you grew to know and love as the first two games unfolded make a cameo appearance, become war assets that do nothing come the end of the story. The day 1 DLC is an overpriced joke containing a character that everyone who has played the first two games will want, but in the end shows to be lifeless and lacking dialog. In the end the DLC is worth it, if you want to spend ten dollars on a powerful Assault Rifle. (Its not worth it!)

    Dialog is lifeless, far fewer renegade and paragon options appear during dialog replaced with dialog options that are more reminiscent of games from a decade ago. The Normandy is a wreck remodeled and empty, with a skeleton crew that are essentially skeletons. The ambient dialogs and chatter that filled the halls of your ship are no longer there, most rooms have no purpose whatsoever filled with silent characters that do nothing. The few ambient conversations that take place only serve to remind players of the first two games that this is a very different beast of a game.

    Ever mission, every conversation, every decision is a tortured reminder of how good the first two games were compared to the third. The ending which answers no question, fufills no expectations and does not reward you decisions is the final blow to anyone that loved this franchise.

    Add to that the Gay Romance they have shoehorned into the game. I dont mind homosexuals, I really dont but this character just will not leave me alone. Every time I speak to him it seems I get the opportunity to start a romance with him. I said no on this play through so just stop already, stop asking! Stop trying to make me romance the poor guy BioWare! If you want to make a political statement on gay marriage why shoehorn it into Mass Effect 3? Speaking of that, when did it become legal in Mass Effect 3, and not only that why isnt Ashley furious about it? In the first game shes conservative, xenophobic, she believes in god and BioWare is telling me she wont start a conversation about the gay marriage issue?

    The multiplayer is tacked on and pointless, with one mode to play to gain system control for single player, system control that does not even matter. Spend your time playing a good online game, like World of Tanks, or Call of Duty, or even Dead Space 2s tacked on multiplayer.

    As for the ending of the game, I am going to let someone else rage on that, check out this link.

    http://angryjoeshow.com/2012/03/top-10-reasons-we-hate-mass-effect-3s-ending/

    The first two games I played non stop until completion, I enjoyed them, even with Mass Effect 2s dumbed down game mechanics I still enjoyed it and played it numerous times as well as purchasing the DLC. With Mass Effect 3 I cant wait to get away from it, to think of what could have been. Play anything else, spend your money elsewhere. Make a statement in the only way you can, DONT BUY THIS GAME. DONT RENT IT! DONT EVEN LOOK AT IT! DONT LISTEN TO THE REVIEWS OF PROFESSIONAL REVIWERS ON SITES LIKE GAME INFORMER AND ESCAPIST, THEY ARE LYING TO YOU TO LINE THEIR POCKETS!

    If you find yourself in the sorry state I am in, having wasted seventy dollars on this game only to be unsatisfied with what you got, keep it in mind for the future. EA and BioWare did this with Dragon Age 2, but even that was better then Mass Effect 3. I will not purchase any more of EAs products, not after they have back stabbed me by ruining the franchise Ive come to know and love. I just wish they had held the same love I had for it, apparently not.    … Expand
  25. Slamdance
    Mar 19, 2012
    3
    An absolutely atrocious wash of bugs and graphic issue, combined with Bioware's DLC pandering and an incomprehensible group of endings make this an easy game to not recommend. If you liked your choices mattering in the final moments of ME1 and ME2 be prepared for massive disappointment. If you still think this games for you, good luck; just don't fall down the plot holes.
  26. najreo
    Mar 19, 2012
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Amazing game that builds up to what I thought would be an ending where all the big choices I made through the game(s) would come together and decide the outcome of the story. But that's not what happens. In the last 5-10 minutes Bioware manages to not just ruin Mass Effect 3, but the two previous games as well(quite impressive really). Everything you've done through the game is made worthless as this starkid(!) comes out of nowhere and gives me three choices that all have the same outcome, and I have no choice but to accept what he tells me. This feels like a really lazy and cheap ending. It's a 1/10 by me. The first 99% of the trilogy is AMAZING, but when the ending completely destroys everything else that was before it the ending doesn't matter.… Expand
  27. FellishBeast
    Mar 19, 2012
    3
    Been a die-hard fan of Mass Effect since it's release. Mass Effect 3 is the best entry in the series...until the end. The end is hollow, half-assed, and does not change REGARDLESS of any of the decisions you have made up to that point. It just feels wrong. There is no closure and it really does ruin the entire series for me.
  28. WHITECJ2OW
    Mar 20, 2012
    1
    I would like to start my review by asking you, as a review reader, what makes a story GOOD. Well first lets look at some "good" stories......pick any 10, any 10 will do. Now look for a common theme, a common element that they all contain that plays an integral part in it's enjoyment and goodness. The ending. For a story to be good, the ending has to be good, and if you are wondering yesI would like to start my review by asking you, as a review reader, what makes a story GOOD. Well first lets look at some "good" stories......pick any 10, any 10 will do. Now look for a common theme, a common element that they all contain that plays an integral part in it's enjoyment and goodness. The ending. For a story to be good, the ending has to be good, and if you are wondering yes cliffhangers can and are good for the most part when necessary. Now with that in mind, let me just sum it up: Mass Effect 3 Does not have a good ending. Notice how i did not type ending as a plural because to be completely honest all the endings are the same. They truly are. Without going into much detail I recommend you keep this in mind because other than the ending this game is 9/10, or 10/10 on a good day no doubt. But the atrocity of the ending just overshadows and takes away the replay-ability of the game and as such I do feel a 1 is truly needed for this review to be effective.… Expand
  29. nuevecuervos
    Apr 5, 2012
    0
    Loved ME1, enjoyed ME2 though the story elements seemed a bit repetitive, but ME3 was an absolute let down, crikey. Dumbed down conversation and massive plot holes paired with an absolute lack of give-a-**** for how much thought and investment players have put into the purportedly all-important decision-making process to date, since it all ends up about the same in the end anyway. blergh.Loved ME1, enjoyed ME2 though the story elements seemed a bit repetitive, but ME3 was an absolute let down, crikey. Dumbed down conversation and massive plot holes paired with an absolute lack of give-a-**** for how much thought and investment players have put into the purportedly all-important decision-making process to date, since it all ends up about the same in the end anyway. blergh. I wasn't going to spend the money after the day one DLC debacle, but I decided to give Bioware the benefit of the doubt. Never again, thanks. My *** is sore enough.… Expand
  30. KaityUK
    Apr 7, 2012
    3
    Game was way over hyped prior to release and with to me rings alarm bells. Played the PC version at a friends, appalled, poor graphics, poor story, poor voice acting, poor continuity, poor game play. ME2 was great, ME3 is pap.
  31. SpaceXDebris
    Apr 18, 2012
    0
    I agree with what pretty much everyone else here has said. It's all the more worse because it craps on what I had considered a near masterpiece (ME1). I'm done with Bioware.
  32. joem282
    May 27, 2012
    2
    I am sorely disappointed by this game. For the past five years, I have enjoyed shaping one of the most engrossing, and exceptionally written Sci-Fi franchise of all time. Not only were each of the individual Mass Effect games exceptional in their own unique ways in terms of gameplay, but they also had an extraordinary storyline that held true to canon even as the player's choices shapedI am sorely disappointed by this game. For the past five years, I have enjoyed shaping one of the most engrossing, and exceptionally written Sci-Fi franchise of all time. Not only were each of the individual Mass Effect games exceptional in their own unique ways in terms of gameplay, but they also had an extraordinary storyline that held true to canon even as the player's choices shaped them. This made for an extremely immersive gameplay experience that can be rivaled by few others. This also applies to 99% of the third entry to the Mass Effect series. While I find the first Mass Effect unique because of the sense of discovery and mysteries of the galaxy (much like Star Trek) and the second Mass Effect had a unique focus on the development of your crew and pretty good action; the third Mass Effect was unique because it was a story, an emotional and inspiring story that had been crafted personally to you based off of your actions in the third game. The over-the-top action that would make most third person shooters titles weep was a nice bonus, as well (this is in an RPG to top it off). But, to be honest, I am going to skip past the majority of the details of the game and get right to the part that affected this review's rating the most- the terrible ending. When I heard the game's ending was bad, I could have never imagined as terrible of an ending to a game, let alone the ending of an entire series, especially the Mass Effect series. To avoid spoilers, I won't go into too much detail as to the ending, but it was bad! Plot holes, circular logic, explanations pulled out of thin air and a horrific WTF moment destroy what would have been one of the best games of all times and inadvertently destroy the entire Mass Effect series. The ending doesn't even reflect a single choice you made throughout the series, NOT A SINGLE CHOICE. One could even say that the ending make the events of the first game entirely moot. I didn't want this ending, I wanted closure based off of my decisions throughout the series, you know, like the last two games. In summary, the game was epic, including the final battles. Sure there were flaws here and there, but most of them could be overlooked, up till the last 10-15 minutes of the game of course. I never thought that 15 minutes could dismantle over a hundred hours of gameplay spanning three games, not until I played Mass Effect 3… Expand
  33. 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.
  34. 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
  35. nightbringer
    Mar 31, 2012
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Don't get me wrong. Mass Effect 3 is great, I love the music, gameplay, characters, multiplayer.... 99 % of this game is amazing... The ending just bugs me. It is terrible. It is stupid and illogical. It feels rushed. There are too many inconsistencies. It introduces spirit-ghost-child as new antagonist? in the LAST minute of the game. It gives some lame, stupid reason for reapers existence. I REALLY didn't care about that... Seriously if you tell your audience for 2 games and most part of the third that the reason for reapers reaping things is inexplicable and incomprehensible (I remember Sovereign and Harbinger mentioning something about it), you can't just explain it in three sentences, especially when the reason is stupid.... oh wait Bioware did that.

    Is it enough to give this game such low review?
    In my opinion it is, because it is that crucial to the story and mass effect was always about the story...    … Expand
  36. dpark189
    Sep 17, 2012
    0
    It has been so long since the release and I'm sure if anyone did some basic research there would be nothing I could say that would be new to them. This franchise started out promisingly but it seems that the quality of the writing went downhill somewhere along the way. it's almost as if bioware just started thinking that ME was too big fail to a certain extent, so released a sub-parIt has been so long since the release and I'm sure if anyone did some basic research there would be nothing I could say that would be new to them. This franchise started out promisingly but it seems that the quality of the writing went downhill somewhere along the way. it's almost as if bioware just started thinking that ME was too big fail to a certain extent, so released a sub-par product. I put in more than 100 hrs into the first 2 games but after playing less than 8 hrs of ME3 (completed with full EMS rating) I never touched it again, even after the new ending dlc. I felt that watching the new "cutscenes" on youtube was better than having to drudge through the game again. This game just felt like a chore. There was nothing in this game that it did better than any other game in the market.

    As an action game:
    if you are going for an action type game there are 2 things that you have to make sure are on the money at the very least: good controls and for single player games: a decent ai. for me3 there is one button that does every single action. sprinting, taking cover, opening things, talking to people etc. it's all one button! didn't someone think this would be a little much? and how come there is no way for the player to bind these actions to a different key? The AI is also pretty bad. they only do 3 things back pedal, play peek-a-boo from cover or just blindly charge. even in the hardest difficulty i never found myself thinking of using a clever strategy or anything like that. most of the time the only reason why anything is even slightly difficult is just because the AI just gets a damage and hp buff but still act like complete idiots without the slightest clue on whats going on.

    as an rpg (gameplay-wise):
    a big part of an rpg is customization. armor, skills, weapons, and the feeling of accomplishment when you get that one rare item. me3 fails on all counts. there is a very minimal amount of customization in all of these categories. armor and weapons are one of the biggest disappointments, everything is just a recycled item from a previous game that many of us had already unlocked/found/bought in a previous game. So there is no real sense of accomplishment but more of just recovering what was already yours to begin with. As for the skills, sure there are different classes and 2 branches of any single skill but these skill trees are some of the most watered down ones i have seen. There is little to no real depth in combining skills and playstyles. if your an adept/sentinel you just invest in biotic explosion combos, if your an engineer you go for overload and the cryo/incinerate combo, if your a vanguard you just charge around, if your a soldier you invest in adrenaline rush and concussive shot or carnage since grenades aren't that useful, these are if your going to stay light for the recharge speed otherwise you could just go and stuff yourself with guns and just get run over. the class with the most variation is really the infiltrator since they can use a shotgun instead of a sniper rifle and that's it really. the game gets monotonous really fast, since all your doing is just doing 1 thing respective to the class you are playing.

    story:
    There isn't much i can say about this that everyone has already pounded into the ground. you can tell when a story is good when you feel immersed, you imagine yourself as part of the story in some way. at certain points you do feel this, but you are abruptly jerked out of it as some nonsensical plot device or quest jumps out and just slaps you across the face. so many of the quests are just fetch quests with little to no real significance and just drag out the story, leaving you to sit impatiently thinking "get on with it!" and it feels like shepherd is just a plain idiot sometimes. he says and does things that no rational person who is supposed to have gone through the same experiences would say. The whole first game was about finding the conduit which was a way to "teleport" to the citidel, yet in ME3 when the alliance needs to get to the citidel they just plum forget that this conduit even exists. not to mention shepherd seems completely emotionless as his friends die right in front of him (ie: thane, grunt, mordin, samara, legion, and pretty much anyone else). by the end of the game i hated shepherd, i felt like he was more of an impediment rather than a character you project yourself on to.

    This game is not worth the money. If i had known what this game was like before buying it, i wouldn't have even been willing to pay $30 for it. I feel like I would have been happier just ending it at ME2 and just thinking of it as a cliff hanger ending.    … Expand
  37. sushimpp
    Mar 28, 2012
    2
    Bioware replaced quality content, intelligent dialogues with plenty of options and a great overall RPG experience with more guns, more explosions, bigger **** fine asses and high heels. Feels like playing Resident Evil 5 except you get to say something every now and then. You can't speak to anyone on the citadel unless it's somehow mission related. Side missions appear and disappear fromBioware replaced quality content, intelligent dialogues with plenty of options and a great overall RPG experience with more guns, more explosions, bigger **** fine asses and high heels. Feels like playing Resident Evil 5 except you get to say something every now and then. You can't speak to anyone on the citadel unless it's somehow mission related. Side missions appear and disappear from your journal by themselves. The whole experience feels like the shell of what it could have been, but it is not. To conclude, the game would deserve a 5 but considering how much of a let down it was, it's getting a 2. Haters gonna hate.… Expand
  38. Pandor
    Mar 29, 2012
    0
    I can't say I enjoyed this game much at all. From the addition of multiplayer (which is required to get the best ending, unless you're willing to pay extra for iphone/android apps) which is uninspired at best, to the plot hole-ridden story, to the day 1 dlc fiasco, right up to the absolutely horrible ending, I can't say I could recommend this game to anyone.

    Worst of all is that, for a    I can't say I enjoyed this game much at all. From the addition of multiplayer (which is required to get the best ending, unless you're willing to pay extra for iphone/android apps) which is uninspired at best, to the plot hole-ridden story, to the day 1 dlc fiasco, right up to the absolutely horrible ending, I can't say I could recommend this game to anyone.

    Worst of all is that, for a game series that markets itself as being all about how your choices affect the storyline, the game does an excellent job of ignoring all of the choices you made in the previous two games. Then there's the aforementioned matter of the ending, which is one choice dressed up as three choices. Bearing in mind that right up to a week before the game was released, it was marketed as having something on the order of 17 different endings, this game is completely disappointing.

    It's not even a matter of liking really good games. If you like only halfway decent games, this still isn't up to your standards.    … Expand
  39. drogondoldos
    Apr 4, 2012
    2
    What can I say that hasn't already been said? They cut corners **** the previous choices had no major impact on the story (As we had been promised), I could go on but honestly I have better things to do.
  40. MrFist
    Apr 10, 2012
    0
    CAUTION The author is not afraid of repercussion of this article, unlike ââ
  41. nickobom
    Apr 10, 2012
    1
    The game at all is reasonable but the Ending DESTROYS everything.
    All choices along ME1 and ME2 really doesn't matter... the ME2 choices about collector base etc .. they are ignored. BioWare said that would be 16 different endings, but what we got was 3 different colors. RED BLUE or GREEN.
    There is no narrative coherence, the ending is filled with plot holes, ME1 and ME2 story was    The game at all is reasonable but the Ending DESTROYS everything.
    All choices along ME1 and ME2 really doesn't matter... the ME2 choices about collector base etc .. they are ignored. BioWare said that would be 16 different endings, but what we got was 3 different colors. RED BLUE or GREEN.

    There is no narrative coherence, the ending is filled with plot holes, ME1 and ME2 story was destroyed in a matter of minutes, they doesn't review their own games before launching? This doesn't make sense really.

    Why am I giving a 0?

    The answer is: The ending not only destroyed ME3 but the story of ME1 and ME2 too. ME3 became a action-shooter, there is only auto-dialogue, a few choices that i can count with my fingers. The game forces you to do some things, there is no roleplay anymore. I won't talk about the plotholes because in youtube you can find a lot of videos highlighting everyone one of them. They have done the same thing with DA2, they are trying to reach another kind of gamers, but to do that they are sacrificing their own fanbase. ME3 feels exactly like DA2: RUSHED. They didn't had the time to review their own creation what a crap!

    Hire another writer. Only your writers can screw a incredible story like ME in a matter of seconds.

    If I wanted to play make a Gears of War i would bought GoW. BioWare and EA are destroying every game they have. I feel sorry for them and for us cause we are losing a great developer. EA SUCKS.    … Expand
  42. Rurouni
    Apr 14, 2012
    3
    The game was a solid 8 for the first third of the game, a 5 as I neared the ending and a 0 at the finale.

    I was really looking forward to ME3 to build on the fantastic experience of ME2. I even bought the collector's edition in anticipation of a fantastic closure to the series. Sadly the plot holes that emerged, as well as a sense that the ending sequences were rushed out led to probably    The game was a solid 8 for the first third of the game, a 5 as I neared the ending and a 0 at the finale.

    I was really looking forward to ME3 to build on the fantastic experience of ME2. I even bought the collector's edition in anticipation of a fantastic closure to the series.

    Sadly the plot holes that emerged, as well as a sense that the ending sequences were rushed out led to probably one of the biggest games related letdown I have experienced in a long while. I can not in good faith recommend this game to anyone.

    I suggest that the game websites that reviewed this game on launch do a before-after review after they have finished the game. I would be interested to see the final score on metacrtic.    … Expand
  43. AdamTheDullBoy
    Jul 19, 2012
    4
    The biggest issue with this game is its failure to deliver what the overall story arch of the previous Mass Effect games was leading up to. Mass Effect 3 is nothing short of magnificent and plays very well until its last few hours; during which, however, it starts to fall apart in an unprecedented manner. Unlike during the brilliant final mission of Mass Effect 2, almost none of theThe biggest issue with this game is its failure to deliver what the overall story arch of the previous Mass Effect games was leading up to. Mass Effect 3 is nothing short of magnificent and plays very well until its last few hours; during which, however, it starts to fall apart in an unprecedented manner. Unlike during the brilliant final mission of Mass Effect 2, almost none of the thematically important choices the players made during the game (or the previous installments) manifest themselves in the moments where the Mass Effect trilogy should have reached its climax. This ultimately renders all Mass Effect games a letdown, even pointless, since the overarching consequences of our decisions have been the M.O. of the series from the very beginning. Likewise, the infamous ending of the game (even after the Extended Cut) is a textbook example of inconsistent script writing that feels incredibly disjointed from the core themes of the series, as if the writers responsible for the rest of the Mass Effect universe had nothing to do with it. In the end, it is irrelevant whether the third act of Mass Effect 3 is so cheap and rushed because of EA, greed, Bioware's obligation to implement a multiplayer into the game, etc. The bottom line is that it's a failure of the concept and the storytelling that made the series unique in the first place, in short, it is a failure of artistic integrity.… Expand
  44. tuobniklat
    Jul 20, 2012
    0
    oh god oh god it's so **** bad why why why was this made please god end the suffering end it all **** me bioware, what happened to you babys, rest in peace
  45. plushcarpet
    Nov 26, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. There are four endings now (post extended cut)

    Red ((destroy)): Destroy all synthetics indiscriminately, including the reapers. This means bye-bye Edi, Geth, plus a lot of tech that organic races are dependent on. (This is pegged "the bad ending" by many.)

    Blue ((control)): Control the reapers, keeping them and their husks alive and turning shepard into the new Harbinger. Bad idea on so many levels.

    Green ((synthesis)): "Become one with the reapers". Like control, this keeps all the horribly deformed husks alive (cannibals, marauders, banshees, scions which are 3 headed abominations fused from 3 different ppl from 3 different races, harvesters, destroyers, etc.)Turning every sentient race, organic and AI alike, into a organic/synthetic hybrid, which is the final stage of evolution, according to the translucent star child. This is pegged "the best ending" by bioware and fans that support synthesis.

    4th ending ((refuse)): You shoot the star child, give a little speech and watch as everyone dies. Then you see one of the beacons Liara made for the next civilizations to find and stop the reapers their way.

    Just awful.

    I've played Mass Effect 1 & 2 multiple times over the years. but ME3, I've only played twice and have since uninstalled. My friend also got the game on release, and now regrets it. She wanted me to play co-op with her, but why? The multiplayer looks like mindless and repetitive and like it would get boring after two rounds.

    Major letdown. I'm scared for dragon age 3, there's a 90% chance that will be a letdown aswell.    … Expand
  46. 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
  47. 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.
  48. 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
  49. 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
  50. art4321
    Nov 12, 2014
    0
    Best Ending ever!!!!! .
  51. sethman75
    Mar 24, 2012
    2
    Terrible end to what should have been the best franchise in the past 10 years and it has nothing to do with the ending. Below are my reasons why it is such a poor game.

    - Single player RPG game forcing players into a multiplayer GoW style game. The worst thing about BW being taken over by EA is that EA are forcing multiplayer into every game which takes away vital resources from the SP    Terrible end to what should have been the best franchise in the past 10 years and it has nothing to do with the ending. Below are my reasons why it is such a poor game.

    - Single player RPG game forcing players into a multiplayer GoW style game. The worst thing about BW being taken over by EA is that EA are forcing multiplayer into every game which takes away vital resources from the SP portion of the experience which in ME was it's heart and soul.
    - Terrible 5 year old graphics, with little customisation and horrible anti-aliasing/textures
    - Story was laughable, such a shame they killed off some of the most interesting chars in gaming
    - Day 1 DLC which takes players for fools and also takes away one of the best lore/chars in the game
    - Clunky and very stiff animations which look like they are 6 months of polish away from finished.
    - Side quests are frustrating as they tell you a random planet you have to find but what they don't tell is that the cluster doesn't even show up on your map until a later pre-requisite has been done. Bad design.
    - VERY poor quest tracking and info updates. You get so many quests to do at once but if you finish the goal, you have to remember where you got it from and who gave it to you. This is not 1993 BW?!?
    - Ridiculous mechanic with scanning the solar systems and reaper awareness which discourages players from exploring which was one of ME best qualities in the last 2 games.
    - Forced gayness. I'm all for choice in game but to have so many gay chars throwing in your face about this or that becomes tiresome VERY quickly and makes you start to think that BW had an agenda.
    - FOV for the combat is far too close. ME has never been a GoW/COD clone. It has always been more tactical which goes against the decision to be so close as you never feel in control of the situation.
    - Small thing but the needed the option to remove your helmet. Some of the best helmet's look horrible and you can't take them off as you need the stats. Destroys immersion and connection with the player.
    - I am disturbed on how critically acclaimed this game is by the so called experts. It really goes to show how little their opinion really means and what an ass-kissing industry video games really is.    … Expand
  52. Anonbro
    Mar 11, 2012
    0
    Fan from the first hour, this episode might be my deepest disappointment in my game history. Mass effect took foot in this rare category of the space opera, and today it commits a shameless suicide in the **** Call Of game butt hole. Why would the developers destroy this unique franchise by turning it in a total void of personality... 25 missions based on the following rule : "meet an oldFan from the first hour, this episode might be my deepest disappointment in my game history. Mass effect took foot in this rare category of the space opera, and today it commits a shameless suicide in the **** Call Of game butt hole. Why would the developers destroy this unique franchise by turning it in a total void of personality... 25 missions based on the following rule : "meet an old buddy from previous episodes, help him, watch him die/disapear somewhere". Why waste time on the multi-player side when 99.9% of this game reside in the solo side ?
    Why every game editor enforce the "multi-platform" downgrade rule with the **** texture ever on PC ?
    Didn't Bioware studios learned from DAO 2 ? It's the exact same scenario... Turn a brilliant unique game into a tasteless piece of **** for console kids.

    **** you Bioware for ruining what could have been the best game trilogy ever.
    I seriously hope you'll announce a Mass effect 4 just to show us that your stupidity knows no boundary.    … Expand
  53. Diabolos
    Mar 13, 2012
    0
    Downloadable Content on release, outdated graphics from 2008, and extremely buggy gameplay where everyone in the future can turn their heads 180 degrees. Avoid this game. Not only does it charge extra for DLC on release day, it also contains an incomplete ending which will require furthur DLC to be purchased. A massive con. Simplistic controls (entire game consists of spacebar) are alsoDownloadable Content on release, outdated graphics from 2008, and extremely buggy gameplay where everyone in the future can turn their heads 180 degrees. Avoid this game. Not only does it charge extra for DLC on release day, it also contains an incomplete ending which will require furthur DLC to be purchased. A massive con. Simplistic controls (entire game consists of spacebar) are also among its many problems.… Expand
  54. churl
    Mar 9, 2012
    1
    After DA2 and SWTOR I expected the worst from this game, so I played it for a little while. ME1/2 had better dialogue, better camera angles, a much better starting sequence (ME2), better faces and facial animations, better sound effects, and just a better overall ambiance/atmosphere. What do we get with ME3? Pointless multiplayer, day 1 cash grab DLC, laughable animations and crappyAfter DA2 and SWTOR I expected the worst from this game, so I played it for a little while. ME1/2 had better dialogue, better camera angles, a much better starting sequence (ME2), better faces and facial animations, better sound effects, and just a better overall ambiance/atmosphere. What do we get with ME3? Pointless multiplayer, day 1 cash grab DLC, laughable animations and crappy dialogue. I'm glad I didn't pay for this low quality console garbage.… Expand
  55. roee
    Mar 10, 2012
    0
    Game is not good enough. In general, I think people need to meet a real game rather than requiring them extra on the first day, especially if the game does not give them the official response. Nevertheless, clear that this is a nice game but surprisingly Hhmhllach company that just makes the game a very low level. In addition to the plot lines in my opinion not enough interesting and IGame is not good enough. In general, I think people need to meet a real game rather than requiring them extra on the first day, especially if the game does not give them the official response. Nevertheless, clear that this is a nice game but surprisingly Hhmhllach company that just makes the game a very low level. In addition to the plot lines in my opinion not enough interesting and I think there are unnecessary scenes short in my opinion they did a really good job and I wish that the company will also Mass Effect 4… Expand
  56. DvorkaM
    Mar 10, 2012
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I do realize it will sound a bit strange but if you turn this game off 5 minutes before ending, I would give this game 80%(-20 for combat, they implemented wave system from dragon age 2) Game was thoroughly enjoyable, I even felt moved to the point of tears at certain point, but then came the ending, not only did it seem that developers just ran out of time to finish it, it didn't matter if you are paragon renegade, whatever choices you made you were simply put in front of three choices (bluntly ripped off from deus ex). And to add an insult to an injury all three are basically same just a different color show. With the number of plot holes making all endings confusing, I was mostly angered that it basically ruined the reason to play any three of the installments again, because it will end all the same anyway. Had the retirement house from pinnacle station? forget it. Freed rachni quee? doesnt matter. Romanced someone? Well aside from three f***s you got, that is it. Yeah you saved he galaxy, yeah you busted your hump for three years, but no, you cant get a break. I loved mass effect 1 and 2 but now I wont be able to play it again, because it is pointless. That is why I put only 3, because the ending was so bad that it effectively ruined three games… Expand
  57. massefect3endQQ
    Mar 10, 2012
    1
    The ending alone is so worthless it would make ANY game get a < 3.0 rating. But combine the ending (worst ending I've seen in a game in at least 3 years,) with the wasted potential in this game, and it actually feels like the devs were TRYING to make a **** game on purpose. Maybe to sell DLC later to fix it, who knows.
  58. Usagi1231
    Mar 12, 2012
    0
    I loved this story so much, Bioware did more than drop a ball here. Heads should roll. They took everything that made the game special and just threw it in the trash. I started to worry about Bioware after DA2, but like so many others have said, ME was still undiminished. After so many hours of play, forgiving some HUGE bugs in the process, I was just too disappointed for words at theI loved this story so much, Bioware did more than drop a ball here. Heads should roll. They took everything that made the game special and just threw it in the trash. I started to worry about Bioware after DA2, but like so many others have said, ME was still undiminished. After so many hours of play, forgiving some HUGE bugs in the process, I was just too disappointed for words at the end. If they make an attempt to 'fix this' by offering DLC at an additional cost to players I will truly never spend another cent with their company, as it is they have lost my trust. No more Bioware pre-orders for this former fan.… Expand
  59. Mortensus
    Jun 29, 2012
    3
    After the release i gave this game a score of 1 because in my feeling not only the end was rushed/ full of nonsense, most of the game was way behind the 1st and 2nd, and none of what they promised (i mean, the things that make good rpg, and that made the 2nd and especially the 1st very good and enjoyable games), none of theses promises were kept.
    So the end was the cherry on the cake.    After the release i gave this game a score of 1 because in my feeling not only the end was rushed/ full of nonsense, most of the game was way behind the 1st and 2nd, and none of what they promised (i mean, the things that make good rpg, and that made the 2nd and especially the 1st very good and enjoyable games), none of theses promises were kept.
    So the end was the cherry on the cake.
    After so much time and a so huge dlc (almost 2 gigs) they somewhat 'fixed' things, well, they think they did. Not for me, but i have to admit they did something.
    But that doesn't make of me3 a good game, just a less bad game (bad for the price and announcements, it would be amazing for a game 5 years in the past and 20    … Expand
  60. Kharador
    Mar 14, 2012
    1
    As someone who really enjoyed the other games in the series, this is a huge let down. From the dumbed down story, terrible animation and graphic issues, and the gaping plot holes this game is just BAD. Truly disappointing.
  61. Slumbering
    Mar 17, 2012
    0
    Nothing hurts more than to lose time, money, and personal investment when it comes to an ending five years in the making. Here's a short list of the ways I feel used by Bioware/EA.
    -My money means nothing to them. It does not matter how much I have spent on their project, but only that I could possibly spend more if tricked into thinking I'll get what I paid for.
    -The story was ignored    Nothing hurts more than to lose time, money, and personal investment when it comes to an ending five years in the making. Here's a short list of the ways I feel used by Bioware/EA.
    -My money means nothing to them. It does not matter how much I have spent on their project, but only that I could possibly spend more if tricked into thinking I'll get what I paid for.
    -The story was ignored during a key portion of the game. The ending. Nothing that I could invest into the game would make the outcome any different. That is a kick to the face of every gamer alive. I did not buy a game to be told I should shut up and watch.
    -Shepard was the most human I had ever seen him. I loved how fragile my role was in the series and how much he relied on his team. When it mattered nobody who was fiercely loyal to him had his back. Apparently they all sought fit to run away when the galaxy needed them most. Does hope die with Shepard?
    -The theme is self sacrifice... self sacrifice... self sacrifice... etc etc etc but to push that theme onto the customer's wallet is freaking atrocious.
    -This list goes on just like DLC will be released for a dead franchise.

    Although beating dead horses seldom brings them back to life I hope EA/Bioware will understand that this horse is being beaten because it deserved to be beaten. Nobody will forget it and it will live on in the minds of everyone who felt strongly about their experience. Let it serve as a warning that any great piece of art if put to pasture by an owner who only cares about money will watch the art die sickly and without love.    … Expand
  62. zennyrpg
    Mar 17, 2012
    4
    The game was 10/10 until the end. The game itself had some flaws, particularly the new characters were not as fleshed out/ interesting as they could have been. But it also had some of the most satisfying, unbelievable triumphs I've ever witnessed. The Rannoch mission and its multiple conclusions convinced me that "this is the greatest game I've ever seen." Sadly, the ending killed it-The game was 10/10 until the end. The game itself had some flaws, particularly the new characters were not as fleshed out/ interesting as they could have been. But it also had some of the most satisfying, unbelievable triumphs I've ever witnessed. The Rannoch mission and its multiple conclusions convinced me that "this is the greatest game I've ever seen." Sadly, the ending killed it- but its still "bearable" as long as you can accept that you get the same crappy ending regardless of your choices in the previous or current games. Hopefully DLC will include more options/ more epicness for the ending.… Expand
  63. RyanAbes
    Mar 11, 2012
    3
    Honestly, this game was an utter disappointment. It was going somewhat well (would have got maybe a 6-7 from me) up until the ending. The endings are so bad, so... well... completely out-of-place and unsatisfying, that it justifiably knocks 3-4 points off of it's entire score. Yes, there is fan outrage. And I think justifiably so. It is a short game, it ignores all of your decisionsHonestly, this game was an utter disappointment. It was going somewhat well (would have got maybe a 6-7 from me) up until the ending. The endings are so bad, so... well... completely out-of-place and unsatisfying, that it justifiably knocks 3-4 points off of it's entire score. Yes, there is fan outrage. And I think justifiably so. It is a short game, it ignores all of your decisions (uniting species that have been warring for hundreds, if not thousands of years); there is no reason to be a completionist in this game, it honestly isn't worth it.

    Want to find out what happened with your LI's? Search youtube. Want to know how the series ends... search youtube. Want to buy the game? Don't bother, search youtube...

    The most disappointing end to one of the best series that has come out in the past few years. My biggest regret is there are no returns for PC games.    … Expand
  64. grandhammer
    Mar 9, 2012
    1
    Ending ruins the game for me. The game itself plays well but the ending is horrible, worst ending to a game I have played and ruins not just 3 but 1 and 2. Save yourself the cash and just stop at 2. Im a huge BW fanboy but they messed this one up BIG. Check out they're forums and see its not just a few of us.
  65. Dickie
    Mar 9, 2012
    0
    Before ending 95/100
    After ending 0/100

    No replay value whatsoever since I played these games for the actual story.

    I would have been willing to wait longer and pay extra for a garanteed gem. Right now i feel like i wasted both money and time.
  66. gamer2012
    Mar 9, 2012
    1
    This is truly embarassing that I have to write this about a once amazing game developer. Mass Effect 3 is a shell of what it used too be. yes Mass Effect 1 had boring elevators and vast open areas with nothing there but it was a true RPG when you look at Mass Effect 3. STORY, gameplay, endings, multiple DLC it's sad that Bioware has become EA's slave.
  67. gamezconsumer11
    Mar 10, 2012
    1
    EA/Bioware promised me a chance to an uplifting constructive result of clearing the game with minimum casualities through preparation and planning. I was led to believe something that was not delivered to me in the final product. I do not feel anything for a virtual character but I do enjoy building the character through 3 games of the series and get the results that I was led to believeEA/Bioware promised me a chance to an uplifting constructive result of clearing the game with minimum casualities through preparation and planning. I was led to believe something that was not delivered to me in the final product. I do not feel anything for a virtual character but I do enjoy building the character through 3 games of the series and get the results that I was led to believe possible. Had EA/Bioware advertised this series as a tragedy, I would not have bought the product. I will be selecting future products very very carefully from this company. I will not be buying any future EA/Bioware products as well as warn other consumers of this fraud. This game is simply destructive: it destroys your entire experience.… Expand
  68. Luck1N
    Mar 10, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I loved Mass Effect series. I played first and second game so many times. It was my favorite game series, I bought every possible DLC, even those **** "Appearence customizations", just to have the feeling I support BioWare in it's great work.

    ME3 gameplay wasn't perfect, but it was really good. Seeing old crewmates, watch them dies in some cases, but I was OK with that. But then came that ending... Those ends really ruins everything. Not only feeling from a game, but from whole series. Why should I play those awsome games again, when everytime i get that awful end? Why should I stop Saren, defeat Collectors and trying to stop Reapers, when in the end, all galaxy is almost destroyed and technologicaly behind today's Earth?

    Great job BioWare, you just killed the holly grail of all gamers.    … Expand
  69. Blazicus
    Mar 10, 2012
    1
    In a world where every port i've ever played comes ready to go with gamepad accessibility ME3 didn't bother. They did bother to release PAY-FOR DLC right on the day of release which speaks volumes about whats happened to Bioware since they soldout to the publishing giant EA. No gamepad support? Fail.
  70. Singu
    Mar 10, 2012
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game delivers a lot of good moments and for a nutcase like me who spent far too much time on the first two games it felt very good to have my choices in those games revisited in ME3. Gameplay is smoother than ever, and the classes and their abilities show that they've polished an already great thing going on from ME2. Sound was great. Both the music and the environment is brimming with quality, and it takes your auditory senses and immerse them in this world. In general I would say that the game is perfect, and my emotional involvement with the story was made even deeper by the time the final act of the game was finishing up. So, with all this praise there is no big secret that the score reflects what comes next. The ending(s) where horrible. There was a moment of actual physical pain experiencing them, because I was so emotionally involved with the world they had invited me into. I shouldn't experience a feeling of betrayal from something like a fictional story in a game, but that's how I feel. Maybe my love for the game was too strong, I don't know, but the hurt is there and it's reflected in the score I give it.… Expand
  71. Rastrelly
    May 31, 2012
    0
    Disappointing and internal law breaking product, that lowers the plank raised by previous games. Uninteresting and not original waste of time and money.
  72. moifoi
    Jun 3, 2012
    2
    Sigh, the ending was far to short and being paragon or renegade meant nothing in the end. The endings didn't reflect your play style. I didn't have any probs with the style of ending, the mist is one of the best ever and heaps of people vote it down furious over it but it still maintains a high ranking proof the movie was good.

    It's quite funny, bioware have made the following since EA    Sigh, the ending was far to short and being paragon or renegade meant nothing in the end. The endings didn't reflect your play style. I didn't have any probs with the style of ending, the mist is one of the best ever and heaps of people vote it down furious over it but it still maintains a high ranking proof the movie was good.

    It's quite funny, bioware have made the following since EA took over. mass effect 2 and 3 dumbed down, dragon age 2 the worst dumbed down rpg, SW the old republic complete junk. Oh well sell outs.    … Expand
  73. doomleika
    Mar 22, 2012
    0
    I would give this game 9.0+ score, if Bioware did a proper ending.

    Yes, the ending, the ultimate insult to Mass Effect series and the fan. To keep it spoiler free: your choice don't matter a single bit.
  74. Tunapiano
    Mar 12, 2012
    0
    Great Game, all the way up to the last 15 minutes and then it turned into a disaster...Worst ending to any video game i have ever played in 15 years of console and PC gaming going all the way back to the atari.

    I have never seen an ending that gave absolutely no closure to anything, you don't know what happens to the normandy crew, magically somehow crew members crash landed on some    Great Game, all the way up to the last 15 minutes and then it turned into a disaster...Worst ending to any video game i have ever played in 15 years of console and PC gaming going all the way back to the atari.

    I have never seen an ending that gave absolutely no closure to anything, you don't know what happens to the normandy crew, magically somehow crew members crash landed on some unknown planet when they were just with you on earth, shepard somehow just accepts death and destroying all artificial life in the galaxy and shepard either dies or you see some body that may not even be his take a gasp of air before the end. no happy ending, not even close to a perfect ending and the worst ending ever.    … Expand
  75. Papagolfwhiskey
    Mar 13, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm sure you heard it all before. If you haven't then:

    http://social.bioware.com/group/7047/
    https://www.facebook.com/DemandABetterEndingToMassEffect3

    Hold the line.    … Expand
  76. craigdecor
    Mar 14, 2012
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS !!! Turn Back now if you are allergic to SPOILERS

    I was a devoted fan to Mass effect 3 I learned the lore and loved the story. bought the books, comics, and some other random gear from the bio-ware store. There were a few flaws during the game however i was able to get past those until the end. You get three Nifty choices of ending the game in either a Green Red or Blue explosion. All those years of following the series. over 400+ hours of playing the 1st and 2nd game The life and death choices, the wonder of what those choices would bring was all undone in the end. You learn nothing of what happens because of your choices due to three identical endings (Some differences) and pretty colors. I personally feel betrayed and crushed that everything bio-ware promised us was a lie. Just like the cake. I gave this a 1 simply because they actually released something. They will never get my money again for as long as I live.    … Expand
  77. Alesv88
    Mar 14, 2012
    3
    Mass Effect is in my opinion one of the best games ever. The first game I finished at least 4 times but the second I finished more than 8 times. Mass Effect 3 gives me no desire to re-play it again unless Bioware change the ending that I think is a complete sh@t. I hate it and hate Bioware to destroy what for me was the best game ever.
    I will not buy any Bioware game anymore.
  78. silverkiller
    Mar 19, 2012
    3
    ME3 it's a game that could have been a very good game, it has good ideas and a beautiful universe, but fall short in several important things positive:
    -story -some scene
    -atmosphere and immersion negative: -low res graphics on pc -animations (look at shep run!) -short (as an rpg, 30 hours aren't a lot) - some dialogue - need tp re-romance old romances -1 button to do every things? i have    ME3 it's a game that could have been a very good game, it has good ideas and a beautiful universe, but fall short in several important things positive:
    -story -some scene
    -atmosphere and immersion
    negative:
    -low res graphics on pc
    -animations (look at shep run!)
    -short (as an rpg, 30 hours aren't a lot)
    - some dialogue
    - need tp re-romance old romances
    -1 button to do every things? i have a freaking keyboard!
    -the log! fix the quest log!
    very bad:
    -half of secondary quest are just go-fetch task
    -ENDINGS! (that alone has pulled down my vote for at least 4 points!)
    -plot-holes
    -BW/EA DLC policy it could have been the star wars of this generation, but sadly, right now has too many problem to even reach mediocrity    … Expand
  79. slackrabbit
    Mar 22, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Wow - what can I say about Mass Effect 3? Well simply as the late stand up comedian George Carlin said ' you have to marvel at that level of Bull ****
    This review will take this from a business point of view. I did my MBA in turning around failing software companies back in 2002.
    In 5 minutes Bioware / EA completely destroyed the intellectual property of Mass Effect.....you have to marvel at a feat like that!
    All those 8 years building it up, millions of dollars research, creating, developing and marketing that game.
    For those that don't know, marketing games cost even more than the development itself.....and that's when you're not buying off the critics. Yep; if I was a shareholder I would be really pissed right about now.
    As an investor I would be wondering how to short their share price.
    This game fails on so many levels. All I can say is "Decide what your product is and completely rule out what your product is not". If Mass Effect 3 is a Role Playing Game, then it must by nature involve choice right up till the end.
    This game does not.
    I have heard people speck of the 'indoctrination theory'; frankly, that doesn't matter. Whether or not you are fighting indoctrination or not is irrelevant. The question is, does the game give you choice when it counts? The answer is no.
    Therefore customers, who purchase this game under the illusion that there is choice WHEN IT COUNTS! The customer does not get that choice.
    Choosing what tropical fish to buy is not a real choice; itâ    … Expand
  80. Colonello
    Apr 7, 2012
    0
    Wont even mention the ending since all know it was crappy. But other problems are present too, way too many holes in the plot. Day1 dlc ripoff. And worst of all, forcing to use EA´s totally crappy Origin service. Come on, we got steam already, rly not fun to use another, way crappier service just cos EA is too creedy to pass the opportunitu to make more money.
  81. DulyNoted
    Apr 15, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. [Note: I originally (and accidentally) posted this under the PS3 version when in fact my review pertains to the PC one. Re-posting here.] The first user review I read was a 10 out of 10 and began, "Do not listen to the people rating this game badly. Mass Effect 3 is utterly amazing..." First of all, I agree that ME3 is utterly amazing. And that's what makes its end all the more disappointing. Consider yourself lucky if the endings of ME3 didn't disappoint you--you've been spared a sense of loss and disappointment that dwarfs any feelings of annoyance you must "suffer" when reading fans' complaints. I loved the first game, actually think ME2 was better (though I initially hated what they did in the opening sequence), but found myself thinking I enjoyed playing ME3 more than either of the first two. It really is a fantastic game that I should be able to love and agree deserves a 9 out of 10 score (endings aside, it still had some flaws). BUT... This game was the end of a trilogy. As such, the ending had to not just provide some level of satisfaction for the particular story that began with Shepard escaping Earth, but also the one that began with Shepard being sent to Eden Prime way back when. In other words, there was a lot riding on the ending of this game. There are several very good articles out there articulating why fans are disappointed with the way ME3 ended and I'm not going to rehash them here. Suffice it to say, the options provided to the player at the end of the game as well as the outcomes and consequences of those options left many long-time fans feeling like their investment in Mass Effect ultimately wasn't respected by the developers in the end. More than not just getting a "happy ending", we're left with what can only be described as a bleak, depressing one, in which no matter what option you choose, no one lives happily ever after. Sure, you saved earth from the Reapers as expected, but at what cost? The universe we're left with is a dismal one (two words: Mass Relays). If you read through all the Harry Potter books and got to final few pages of the series and read that Harry destroys Voldemort, but it costs him his life, and all his friends would be forever trapped in the world of Muggles, cut off from ever using magic again, would you feel entitled to be a little disappointed? No? Great for you. But don't go telling everyone not to listen to those who would. Mass Effect 3 was a 9 out of 10 game until the final few minutes. The turn it takes in those few closing seconds, ruined not only the game, but an entire trilogy because when the credits roll and you ask yourself, "Was the cost of saving the universe from the Reapers worth it?" the haunting answer for many of us was, "I don't know. I really don't know."… Expand
  82. Reahunt
    Apr 19, 2012
    0
    To have spent so much time in the first 2 games, only to discover that everything you did and stood for would'nt change a tiny bit in the closure of Commander Shepards story is just...
  83. Broxigar
    Apr 27, 2012
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am so sad I had to do this, I never thought I would have to. Mass Effect WAS an epic series. However I cannot condone what they have done with this game. If you don't buy this game new you will have to pay more to access the tacked on multiplayer. Yea, you heard me. There was Disk Locked Content that you had to pay $10 to unlock, which most people were going to given that the character was a Prothean. They promised you would not need to do multiplayer to get all the endings, however the best ending (a five second scene of Shepard taking a breath) is not possible to obtain without doing the multiplayer currently. Excluding 2 or 3 the side quests are atrocious. The gameplay is improved and the characters are great, Garrus being the stand out, but all this is forgotten as you try to figure out what happened in the last 10 minutes and realized it wasn't written by the same people who did the rest of the game. It's a disaster I won't even bother to go into detail as I'm sure every other review hits on it. This is the single worst ending in the history of gaming. It's like Bioware doesn't want anyone to buy from them again. Giving me a terrible ending and adding the text "Buy more dlc" isn't going to make me happy.… Expand
  84. Timber
    May 16, 2012
    4
    I'll keep it simple. ME was perfect, ME2 was not as good but held itself quite well. What is this 3? How do you take a brutal amount of good things and trash most of them is beyond my understanding. The ending, bioware.... did you really thought about paid DLC for the ending before the "rage"? That stupid kid is a joke. But not only, ME3 is full of lame characters and dialogs, it feels asI'll keep it simple. ME was perfect, ME2 was not as good but held itself quite well. What is this 3? How do you take a brutal amount of good things and trash most of them is beyond my understanding. The ending, bioware.... did you really thought about paid DLC for the ending before the "rage"? That stupid kid is a joke. But not only, ME3 is full of lame characters and dialogs, it feels as a new crap series, not ME.… Expand
  85. kofelovr
    Mar 25, 2012
    1
    I originally gave this game a 6, but I'm reducing that to a 1 because of all the BS public relations rhetoric BiowarEA is putting out there to defend that travesty of an ending instead of acknowledging it was flawed. Falling back on the old "artistic vision" crap just isn't going to quell the outrage of an, arguably, good percentage of the people who have finished playing the game.I originally gave this game a 6, but I'm reducing that to a 1 because of all the BS public relations rhetoric BiowarEA is putting out there to defend that travesty of an ending instead of acknowledging it was flawed. Falling back on the old "artistic vision" crap just isn't going to quell the outrage of an, arguably, good percentage of the people who have finished playing the game. "Artistic vision", my a$$. People had those kind of visions back in the 60's when they: "Turned on, tuned in, and dropped out". That coupled with the "we'll have more information for you in April" crap which is a painfully obvious stall tactic to not tank sales even more -- it couldn't be more transparent and it's insulting to the player's intelligence. It's dismissive in tone and nature. Way to go -- alienate even more of your core fan base.… Expand
  86. Alex_Whatever
    Mar 19, 2012
    2
    There is some merit to what Mass Effect 3 tries to do, but it ultimately fails at the hands of some over-zealous writer who ignores everything that happened during the previous 100 hrs. and shoehorns a new character into the ending that brings in a lot more questions and answers none. There is no pay off to this story, no culmination to your personal decisions, no outcome that make sense,There is some merit to what Mass Effect 3 tries to do, but it ultimately fails at the hands of some over-zealous writer who ignores everything that happened during the previous 100 hrs. and shoehorns a new character into the ending that brings in a lot more questions and answers none. There is no pay off to this story, no culmination to your personal decisions, no outcome that make sense, and you ultimately wonder if everything you did actually mattered then. The answer is that in the end, no, it doesn't matter.… Expand
  87. Fourdee
    Mar 12, 2012
    3
    Mass effect 1 - had many issues, but showed promise in a franchise.
    Mass effect 2 - A step forward in combat mechanics and streamlined gameplay, a step backwards in freedom with a linear exploration feel
    Mass Effect 3 - A quick money making title, ignoring the basics of animation and gameplay mechanics. PC ignorance is bliss here. I dont know what game the review companies are playing,    Mass effect 1 - had many issues, but showed promise in a franchise.
    Mass effect 2 - A step forward in combat mechanics and streamlined gameplay, a step backwards in freedom with a linear exploration feel
    Mass Effect 3 - A quick money making title, ignoring the basics of animation and gameplay mechanics. PC ignorance is bliss here.

    I dont know what game the review companies are playing, but its not the one purchased. A huge disappointing to a franchise that has gone from RPG to a FPS with poor movie style cutsceens. The SPACEBAR is used for running, rolling around, selecting world objects. It fails most of the time and you find yourself rolling around when you try to run. You find yourself standing still when your trying to run because a world object came across your hud. The animations are dreadful, for a game that trys to sell itself as a movie, it feels like they forgot about animating your player, the one you stare at. At the start of the game, you are given an option to either play the game as Action/RPG/Social. Action is the default setting, RPG claims to be "the mass effect experience" but none of the options actually provide you with information on what you gain or lose from each. The end product feels rushed, forced on console gamers and a huge disappointing to a player who loved ME1/2. It seems bioware has lost interest in making "SOLID" games, its a company that just wants to roll in on past victories, and forgets why people loved their 1st games.    … Expand
  88. sniperking
    Mar 12, 2012
    3
    ME1 set the grand standard for the whole series. The best of the trilogy and I started playing ME2 first.

    ME2 had some problems but was still a great game. Tied in well with 1. To show that I am not trolling Bioware by writing this, I want to highly endorse playing ME1 and 2, they are why this series has such a passionate fanbase and are achievements in gaming in themselves. BUT BELIEVE    ME1 set the grand standard for the whole series. The best of the trilogy and I started playing ME2 first.

    ME2 had some problems but was still a great game. Tied in well with 1.

    To show that I am not trolling Bioware by writing this, I want to highly endorse playing ME1 and 2, they are why this series has such a passionate fanbase and are achievements in gaming in themselves.

    BUT BELIEVE THE OTHER GAMERS WHEN THEY SAY THAT ME3 IS BAD, IT IS FULL OF PROBLEMS.
    To break it down here why you should not support the direction Bioware took with ME3.

    1. Three bad endings. Let's get one thing straight, fans love this game for its story, characters and world. Its combat was good but not its true selling point. So for Bioware to give us endings which provide no closure and instead tons of plot holes is a big disappointment. Not to mention that if you were involved with the game's 'lore', the ending would make absolutely no sense.

    I personally found the dialogue in this instalment particular dry, even boring. Not a good thing in a game where you spend a lot of time talking to NPCs.

    2. The renegade/paragon system seemed more superficial in this instalment. Do not believe that you control the way the story develops by your so called choices. In the end you have 3 set endings and it seems like your choices are illusory at best.

    After a while I either forgot or didn't care about being renegade/paragon because the game seemed absent of truly reflecting the moral decisions I made. I couldn't change a major part of the story from my decisions, I couldn't stop a crew mate I liked from dying, then what was the point of the decision system?

    They could have stepped it up on how your decisions impacted your universe but they didnâ    … Expand
  89. Kaorimoch
    Mar 13, 2012
    1
    I consider myself a Mass Effect Fan having played Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 multiple times and enjoying the experience, but Mass Effect 3 irked me in many ways.
    1. Origin Exclusive - To play this game, you are forced to sign up and play through the developer's portal. Since I have membership to 7 other gaming websites, signing up to an 8th makes it difficult to keep track of where    I consider myself a Mass Effect Fan having played Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 multiple times and enjoying the experience, but Mass Effect 3 irked me in many ways.
    1. Origin Exclusive - To play this game, you are forced to sign up and play through the developer's portal. Since I have membership to 7 other gaming websites, signing up to an 8th makes it difficult to keep track of where all my games are registered to.
    2. Multiplayer - In the game to get the best ending, you have to completely exhaust all single player missions and do some multiplayer. Some people like myself think multiplayer and RPGs don't mix.
    3. The ending is completely at odds with how the entire saga played out. It has very little choice, plays like some existentialistic dream at odds with reality and gives no satisfying conclusion. It seems devoted to making some writer at Bioware smile in joy with the emotions they have inspired with the ending - the emotions of anger and disappointment it brings out in the player. I've never seen such an abrupt and jarring ending since KOTOR2. It has been universally slammed by fans whilst critics and Bioware opine that the fans have to eat it.
    However, the game was great with simple missions that don't take too long to complete, plot twists, great graphics and challenging combat. The romances, storylines and respect to the choices players have made in the past (except for the ending), make it a great tale. Great opening, great middle, complete let down at the end.
    All in all, the game seems devoted to forcefeeding its fans instead of allowing them to take their final journey with Shepard to its ultimate conclusion. For an RPG, this is an unforgivable sin.    … Expand
  90. CoyoteLovely
    Mar 14, 2012
    4
    Like everyone else, I loved the game - and hated the ending. I would say that the unfortunate thing is that five minutes of ending have made me question keeping the games. I think fondly back on months of talking with my friends about what the ending would be - only to really have it make no difference. Its stunning really, how quickly the game turns south too... it goes from being a gameLike everyone else, I loved the game - and hated the ending. I would say that the unfortunate thing is that five minutes of ending have made me question keeping the games. I think fondly back on months of talking with my friends about what the ending would be - only to really have it make no difference. Its stunning really, how quickly the game turns south too... it goes from being a game of loss, and battle, and trudging through the war, praying that the answers get easier at the next turn.... And then, the last five minutes, where nothing makes sense, and all the endings are (for all intents and purposes) exactly the same. Buy it, don't buy it. Be aware that the game itself is magnificent - but there's this underlying feeling that some pencil pusher asked the dev team where they were with the game, and the Dev Team said "We've got everything done but the last hour of the game. We're at this weird place in the Citadel right before the final battle." And the pencil pusher said "You've got two days, wrap it up, and ship it - whatever it is. We'll fix it with DLC." My further impression of this is how very short the game was. As a comparison - I picked up Mass Effect 2 about a week before Mass Effect 3 was released, and I only got about a third of the way through the game in that week (this is with knowing EXACTLY where everything was, and exactly how to complete all the missions - there was no fumbling or wasting time). I'm done with Mass Effect 3, finished it on Monday, having put in a very similar block of time - and that would mark day 6 of my ownership of the game. Ultimately, I'm part of the outraged many. I had problems with EA's Origin system, and getting a preorder from them - but I didn't let that deter me. I just ordered it from Best Buy instead... I was a defender of Bioware when the DLC scandal came up. But the ending? I feel like an abused girlfriend at this point.

    Seriously, play the game - but at the moment where you're about to beam up to the Citadel, turn off your console, put down your controller, and go write fan fiction of what your ending should be. It will be more satisfying.    … Expand
  91. Gyrolin
    Mar 15, 2012
    3
    I bought the game. The gameplay was fun. The ending was horrible. The decision resolution was atrocious. The co-op multiplayer is redundant. The day 1 DLC felt like exploitation.

    EA has ruined both Mythic and Bioware. I am severely disappoint.
  92. ivan_ru
    Mar 17, 2012
    3
    Mass effect 3 has become more shooter than RPG, all of these settings are more similar to weapons purchase in a counter-streak, and the skills needed for the opponents of deportation from the walls. The ending is absolutely stupid. Diagnosis: a shooter that is worse than counter-strike, with dialogue from the mass effect 1-2, and very stupid ending.
  93. 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
  94. CainOfCimmeria
    Mar 18, 2012
    0
    Mass Effect 3 continues the engaging and wonderful traditions of the first two games in the series... right up until the finale. Without including any spoilers, I wish I could say that I just didn't like the end, or that the I didn't agree with the way BioWare chose to finish their masterpiece. Instead, the ending trivializes everything that made this series wonderful and nullifies anyMass Effect 3 continues the engaging and wonderful traditions of the first two games in the series... right up until the finale. Without including any spoilers, I wish I could say that I just didn't like the end, or that the I didn't agree with the way BioWare chose to finish their masterpiece. Instead, the ending trivializes everything that made this series wonderful and nullifies any replayability. Mass Effect 3... none of your decisions matter. Skip this one if you loved the first two.… Expand
  95. sizuka2
    Mar 19, 2012
    4
    Mass Effect 3 is the culmination of one of the largest attempts at fusing gameplay and narrative to date. From the beginning, the bargain has been this: Bioware is telling a story about Shepherd vs. the Reapers; the players are choosing how Shepherd goes about this.

    For most of the game, Bioware tells a magnificent story, while providing changes and consequences to support the choices of    Mass Effect 3 is the culmination of one of the largest attempts at fusing gameplay and narrative to date. From the beginning, the bargain has been this: Bioware is telling a story about Shepherd vs. the Reapers; the players are choosing how Shepherd goes about this.

    For most of the game, Bioware tells a magnificent story, while providing changes and consequences to support the choices of individual players. This produces a remarkable degree of player investment. Unfortunately, the very end of the storyline deliberately averts any catharsis.

    People remember the peak and end of an experience. Bioware ensured that the peak experience of the trilogy was this ending, and that the ending caused revulsion and rage.

    Do not play unless you can ignore the story entirely - in which case, why not play a game less focused on story?

    Not recommended.    … Expand
  96. LEGION3000
    Mar 21, 2012
    1
    What happened to Bioware? Where did you go wrong? The once proud creators of 3 of the best RPGs in all of gaming (KOTOR, ME1, DA:O) have become the peddlers of mindless garbage like Mass Effect 3 and DA2. The whole idea of Mass Effect was the 'EFFECT' part. Your actions are supposed to effect the outcome of the game, and the series. This game literally takes every decision you haveWhat happened to Bioware? Where did you go wrong? The once proud creators of 3 of the best RPGs in all of gaming (KOTOR, ME1, DA:O) have become the peddlers of mindless garbage like Mass Effect 3 and DA2. The whole idea of Mass Effect was the 'EFFECT' part. Your actions are supposed to effect the outcome of the game, and the series. This game literally takes every decision you have made in the previous games, laughs at them and then flushes them down the toilet. Sometimes just strait up telling you, "no you didn't choose to kill that guy last time because we feel he is important to the story we are trying to cram down your gullet! But you can choose which one of your companions you want to boink, even the gay one! LOOK HOW EDGY AND COOL WE ARE!"

    This game is an insult and a travesty to anyone that played the games before. At least Bioware had the decency to change main characters before ruining Dragon Age. The graphics look good some of the time, and the song in the purgatory club has a good Daft Punk beat. Otherwise play Mass Effect 1 and 2 again and just imagine the end of ME2 is the ending of the series, you will be far far happier than the choose your death ending of ME3    … Expand
  97. 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
  98. IonicJohn
    Mar 10, 2012
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is one of the biggest betrayals in the history of video games since Ultima 9. I loved the series. From start to finish. Well at least up to a couple of minutes before the finish.
    The story disappoints on the end. And without story Mass Effect is a sub-par action game and nothing more. I'll let the bugs, horrible animation and dumbed down gameplay go for the time being. The game is such a let down that it made a feel a little sick. First of all having lost my ME2 saves, there's a whole different world in ME3. A world which totally disregards almost everything that happened in ME2 and ME1. Up to the point of having characters which had a lot of history in ME2, meet like total strangers in ME3. But whatever I let that slide too, maybe I should have back-upped my saves.
    The endings are awful and whatever you choice you made over the last 2 games and this one become moot. It sort of feels like the story writers were either drunk or they had watched the last 2 Matrix movies or they had no time to finish a cohesive story and just rambled on about their pseudo-philosophy.
    The game's story becomes so pretentious that it renders anything you've build up over the years from playing these games into a joke. I'm a minority and I'll say that I enjoyed DA2 but the signs from Bioware's decline were evident there. Maybe I thought that they wouldn't throw the ME series under the bus just to get their cash. Maybe they would give a sh*t about their fanbase. Maybe they would try hard to properly finish a so far brilliant series. But no. Everything you knew and loved about the game goes down the drain in the last 10 minutes of the game. It's so horrific to watch and play through it.
    At first it looks like a joke, you thing "No, they couldn't possibly suggest..." but then reality kicks in and your start to fearfully realize that this is it. This is the end they are offering you. You can get your war assets to a point that you might get something positive but for that multiplayer is essential which is completely pointless and annoying for many players. Why punish people who either dislike the multiplayer aspect or just plain can't be bothered with something that's its not supposed to affect the single player part of the game?
    There is no redemption in ME3, this is just shockingly bad. You may defend the game, you might appreciate the "Shepard dies" ending(s) but the fact of the matter is that the game not only restricts your choices to strictly linear level but it also spits on your face by making every effort you've put into creating a better character, a unique character with his own choices and personality, completely pointless.
    Mass Effect 3 is a bad game even if you're not invested in the trilogy like many of the fans were. From a technical point of view, the game has graphic issues, the facial animations have been worsened since the last game (don't know how they managed to pull that off), the action is mediocre at best, always repetitive and sickeningly linear. The dialogue is poor at times and borderline b-movie-esque, there are many plots holes in the story, both in itself but also when comparing the last two games, and for the game time is relatively short, assuming you follow the main questline. With 100% completion of all side quests, no dialogue/cutscene skipping, observing ALL secondary dialogues/chats between NPCs where available, talking to ALL crew members all the time and exhausting all conservation option, the game time will not exceed 30 hours. That makes the game not a game but a visual novel. Which would be fine by me; Mass Effect 2 follows the exact same pattern, but the disappointment at the end of the game is just too much to forgive from all this pile of flaws. BioWare have made a terrible game and a terrible mistake by creating ME3 as they did. I feel sorry for all ME universe fans like me who highly anticipated the game and spends their money just to see one of their favorite worlds destroyed by shoddy writing. I would say to any fans of Mass Effect who might be deterred from buying the game to just wait till the price drops and then get it, so they can see for themselves. I felt insulted while playing the game and this has never happened to me before and I've played a lot of bad games over the last two decades. Shame to you BioWare. Even 20 DLCs won't make this right. And I'm sure you'll start releasing them soon enough but I don't think this fish is gonna bite.
    PS: You've got a lot of work to do in order to reclaim your fans when ME4 comes out. A lot of work...    … Expand
  99. Staph
    Mar 11, 2012
    3
    I'm really sorry to give this game such a low score, but I found the way it rounded up the trilogy outright offensive. The first ME got me hooked by the level of writing that is uncharacteristic of most video games and some of other mediaâ
  100. OverwatchUK
    Mar 11, 2012
    4
    Mass Effect 3 overall is a fantastic game that I thoroughly enjoyed. Putting the past 4/5 years of effort into multiple play-throughs of both previous games I had high expectations of ME3 which were (mostly) fully met and realised. That is; until the last 15 minutes of the game. The finale takes absolutely no notice of any choices you have made in the previous games and boils down toMass Effect 3 overall is a fantastic game that I thoroughly enjoyed. Putting the past 4/5 years of effort into multiple play-throughs of both previous games I had high expectations of ME3 which were (mostly) fully met and realised. That is; until the last 15 minutes of the game. The finale takes absolutely no notice of any choices you have made in the previous games and boils down to "Press Red, Green or Blue to finish the game".

    As a new-comer to Mass Effect this won't matter and will overall be a great game - But to those players who have invested time and effort into the franchise, the ending scenes will feel like a crushing blow.
    As a huge Mass Effect fan, I felt dirty upon finishing it - Like I'd been sucker-punched and then spat on. Wrapping up 3 games, Over 80+ hours of gameplay with a Red, Blue or Green decision... Gutted. Disappointed. Pissed off.    … Expand
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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.
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  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]
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  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.
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