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6.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 7228 Ratings

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  1. Jul 20, 2020
    8
    The end leave a bit to be desired, but overall, it's an amazing experience!
  2. Jul 3, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Mass Effect 3's gameplay is smooth and fun. People complain about the ending and death of the beloved characters in Mass Effect 2. Well Mass Effect Trilogy always had a dark atmosphere. Mass Effect Trilogy was never a fairy tale whic everyone lives happily ever after. Mass Effect 3 does a great job to remind you that. Expand
  3. Jul 6, 2020
    10
    the end of the best Saga in gaming, nothing more to say, 1-3 is a clear 10, this equals to the Star Wars Universe, all the storys behind, this game is simply amazing
  4. Nov 15, 2020
    9
    Не понимаю ненависти других игроков, шикарная rpg . От концовки не разу не пригорел, все нормально, но к сожалению - не величественно. Боевку сделали лучшей в серии. Темп повествования очень высокий и размах чувствуется. Когда играешь - понимаешь, что творится конец света. Отличная игра ,но, до второй к сожалению- не дотягивает .Не понимаю ненависти других игроков, шикарная rpg . От концовки не разу не пригорел, все нормально, но к сожалению - не величественно. Боевку сделали лучшей в серии. Темп повествования очень высокий и размах чувствуется. Когда играешь - понимаешь, что творится конец света. Отличная игра ,но, до второй к сожалению- не дотягивает .
  5. Sep 28, 2020
    9
    Would've gotten a 10 if not for the horrendous tactic of Galactic Readiness that forces the player to play an inoffensively passable multiplayer experience that drags on for over 10 hours, then regresses at far too fast of a rate in order to "encourage" the player to buy microtransactions. The general plot of the game is fantastic up until the final 30 minutes, but I've forgiven thisWould've gotten a 10 if not for the horrendous tactic of Galactic Readiness that forces the player to play an inoffensively passable multiplayer experience that drags on for over 10 hours, then regresses at far too fast of a rate in order to "encourage" the player to buy microtransactions. The general plot of the game is fantastic up until the final 30 minutes, but I've forgiven this egregious error since BioWare remade the ending in order to fix up the blatant plot holes. I also hate the idea of taking out crucial story elements such as "Awakening" and "Leviathan" and selling them as Day 1 DLC, a tactic still used by AAA developers and publishers in order to promote Season Passes. It's a scumbag move to nickel and dime your fans out of the full experience. Stop it, EA. While my first and third point mostly have to do with EA being greedy, the parts of the game that BioWare was responsible for are the gold standard of gaming. If there was more time for BioWare to create the game they envisioned, maybe the game would've been better received by everyone, and it is generally a damn shame that the ending of the game is so talked about, it obscures every other strength and weakness the game has. Since I've already talked about it's weaknesses, let's talk about it's strengths. In spite of losing the main writer for the last two games, every story and character plot is satisfactorily concluded in some way or another. Depending on how you played Mass Effect 2, you can either rekindle relationships with your friends or visit new (and admittedly more dull) characters that fulfill the same role. Every side plot has a firm conclusion to it that still has dire consequences based on the choices you make, and the combat is unmatched in my opinion. Even more enemies than before, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, power weapons strategically placed to turn the tide of battle, squad controls that make the game so satisfying to play even 8 years later, and even though the spacebar is overutilized for movement, the movement itself it drastically improved from the clunky and slow paced movement in Mass Effect 2 and 1. This game is excellent if you removed the final 30 minutes, and deep down, you know it's true, too. I'll be the first to criticize BioWare for their egregious mishandling of the ending, their refusal to address the ending to anyone, and even how they botched Andromeda beyond repair, but at the source, this is EA's fault for rushing the game and being greedy pigs. 9/10; excellent game. Expand
  6. Dec 12, 2020
    3
    Eh the game that ruined this series. You build up truly phenomenal plot and characters just to take a huge crap at it in the end. Even after their attempt to subdue the backlash with DLC leaves distaste.
  7. Mar 10, 2012
    5
    As a shooter, ME3 is passable. Not amazing, but passable. The trouble is we were all told that role playing aspects would be put back in from what ME2 turned out to be. They weren't. Not really. You get binary choices that have very little bearing on anything. You won't get a different game by making different choices. You won't even get a noticeably different combat playstyle by makingAs a shooter, ME3 is passable. Not amazing, but passable. The trouble is we were all told that role playing aspects would be put back in from what ME2 turned out to be. They weren't. Not really. You get binary choices that have very little bearing on anything. You won't get a different game by making different choices. You won't even get a noticeably different combat playstyle by making different choices. Basically what happened is Bioware dumbed down the amazing Mass Effect 1 into very little more than a pure shooter. Then they figured if they just throw a couple of dialogue trees and weapon mods back in, then they can appease fans of the original. As is, there's maybe enough here to warrant a playthrough, but you shouldn't feel like you're missing much by waiting to get it used. Expand
  8. Mar 7, 2012
    6
    As an addendum to my review, due to writing, the game is riddled with plot holes so enormous, they have become event horizons that suck in the other games in the series.
  9. Mar 7, 2012
    5
    The Good: Interesting (though unoriginal) story tied and linked to your previous Mass Effect excursions. Better gunplay and customization of combat features. Had a few well done story telling elements and ended in a cleverly ambiguous cliffhanger.
    The Bad: Graphics, not enough dialogue, no way to easily change or reverse decisions, on that note not enough decisions, too easy (headshot,
    The Good: Interesting (though unoriginal) story tied and linked to your previous Mass Effect excursions. Better gunplay and customization of combat features. Had a few well done story telling elements and ended in a cleverly ambiguous cliffhanger.
    The Bad: Graphics, not enough dialogue, no way to easily change or reverse decisions, on that note not enough decisions, too easy (headshot, headshot, headshot, spacebar), nowhere near enough side-stories or enough gravitas to the few side-stories included (incoming dlc), generally didn't feel like there was much to do.
    The Ugly: Plot crucial day 1 dlc (played without it, regretted it a few times), deus ex machina everywhere, no way to choose what choices you made in the past if you don't have your savefiles handy, mandatory multiplayer for "readiness".
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  10. Mar 9, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Well I finished Mass Effect 3, and also I'm very disappointed. I feel like I was reading a good book and the last page someone smeared ****

    Why?

    I do not feel rewarded for the effort I put myself in that stupid save the galaxy. Treatment **** peace between the Geth and quarians, the entire structure of the catalyst, the improvement of relations between turians and krogans, save Raknii.

    I wonder why I did it, after which the entire efforts of mine by the whole trilogy? I feel after the game that had no impact as a shepard nothing has been changed or anything not affected, everything worked out the trail went.

    I saved geths, why then it asks me to kill them otherwise he would not beat the reaper. I feel as a player by BioWare even punished and not rewarded with the end, and because of this I am very sorry.
    Unfortunately, the truth is that for me Mass Effect was over before the last battle.

    I'm not saying that the end is bad because they are ok, but after what happened in the game introduces a system of galactic ready if it does not give it an opportunity to save an existing life in the galaxy as I expected.

    If it gets such a system forces the player to many hours of gameplay in multiplayer, making the game at 100% of all secondary missions, exploration of the galaxy is clearly visible that which is to be playing it all comes from, doing absolutely everything to ensure the safety of themselves and their crew and to save what he can, and in the end the end of your story practically does not differ much from the end of someone who has been playing for so-called "hurray" is something is not right.

    As I wrote feel very cheated, because it turns out that everything I did, and as they say, "Oh your ass break down."

    Explain to me why the game at 17 Endings, there is no single "Good ending".

    I hope that BioWare is still understood and patch gets even short and simple happy ending
    Hah ... I'm even willing to pay for them ...

    Bioware give us a proper ending, or go the hell and never come back.
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  11. Mar 10, 2012
    2
    This game is the ending to ME3 and the ending to the Gold streak that Bio-ware once had.

    Good The general game play is close enough to ME2 for a player to not notice much however. Bad Politics - Please let me play and leave to propaganda alone. Gay rights - Don't care stop trying to shove a Twinkie down my throat Ending Holy Crap the story was fine until the last 10 min where the writers
    This game is the ending to ME3 and the ending to the Gold streak that Bio-ware once had.

    Good
    The general game play is close enough to ME2 for a player to not notice much however. Bad
    Politics - Please let me play and leave to propaganda alone. Gay rights - Don't care stop trying to shove a Twinkie down my throat Ending Holy Crap the story was fine until the last 10 min where the writers must have started doing LSD and wrote what they saw. i mean we work for 3 games total to influence the out come and it come down to 2 cookie cutter endings. - Looks like EA has ruined another great game company!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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  12. Mar 15, 2012
    4
    Mass Effect 3 features a decent single player storyline that, despite the early introduction of a fanciful 'Secret Weapon of Awesomeness', is quite entertaining for about 20-25 hours. The gameplay works, even if it's rather repetitive and doesn't really expand on what ME2 had to offer. The much discossed ending of the trilogy is indeed a storytelling disaster, the only part of which thatMass Effect 3 features a decent single player storyline that, despite the early introduction of a fanciful 'Secret Weapon of Awesomeness', is quite entertaining for about 20-25 hours. The gameplay works, even if it's rather repetitive and doesn't really expand on what ME2 had to offer. The much discossed ending of the trilogy is indeed a storytelling disaster, the only part of which that speaks in BioWare's favour being the fact that they had the audacity to make their deus ex machina an actual "god out of the machine". I wasn't too impressed by the multiplayer, which, with it's 11 waves of whack-a-mole, is only mildly more interesting than the bot-servers of earlier FPS games. Expand
  13. Mar 9, 2012
    2
    Well basically, I play Mass Effect games for the exceptionally deep dating and relationship mechanics. Well, OK, they're not perhaps as deep as in some other games, but there are few other mainstream games that give me quite such a wide choice of subsurfaced polygonal ass to seduce, and do so within the context of a 60 hour campaign. Some people call me a "neckbeard" or even moreWell basically, I play Mass Effect games for the exceptionally deep dating and relationship mechanics. Well, OK, they're not perhaps as deep as in some other games, but there are few other mainstream games that give me quite such a wide choice of subsurfaced polygonal ass to seduce, and do so within the context of a 60 hour campaign. Some people call me a "neckbeard" or even more insultingly and prejudicially, a "faggot" (verbatim quote), but I don't care. I have a perfectly healthy sex life, I just find games that can deal with seduction and relationships so much more mature than other games. Anyway, this is basically where ME3 falls down so hard. In the first installment of this franchise, there were only two female companions to choose from: Liara and Ashley. Now, two might be a small number for a romantic partner selection, but don't mistake ME1 for being a dumbed-down game: the two women were completely different. Ashley was a sexy space-marine (beautifully subverting genre stereotypes), and Liara was a sensitive and kind Asari. Both girls were kick-ass, and the decisions one made about about who to sleep with could be really difficult. This was further complicated by the choice of having to sacrifice either Ashley (potential waifu) or Kaidan (absolute bro). This is why I love this series: deep choices. Now, Mass Effect 2 actually extended this further: there were now not only a vastly greater selection of team-members to romance, but they now also had their own loyalty missions, conflicting with the other members of the cast in a beautiful panoply of enmeshed storylines. Want to romance character A? Well, get ready to piss off B and C in the process! In seducing Miranda, I found the game to be incredibly immersive (I felt just like I was seducing a real girl!), and I was truly brought into the game. This, kids, is good game design. Sadly, ME3 has none of this. It portrays its female, romanceable characters in a frankly sexist and stereotyped way. The whole game blatantly views these females as nothing more than sex objects, and it really shows. Just look at the Ashley redesign! Frankly, I no longer find her attractive, with her Barbie hair and boobtastic outfit. Disgusting. Worse, when I tried to bring this up on the Bioware forums, I was told to stop criticising Bioware and given a cautionary infraction. If you value the depth of romantic interaction usually found in Bioware games, steer well clear of this stinker. I give it a 2/10. Wouldn't bang. Expand
  14. Mar 9, 2012
    4
    SPOILERS!

    As an avid Mass Effect fan, I was really looking forward to this game. I even did the Origin predownload so I could start playing at midnight exactly. I loaded it up and at 12:03am started playing. 14.5hrs and like 20 rockstars later I sat facing my computer with tears running down my face. Hey maybe I am emotional, but when 71hrs of my life (ME1 +2 +3) goes down the drain, I
    SPOILERS!

    As an avid Mass Effect fan, I was really looking forward to this game. I even did the Origin predownload so I could start playing at midnight exactly. I loaded it up and at 12:03am started playing. 14.5hrs and like 20 rockstars later I sat facing my computer with tears running down my face. Hey maybe I am emotional, but when 71hrs of my life (ME1 +2 +3) goes down the drain, I have a right to cry.

    Honestly, I didn't mind the ending I got, in as much as it was an "epic conclusion to an epic MOVIE". Yep, Bioware took a great video game series and converted it into a movie blockbuster where the hero sacrifices all to save the galaxy. Well guess what, a video game isn't supposed to play like a movie! The ending should work in accordance with the actions the players have taken to ensure the final outcome while providing an emotionally (for an RPG like this) enthralling story. Not move inescapably to an inevitably gut wrenching conclusion. Additionally, the game has reduced the replay value of the entire trilogy to virtually nill. Why should I replay ME1-ME3 when I know that regardless of my "numerous and poignant choices" the end is depressingly the same? Moreover, the addition of "gameplay types" (or whatever its called) is nothing but an excuse to cover an irritating reduction of player control over dialogue, another irritating movie-like feature of the game. Furthermore, Bioware's attempt to give players more 'sexual freedom of choice' is just downright disgusting! Introducing male homosexuality this late in the series as a casual (and awkward) fling is demeaning to the community, especially when lesbian romance has been a choice since ME1! If Bioware wished to make a statement about gender homosexual equality, put it in a news release or do it with some respect at least. Finally, when the face importing issues are included in the tally, I can only give this game a 4/10. If it had been a $9 movie ticket and not an $80 game, I would have given it a 12/10.

    Oh well, maybe I should have realized the tone that was set in the opening minutes when the child Bioware didn't allow me to rescue was killed by a machine Bioware made nearly invincible while I stood upon a retreating ship listening to an irritatinally opressive score would have been carried through to the end of the game. So its my own fault for playing the game hoping that what I KNEW was going to happen wouldn't. (As a side note, didn't a thresher maw take down one of them and I took down a thresher maw on Tuchanka, right? So if A beats B and I beat A, shouldn't I beat B?) P.S. The multiplayer aspect of the game is quite enjoyable has been the redeeming aspect of the game in my opinion.
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  15. Mar 10, 2012
    0
    Oh man this will be difficult to express in words as I cannot seem to make a coherent sentence when it comes to expressing the devastating amount of disappointment I was subjected to all throughout my experience with Bioware's latest game: Mass Effect 3...

    I want to start off by saying that I found the first two games incredibly exceptional (Some didn't like 2 but I loved it in terms of
    Oh man this will be difficult to express in words as I cannot seem to make a coherent sentence when it comes to expressing the devastating amount of disappointment I was subjected to all throughout my experience with Bioware's latest game: Mass Effect 3...

    I want to start off by saying that I found the first two games incredibly exceptional (Some didn't like 2 but I loved it in terms of its story, characters and pacing) but the third installment is quite possibly the most disappointing game I have ever played that I can think of due to the fact that I have spent so much time and invested quite a bit of emotion into this series... The choices made from previous games are simply irrelevant and very little effort has been placed into implementing the power of choice and its consequences as the earlier games did so well.

    The story itself, from which Bioware has built its reputation, is laughable, cheesy, predictable, and just plain infantile. It seems EA perhaps has dispersed all of Bioware's writers or they simply left to companies that were offering a higher salary because the difference in the quality of the script and story between this game and the first two is seriously night and day, I mean words cannot describe how bad the story has gotten. People have compared the story to that of a Michael Bay movie and that is not far off, although Bay atleast gives some sort of conclusion to his stories, here there is none, just youtube the "perfect ending" and you will see for yourself.

    I believe the forced homosexuality and the day-one 10$ DLC (crucial to the main story btw..) as well as the horrible multiplayer crucial to achieving the optimal ending (lets kill waves of enemies like a cheap knockoff of CoD's survival mode) have all been touched on by others here but it goes without saying that these were all decisions made without any respect or care to the fanbase that made the company what it is. Those idiot doctors sold out big-time, as if they didn't have enough money, they do not care at all about their integrity, their image, or more importantly their fans - this is a complete spit in the face to all who invested their time and money in the previous games and it goes to show the absolute corruption of capitalism seeping into the gaming industry at last. Oh and the critics? lol.. if there ever was a case of them being bought out by these giants like EA or Activision, well here it is folks, do not trust the critics, if you must - pirate the game and see for yourself but I would strongly not recommend that either simply because you will come away even more disappointed than after having read this review. And I haven't even touched on the technical aspects or the gameplay or their obvious marketing ploys which have become, as others have stated, incredibly subpar.. The overall package that is Mass Effect 3 is one of the biggest dissapointments in entertainment history and is a very very bad game - do not put yourself through the pain and agony and sadness that I did by playing this game (I even re-played the first 2 before this.....)

    Bioware you have fallen far indeed - DA2 , then TOR (don't get me started), and now this... Although you will keep selling, know that you have lost all the fans that made you who you are today and that you will never be releasing a quality game ever again with executives like this.
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  16. Mar 10, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am a gay gamer. So this is not a 0 for them including the gay romance. I am happy they did. It made sense considering the game is supposed to be based on our choices.

    Speaking of which. Our choices didn't matter in the last five minutes. And I am so entirely pissed off. It didn't matter what we did over three games, there were three endings. They were all the same. Just with slightly different colors. There is no reason why the Normandy was going through a mass relay. It just made no sense.

    And the fact that the synthetics were created to kill the organics to prevent the organics from creating synthetics that would kill them was just so entirely stupid I don't even know what to say.
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  17. Mar 17, 2012
    4
    the game exciting, interesting and amazing, exactly to the last mission! The ending is just disgusting! No epic battles, the last mission is ugly boring, the ending totally illogical and senseless. What happened to the rest of the team is unknown. I was very disappointed BioWare, which I did not expect from them.
  18. Mar 9, 2012
    1
    I'll pass on the utterly disgusting textures because that's not why I'm playing Mass Effect for. I couldn't care less. I play it for the choices you can make. I replay it because I'm curious as how my choices change the events. I took the time to have a savegame prepared for ME3. The game had its moment and I actually enjoyed it until the last 15 minutes that wasted countless hours on theI'll pass on the utterly disgusting textures because that's not why I'm playing Mass Effect for. I couldn't care less. I play it for the choices you can make. I replay it because I'm curious as how my choices change the events. I took the time to have a savegame prepared for ME3. The game had its moment and I actually enjoyed it until the last 15 minutes that wasted countless hours on the previous instalments. I did take the time to look at the different endings and felt like looking at some sort of freaky mix between Deus Ex:HR and Battlestar Galactica endings'. Now go and make some more money with an alternate ending DLC that will actually deserve the name of a "choice-driven" game. Expand
  19. Mar 14, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A really good game, Initially I gave it a TEN, because I thought that people were just bashing the game for the same sex scene, now after seeing the endings I can say that It's a GREAT GAME, It would score 10/10 'til the "conduit" scene, It's full of citation from the other games and for someone like me that finished the other titles 10 times each IT'S GREAT! The final scene (and the last battle itself) it's REALLY BAD WRITTEN, -The fact that the citadel moves? WTF? All mass effect 1 and the Sovreign thing is USELESS if the reapers can move the citadel. GUYS COME ON!! WTF????? Did the guy that wrote this thing ever played me1? Does he know the story?
    -WTF? Where does TIM come from? Did the reapers let him in?
    - THE CHOICES? 3 ray of different colours? Man, It could have been the best game ever. I'm really sorry.
    I'm giving it a 6. The Game deserve a 10/10, the ending a 1/10.
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  20. Mar 11, 2012
    3
    Finished this yesterday. So we went from really cool, immersive, slightly too fiddly RPG where I spent hours upon hours absorbing the lore and marvelling at what Bioware created (ME1) to quite enjoyable pop-corn shooter-RPG with a passive story (ME2) to retarded Michael Bay movie with ham-fisted drama, frame rate issues, horrendous ending and day 1 DLC. Please, Bioware, do NOT make a newFinished this yesterday. So we went from really cool, immersive, slightly too fiddly RPG where I spent hours upon hours absorbing the lore and marvelling at what Bioware created (ME1) to quite enjoyable pop-corn shooter-RPG with a passive story (ME2) to retarded Michael Bay movie with ham-fisted drama, frame rate issues, horrendous ending and day 1 DLC. Please, Bioware, do NOT make a new Baldur's Gate game. Let it be. Expand
  21. Mar 12, 2012
    2
    This one is really annoying! There is too much video and too little game in it. The battles are very irritating, especially the grenades and the cover system sucks.
  22. Apr 12, 2012
    6
    I have just completed a complete play-through of the Mass Effect series. This following plays of the individual games numerous times including two play-throughs of ME 3. In the complete play-through I migrated a save to each game utilizing the same developing character and important plot points in order to experience story continuity and empathy so highly lauded and promoted by the makerI have just completed a complete play-through of the Mass Effect series. This following plays of the individual games numerous times including two play-throughs of ME 3. In the complete play-through I migrated a save to each game utilizing the same developing character and important plot points in order to experience story continuity and empathy so highly lauded and promoted by the maker Bioware. I found too much disparity comparatively to call this a true trilogy in the better sense of trilogies. Most importantly the writing for this never achieves more than just beyond comic book level writing and they at Bioware could certainly use some people on their team that have more understanding of human behavioral dynamics and interaction. Shepards gestures within the framework of very important decisions was painful and embarrassing to watch! The knuckle breaking just before the choice to perform a levering action was childish and insensitive. His sudden shifts of behavior in dialogue choices and actions was heavy/ham handed. There is the invitation to get more involved with characters along the way only to have that short-shrifted terribly in ME 3. At one point I felt as if Bioware wasn't really capable of handling what they had designed in concept, fully realizing it and fleshing it out. It isn't to my mind and could have been so much more. At this particular juncture I have no real interest in further participation in this series. The bottom has fallen out . I have no interest in any future dlc or ending changes. I am a painter/artist and I wouldn't change the colors, patterns, designs to suit someones taste or to coordinate it with someones sofa. The potential patron can see the results up front and choose. I have no backers I am in collaboration with that would influence quality or choices. But Bioware's efforts, admittedly, do include the players, their hard earned money, time, and energy. Their advertisements are replete with participation rhetoric. ME 3's multi-player for example. So there is a different context and responsibility. I will say lastly, that the way the "Return from Ashes" dlc was presented was a hurtful thing to do! The very important information given up by Javic in various conversations throughout the game, especially during the Thessea mission with Liara, betrays, to my mind, underhanded marketing behavior on the developers/publishers part. Javic's participation seemed crucial to better understanding and meaning in the storytelling. Yes I got the synthetic(order), organic(chaos) dynamic, which has been around and argued about for some time now, nothing new, which is this series's ending note and the other various models of philosophic thought concerning self-awareness and perception. But in the end it all isn't pulled together very convincingly and the end sort of 'hangs' there by itself. For myself I really thought that the Geth involvement and the partial integration of the Geth faction, the Heretics, was going to be the galaxies 'back door' to the Reaper demise. Something a little more classical and redemptive in grand fashion as the end of ME 2 seemed to be heralding. Awe, that would be too simplistic, but more achievable. This also was my last involvement in anything EA. I know that Biowares top generals are also on the board of EA, and I question the future of fairness and consideration for the consumer at this point. Does the proposal for a changed ending to ME 3 have to do with the players opinion of the story or their pocketbooks and falling out of favor? Expand
  23. Mar 9, 2012
    1
    Very poor dialogue, and is a clear move towards FPS arena. Safe to say, I will not be purchasing any of the DLC packs, nor buying any more in this franchise, game was trying to be politically correct with gay lord scenes, on top of the poor RPG elements.
  24. Mar 10, 2012
    5
    Mass Effect 3 is a good game which sadly lost what made it great, where you might have felt the outcome of your choices matter and you were shaping the story to what you want, in the end it leaves a lot of question and a feeling of unsatisfaction as your choices in the series are disregarded or marginalized for plot convenience to coincide with the materials they published regardless ofMass Effect 3 is a good game which sadly lost what made it great, where you might have felt the outcome of your choices matter and you were shaping the story to what you want, in the end it leaves a lot of question and a feeling of unsatisfaction as your choices in the series are disregarded or marginalized for plot convenience to coincide with the materials they published regardless of plot holes and not the story you shaped for yourself. Expand
  25. Mar 11, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Mass Effect was my favorite series of all time. Because of this game's ending, I now regret ever having played at all. I have looked forward to a climatic conclusion to this series for years and have only received disappointment. Ultimately, the story I built, I choose, and I experienced meant nothing. Three incorrect choices are presented with no satisfaction of a job well done or that I made a difference. Expand
  26. Mar 12, 2012
    2
    Most of the main missions are well done, you can generally get the resolutions you want, with some consequences sprinkled in. For this, the game gets about a 9. I truly enjoyed myself.

    Side quests are weak, they mostly consist of mindless grinding, which is never a good thing in a game. I wanted more on-site side quests as in ME1 and ME2, but was sorely disappointed. For this the game
    Most of the main missions are well done, you can generally get the resolutions you want, with some consequences sprinkled in. For this, the game gets about a 9. I truly enjoyed myself.

    Side quests are weak, they mostly consist of mindless grinding, which is never a good thing in a game. I wanted more on-site side quests as in ME1 and ME2, but was sorely disappointed. For this the game gets maybe a 3.

    And then there's the ending. In fact, the entire final mission was a huge letdown for me. It's the greatest betrayal of a gaming franchise I've ever experienced, and I've been around since the Commodore-64 days. It makes no sense, it spits in the face of the loyal fan, and it has ruined not only this game, but every preceding game for me. The ending is so bad that it eclipses every positive thing you could ever say about the game. It's a -10 experience. So we end up with a final score of 2. Until Bioware fixes the ending, I'm warning every friend of the franchise and friend in general not to play/buy me3. This was not an experience I'd wish upon my worst enemy.
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  27. Mar 12, 2012
    1
    This game left the series in rubble. The action was great, the story was great, until the end of the game. The end of the game left me feeling cheated on not just mass effect 3, but the entire series. Would have been a solid 9, but the ending was so bad, it gets a 1.
  28. Mar 12, 2012
    1
    If you have been playing these games since the first and expect to be able to import your custom made Shepard, then stay away from this one, at least for now.

    There is a bug preventing face importing of characters created in ME1 and carried over to ME2, and despite what Bioware has said, no amount of tweaking in the character creator or with fanmade tools will get you your Shepard back.
    If you have been playing these games since the first and expect to be able to import your custom made Shepard, then stay away from this one, at least for now.

    There is a bug preventing face importing of characters created in ME1 and carried over to ME2, and despite what Bioware has said, no amount of tweaking in the character creator or with fanmade tools will get you your Shepard back.

    So you will be left with a useless pile of computer bits in your harddrive collecing cyber dust, hoping for a patch that seems more unlikely with each day, just so you can finally start playing the game you've paid for so long ago.

    The menus did look nice so I'm giving it a 1.
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  29. Mar 12, 2012
    2
    Terrible ending that utterly destroyed the series. I feel cheated, cheated out of the money I have spend on ME1, ME2, and ME3. Bioware will not receive a dime from me until they fix this mess. If they fail to acknowledge the fans then I will never purchase another Bioware product again.

    The only reason why I gave this a 2 is because of the solid gameplay, otherwise it would have gotten a
    Terrible ending that utterly destroyed the series. I feel cheated, cheated out of the money I have spend on ME1, ME2, and ME3. Bioware will not receive a dime from me until they fix this mess. If they fail to acknowledge the fans then I will never purchase another Bioware product again.

    The only reason why I gave this a 2 is because of the solid gameplay, otherwise it would have gotten a 0 from me.
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  30. Mar 15, 2012
    5
    I loved the ME series. This final game was supposed to bring all the previous choices of the games together, adding replay value, and creating one of the greatest rpg/shooter hybrids to date. Instead, the final moments of ME3 throw all your previous decisions out the window and each of the 3 ending choices are nearly identical, all vague explosions with little to no closure as to whatI loved the ME series. This final game was supposed to bring all the previous choices of the games together, adding replay value, and creating one of the greatest rpg/shooter hybrids to date. Instead, the final moments of ME3 throw all your previous decisions out the window and each of the 3 ending choices are nearly identical, all vague explosions with little to no closure as to what happens afterwords, none of your choices matter. They messed up, bad. Other than those final moments, the game was extremely enjoyable, it was just such a bad ending I can't give it a positive review (it destroys any replay value of the previous games as well, since none of those choices matter). Combat mechanics wise, they mad improvements and complexity to ME2 without making it overly redundant like ME1. As for multiplayer, it's repetitive and not what anyone really asked for, but still fun, mainly since I'm a ME fan though, not because it's anything groundbreaking with lasting value. I would have rather seen that effort put into making real endings based on player choices so I could enjoy replaying all the Mass Effects. Expand
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. 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.
  2. 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]
  3. 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.