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. lumakker
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    This review is not against the game, it is against How the game is sold. First of all: Origin only is completely unacceptable. I bought both Mass Effect 1 and 2 on Steam and i want to complete my collection in the same drawer. I really love the Mass Effect series but EAs DLC policy as well as the "action-oriented" direction the game is progressing towards to appeal to the CoD audience areThis review is not against the game, it is against How the game is sold. First of all: Origin only is completely unacceptable. I bought both Mass Effect 1 and 2 on Steam and i want to complete my collection in the same drawer. I really love the Mass Effect series but EAs DLC policy as well as the "action-oriented" direction the game is progressing towards to appeal to the CoD audience are the reasons why i will not buy Mass Effect 3. A game has to include everything in the already way too high 60â… Expand
  2. NarcolepticPyro
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    I was honestly expecting more from this game. The awkward homosex seemed forced, the scenery in the ending is a blatant ripoff of a random wallpaper (Google "space winter"), there's much less dialogue options, the morality is still good vs evil as opposed to several differing factors of morality, and the ending was just a horrible knock-off of Deus Ex, characters can no longer be importedI was honestly expecting more from this game. The awkward homosex seemed forced, the scenery in the ending is a blatant ripoff of a random wallpaper (Google "space winter"), there's much less dialogue options, the morality is still good vs evil as opposed to several differing factors of morality, and the ending was just a horrible knock-off of Deus Ex, characters can no longer be imported properly, and the game has even less RPG elements than the previous games. If that wasn't bad enough, Bioware removed a core part of the story and sold it separately for $10. This is one of the biggest flops in the industry, worse than Duke Nukem.… Expand
  3. VanFanel1980mx
    Mar 6, 2012
    2
    There was been a lot of negative reaction about the three gameplay modes implemented in this installment, while I find the RPG mode just as the usual Mass Effect while the Action mode is more straightforward and just goes for a predetermined outcome most of the time, but Story Mode is not even what we expected, for one it is not even as Hepler's critics thought, you have to actually fightThere was been a lot of negative reaction about the three gameplay modes implemented in this installment, while I find the RPG mode just as the usual Mass Effect while the Action mode is more straightforward and just goes for a predetermined outcome most of the time, but Story Mode is not even what we expected, for one it is not even as Hepler's critics thought, you have to actually fight your way through the game BUT the difficulty is dumbed down to the point of having no inmersion or sense of urgency, if you want to see how the story goes you are better off watching someone else play it on You Tube, otherwise you will be bothered by gameplay a lot.

    The Story is what you could expect and let's leave it at that, the ending was too predictable and as always you can expect another sequel, the "diversity" stuff has been criticized but that's for whoever wants to play it that way, nothing breath taking, more akin to a typical fanfiction.

    For an action game it is an OK game, for an RPG is below average.    … Expand
  4. UpsetGamer
    Mar 8, 2012
    0
    I can't believe "news" sites are saying ME3 is hated because of homophobic gamers.This is just the EA/Bioware propaganda talking, hiding behind a homophobia accusation when in fact this game is absolutely horrible.Everything is recycled content, graphics are worse, boring story, boring gameplay and yes boring sexual relationship.The great majority of gamers hate how sexuality is presentedI can't believe "news" sites are saying ME3 is hated because of homophobic gamers.This is just the EA/Bioware propaganda talking, hiding behind a homophobia accusation when in fact this game is absolutely horrible.Everything is recycled content, graphics are worse, boring story, boring gameplay and yes boring sexual relationship.The great majority of gamers hate how sexuality is presented in this game because it's stereotypical, boring and forced down our throat, there have been plenty of gay characters in games before and nobody cared, It isn't about that, it's about turning a game into a political platform and making us pay for it by falsely hypeing it up.We knew there was going to be gay romance and nobody cared, what we didn't know was that the game was going to **** this much.… Expand
  5. vish
    Mar 8, 2012
    0
    This is atrocity. 1. DLC 'From ashes' already on the disc of collector's edition at least.
    2. Problems with new facial system. I bought 2 collector's editions of Mass Effect 1 and 2. I lived with my character for 4 years already. And now what? I just have to wait for BioWare doing their job correctly? 2 years of development and this is how you treat paying customers?
    Thank you Electronic    This is atrocity. 1. DLC 'From ashes' already on the disc of collector's edition at least.
    2. Problems with new facial system. I bought 2 collector's editions of Mass Effect 1 and 2. I lived with my character for 4 years already. And now what? I just have to wait for BioWare doing their job correctly? 2 years of development and this is how you treat paying customers?

    Thank you Electronic Arts for making the BioWare company it is today. Great games, great crappy performance, great greed.

    Lights out.    … Expand
  6. stargategod1989
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    i had already read the spoilers for this but i decided to pick it up just to check it out im sorry i did and will be taking it back for a full return since it "somehow" stopped working. this is a terrible game, with a terrilbe plot and a horrible ending that sucks any tiny enjoyment one got from the game
  7. ancient_serpent
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    Hey Eric Kain, believe it or not, my negative review has nothing to do with any gay or lesbian choices. It has to do with the terrible endings that absolutely negate any choices I made in the previous two games. hours getting those exactly the way I wanted. You know why? Because I cared about the characters and the results of my characters decisions. The ending choices are a non-choice. IHey Eric Kain, believe it or not, my negative review has nothing to do with any gay or lesbian choices. It has to do with the terrible endings that absolutely negate any choices I made in the previous two games. hours getting those exactly the way I wanted. You know why? Because I cared about the characters and the results of my characters decisions. The ending choices are a non-choice. I will never support Bioware or the freaking retard Helper that wrote this abominations with my money again. To everyone saying "Oh, they're just mad at the gay sex": Grow up. This has nothign to do with you wanting to be a victim, it has everything to do with poor writing, crappy endings and the disloyalty Bioware has shown ME fans.… Expand
  8. diula3
    Mar 7, 2012
    3
    this is very disappointing lack of variety of combat elements. just shoot and run shoot and run and thats it binding every action into one key responsible for run,pick, cover, heal is absolutely retarded this will get you killed very often when you try to run but it ducks into some ridiculous cover rpg elements are ridiculously insufficient. poor graphics on pc lack quality anti aliasing ,this is very disappointing lack of variety of combat elements. just shoot and run shoot and run and thats it binding every action into one key responsible for run,pick, cover, heal is absolutely retarded this will get you killed very often when you try to run but it ducks into some ridiculous cover rpg elements are ridiculously insufficient. poor graphics on pc lack quality anti aliasing , just some ridiculously blurry silly fxaa instead of msaa and high texture also lacking no match for skyrim and previous mass effect titles what a shame bioware such a huge let down… Expand
  9. Molotova
    Mar 8, 2012
    2
    ----The bad:
    1/ The decisions from ME1 and ME2 have very little impact on ME3. Most are decisions are hacked away to funnel one down the story path. 2/ Romance is forced upon the player. In ME1 and 2, I always picked up "lets focus on the mission, no time for that kindof stuff with whole galaxy at stakes" option. Garrus who was the companion I had with me the most in ME2, except for when I    ----The bad:
    1/ The decisions from ME1 and ME2 have very little impact on ME3. Most are decisions are hacked away to funnel one down the story path. 2/ Romance is forced upon the player. In ME1 and 2, I always picked up "lets focus on the mission, no time for that kindof stuff with whole galaxy at stakes" option. Garrus who was the companion I had with me the most in ME2, except for when I gave him the lead of the fire squad and the like in the suicide mission. All of a sudden he jumps out of the closet and wants a homosexual relationship !? That is insulting even to homosexuals... makes no sense, breaks the immersion.
    3/ The ending is bad. Seemed to be stolen from Deus Ex, except in Deus Ex they made sense.
    4/ The Game of Thronesque knack for killing off characters/companions the reader/player has grown attached to advance the story and for some canned emotional factor. Except for a novel when it happens the story advances and it is nice. In a RPG the player just feels helpless, conned and like it is a means to shove another cut scene down the throat.
    ----- The good: The multiplayer part. It is a nice addition to the game, although unnecessary if the single player game had any appeal or replayability ---- The ugly: Day 1 DLC. I am less bothered about it than most, for me it just translates into a quite expensive full game. Still it is a blatantly ugly move by BW/EA, and their cover up PR BS is just as ugly.    … Expand
  10. AshenPhoenix
    Mar 8, 2012
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Bioware has now proven that they are entirely incapable of delivering sequels nowadays. After the catastrophe that was DA2, which left me with a great feeling of dissapointment, I was vary, but since I thought the ME series had other developers than DA2, I still thought I didn't need to worry. But it seems everyone at Bioware has read the same game developer book, "How to ruin promising IPs". I truly loved DA:O and ME1, I liked ME2 although I was worried of the direction. But this game and DA2 is pure crap.

    Worst of all is Biowares inability to deliver satisfying endings although that is far from all there is. I thought DA2's ending was the worst, but ME3's "Different Colors" endings are a slap in the face of ALL humanity. Take those two games and add in SW:TOR and you can see how badly Bioware manages these days, and the only reason they are still succesfull is because of past glories. To Bioware: Anyone can see that you don't want anything to do with the RPG community anymore so stop trying, leave RPG out of your game making PR and just go make braindead shooters and try to compete with MW and BF series.    … Expand
  11. Metaldaze
    Mar 8, 2012
    2
    Not just a terrible way to end the franchise, peoples choices seem to actively be shamed or spit on. Certain LI's are barely in the game and you are pidgeon-holed into how the game will end. The beginning was amazing, especially as a hardcore ME1 & ME2 fan but at the end of the game you end up with a sour taste in your mouth as if you've been sucker punched in the face and made to thinkNot just a terrible way to end the franchise, peoples choices seem to actively be shamed or spit on. Certain LI's are barely in the game and you are pidgeon-holed into how the game will end. The beginning was amazing, especially as a hardcore ME1 & ME2 fan but at the end of the game you end up with a sour taste in your mouth as if you've been sucker punched in the face and made to think you wasted your time.… Expand
  12. kriosis
    Mar 8, 2012
    4
    After playing Mass Effect 1 & 2 I had high hopes for ME3. Sadly this game did not live up to the hype. While there was improvement there is also far more problems that can't be overlooked. I'll cover the improvements first. Pros.
    1) Certain combat mechanics have been refined. Building your character works similar to the previous games but a lot more skills a far more useful this time    After playing Mass Effect 1 & 2 I had high hopes for ME3. Sadly this game did not live up to the hype. While there was improvement there is also far more problems that can't be overlooked. I'll cover the improvements first. Pros.
    1) Certain combat mechanics have been refined. Building your character works similar to the previous games but a lot more skills a far more useful this time around. Allowing more customization to how we would prefer our abilities to work as we progress was a really great idea.

    2) Weapon Customization and the Weight system are in my opinion the best part of this game. Which is sad with all things considered. I prefer to carry few weapons. I used the heavy pistol and the sniper rifle. Because of this I was very light allowing for quick power cool downs. I maintained 200% cool down reduction due to the customization. Customization was various, you could increase weapon damage, accuracy, stability, penetration and a few other helpful additions. 3.) Reputation was a welcome change. I was getting tired of Paragon and Renegade responses only having an effect on anything. Here there is that grey choice/response and it actually contributes.

    4.) It was nice to see many of those that survived the previous two games, even if those reunions are unbelievably short, seeming almost rushed. We'll get to that last one in a bit.

    Cons.

    1.) I already said combat was somewhat refined. But it also has its issues. One of those biggest issues being the combat can be incredibly clunky. Space bar does almost everything. You sprint with it, you pick up things with it, you dive and evade with it, you get into and out of cover with it, it does far to much and doesn't always do what you want it to.

    2.)Missions and journal tracking are poorly executed here. Most missions are picked up by eavesdropping on random people aboard the Citadel. This becomes troublesome because you'll often find yourself sitting there listening to conversations while not entirely sure it'll have anything for you. There were a few times I ended up running past them because the area was so cluttered I couldn't make out where it was coming from, especially when there are multiple NPC's engaging in conversation around you. Most you can do is just stand there wait for something to be added to your journal. Secondly the journal is terrible. It's very vague and remains that way through out missions. A mission that reads "find Cerberus Documents" will always say "find Cerberus Documents" even after finding them, there is no reliable way to check your progress in it. It does however update with "New" beside missions, but this is easily over looked when scrolling through the missions tab or forgetting to mark it as viewed when you get the missions. 3.) The call of duty audience, Bioware really wants them, so much so that they're sacrificing choice in every game mode. I played through RPG mode, the traditional "mode" we're familiar with when it comes to BioWare titles. I was surprised when the conversation radial rarely appeared. It seemed most of Shepard's responses were automated. 4.) Lets talk about a lot of returning squad mates. While I was happy to see them, that feeling was short lived. After browsing through ME3 romances I noticed they were far more in depth. So if your LI (love interest) was exclusively in ME2 prepare to be disappointed. As an example I romanced Miranda, the LI scene was short and quick, you were in, you talked, fade to black, you're out of the room. No time to talk after, say good bye, nothing. The last time I seen her was near the end where she played a pretty major role in the plot. But even here, being reunited for the last time lacked any form of communication or closure. Maybe it's not this way with all of them, but I was pretty disappointed.

    5.)Tali's face is so original. Oh no, it's an image taken from google then photoshoped. I didn't romance Tali, if you did I really feel bad for you. I'd be pissed at the lack of effort put into her and her race as a whole. They're humans in space suits with no immunities. 5.) I'm running out of room. So lets get to the obvious. The ending, holy hell are they familiar. After doing some digging it seems they pretty much ripped the ending right away from Deus Ex Human Revolution. While it worked for that game. It does not work here. This is what we've been building up to? Technically 3 endings where the only difference is 3-4 seconds and changes in color? There was absolutely no closure here, nothing.was.solved. You're screwed no matter what you pick. This is not what the player wants to feel after so much time in this series. Like Tali's face, the ending background was stolen, from a Windows wallpaper. TL:DR Wait until it's in the bargain bin. Even then, you're better off imagining your own ending. Dream about it if you have to. Dream seems sum up the ending in more then one way.    … Expand
  13. JJDrakken
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    Your lured & lulled into a sense you'll finally make a difference. When you get to end you realize nothing you did matters, your herded into endings that no matter what will leave very bad taste in your mouth. They have flat out ruined emotional investment in the series you may of put into it.
  14. HateApe
    Mar 6, 2012
    3
    Disappointing, derivative and convoluted. BioWare tries to make things deep and emotional but with their Bayesque approach to storytelling it just ends up utterly pretentious. You'd expect better from the supposed masters of interactive storytelling. Speaking of interacting there is barely room for it in Mass Effect 3's dialogue system. With the cinematic presentation taken too far youDisappointing, derivative and convoluted. BioWare tries to make things deep and emotional but with their Bayesque approach to storytelling it just ends up utterly pretentious. You'd expect better from the supposed masters of interactive storytelling. Speaking of interacting there is barely room for it in Mass Effect 3's dialogue system. With the cinematic presentation taken too far you will be watching Shepard go on and on without any form of player input almost as if you were really at the cinema. While the generic shoot and stop gameplay isn't necessarily bad it doesn't begin to make up for the rancid conclusion of this maudlin space opera.

    Do yourself a favor and play Deus Ex instead.    … Expand
  15. Haelium
    Mar 7, 2012
    1
    From the hamfisted forced drama to the endings taken straight from Deus Ex and re-branded, Mass Effect 3 is evidence that Bioware is finished. Between The Old Republic and Dragon Age 2, Bioware have either forgotten what made their games great, or they are being forced to make bad decisions by EA.

    The animations are an embarrassment to say the least, the sprinting animation in    From the hamfisted forced drama to the endings taken straight from Deus Ex and re-branded, Mass Effect 3 is evidence that Bioware is finished. Between The Old Republic and Dragon Age 2, Bioware have either forgotten what made their games great, or they are being forced to make bad decisions by EA.

    The animations are an embarrassment to say the least, the sprinting animation in particular.
    Gameplay is a carbon copy of Mass Effect 2, but with an inferior level design.
    Choices made in Mass Effect 1 and 2 are barely noticeable, which was a major selling point for this game.    … Expand
  16. Electro-Delic
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    EA treats players like retards, while they are the biggest one, and should be taken care of. They may be thinking that they are in such comfortable and stable position that no matter what they say wont have any effect on whatever they do. Wrong! Players remember and don't forget.
  17. fosuno
    Mar 6, 2012
    3
    After playing Mass effect one and two for hours on end I was heartbroken when I lost my save-files, So I decided before this came out too marathon through the first two games. However I later found out that wasn't even necessary as with the dumbed down choices and for the most part Ignoring of past decisions playing the first 2 games was not even necessary at this point. This was a hugeAfter playing Mass effect one and two for hours on end I was heartbroken when I lost my save-files, So I decided before this came out too marathon through the first two games. However I later found out that wasn't even necessary as with the dumbed down choices and for the most part Ignoring of past decisions playing the first 2 games was not even necessary at this point. This was a huge let down because ME2 showed us just how important our choices were. as for the game it self Multi-player is decently fun however sacrificing the quality of single player to add it is a extreme let down. Overall If you enjoyed the overall feel of the first two games this will feel like a let down however if you just want a bro-op game wait for it to go on sale and it should give you some hours with a friend.… Expand
  18. JaimeRaz
    Mar 10, 2012
    4
    I was so eagerly waiting for this game to come out since I finished ME2 . I was literally counting the days to get it, and play it with all my 5 different Shepards. I was counting on to experience all my different choices, coming to life with different variations and stories. I definitely thought that this game was going to have a big re-playability value, based on what Bioware sold usI was so eagerly waiting for this game to come out since I finished ME2 . I was literally counting the days to get it, and play it with all my 5 different Shepards. I was counting on to experience all my different choices, coming to life with different variations and stories. I definitely thought that this game was going to have a big re-playability value, based on what Bioware sold us that their games give the players the possibility to make those stories yours. So I couldn't wait to play this game over and over, and explore all the different ramifications that it had to offer, but after finding out how the endings were and that we weren't really capable of modifying those things it became a very frustrating experience. This was supposed to be like " The greatest game of the century" and Oh boy had I known what was coming with ME3. First off the game is too linear, the story is set upon a path from where you can't diverge, and it doesn't feel like any of my actions from the previous games mattered at all. You get some benefits that don't really make that much of a difference when it comes to the endings haunted with a fleet of plot holes and bad writing. The game had some good moments I won't deny that , but what really killed it was the fact that it's fallen so low as to what it could have been. Characters' development in this last chapter of the trilogy was bad, it felt like Bioware didn't care anymore about making a good game. The romances thing were really dull and uninspiring. Also the terrible endings were a big screw you, for all of us people who loved the series and were following every detail when it was under development. I just don't know what happened, but this game as mentioned before has been dumbed down and made into a POP game to appeal the masses of people that don't even care about it, and in the process it lost its soul. So what's left is just a carcass of what could have been " The ultimate game of the century " Today I mourn the dead of ME series, and I won't be buying any other EAware titles after this " Screw you " title. Thanks EAware.… Expand
  19. Shep260982
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    Total disappointment. Mass Effect 3 universe is dead. I spent more time in ME/ME2 reading the Codex and discovering the well-built sci-fi world. But here... This is some sort of B-rated movie, CoD from BW
  20. notyourproblem
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    EA and their Origin service have raped the good name of Bioware. Not only they pumping money with their **** websites, their customer service suck. With their so-called piracy protections, normal customers have problems playing the game they used money on. Prepare to pay up and get nothing in return when you're dealing with these guys.
  21. Biowarelol
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    This is a terrible letdown. One of the greatest dissapointments in my history with video games. Gameplay is solid, but for ruining the game with plot holes and idiotic ending, I give it a zero. Not to mention the Day 1 DLC. This is the last thing I bought coming from Bioware.
  22. paketep
    Mar 14, 2012
    0
    Origin, content removed to make gamers pay even more from the game, multiplayer that affects your single player ending, absolutely **** ending. This game is the poster boy of how EA has sunk the mighty Bioware.

    Wait until you get a 90% discount if you want to finish the trilogy. Avoid like the plague otherwise.
  23. muchacho
    Mar 8, 2012
    0
    A shining example of what a terrible job Bioware does when porting console games to PC. Space bar is used to do four functions, the fov is terrible making it hard to explore the game environment and the textures are a lower quality than the ones in Mass Effect 2.
  24. koodeta
    Mar 13, 2012
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I was really anticipating this game from Bioware. I'm a huge Mass Effect fan but this title was WAAAY off the ball. There were some gaping holes in the plot that really needed to be fixed, graphical errors (shouldn't be too hard to fix in an update), and just the unbelievable lack of care in this. I have played all of the Mass Effect games and this one falls short, QWOP short. The game has progressively moved toward action and less RPG, which is what defines Mass Effect, and more toward Gears of War-ish style of play. True, the story was epic and completes bits of the story left over from other games; but I'm very disappointed in how the game ended. I wanted to play Paragon the whole way through but no, I have to do Renegade actions to even continue the game or I die! At the VERY end of the game I have to choose to control the Reapers, wipe out all synthetic life, or join synthetics and organics together (which just looks nasty at the end picture). These are pretty much all the same choices but enacted in different ways. And after all that Shepard has done, he dies in a giant Michael Bay cliche explosion? Bioware is better than this. It's a terrible way to end the series and I disapprove.… Expand
  25. stefanakisgr
    Mar 8, 2012
    0
    Mass Effect was great . The story , the characters , the combat system . Pure brilliance . Then came Mass effect 2 , which took a step back from the rpg part , but made it up somehow with richer companion stories , great voice overs , and a story build up to the 3rd part , that while weaker than the 1st , gave a sense of continuity and a promise of great adventure to come with mass effectMass Effect was great . The story , the characters , the combat system . Pure brilliance . Then came Mass effect 2 , which took a step back from the rpg part , but made it up somehow with richer companion stories , great voice overs , and a story build up to the 3rd part , that while weaker than the 1st , gave a sense of continuity and a promise of great adventure to come with mass effect 3 . Well crap . This is the biggest disappointment in the history of gaming . Don't be fooled by the critics , I honestly think they either took money or they didn't play the game AT ALL . Its terribly linear , your choices are choices only in name , they affect nothing . Graphics glitches everywhere that break immersion constantly , the story is just stupid , and the ending ? REALLY ? The Kotor2 ending was a masterpiece compared to this . And while they are at the business of ruining a great game , how about cutting a very important piece of the story and charge extra for it from day 1 ? Yep they did that too .

    Bioware , you are dead to me ....    … Expand
  26. exliontamer
    Mar 24, 2012
    5
    Setting aside the ending (which has been covered to death), there are too many flaws in this game to give it anything higher than a 6. The journal, for example, which defaults to the middle or bottom every time you open it, rather than the latest quest you've received; the dozens of "find my long lost doohicky on some random planet" quests which amount to simply scanning a planet toSetting aside the ending (which has been covered to death), there are too many flaws in this game to give it anything higher than a 6. The journal, for example, which defaults to the middle or bottom every time you open it, rather than the latest quest you've received; the dozens of "find my long lost doohicky on some random planet" quests which amount to simply scanning a planet to resolve; and ultimately the fact that most of your efforts to save the galaxy boil down to adding 50 points to some vague number which you're trying to get as high as possible before the final battle. And this arbitrary number results in minor little changes to the cutscene you watch at the end -- and none of it really matters. It feels incredibly empty -- wow, sure glad I saved that guy back in ME1 so I could end up with a higher Military Readiness number at the end of ME3 so I could... um what exactly did it change? Oh yeah, Big Ben didn't get vaporized in the cutscene at the end! Yay! That and the fact that every decision you made didn't really matter: let the big bug queen live in ME1? Great! She's back and happy to help you! Killed her? Great! A cyborg version of her is back and happy to help you (or not... but does it really matter?).

    None of this would matter all that much if Bioware promoted ME3 as Gears of War in Space, but they piled on the hype about every one of your decisions meaning something BIG, about all your questions being answered in the end, etc.    … Expand
  27. exuwarshow
    Mar 9, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. One of the worst game I have ever played. Biggest let down in my gaming career. There was no happy ending, only **** If you watched BSG you know what I mean: an epic scifi tale with huge moral crises and battles and epic confrontations, ruined because some writers thought that they should get all existential at the end. I'll sum it up: there are 3 endings, all of which involve Shepard and Anderson dieing and the Mass Relay network being destroyed, resulting in organic life being sent back to the stone age. 1 is the reapers leave the galaxy forever, but an EMP destroys all electronics and the mass relays are gone, so there is basically no point in intelligent life. 2 is the reapers leave, but humans and geth are fused to make a new race of reapers for when the cycle begins again. And 3 is nuke everything, geth, reapers, humans, relays.

    There is no victory over the reapers, and a new age of galactic peace and cooperation, prosperity, etc. Only dead Shepard and dead dreams.    … Expand
  28. Cordelayne
    Mar 14, 2012
    0
    I signed up at metacritic just to write this review. It's awful that metacritic gives this game a 93 rating on some top screens, based on the reviews of 13 "critics." The spread here between a 9.3 critic score and a 3.6 user score is the largest I've ever seen. This game is the most annoying game I've ever seen.

    I'm going to this trouble because I absolutely loved Mass Effect 1 and 2,    I signed up at metacritic just to write this review. It's awful that metacritic gives this game a 93 rating on some top screens, based on the reviews of 13 "critics." The spread here between a 9.3 critic score and a 3.6 user score is the largest I've ever seen. This game is the most annoying game I've ever seen.

    I'm going to this trouble because I absolutely loved Mass Effect 1 and 2, and I was really pumped for 3. But 3 is a DISASTER!

    1. Paid $50 for store version plus $25 for game guide. I can't return it because I wrote my Origin password on the insert with the validation code. The game guide got a cracked spine the first time I opened it! Low quality all the way.

    2. I'm a sophisticated computer game player and computer programmer, with more than 25 years of experience. This darned game took me 2.5 hours to install! All kinds of problems.

    3. I was so beat down after that, I punted after about 15 minutes. I just didn't like the feel of the initial sequence.

    4. The game expects you to buy DLC content concerning a critical element of the game (the precursor aliens) right off the bat! The DLC was promoted the day the game was released! That is incredibly greedy and stupid. I never buy DLC unless I really like a game AND have finished what I bought at high price.

    5. The Origin intermediary program is insane! Having selected an option at some point during the install to have this automatically start when I reboot my computer, there is no way to turn it off.

    6. The game is almost impossible to run. After getting a successful install, off the $50 of DVDs I purchased, it takes 15 minutes or more to start the game! You can't just play the game you bought. You have to have Origin running (Electronic Arts's version of Steam) and it takes forever for it to log on and validate your password. Then, after the game loads, it doesn't start until it logs onto separate Electronic Arts servers. That can take more than 30 minutes!!!!! In my case this morning, it took about 8 minutes, but I've seen people complaining that at high-volume periods like Saturday night it can take more than 30 minutes. What in the heck is up with that??? Why do I need to be logged onto EA at all to play the game I just bought!!!???

    7. After a full install, it is impossible to run the game offline. Most civilized systems permit this. For example, I bought Skyrim in November and was able to run it for four months offline of Steam, after getting the initial patch. Origin is a very stupid program.

    8. I'm on a crappy satellite Internet location in a rural location, and the Internet connection goes down rather regularly during rough weather. But I can't play Mass Effect 3 during bad weather. That sucks. I paid $75 to buy the game and the game guide. I should be able to play it offline! (And I should be able to play it on a laptop during travel, etc.)

    9. When I tried to start the game this morning, Origin insisted I had to install a 16 GB update!!! WTF? I just bought the game with physical DVDs a few days ago. No way is such a patch required. The stupid Origin program obviously thinks I need to download the entire darned game, even though I've already got it installed! By the by, on my Hughes satellite Internet connection, if I did a download like that, it would knock me off the Internet for a couple of days.

    10. Finally, in the ever-growing list of fantastic aggravations, I learn from the manual and the initial game screens that I start out with all of my "war assets" in the "galactic war" set at 50%. That means ALL of the essential allies I am gathered are gimped to one-half. The ONLY ways that can be upgraded is to start with an end-game save from Mass Effect 2, or to play many, many hours of mulitiplayer combats.

    Well, I can't import a Mass Effect 2 save, because the computer I was using for that was destroyed by a particularly virulent virus. And I don't want to play multiplayer combat exercises, and I couldn't do it even if I wanted to, due to my current crappy and laggy satellite Internet connection.

    So, in other words, this crappy game, after collecting so much money, forces me to have such inferior troops that it may be impossible to win the game.

    ************* I'm VERY sore about this! I feel VERY ripped off and abused by a greedy and stupid company.    … Expand
  29. Kordaris
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Terrible, terrible game. Gone is the excellent space climate of the first ME1. In is the cheap shooting and shallow plot more fitting a dumbed down shooter. Once interesting villains have been turned into "Evil Robots" completely lacking any imagination from the part of creators. Unfortunately Bioware is long gone as a company capable of creating interesting new plots, characters orTerrible, terrible game. Gone is the excellent space climate of the first ME1. In is the cheap shooting and shallow plot more fitting a dumbed down shooter. Once interesting villains have been turned into "Evil Robots" completely lacking any imagination from the part of creators. Unfortunately Bioware is long gone as a company capable of creating interesting new plots, characters or adventures. Too many people with talent seem to have left, and we are left with ones who are inspired by "Twilight"(and in the case of Mass Effect 3, it also seems to be Jersey Shore). This is very sad, since the universe of ME had such a great potential, which was completely wasted.… Expand
  30. Honeybadgers
    Mar 11, 2012
    1
    I'm not one to just bomb a game for silly reasons. I can find redeeming features in almost any game to at least call it mediocre. But Mass Effect 3 is the biggest letdown in PC gaming history. ME1 was plagued with wonky, unintuitive controls and menu navigation, but painted a rich, colorful universe that just demanded exploring. And explore we did. The Mass Effect universe was second onlyI'm not one to just bomb a game for silly reasons. I can find redeeming features in almost any game to at least call it mediocre. But Mass Effect 3 is the biggest letdown in PC gaming history. ME1 was plagued with wonky, unintuitive controls and menu navigation, but painted a rich, colorful universe that just demanded exploring. And explore we did. The Mass Effect universe was second only to Dune. The storytelling and acting were deep and meaningful, and the game just FELT enormous, even if it wasn't. You had so much freedom to do things your way, that it was mind boggling.

    The sequel narrowed the scope to your ship and your companions, telling a deeper, more personal story that blended wonderfully with the broad moral strokes in the first. Sure, you had to be a completion junkie to get the perfect ending, but the characters were fascinating, their stories meaningful, and the voice acting was superb. I really cared about the people I went to battle with, so much that I happily replayed it entirely just to make sure that one crew member survived.

    And then comes three. It starts out very serious, if a bit disjointed. You have saved the galaxy twice, and you still got court-marshaled? Your estranged companion is thrust upon you and then taken away. Relevant members jump in and out at complete random, you have no control over whether or not people live or die, and the woefully limited, boring citadel (seriously? How do you make the CITADEL boring this time?) is just a place where you go to get side quests that are essentially a dull minigame that doesn't even encourage exploration. Your companions are very mismatched, with Garrus and EDI being the only really meaty characters. Joker is thrust into some disjointed, ultra-serious role, and the animations make his eyes look downright crazed. All the animations are pathetically stiff and wooden. Why not simply use the wonderfully animated SWTOR engine and simply transplant the gorgeous textures? The stories are short, the side quests are almost meaningless and always presented exactly the same way. You either fly around collecting items whose relevance is never explained, and running from reapers in the minigame, or you are on a tiny, repetitive map fighting for equally irrelevant resources. The combat is okay, but feels so sluggish and imprecise that you can feel the "controller-itis" in its DNA. So low marks there. Also, I don't know about the other classes, but the Vanguard feels downright worthless, with absolutely no synergy in its skills, whereas in the first two, it was a fast paced engine of destruction.

    The new relationships are shallow, jerky, and forced upon you so quickly and back-to-back that it's laughable.

    And then the whole story draws to a conclusion. All that work you did to unite the galaxy, seems to have no impact or weight whatsoever. The final mission is disjointed, and all it appears to change is the length of your cutscenes, because it all boils down to the ending. The choices you're presented with mirror nothing that makes sense, let alone what your goal was. No matter what type of person you chose to play in the Mass Effect series, the ending presents nothing that you have any interest in pursuing. Not to mention glaring plot holes and absurdities. The ending was so bad, it single handedly ruined the entire series for me. After learning how things turned out, I will probably never pick up a Mass Effect title again. Nothing you can do will alter the eventual outcome, either. Finally, we get to the day one DLC. I didn't knock off a point from Portal 2 for having it. That DLC was cosmetic and completely unnecessary. But the DLC that adds 1% to the game and costs 20% of its retail cost and should have OBVIOUSLY been included, is the final nail in the coffin for bioware. I don't like making broad generalizations, but after the awfulness that was I can't help but get the feeling that EA has finally destroyed what was once my favorite RPG makers. The Mass Effect universe was the most astonishingly well-conceived, lore-ridden universe in gaming history, and EA just destroyed it. The user score (and it's not like the /v/ bombing of portal 2, which I stood against) clearly shows that EA just pays for ratings, because while barely tolerable as a game itself, the second you finish it, there is no way you can seriously sit back and think "That made sense. That ending was totally logical."    … 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]
    Read full review
  3. Absolute Games
    Mar 31, 2012
    85
    Finishing a trilogy is always difficult. Tying off dozens of story threads which had been woven by players into many different tapestries is a daunting task. Mass Effect 3 is the first game that succeeded at this colossal undertaking.
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