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. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. mat193
    Mar 12, 2012
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. COME ON, please stop posting reviews before you finished the game! If I were to review mass effect before I got to the ending i would probably at least give it a 9 however that is not the case. The ending simply kills everything there is to the game making everything completely pointless. I have absolutely no problem with Shepard dying in the end I actually think its a quite fitting end for the series to go. However the lack of aftermath to the universe is just sad. You spend hours upon hours crafting the universe for the way you want it to be after all this is done only to get Shepard's death and a light show. All I was asking for is to show us what we did in the game mattered show us how even though he sacrificed himself in the end that what he did mattered and changed the universe besides the destruction/control/synthesis with the reapers. What happened with the geth/quarians, the krogan, asari, turians, salarians, your crew who you developed a relationship along the 3 games and your love interest. The choices you made in all 3 games mean absolutely nothing in the end you basically just choose the color you want the explosion to be in. The war assets which is basically the main drive of the game have little impact in the final battle besides unlocking the final 3 endings which frankly why would you care if you only get a different explosion and a greenish EDI as an extra in the end.… Expand
  5. Tomo21
    Mar 13, 2012
    1
    Main problem with me 3 was absence of any deep and engaging story and to simplified rpg element.
    In me1 we where detectives discovering secrets, which shed new light on stuff we where thinking that we allready got figured out.
    And there was those little things like talking to survivors and then deciding to punch or calm down guy that is having nervous break down.And there was lots of    Main problem with me 3 was absence of any deep and engaging story and to simplified rpg element.
    In me1 we where detectives discovering secrets, which shed new light on stuff we where thinking that we allready got figured out.
    And there was those little things like talking to survivors and then deciding to punch or calm down guy that is having nervous break down.And there was lots of those fun little stuff that make you live me1 story.
    In me3 there is no multiple quest hubs like there was on planets in me1, like Noveria, Feros and so on...
    Those quest hubs had side quests that allowed us to get know stuff and people around us in much more depth.
    Like making repairs of equipment for feros survivors, it was wellcome change of pace for the game, like calm before the storm.Me3 feels like shooter, and everything fill so rushed.Get from point A to B , kill that many wawes of enemy.

    Another thing that i miss is mako and fighting through great enviroments like Virmire or ilos.
    And in general there was much more diversity of enviroments in me1.

    Me3 should have been all about discovering weaknesses, origin and reason behind reapers, even if we had to venture beyond previously inactive relays to alien and forgotten worlds.
    We should have been pioneers and detectives once again.

    We should have get that "Whoow" effect once again which me3 failed to deliver.    … Expand
  6. gotthammer
    Mar 16, 2012
    3
    Mass Effect was a great game, the only complaints I can recall being performance (optimization?) issues and the rather clunky inventory.
    Mass Effect 2, counting the DLCs (esp. Lair of the Shadow Broker), was also a great game. It wasn't perfect : some aspects felt over-simplified when compared to the first game, and the resolution of the main story could have used more choices. Still, a    Mass Effect was a great game, the only complaints I can recall being performance (optimization?) issues and the rather clunky inventory.
    Mass Effect 2, counting the DLCs (esp. Lair of the Shadow Broker), was also a great game. It wasn't perfect : some aspects felt over-simplified when compared to the first game, and the resolution of the main story could have used more choices. Still, a great game.
    Mass Effect 3, the finale of a trilogy, was also a great game, for the most part. Decent graphics. Great looking locations/environments. Pretty cinematics/FMVs. Dramatic (if a bit overly so, at times) sequences. Superb score/soundtrack. The dialogue, like the previous game, was mostly solid (ok, there were some cheesy/seeming forced/heavy-handed bits, like a few speeches). The plot was 'ok', but could use some beefing up/more work, but it was, for the most part, 'ok' (not counting the ending). Almost everything was great. Almost.
    The ending, IMHO, ruins, not just the game, but, as it is the ending of a trilogy, the franchise as well.
    The ending doesn't feel to be 'in character' with the setting or even the overall feel of the game and the franchise. The ending seemingly negates any choice and also disregards (or doesn't reward) the efforts of the player throughout the game. It is very, very disappointing.
    The ending alone makes me unable to, in good conscience, recommend the game to anyone I know. Unless Bioware were to 'fix' the endings by providing more options/choices, as well as clarifying the mess that is the current set of endings, I won't recommend the game, nor will I purchase any downloadable content for Mass Effect 3.

    Pros: Visuals, environment, soundtrack, dialogue/voice acting/humor, cinematics/FMVs, quantity of weapons

    Cons: Ending, fewer squad mates, graphics options too limited, lack of inventory/over-simplification of RPG elements, some dialogue, quantity of armor choices, lack of other 'hubs' (there's only the Citadel), some aspects feel rushed (example: under utilization of some characters, the ending, etc.)    … Expand
  7. OddSuperFuture
    Mar 16, 2012
    0
    The game is absolutely top notch until the ending is reached and you're presented with 3 choices. 3 choices which completely dismiss any decisions you've made prior in any of the 3 games. There are 3 ending scenes with no closure and a convoluted, out of character plot which disregard the franchises key themes. This destroys any motivation you may have to replay this game-or any of theThe game is absolutely top notch until the ending is reached and you're presented with 3 choices. 3 choices which completely dismiss any decisions you've made prior in any of the 3 games. There are 3 ending scenes with no closure and a convoluted, out of character plot which disregard the franchises key themes. This destroys any motivation you may have to replay this game-or any of the other ME games.… Expand
  8. North
    Mar 18, 2012
    3
    I can't believe you Bioware! How dare you insult your fanbase with such dimwitted story progression, and worst of all, with an idiotic ending that pissed off everyone as hellfire !! Do you guys have any idea how many people are invested in this game, to see their stories achieve a more fulfilling end? What a logically insulting end, with loads of plot-holes?

    The only positive thing about    I can't believe you Bioware! How dare you insult your fanbase with such dimwitted story progression, and worst of all, with an idiotic ending that pissed off everyone as hellfire !! Do you guys have any idea how many people are invested in this game, to see their stories achieve a more fulfilling end? What a logically insulting end, with loads of plot-holes?

    The only positive thing about this game was the entire process of rallying allies. Because I am a more RPG oriented player, rather than bang bang, pow pow... Yet even at that, I couldn't see any satisfying plot writing. The whole marketing hype, day one DLC, and Xbox kinnect components were already indications that something was off about this game. And yet you were so sure that this would be the best game in the series. EPIC FAIL, by literal definition! You probably can't fall deeper than this. Nonetheless, I gave you 3 for your blood and sweat poured into the making of the game. Please get a grip and revitalize yourselves before the shame becomes too unbearable. But first, get rid of that EA leech! There are a lot better publishers out there, smaller, yes, but treat their developers with respect. My suggestion: strike a deal with Valve or create your own publishing company. The Bioware I have known is capable of doing this.    … Expand
  9. linksmaster
    Mar 18, 2012
    0
    After completing the game one has to wonder whether Bioware diverted all their resources to Star Wars - The Old Republic. One can only hope that is the excuse for this ending to the series. Regardless of the excuses or, perish the thought these "endings" were actually planned out, the Nihilistic ending made me regret having spent time even bothering to develop a character. Perhaps it's aAfter completing the game one has to wonder whether Bioware diverted all their resources to Star Wars - The Old Republic. One can only hope that is the excuse for this ending to the series. Regardless of the excuses or, perish the thought these "endings" were actually planned out, the Nihilistic ending made me regret having spent time even bothering to develop a character. Perhaps it's a joke. Or a calculated business move to offer DLC that lets you have an ending where you actually have some impact. As such this mess is such a shame for what had been such a promising series. In my humble opinion it is that bad. And it's sad. Not the sadness of any ending but the saddest thing in the world: Wasted potential. The wasted potential from a sloppy meaningless ending to an otherwise previously well executed series. I have lost the will to replay Mass Effect due to the ending. If that was Bioware's (and/or EA's) intentions, then well played EA/Bioware. I won't bother to return. If this is the same attention they plan for other games then I wish them well. I will not be playing them.… Expand
  10. avagamer
    Mar 10, 2012
    8
    The game itself is good, but the ending is killing all the impression of her. The worst ending in the game. Please BIOWARE! Change it, do not wear the universe MASS EFFECT!
  11. Pekotski
    Mar 15, 2012
    0
    Bioware disappointed again. This time - the last time. I dont understand where the high score from critics come from - its a proof of how deeply this industry is corrupted. The list of critics who support this **** is simply a pay list.
  12. Tangster
    Mar 10, 2012
    1
    The game was going great, I could forgive the little errors, the errand-shep side quests, the mediocre graphics, the day 1 DLC... all because the plot stormed along nicely and everything was going as well as could possibly be expected in a galactic war.

    I had the Krogan and the Turians, the Geth and the Quarians, even Aria all working together for to good of the galaxy. I'd rejoined with    The game was going great, I could forgive the little errors, the errand-shep side quests, the mediocre graphics, the day 1 DLC... all because the plot stormed along nicely and everything was going as well as could possibly be expected in a galactic war.

    I had the Krogan and the Turians, the Geth and the Quarians, even Aria all working together for to good of the galaxy.
    I'd rejoined with my LI(Tali), had fun with my bro Garrus and discovered that Shep still can't dance.

    The last 5 mins? Ruined the game.
    The ending of the game was absolutely atrocious and also killed all the replay value for me as a) had to do all the side quests anyway for the GAW thing, no replay there)
    b) the endings are all terribad and boil down to pretty much a single endings with a different coloured light show.

    Come to think of it, it killed the replay value of the entire franchise since none of my choices in ME1 and ME2 made the slightest difference in the end.

    If Bioware are going to end a series like that, I'll just avoid their games in the future so I don't end up with a million metric tons of steaming disappoint, especially after being so emotionally invested in both my character and squadmates before being kicked in the face by Casey Hudson's lying foot.    … Expand
  13. Bronston
    Mar 10, 2012
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Hey Shep, can you grab that medigel please. Shep!? No, what are you doing, planning on competing in the Olympics? If you're done somersaulting around go ahead and come back over here and grab that medigel. Hey Shep, you bored? It's just that you're speaking with Admiral Hackett and staring off into space with a goofy look on your face, probably ought to pay attention, wait maybe I accidentally fired up Garry's Mod. Shep, did you see that? I think it was Tyler Durden, or am I just seeing random flashes of people for no reason again. Hey Shep I like Joker and Edi too but you really need to get back to work, seriously you can't just stand here forever, Shep, HEY SHEP JUST MOVE WHAT"S WRONG WITH YOU.

    Ok, seriously I just finished this game, Man I am not in a real great mood now. Let me start by saying Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 were some of the best examples of video games of all time. This game made me want to smash things so many times as I played it I probably shaved a couple years off my life from the rage. If it had been any other game I would have stopped playing and uninstalled it, unfortunately this was supposed to be Mass Effect so I did not give up cause that's what you do in Mass Effect. From a technical stand point I am unimpressed. I've read that it is a visual improvement over 2, I think I missed that part of the game, maybe it was on Jack's mission cause I missed that one. The controls are terrible. Why does shift do so many things? I have a keyboard in front of me, it has a ton of keys can I use them please? So many times I tried to pick something up just to go flying through the air, other times I was in a hurry cause, you know, impending galactic destruction, and I'd slam straight into a door while mashing the E key, didn't work. At one point I decided it was a stupid irritation to have to find the M key in the dark with my not that side of the keyboard hand so I said hey tab doesn't do anything so I went to the options menu and looked, hmm can't change the Map key huh? That's pretty much idiotic. Of course there's the whole thing where in combat I'd be in cover and try to move to different cover and instead jump over the cover straight into the line of fire, or I'd be shooting things and all that and then just stand up and get my head blown off. All that really increased the overall experience for me. Then there's the screwy behavior during conversations. People teleporting from place to place, or being just plain invisible. Then there's the constant flashes of characters during conversation where they just randomly appear for a split second. Now none of these dialogue are game breakers, just things that completely break your disbelief suspension. No the game breaker is how, as many people have already said, this is not my Shep, this guy says random crap that I don't understand and often doesn't even mean the same thing as what I picked, of course usually that's not much of a problem because I'm usually not given any options.

    I did think most of the voice acting was good, except that reporter chick, I'm sure they'll get it in editing. Oh yeah and that whole DLC thing, that's pretty ridiculous, gluttons.
    Now, on to the real problems. Mostly of course revolving around the ending. My God, you people don't deserve a nickle you made as a result of your initial fan base. I can see uninvested new comers being alright with this, with me however, that was my Shepard you destroyed, and was my hours upon hours of work you disregarded in that two minute waste of space ending cut scene. This was without a doubt the best part of the whole experience for me. So I get there, I talk to the stupid kid that tells me that absolutely moronic story I assume he made up on the spot and attempt to figure out which options the directions represent, so I walk up to the power conduit, first option I looked at and bam the **** bug apparently works here to, my feet are nailed to the floor I guess, so even though this is not the option I want I'm forced to shoot the conduit cause I can't walk around anymore, maybe there's a limit to the number of steps you can take throughout the game. Fortunetly turns out all three endings are the same thing anyway so who cares, I'm not playing it again was a waste 90+ hours anyway, 90 cause the ending negates all three games.

    So here's the short and sweet, this got a four because I suspended my bias and the crushing blow this game was to a former fanboy, I wanted to put a zero. If you're a fan of this series, pirate this one, they don't deserve any money for it. Hope Bioware goes down in flames.

    Verdict
    Piece of Crap

    P.S. Not revising this, it's way too long to read.    … Expand
  14. Praedor
    Mar 15, 2012
    1
    I have been a huge fan of the series since it began with Mass Effect 1. I played ME 1 six time and then played ME 2 eight times and was anticipating playing ME 3 a similar number of times. I had 4 different Shepards I was looking forward to importing and playing through. I played it once. One time. That was more than enough. The game is actually fantastic, with a great score, someI have been a huge fan of the series since it began with Mass Effect 1. I played ME 1 six time and then played ME 2 eight times and was anticipating playing ME 3 a similar number of times. I had 4 different Shepards I was looking forward to importing and playing through. I played it once. One time. That was more than enough. The game is actually fantastic, with a great score, some pretty good interactions and dialog, some of it quite moving. It works well until the last 15 to 20 minutes then it goes to hell in a handcart. A game that was touting as being all about player choice affecting the outcome, a game where the developers promised that your decisions in ME1, 2, and earlier in game 3 would impact the final outcome was a COMPLETE lie. There is ONE ending. One. It is identical in all ways no matter what you do in all the previous games, no matter how you play, what decisions you make, it ends the same but with different colored terminal explosions. Woohoo. ALL the time you spend on side missions, doing good or bad deeds, making peace treaties, ending conflict, uniting alien civilizations, collecting allies and materiel is all for naught. No matter how you do it you get the exact same nonsensical, blatantly illogical (in game and in real life) ending. It only takes ONE playthrough to the end to lose all enthusiasm for the series and lose any interest in ever playing any of the previous excellent titles ever again. If I could I would return my digital copy. So terribly depressing.… Expand
  15. Magniir
    Mar 18, 2012
    4
    My rating's slightly higher than the average and that's simply because I played the game knowing the ending was horrible but went in with an open-mind anyway.

    Frankly, Day 1 DLC doesn't bother me. It's going to come out anyway, I don't think it really matters when it comes out. Sure, it being on the disc might suck, but nobody has actually proven that every piece of data included in the    My rating's slightly higher than the average and that's simply because I played the game knowing the ending was horrible but went in with an open-mind anyway.

    Frankly, Day 1 DLC doesn't bother me. It's going to come out anyway, I don't think it really matters when it comes out. Sure, it being on the disc might suck, but nobody has actually proven that every piece of data included in the DLC is on the disc as well.

    As for the game itself? Some of the best 20+ hours I've spent in a game. No really, it is. That 28 hours I spent on my first run-through wasn't bad, much of it felt really good. The environments were a bit repetitive from the second game but the character writing was absolutely fantastic, and much of the plot was fine until the last 10 minutes of the game.

    That's honestly the deal breaker for me. I give the game a 4 because the gameplay and character design were sold extremely well for me, but everything else was just plain crud. From the whole gimmicky "War Readiness" metagame to the absolute horrible ending. Those last 10-15 minutes are some of the worst minutes I've ever spent on any video game.

    It's not that it's bad that's the problem, it's that the ending doesn't really change that drastically from each option. Not only that, but your actions leading up to that point might as well not have happened, because doing the side-missions in the game doesn't really do much more than alter your "War Readiness" level, which doesn't change the endings as much as you'd expect. Other than these points, many of the ending scene is just absolutely confusing, non-sensical and it leaves you with much more questions than answers.

    That last one's really important. If I finish a story and I've got more questions than answers, and there is no sequel planned, then I really hate that story. Essentially it ends the story on a sort of cliff-hanger that you know you'll probably never get to see the bottom of, and that's just disappointing and somewhat cruel.    … Expand
  16. stb97
    Mar 28, 2012
    5
    I have to say, I loved Mass Effect 3, or at least I thought I did. The combat is definitely greatly improved, it is now much more fluid, and shooter fans will have an easy transition to this game, as the combat is rewarding and the abilities are much more fun and necessary to be effective on the higher difficulties. On the other hand, for people playing for the story, the combat can beI have to say, I loved Mass Effect 3, or at least I thought I did. The combat is definitely greatly improved, it is now much more fluid, and shooter fans will have an easy transition to this game, as the combat is rewarding and the abilities are much more fun and necessary to be effective on the higher difficulties. On the other hand, for people playing for the story, the combat can be tuned down so that it is still the same shooty-killy action sequence, but it takes significantly less time so you can easily get through to the story driven sections of the game. However, the one part they seemed to have skipped on is exploration, in Mass Effect one, we had the Mako, which provided a plethora of opportunities for exploration and side missions, in Mass Effect 2, we could scan planets, this provided an alternate currency system for upgrading your ship as well as still providing an avenue for side missions. However, in Mass Effect 3, there's really no exploration elements, which takes a sizable chunk of gameplay out of the game, as well as limiting us to the hub stations and the one time mission areas, making the game feel increasingly confined. But the problem with appealing to both the story and combat players, is that neither field seems that amazing, the story was quite frankly shallow with very few side plots or twists, and the combat alone was no where near good enough to carry the entire game. The ending was bad, but it wasn't enough to ruin the game for me, and the multiplayer was just, while enjoyable, a ploy to draw in more customers.… Expand
  17. lliam
    May 6, 2012
    1
    If you have Mass Effect 1 or 2 you have better games than this one. Average game not worth the money. Since Origin took over DRM spyware all over your P.C so it is up to you if you want this. No customer support at all. The multiplayer has massive issues with people not getting the stuff they paid for and no means of getting any resolution from customer service you just get your accountIf you have Mass Effect 1 or 2 you have better games than this one. Average game not worth the money. Since Origin took over DRM spyware all over your P.C so it is up to you if you want this. No customer support at all. The multiplayer has massive issues with people not getting the stuff they paid for and no means of getting any resolution from customer service you just get your account banned saves them needing a customer service department and with a banned account you have no access to the game you paid for. IMO very similar game to 1+2 and not worth more than $5. Hyped beyond belief in Expert reviews. A very linear game save your cash I wish I did.… Expand
  18. Ardara
    Jul 7, 2012
    5
    This game feels completely different to his predecessors. Bad writing, plotholes and inconsistencies, a forced storyline, "stagnant" characters and autodialogue really prevented me from enjoying this chapter. It just felt.. wrong. Even without addressing the endings issue. Since ME1 (which I loved) it's been a way down.
  19. Rakshall
    Mar 20, 2012
    6
    To be honest 98% of the game is very good and personally i would place ME3 somewhere between first and second installment of the series. However the last 2% is simply terrible . I don't say ending is bad (I could accept it!) - it simply doesn't fit to the ME universe. It really made me think that i wasted more than 100 hours with trilogy for nothing.
  20. talonius
    Mar 12, 2012
    2
    The Good: * The game has the classic Mass Effect play style and combat.

    The Bad: * They shoe horned multiplayer in and created a reason to make it pertinent. * The equipment (and hair) of the player models is constantly poking through. * 90% of the conversations you have do not offer choices of replies - they don't even bring up the conversation wheel. * Day one DLC which requires one    The Good: * The game has the classic Mass Effect play style and combat.

    The Bad: * They shoe horned multiplayer in and created a reason to make it pertinent.
    * The equipment (and hair) of the player models is constantly poking through.
    * 90% of the conversations you have do not offer choices of replies - they don't even bring up the conversation wheel.
    * Day one DLC which requires one line of code change in order to make it appear and which should have been part of the overall game as it was the one thing that managed to add some depth.
    * Failure to take into account player choices (from ME1, ME2, or ME3) with the ending.
    * Endings which appear to provide a choice, but don't. (What color would you like your universe destroying beam to be in?)
    * No sex scenes, demonstrating EA's editorial control over Bioware productions despite Bioware's claims to the contrary.
    * None of the side quests you complete appears to have any impact other than increasing your forces' strength for the final battle. The narrative that one might expect from Mass Effect for the individual units brought into play is not there.

    As a single game, it's a shallow and fun romp until the very last portion of the game. When you and Anderson are side by side with each other, chatting, stop. Right there is the best ending you can hope for - do NOT continue. Walk away and imagine your ending. You will be happier.

    As a series finale this game does NOT suffice. I don't care what theory you take to - that they wanted to show predestination, that Shepard was indoctrinated, that they're holding the series open for DLC. None of that matters. What matters is that the ending to the game - and the series - brings no closure for the player. NONE.

    People are claiming that those of us who are complaining about the ending are overreacting. I don't think we can overreact. I have spent hundreds of hours of my life playing this game, I overrode my ban on EA games in order to purchase it, I hoped as a property of Bioware that they would treat the series finale properly. All of those hopes were dashed, destroyed, thrown down, stepped on, and ground into tiny pieces.

    Don't buy this game. It's not worth your money. When it's a $5.00 special, it might be worth it. If Bioware rewrites the ending, it might be worth it. Right now? I spent $80.00 on the collector's edition and I wish I could get a refund - of my money, and my play time.

    Between this and Dragon Age 2... well, I'm glad the indie games are ramping up because it's obvious I need to find my Western RPG fix somewhere else.    … Expand
  21. velimrius
    Mar 12, 2012
    3
    Im glad i didnt spent cent on this, go to hell bioware with ur employed game designers whom hates gaming and want option to skip combat....

    First ME was awesome to me, second was good too, but this is disgrace!
  22. Maelphaedor
    Mar 14, 2012
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Right up to the end sequence, ME3 was on track to be the BEST GAME SERIES I've ever played from a story perspective. Then the final cutscene played and every single choice made in the game boiled down to 3 identical endings (other than explosion color). Seriously, they really, REALLY screwed the pooch on this one. Now as said, right up to the end sequence, this is the best game story EVER, which makes the FUBAR ending all the more painful.… Expand
  23. butternut86
    Mar 22, 2012
    5
    Bioware should be ashamed of themselves. This ending was inexcusable. The Deus ex machina explanation for the Reapers and how the Catalyst justified their desruction as a way to save organic's from their own tendencies of destroying themselves was nothing short of ridiculous. Its circular writing, logic and reasoning wrapped into one.

    Let me be clear. 99% of this game is an absolute    Bioware should be ashamed of themselves. This ending was inexcusable. The Deus ex machina explanation for the Reapers and how the Catalyst justified their desruction as a way to save organic's from their own tendencies of destroying themselves was nothing short of ridiculous. Its circular writing, logic and reasoning wrapped into one.

    Let me be clear. 99% of this game is an absolute masterpiece. But the end was so god awful that it actually undermined the brilliance of the entire series. Two things pissed me off in Mass Effect 3, the non-existant closure of the ending, and non-reveal of Tali's face (there was a photo.. but come on) .

    Both are inexcusable, and the ending is pathetic. Personally, Bioware, and its Reaper puppeteer should give its consumers FREE ENDING DLC to try and redeem themselves. I already paid around $200 for all three Mass Effect games including numerous dlc packages. Bioware and EA owe their consumers a decent ending with some closure to the characters, planets and races I've come into contact these past 5 years. Bioware should ashamed. TO SHAME!!!!    … Expand
  24. flexasaurus
    Jul 5, 2012
    3
    The main problem of this game has to be the fact that they left out Drew Karpishyn, the guy who wrote the first two games, I knew right from the beginning, that it didn't feel right, wen I figured out EA put their dirty little hands on everything mass effect, That was the end of it. I invested to much time and money on the series, only for it to be sabotaged by EA and their minions. IThe main problem of this game has to be the fact that they left out Drew Karpishyn, the guy who wrote the first two games, I knew right from the beginning, that it didn't feel right, wen I figured out EA put their dirty little hands on everything mass effect, That was the end of it. I invested to much time and money on the series, only for it to be sabotaged by EA and their minions. I loved the mass effect universe, it got me through tough times, it meant a lot to me, I know that sounds gay but its true, The first two games hit the right buttons for me.

    But now I feel worse. The extended cut was the nail on the coffin, and now some **** is already laying out the plans for a mass effect MMO. Extended cut.... More like extended disappointment.. Thats my two cents anyways...    … Expand
  25. Bulldozer
    Mar 30, 2012
    0
    This game could have been a masterpiece but the final result is only a forgettable mix of bugs, holes in a childish plot with the "wish" to be serious, a ton of shadows and emphasis everywhere, no exploration, no puzzles, flat dialogues and the worst ending in videogame history. In certain things it could deserve a 11 but in others not more than a -20 so my balance is 0. Nothing more thanThis game could have been a masterpiece but the final result is only a forgettable mix of bugs, holes in a childish plot with the "wish" to be serious, a ton of shadows and emphasis everywhere, no exploration, no puzzles, flat dialogues and the worst ending in videogame history. In certain things it could deserve a 11 but in others not more than a -20 so my balance is 0. Nothing more than a "project" of a game, an interesting project never terminated and poorly done, or at least that's not good to be released like this.… Expand
  26. SilentMobius
    Mar 12, 2012
    2
    This game should be a 9, I cared about the characters, the sense of drama was palpable. The action was furious without devolving into a pure shooter, even the side missions didn't feel as forced as they have in the previous games, for the most part it was fantastic.

    However, I have to knock off a point for general inexcusable QA failures (LI's not responding to actions in the previous    This game should be a 9, I cared about the characters, the sense of drama was palpable. The action was furious without devolving into a pure shooter, even the side missions didn't feel as forced as they have in the previous games, for the most part it was fantastic.

    However, I have to knock off a point for general inexcusable QA failures (LI's not responding to actions in the previous games) another point for some horrific animation glitches (characters not facing each other when they talk eyes rolling back into heads, necks twisting 180 degrees), a point for the poor integration of the From Ashes DLC (Seriously, a Prothean? much more content was needed for such and important character, I'd have been happy to pay more for it), another point off for the multi-player which is good but the matchmaking is horribly unstable (On PC at least) making it a frustrating process, And finally a massive 4 points off for absolutely horrific and poorly thought out ending that has soured the whole series for me, and obliterated any replay value. Hence we go from a "near-perfect" 9 to an "Oh goddess what have you done" 2    … Expand
  27. WindWalker
    Mar 12, 2012
    0
    They did it again, they mad an awesome game with Mass Effect 1, a little while later they made a good game, a little dumped down but still a game that was true to its roots in the RPG genre. And now they made this.... It was, for me, the only game i have been looking insanely forward to, iv have spent so many hours with my 2 characters that they feel like a part of me. But in this game,They did it again, they mad an awesome game with Mass Effect 1, a little while later they made a good game, a little dumped down but still a game that was true to its roots in the RPG genre. And now they made this.... It was, for me, the only game i have been looking insanely forward to, iv have spent so many hours with my 2 characters that they feel like a part of me. But in this game, they don't!!!
    The RP elements is all gone, this is more off elaborate cut-scenes that feels like any time a quirk time event could pop up.... And don't even get me started on the endings, I just don't feel "involved" in every 8 off them....
    The multi-player system is ok, but feels "detached", you cant even text chat with the other players?!?!?
    The companion ai is soo bad... default: they will run off and get them self killed, and if you try to control them they just stand around and can't find the way... or ignores the order... The animations and sound feels rushed, the side quest tracking system simply don't exists, you have next to none communication with the quest giver (they have no idea you are about to go around the galaxy to find something) These are for me just the top off the iceberg. All in all, Bioware has ruined the Mass Effect ending for me.    … Expand
  28. ceppi
    Mar 14, 2012
    4
    After DA2 and SWTOR, I was really scared that Mass Effect 3 would be really bad, and oh boy, was I right... First of all, you are forced to play multiplayer or most probably you get the bad ending. This is a problem now, but in 3-4 months, when people stop playing multiplayer, its going to be an even worse situation. Second of all, the goddamn first day DLC, when its already present of theAfter DA2 and SWTOR, I was really scared that Mass Effect 3 would be really bad, and oh boy, was I right... First of all, you are forced to play multiplayer or most probably you get the bad ending. This is a problem now, but in 3-4 months, when people stop playing multiplayer, its going to be an even worse situation. Second of all, the goddamn first day DLC, when its already present of the disc I goddamn buyed few days ago, and Bioware lying about it just makes things worse. Overall I am just disappointed, I will most likely will not check the next Bioware game even tho it was one my favorite gaming companies... RIP Bioware that delivered us Baldurs Gate, Neverwinter Nights, KOTOR...… Expand
  29. Distruttore
    Mar 14, 2012
    0
    I'm not saying the ending should be changed, nor should there be a DLC... this game is dead and done with. I hope it rots in hell with an ending like that.
  30. paxbanana
    Mar 19, 2012
    3
    For some reason, Bioware decided to make ME3 a third-person shooter game with pretty cut-scenes. The RP element that made the Mass Effect series so unique was largely missing from the game, along with side-quests. I can't say I understand that, given there's a 'combat-only' game option. And, for pretending to be a shooter, there was actually no ending boss fight. I probably would forgiveFor some reason, Bioware decided to make ME3 a third-person shooter game with pretty cut-scenes. The RP element that made the Mass Effect series so unique was largely missing from the game, along with side-quests. I can't say I understand that, given there's a 'combat-only' game option. And, for pretending to be a shooter, there was actually no ending boss fight. I probably would forgive some of the dialogue shortage if the ending had actually been worth the tediousness of playing through the game. I was insulted by the ending that was played off as "16 wildly different endings". Bioware didn't even have the respect for their fans to make ONE different cut-scene and instead recycled the same one for every ending. If they had actually delivered, I probably would have forgiven the fact they dropped the RPG element from the game. As it stands, I can't bring myself to play through the game again. It says something when you'd rather read a book than watch a cut-scene again. In ME1 and 2, at least you could vary the dialogue. 30 hours of mediocre game play (riddled with graphics and sound issues that do not do the excellent VA cast and OST justice) is not worth $80.… Expand
  31. Dandynamite2201
    Mar 20, 2012
    0
    The game itself is a really good game, with good combat and good conversation options. Weapon choices and customization add a great variety, whereas different armour types and moves ensure the player can play exactly as they want to play. The characters are fully evolved and draw great depth, creating what could have been the best game of the year. If I could have stopped a second beforeThe game itself is a really good game, with good combat and good conversation options. Weapon choices and customization add a great variety, whereas different armour types and moves ensure the player can play exactly as they want to play. The characters are fully evolved and draw great depth, creating what could have been the best game of the year. If I could have stopped a second before the ending, it would have been 10/10. However then there is the ending. This ending respresents something complete unknown to Mass Effect, gives no closure or reasoning, has no basis for being there, and completely and utterly ruins the game. In fact it ruins Mass Effect 1 and 2 as well, as how could anybody restart the series with this kind of appalling disgraceful ending?… Expand
  32. XnoX
    Mar 20, 2012
    6
    Even more dumbed down and railroaded than ME2, complete with stripped content.

    Sorry, Shepard, but the real ending is in another citadel.

    Oh, and buy moar DLC!
  33. Nudz
    Mar 20, 2012
    4
    The reason for such a low score is not for lack of a good game, quite the opposite the game itself is absolutely brilliant and worthy of it's prequels.
    The ending however was probably the biggest let down of any game I have ever played, leaving the previous experiences with the entire trilogy feeling very hollow and quite without meaning.
  34. dmjrnbsn
    Mar 20, 2012
    0
    One of the most profoundly disappointing endings to any story in any medium. The writers removed the cornerstone in which the entire story was built upon - choice and consequence. So, the entire building comes crashing down at the end. In the end, none of the choices your character makes throughout three games matter. All the relationships you've built are meaningless. There is noOne of the most profoundly disappointing endings to any story in any medium. The writers removed the cornerstone in which the entire story was built upon - choice and consequence. So, the entire building comes crashing down at the end. In the end, none of the choices your character makes throughout three games matter. All the relationships you've built are meaningless. There is no closure in the relationships made, whether between LIs or squad mates. They never come to fruition, and there is no resolution. ME3 was advertised to have a multitude of outcomes based upon players' choices. That's what originally made the Mass Effect franchise such a great success. The finale should have raised the player to great heights or taken the player to despair... and everywhere between based upon the consequences of the player's decisions throughout the entirety of the series(Paragon, Renegade, or somewhere in between). BioWare should have finished their remarkable work on the strengths that it was built on. Choice and consequence. It seemed like a given, but...

    You leave the game feeling complete and utter disappointment. It is truly remarkable how an ending can be so profoundly and remarkably bad. It truly destroys the franchise entirely. This is not an easy thing to say, as I've loved the series from the start. There is no replay value at all.

    BioWare has ruined years of work in the last ten minutes on what should have been one of the greatest RPGs of all time. It will be a study in the future on how not to end a story franchise.    … Expand
  35. Raupao
    Mar 21, 2012
    0
    This game is great, except the Day 1 DLC AND THE LAST 20 MINUTES!
    Dumbed down EVERYTHING too, less dialogue options, less squad members, less type of missions, less interaction with characters, almost no answers, FILLED WITH PLOT HOLES. Don't buy this game, do ANYTHING but buy this game. Really, we have to let EA know we wont pup up with incomplete ridiculous endings and DAY 1 DLC.
    They    This game is great, except the Day 1 DLC AND THE LAST 20 MINUTES!
    Dumbed down EVERYTHING too, less dialogue options, less squad members, less type of missions, less interaction with characters, almost no answers, FILLED WITH PLOT HOLES. Don't buy this game, do ANYTHING but buy this game. Really, we have to let EA know we wont pup up with incomplete ridiculous endings and DAY 1 DLC.
    They lied about everything, this game is a fail, on EVERY SINGLE LEVEL.    … Expand
  36. me3endingsucks
    Mar 23, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Well I just completed Mass Effect 3. Like 10 minutes ago. Needless to say I am severely disappointed with the ending, because the mass effect games are one of my favorite games ever(along with hl, sonic 2 and silver(1999)). The end itself is totally inconsistent with the rest of the game, it's like if Frodo at the end of LOTR decided to give the ring to Snape (yes Snape from Harry Potter **** you that's why), and then the whole world turns to lava and everyone dies except Boromir and he mates with himself and creates a race of boromirs on Uranus. Also all the choices I made in the game didn't matter whatsoever. It was just brutal to see the awesome universe of mass effect end this way... I expected more. And I bought the collectors edition with the dlc and all that crap, makes me want to puke.… Expand
  37. craig8304
    Apr 6, 2012
    0
    Overall interesting and engaging in concept and some content. The black box idea of decisions having consequences was what hooked me. Who were the writers trying to copy, Arthur C Clark? Ursula K LeGuin? My fault for trusting that I was in the hands of capable writers. I find no basis for developers to claim artistic integrity. The current ending has an incongruousness that belies the soOverall interesting and engaging in concept and some content. The black box idea of decisions having consequences was what hooked me. Who were the writers trying to copy, Arthur C Clark? Ursula K LeGuin? My fault for trusting that I was in the hands of capable writers. I find no basis for developers to claim artistic integrity. The current ending has an incongruousness that belies the so called pursuit of artistic integrity. It is lazy. it is cobbled. it is Bad Art.… Expand
  38. filby08
    Apr 16, 2012
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Playing this game is like finding out that your beautiful, intelligent and sweet girlfriend was really a hooker all along who hated you and was only in it for the cash. I played ME1 once before ME2 came out. After ME2, I played both games in succession about 8 or 9 times. I was so excited when ME3 came out, I was finally going to wrap up all my Shep's stories, and they were all going to have a different ending. Except not. It's the same ending for every single one of them, and it makes no sense. After finishing Mass Effect 3, I felt repulsion to a franchise that I once adored. There are some great moments in the game, almost like Bioware's last shred of integrity was working overtime to outdo all the bad, but it's not enough to redeem it. It's not just the ending, the players who romanced most of the ME2 characters were left sorely disappointed by the lack of character interaction. Ashley, the tough soldier girl, was mirandafied - because apparently the game didn't have enough pornstar looking women in it. The addition of Allers, a badly voiced, do nothing character based on an IGN reporter, was a glorious mistake. Kai Leng, one of the main antagonists, felt like he accidentally walked into the wrong game on his way to Street Fighter or something. Day one DLC is a massive Eff you to the fans (and the "Buy More DLC!" message that pops up while you're trying to process the endings is just awful). The multiplayer, while fun, should have been given less development time. I would have accepted it as a DLC even, if that were possible. I don't know who's idea it was to scap the final boss fight, but that person needs to go sit in a corner and think about what they have done.

    There are some positives, I won't forget them. The voice acting, for the most part, is superb. Some of the character arcs are handled brilliantly (Mordin !), I found the combat system highly enjoyable (coming from someone who fumbled through ME1 on normal). As a card carrying Garrus fangirl, I felt spoilt by the romance subplot. I liked the idea of the EMS, but I wish some of the larger plotlines (Racnhi, for example) were given more in the ending. The squadmate banter was fantastic, and it was great nice to see them recognise each other's existence in the cutscenes. I liked that I could customise my weapons again, even if it did feel a bit pointless.

    But none of this makes up for the fact that it feels like my reward for being a devoted fan is getting treated like a nuisance. My first gut reaction after the ending was "Wow...Bioware must really hate me." It's like they got sick of crafting a masterful story and phoned the rest in to appeal to the COD crowd. I don't like to play the "they dumbed it down to appeal to the masses" card...but that is really how it feels. The worst part, is I am not sure this is all entirely Bioware's fault. The ending, of course, rests solely on their shoulders, but I am not sure about everything else. If the reviews say anything, it's that Bioware now makes games for critics, and not their fans.    … Expand
  39. LFC_Onder8
    Apr 28, 2012
    4
    Highs :
    Game-play - Quick, fluent. Action packed. Squad mates were good and the AI was clever through out the entire game. Story - Through out most of the game you made choices some of them were brilliant and mattered, some brought you to the point of tears, some may of made you question your own morals.
    Multiplayer - Fantastic multiplayer, although seems a bit more sluggish somehwat,    Highs :
    Game-play - Quick, fluent. Action packed. Squad mates were good and the AI was clever through out the entire game. Story - Through out most of the game you made choices some of them were brilliant and mattered, some brought you to the point of tears, some may of made you question your own morals.
    Multiplayer - Fantastic multiplayer, although seems a bit more sluggish somehwat, maybe its just me, but overall it was good.

    Lows:
    Characters : Dead, personality wise, completely dead. You get a completely new character and he is basically a idiot who works out a lot and somehow he is actually and N7 Candidate, I have already forgotten his name, SERIOUSLY. Oh, and the small amount of characters is also quite disappointing considering in the other two there were so many. Story/Ending : Sucker punch in the face or a kick in the private area. Your pick    … Expand
  40. opensauce
    May 28, 2012
    5
    ATW - Another Time Waster..... AMW - Another Money Waster..... I got so excited when I heard the 3rd installment for Mass Effect 3 was coming to town.... My wife even pre-ordered a copy for me for the same date release and play...... BUT.... I was sadly dissapointed. I was so impressed with Mass effect 2's dynamic play, control, featres and RPG type feel to your players, I was certainATW - Another Time Waster..... AMW - Another Money Waster..... I got so excited when I heard the 3rd installment for Mass Effect 3 was coming to town.... My wife even pre-ordered a copy for me for the same date release and play...... BUT.... I was sadly dissapointed. I was so impressed with Mass effect 2's dynamic play, control, featres and RPG type feel to your players, I was certain that ME3 would be that much better....but its not. ME2 you could mine minerals off various planets and solar systems, giving you a feel of control and power, but now, you need to dogde aliens from destroying whilest you basically collect 1 item, if you are lucky from some random planet. The gameplay is very much the same as ME2, altough not a bad thing, it was not enhanced, just the same with slightly different damages.... The story feels more scripted then before too. ME2 I could not put down, had to finish, played it day and night till I did..... ME3, I may have played about 8 hours.... and is not currently installed..... Feel that my money was a waste this time round....... Boo....… Expand
  41. scorched595
    Aug 22, 2012
    0
    Just goes to show how procrastination never pays off most of the time, Fun fact, did you know that the endings to this game were made in 2 hours? Not surprised? Me neither. It's like a kid who made a great science project, but wrote his presentation in 5 minutes. The game itself is great, aside from a few bugs, but the ending is just so **** atrocious, so offensive, that I never picked upJust goes to show how procrastination never pays off most of the time, Fun fact, did you know that the endings to this game were made in 2 hours? Not surprised? Me neither. It's like a kid who made a great science project, but wrote his presentation in 5 minutes. The game itself is great, aside from a few bugs, but the ending is just so **** atrocious, so offensive, that I never picked up this game again after I beat it the first time, and this is coming from a guy who beat mass effect 2 5 times (I counted). Even the extended cut doesn't do anything, it just adds a few minutes of footage to the ending, whereas bioware squandered the opportunity to fix their **** up by doing something like the indoctrination theory. Sorry, bioware, but your pretty much dead to me now after this.… Expand
  42. 48Laws
    Apr 27, 2013
    4
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu731UtTFqo I wish I could have seen this before purchasing ME3.

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

    Personally, I was a loyal follower of the ME franchise since a year or so after the first game came out. I watched as a high-quality RPG turned into a fun storytelling-driven shooter hybrid. I enjoyed both of the first two games, but worried that Bioware may have been taking too many creative liberties with game play design. After DA2 became a malignant tumor on the whole DA franchise, I worried that marketing was steering video games toward a more obviously profit-driven path. I enjoyed seeing some of my favorite characters in ME3, but having the entire series to compare the game to I felt disappointed and wished I hadn't purchased it before it's price plummeted. The game screams linearity, entire plot lines promised to have wildly different conclusions were railroaded and some of the characters with strong convictions pulled a 180 in the (choo-choo) 6-month mandated shore leave Shep was put on after Arrival (whether or not it was even played). James Vega was chosen by Bioware, knowing fewer squad mates would be included in this game, to accommodate newer players and have someone dumber than them on the Normandy. 17% of your squad is new, has no clue what's going on, and was included solely for first-time players; It really sends a message to those who have played the game for 5+ years (notice Vega wasn't made DLC; he must have either been considered more 'essential' than a Prothean by the devs or EA thought nobody would buy it). A broken journal system ensures players will constantly be wondering whether they scanned the right section of space for an item or have yet to drop it off to the NPC on the citadel who's conversation Shep overheard (these are laughably called 'side missions'). After you're confused by wtf just happened after the endings, you can buy all the answers in DLC form for $10 in Leviathan. This game is complete rubbish without the answers in that DLC pack (and even so, the plot further devolves into a joke). What's worst of all for me: this game makes me feel embarrassed for all the recommendations I gave out for the series after ME1 and ME2. I know I've personally brought 6 friends into the Mass Effect world, and only one of them enjoyed the "experience" of ME3. The rest still joke about the endings over a year past the game's release, and according to much of the polling done the majority of the fan base feels the same way. After this debacle, I won't be making that mistake with Bioware products again.    … Expand
  43. faceless-1
    Aug 13, 2013
    5
    The problem with ME 3 is, that you will need citadel DLC and extended cut to be a good game. Even with these DLC it is still inferior to ME 2. Ending is trash but the rest of the game is ok. Weakest in Mass Effect trilogy by far.
  44. cossayos
    Nov 2, 2012
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Easily the worst part of the trilogy. And this is not only about the abysmal end. The game feels shallow and short compared to parts 1 and 2. It starts out with introducing a new squadmate, which Shepard obviously knows but the player, unless they have read the comics, doesn't have a clue about. Dialogues are cliche and mostly run on auto. A kid, the one and only one in the whole trilogy tries to force the player into some kind of emotion, which rapidly becomes a nuisance when the dream sequences start. Multiplayer is tacked on in order to catch what the EA crew calls the COD crowd. I don't need it, and I didn't need the overall shooter feel of the game, whereas the real strenghts of the previous games take the backseat. It's fun to play once, but it's not something having a long shelve life, since the seen one seen them all feeling kicks in with a vengeance.… Expand
  45. Exur
    Dec 8, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. All the choices you made in previous games, all the heartbreaking decisions, the entire Mass Effect lore got flushed down the drain with this disaster piece. Nothing you did in the trilogy mattered because in the end, it was all a story. Nothing really happened.… Expand
  46. Jimbobbrown
    Aug 21, 2012
    5
    First off the multiplayer is fun, totally enjoyed my time on that even if it is rather limited. Secondly, I have to put the boot in over the single-player part. Its a shame cause its obvious so many people have put such hard work into it. The graphics, programming and overall story arc are fine but let down so fundamentally by the dialogue writers. Half the time I wasn't sure what the hellFirst off the multiplayer is fun, totally enjoyed my time on that even if it is rather limited. Secondly, I have to put the boot in over the single-player part. Its a shame cause its obvious so many people have put such hard work into it. The graphics, programming and overall story arc are fine but let down so fundamentally by the dialogue writers. Half the time I wasn't sure what the hell was supposed to be going on, or why x character had just been bumped off in seemingly quick and nonsensical fashion - I began to find it all rather funny waiting to see who'd get the chop next and how cheap and quickly it could be done. The ending isn't the problem really the whole single player game is poorly designed - the lack of choice, the overly long cut-scenes which the player has no input into, the lack of interesting side missions... fixing the endings won't help this game it needs to be re-booted (we get so many film re-boots, why not game ones?) preferably bring back Drew Karpyshyn too. I loved the first two games but felt compelled to finish this one only cause I had payed money for it, the single player game is that inconsistent and low quality. I rate the game as a five only for the multiplayer content and the hard work put into it by the development team (aside from the writers who seemingly didn't feel they had to trouble themselves too much). I don't blame EA for this, not too fond of origin but at least I got some money's worth out of the multiplay. This mess is totally on Bioware and the first game of theirs i've played were the story was the worst thing about it (aside from DA2 which I missed as it looked so pathetic).… Expand
  47. Theral
    Mar 28, 2012
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game was a great game in my opinion, well in line with the previous two; but I had a few issues.

    In places, the battles are seemingly just a time-sink; lots of husks slowly pop out no matter how fast you kill them - head-shot each one, and it still takes over a minute to clear some areas that wouldn't take very long if they came fast or all at once.

    The biggest problem, however? The ending is terrible. It has no real closure to the story; and worst of all the three endings are essentially the same piece of crap.    … Expand
  48. casellacrack
    Apr 1, 2012
    0
    Mass Effect 3 is the least successful episode in the saga: you play it because it is a bond that lasts for years, because the vulgar scifi also always has a shot (even if only in some microexperience side), because the mechanical augmentation between phases play with the characters and relationships always work, but basically is a way to appeal to the full only to those who still enjoysMass Effect 3 is the least successful episode in the saga: you play it because it is a bond that lasts for years, because the vulgar scifi also always has a shot (even if only in some microexperience side), because the mechanical augmentation between phases play with the characters and relationships always work, but basically is a way to appeal to the full only to those who still enjoys this kind of epic onanistic… Expand
  49. Rayken
    Aug 4, 2012
    5
    Many people rate this game under 4 because of it's ending. Well, to be honest it had way more problems than the ending alone. The running animations were really bad (especially Anderson's) , there were loads of auto-dialogue which is not acceptable for a game like Mass Effect where dialogue is a gameplay mechanic, wasted potential for characters ( see: Liara as the Shadow Broker) andMany people rate this game under 4 because of it's ending. Well, to be honest it had way more problems than the ending alone. The running animations were really bad (especially Anderson's) , there were loads of auto-dialogue which is not acceptable for a game like Mass Effect where dialogue is a gameplay mechanic, wasted potential for characters ( see: Liara as the Shadow Broker) and killing characters for no reason (see: Legion). Also, the sidequests (or lack thereof). The game had very little sidequests that involved actual gameplay, 75% of the sidequests being fetchquests. Then comes the horrible lore breaking ending. Even with the Extended Cut DLC it still is one of the worst endings to a trilogy I've ever seen. It also has little to no replayability and is extremely linear. Talking about replayability it also destroys the replayability of the other 2 games aswell, seeing as the ending doesn't show the consequences of your choices. The only good part about this game is it's combat, return of weapon mods and actual skill trees. Therefore I rate this game a 5/10.… Expand
  50. EmperorDisaster
    Jul 3, 2012
    0
    I'm going to try reviewing this without talking about the disgrace to gaming known as "EA"... But what the hell, EA deliver minimal gaming to the public, expecting them to survive on a half-done game, and deliver their wallets for the next 5000 DLC's. I cannot understand why EA take companies such as Bioware, who have been immensely successful in the past, and absolutely rip the creativityI'm going to try reviewing this without talking about the disgrace to gaming known as "EA"... But what the hell, EA deliver minimal gaming to the public, expecting them to survive on a half-done game, and deliver their wallets for the next 5000 DLC's. I cannot understand why EA take companies such as Bioware, who have been immensely successful in the past, and absolutely rip the creativity from them. The ending is disgustingly inaccurate to the rest of the series (no surprise thanks to the 1 million writer changes), and gameplay seems to be a child's interpretation of the previous games, the graphics seem half done thanks to all the cartoony looks on humans, and the game in genral, ABSOLUTE FILTH. EA is the disgrace in gaming that likes to place it in the shower and choke it to death. The END.… Expand
  51. avrell
    Nov 18, 2013
    3
    Storytelling, RPG elements and dialogue have all disintegrated a significant degree since ME2. Any illusion of some greater adventure is no longer there. You have an L shaped corridor after another to clear of enemies.

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

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

    ME3 is essentially a clumsy cover shooter among others. I would not recommend this game to anyone. I am amazed meta score among reviewers is as high as it is.    … Expand
  52. Smaug
    Jul 13, 2012
    0
    I have played Mass Effect from the first one, It had a marvelous and original setting that no much rpg's could mach.Still aside from the story combat was creative but often frustrating. In second one story got a lot blander with all that Cerberus nonsense but at least combat was better and game more refined.
    But third one is just terrible, the new writer who overtook the scene is awful,    I have played Mass Effect from the first one, It had a marvelous and original setting that no much rpg's could mach.Still aside from the story combat was creative but often frustrating. In second one story got a lot blander with all that Cerberus nonsense but at least combat was better and game more refined.
    But third one is just terrible, the new writer who overtook the scene is awful, knowing nothing of previous games, overall game quality is bad, an ugly copy-paste ripped from previous games, low-res textures, logic errors in quests, unasked multiplayer component in a singleplayer game, day-1 DLC, broken promises, brought out reviews, defiling of the scene with "human master race" storyline.

    Worst game I ever brought truly shocked and angered beyond reason for destruction of my favorite trilogy, whoever in EA is responsible for this atrocity should be hanged for his crimes against the fanbase, I now need some strong alcohol to forget what I saw. oh poor Tali what have they done to you.(sob) :(    … Expand
  53. Unblinking_Eye
    Jul 14, 2012
    0
    Its sad to watch something with a great beginning slowly turn into one of the most disappointing experiences. The Mass Effect series went from a great RPG with great fluff in Mass 1 to a cliched cover based shooter with the **** ending in Mass 3.

    If you have to play this game, borrow a copy. Not worth purchasing.
  54. tazock
    Jul 16, 2012
    0
    After DA2 Bioware succeded in completely destroy another franchise, after the first 2 ME games this one is really a let down; with and ending cutted and pasted from deux ex macchina and defended by bioware as an artistic choice,artistic my ass is a scam.
    Your past decisions doesnt affect the end of the game, you cant have an happy ending.
    All the game is more or less like this: enter a    After DA2 Bioware succeded in completely destroy another franchise, after the first 2 ME games this one is really a let down; with and ending cutted and pasted from deux ex macchina and defended by bioware as an artistic choice,artistic my ass is a scam.
    Your past decisions doesnt affect the end of the game, you cant have an happy ending.
    All the game is more or less like this:
    enter a room kill the 3/5 enemies waves, go to next room...i so miss old bioware    … Expand
  55. charrudeboy
    May 2, 2013
    10
    Great game, loved every minute of it, except for the ending.

    Ending could have been better but I don't know if I'm just annoyed I wont have any more Mass Effect
  56. PStakhiv
    May 16, 2013
    8
    Yeah, after the outstanding ME1 & 2 this is definitely a let down when it comes to the story! Biggest disappointment of the year with the worst ending in history, but lets be honest it's still one of the best game of the year! They used deus ex machina to resolve the plot not once but twice! But it's not all bad combat is great, characters are still amazing, there are two memorableYeah, after the outstanding ME1 & 2 this is definitely a let down when it comes to the story! Biggest disappointment of the year with the worst ending in history, but lets be honest it's still one of the best game of the year! They used deus ex machina to resolve the plot not once but twice! But it's not all bad combat is great, characters are still amazing, there are two memorable missions(unfortunately only two). Conclusion the game is great, the narrative is And also it send possible sequel in the oblivion… Expand
  57. rehamrick14
    Jun 24, 2013
    9
    Great game. Ending was meh. It definitely improved with the free dlc, but the ending still wasn't great. Other than that though, a simply legendary game worthy of your money. Seriously go buy it. Be sure to play the whole series in order though
  58. LogicalEagle123
    Aug 9, 2013
    9
    4.8 as a user score just because the ending was disappointing. I can't believe people are saying the last 10 minutes ruined the entire game for them. I wonder what the user score would be if this game had a good ending. I'm glad Bioware released the Extended Cut; if they didn't my score would be a bit lower. This was a stellar sequel and all the ones and twos out of 10 are just immature.4.8 as a user score just because the ending was disappointing. I can't believe people are saying the last 10 minutes ruined the entire game for them. I wonder what the user score would be if this game had a good ending. I'm glad Bioware released the Extended Cut; if they didn't my score would be a bit lower. This was a stellar sequel and all the ones and twos out of 10 are just immature. As a long time gamer I'm used to disappointing endings; its a common weakness in video game storytelling. Nevertheless an amazing title on Bioware's part, it still gave us a stellar story and characters. So they incorporated more action and gameplay elements? Get over it. Video games aren't supposed to be interactive movies.… Expand
  59. troberts92
    Aug 31, 2013
    5
    I played this game for about an hour, walked back into town and traded it straight back in. Being new to the franchise I instantly disliked the clunky-ness of the gameplay and controls. Not as many choices and too many cut-scenes for me to get into the game.
  60. Gingerbread_Man
    Dec 11, 2013
    3
    Loved the first two games. Was nothing but disappointed with this one. Combat felt almost identical to the second, and was fine. Outside of that, everything was different. The characters the second game spent so long building felt largely absent except for cameos. The choices made in previous games had absolutely no noticeable impact. The lore from the first game felt completely abandonedLoved the first two games. Was nothing but disappointed with this one. Combat felt almost identical to the second, and was fine. Outside of that, everything was different. The characters the second game spent so long building felt largely absent except for cameos. The choices made in previous games had absolutely no noticeable impact. The lore from the first game felt completely abandoned by this point, and the replacement arc was nowhere near the scope or impact. I'm not sure if they completely changed the project director by the third game, but it felt like the someone was writing the ending to someone else's story. Wasn't very good in any aspect.… Expand
  61. Evaldazz
    Dec 12, 2013
    2
    I tried to see this game through to the end, I truly tired. But I just couldn't do it. It is just appalling. I loved Mass effect 1 and though some people disliked mass effect 2 I thought the story was good enough to follow through and keep me entertained. Mass effect 3 has no redeeming qualities. The game play and physics are clunky, the graphics very outdated, the cover system gets youI tried to see this game through to the end, I truly tired. But I just couldn't do it. It is just appalling. I loved Mass effect 1 and though some people disliked mass effect 2 I thought the story was good enough to follow through and keep me entertained. Mass effect 3 has no redeeming qualities. The game play and physics are clunky, the graphics very outdated, the cover system gets you killed more often than it saves you. The Reapers, who are supposed to be the most devastating enemy we've ever seen, are so easy to take it, its laughable. I could go on and on like this, it really doesn't have anything going for it at all.

    If you want a good 3rd person shooter go for the dead space series, don't waste your time with this. I give it a 2/10 in honor of mass effect 1 and 2.    … Expand
  62. Asharel
    Dec 17, 2013
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This trainwreck was supposed to be the epitome of the trilogy and instead one gets gets generic and lazy design slapped in the face from the get go, fetch quests make you feel like a complete stalker since you never talk to the npc involved, all of your choices from previous games are either nullified or tossed into the abomination that is the gauge meter showing you how well you are on track.

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

    the story itself is a complete mess, instead of focusing on the reapers you get to battle you former employer for half of the game making the reapers feel like iretating bogeymen instead of a galactic menace, but the middle part is mediocre, the start is ****house but it pales in comparison to the ending that Bioware ripped off from Deux ex and somehow made it even ****tier, one would think the writers that gave us games like baldurs gate would deliver something else than horse manure sprinkled with cats piss but hey the EA overlords cant stand quality i guess....    … Expand
  63. Voodoo123
    Sep 12, 2014
    5
    I highly regret this full price preorder this is one of the few times I have ever pre purchased a videogame believing it a solid bet. I played and completed both ME1 & 2 but something about this title really offended me as PC gamer. The plastic and lifeless visuals coupled with a bland 'illusion of choice' script leaves the characters feeling unrealistic and the locations static. Maybe II highly regret this full price preorder this is one of the few times I have ever pre purchased a videogame believing it a solid bet. I played and completed both ME1 & 2 but something about this title really offended me as PC gamer. The plastic and lifeless visuals coupled with a bland 'illusion of choice' script leaves the characters feeling unrealistic and the locations static. Maybe I have just been spoiled by recent gaming highs (TLOU, GTAV, BF4) but where is the quality this time? Where are 2012 level AAA character animations, voice emotion and smart dialogue. Makes me think then why bother releasing this rubbish? Looks like the space RPG genre still has room on the shelf.
    Highly regret this purchase.    … Expand
  64. JaydenPickens
    May 16, 2019
    6
    This game makes me sad. EA and Bioware f**ked it up. While most of the game is fun and I do love it, love all the characters, missions are nice, gameplay is garbage (but that's to be expected), there's just one thing, that makes me sick... it's the endings. I played the game with all the dlcs, so I didn't knew what was in the vanilla version of the game, but now I know. They've cut tooThis game makes me sad. EA and Bioware f**ked it up. While most of the game is fun and I do love it, love all the characters, missions are nice, gameplay is garbage (but that's to be expected), there's just one thing, that makes me sick... it's the endings. I played the game with all the dlcs, so I didn't knew what was in the vanilla version of the game, but now I know. They've cut too much stuff. Also the endings are awful... all of them. The Indoctrination Theory kinda saves it, but still it's not what I'd expect. Admit it, these guys didn't know what they were doing. EA should have given them at least a year more to finish this game... or even two or three years to actually write some decent endings. I'm disappointed in this game, because I'm dissapointed in its story... I only played for the story and got this. Still, I liked most of the game... just hate the endings. Also let's celebrate the death of Marauder Shields with a minute of silence as he was the only one who tried to save us from these horrid endings... Pickens out.… Expand
  65. Bluedion
    Jul 21, 2020
    9
    Игра просто шедевр! Единственная игра, которую я прошёл несколько раз, а уж от концовки просто рыдал. Минус один бал за отношение EA к игрокам. Именно из-за этого я игру нигде не покупал, а играл на пиратке, ведь там есть всё сразу, а не нужно покупать кучу DLC за стоимость самой игры. А уж за стим версию так вообще EA гореть в аду!Игра просто шедевр! Единственная игра, которую я прошёл несколько раз, а уж от концовки просто рыдал. Минус один бал за отношение EA к игрокам. Именно из-за этого я игру нигде не покупал, а играл на пиратке, ведь там есть всё сразу, а не нужно покупать кучу DLC за стоимость самой игры. А уж за стим версию так вообще EA гореть в аду!
  66. JoeCool
    Mar 11, 2012
    4
    Holy cow, a 92 average critic rating and then you've got this hyped game that has you wondering within a few hours why on earth you'd been anticipating this title for so long. I'm really struggling to even give it a 5, and on second thought I'll give it a 4. It really looks like BioWare has sold its soul to the, uhm, to EA. After the let down called The Old Republic, we get an even biggerHoly cow, a 92 average critic rating and then you've got this hyped game that has you wondering within a few hours why on earth you'd been anticipating this title for so long. I'm really struggling to even give it a 5, and on second thought I'll give it a 4. It really looks like BioWare has sold its soul to the, uhm, to EA. After the let down called The Old Republic, we get an even bigger let down. Maybe they sunk so much money into TOR that nothing good could come from ME3. If you haven't bought it already, do yourself a favor and don't fall for this trap. If you liked ME1 and ME2 then stick with those games and don't let ME3 ruin the whole experience.… Expand
  67. Afterforever
    Mar 9, 2012
    3
    Cover system isn't nearly as bad as ME1 but worse then ME2. Jennifer Hale voice acting is brilliant. Visually ME2 beats ME3. My imported Shepard looked like almost completely different person. In the end all those choices you made over 120 hours of gameplay (3 games) don't really matter. It all boils down to the decision you make in last 15 minutes of the game and no matter what you do, itCover system isn't nearly as bad as ME1 but worse then ME2. Jennifer Hale voice acting is brilliant. Visually ME2 beats ME3. My imported Shepard looked like almost completely different person. In the end all those choices you made over 120 hours of gameplay (3 games) don't really matter. It all boils down to the decision you make in last 15 minutes of the game and no matter what you do, it leaves a lot of unanswered questions about what happens to Shepard friends and brothers-in-arms. Bleh.… Expand
  68. Techstepper
    Mar 9, 2012
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'll try to be objective
    Positive moments of the game:
    - Cool story. I played ME from part 1 just because of storyline
    - They finaly showed Tali's face :D
    - Epic soundtrack
    - - Graphics are good enough

    Negative moments of the game:
    - Day 1 DLC
    - BOOOORIIIING gameplay. There's and opinion that gameplay was made for CoD fanboys.
    - Role-play system - epic fail. Actually, it failed in ME 2. ME 1 had good one.
    - Gathering of war assets is so dull. Scan=>Gather=> FLEE FROM REAPERS (Repeat this over 9000 times)
    - The main hope of trillions of people, veteran soldier, the Savior of Galaxy can be a gay and sleep with his own shuttle's pilot. THIS IS RIDICULOUS!
    - And of course it's MOTHER****ING ENDING. All your choices in previous parts are TOTALLY USELESS. I guided Shepard through all of ME like my own son or friend just to watch him dying? All technologies was wiped out with destruction of Mass Relays?? Normandy crashed in the middle of **** nowhere??? This is **** I will never fogive BioWare. God, let them make DLC with normal ending

    This could be a great game, but ending ruins everything for me    … Expand
  69. zenoxis11
    Mar 9, 2012
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I made a metacritic account for the sole purpose of reviewing this game which was an abysmal letdown. I would have given it at least an 8/10 but there are so many problems it's not even funny. The story while being highly immersive and making you invested in your character and your teammates doesn't make up for it's absurd amount of flaws. Graphical glitches abound, pointless pauses in conversation, mission glitches that get stuck preventing you from continuing forward.

    But the biggest were the endings or should I say ending. The purpose of an ending is to give closure not raise more questions. Ignoring the fact that the ending has plot holes everywhere, it's still so poorly written that it's incredible anyone at Bioware thought it was acceptable. Is that to say the game is poorly written? Of course not, it's very well written, but the end that's supposed to explain the series is so badly executed it detracts from the experience as a whole. As a player, we should have to ask questions like, why isn't the normandy fighting the reapers on earth in the end, or why are the squadmates on the ground suddenly on board the normandy, or why are the mass relays always destroyed regardless of the choices made? To anyone playing this game currently, do not play past the conversation on board the citadel with anderson and he illusive man, everything afterwards gives no closure whatsoever and in fact forces the player to follow Bioware in the hopes that they'll achieve the closure they want. This is simply terrible decision making on the part of Bioware. I would have easily given this game an 8/10 if I ignored the glitches and absurdly bad ending, and while it can be argued that the game should be viewed as a whole, the ending's negative impact was strong enough to suck any joy I had in the experience getting there. So NO, 3/10 is the best I can do    … Expand
  70. quaib
    Mar 10, 2012
    0
    An absolute disappointment. Bioware has not made one good game since Baldur's Gate, and maybe KOTOR (NOT the awful MMO recently published). The company has decided to cash in on the casual market, and ruined any credibility they managed to gain over the years. Amongst anyone with any taste in games at all they are a laughing stock. Mass Effect 3 takes the cake... DLC before it was evenAn absolute disappointment. Bioware has not made one good game since Baldur's Gate, and maybe KOTOR (NOT the awful MMO recently published). The company has decided to cash in on the casual market, and ruined any credibility they managed to gain over the years. Amongst anyone with any taste in games at all they are a laughing stock. Mass Effect 3 takes the cake... DLC before it was even released, developed before the game was released and yet sold separately. Laughable endings, worse than those in DX: HR (although I can excuse those because unlike this POS, DX: HR was actually good). The whole sex in videogames that bioware are pushing is ridiculous, but in this one they also force homosexuality, to make things even more awkward and ridiculous. In conclusion, you're better off helping yourself to some hamburgers or some end of the line classics with the money that would be wasted on this.… Expand
  71. Rocharox
    Mar 10, 2012
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. First, this game promised so much as in terms of "FUN" that we, loyal fans following Shepard all the way and making sure HE/SHE STAYED ALIVE can only feel bad about the endings we got.
    But don't just take my word for it, see the other 900 people who came here only to share their sadness over this very poorly executed game.
    Shepard movements are confusing, you get rushed through the history, you see lots of characters who were really empathetic die for no reason, while others are left standing without you having an option.
    Some ME2 characters just had cameos, and the worst of all:
    THE ENDINGS. All the endings are crap, and don't make justice to one of the greatest games on history.    … Expand
  72. Turix
    Mar 9, 2012
    4
    I played through the game, and generally enjoyed the content - most of the game felt like a significant improvement over Mass Effect 2.... however, the game has several aspects that completely ruin immersion and just feel like a company grabbing for profit rather than wanting to build a good games or supporting their fan base - which is seriously upsetting. The main gripes are theI played through the game, and generally enjoyed the content - most of the game felt like a significant improvement over Mass Effect 2.... however, the game has several aspects that completely ruin immersion and just feel like a company grabbing for profit rather than wanting to build a good games or supporting their fan base - which is seriously upsetting. The main gripes are the graphical quality, which hasn't improved at all over ME2 on PC, the controls feel even more like a console port than before with your character going off and doing entire actions without you even asking. Parts of the game feel very rushed, specifically the beginning and end - the beginning just kind of drops you in without letting the game get going, or providing any setting. And the ending.... well I don't know where to start... all of the options are simply appalling, lazy cop outs - I was getting very involved in the story for a good part of the game and then the ending just ruins that completely. In the end I don't mind that I've spent money on the game, I can deal with that, but that I feel betrayed that Bioware doesn't seem to care about their IP beyond how much money it can make... its just plain sad.… Expand
  73. alexhellnight
    Mar 9, 2012
    0
    If you really are a Mass Effect fan, don't do the mistake I did! Don't play the game, or at least don't finish the game. It's sad, now I am glad I didn't pre-ordered the game and that I played a pirated version. I bought Mass Effect 1 , Mass Effect 2 and all the DLC content for them. Now I am happy the game was released 3 days late in Europe, otherwise I would have bought it!
  74. Whyowhy23
    Mar 9, 2012
    3
    I will say that this game has some amazing content, that being said, most characters are cameo appearances if not just a footnote in a message. The last 20 minutes of the game will literally shock and awe those who have been giving Bioware and EA the benefit of the doubt, it is really that bad. It was a horrible ending. There are some that will try to say some nice things, but reallyI will say that this game has some amazing content, that being said, most characters are cameo appearances if not just a footnote in a message. The last 20 minutes of the game will literally shock and awe those who have been giving Bioware and EA the benefit of the doubt, it is really that bad. It was a horrible ending. There are some that will try to say some nice things, but really Bioware needs to damage control the ending if it hopes to save the franchise with spinoffs or its name. I used to be a Bioware/EA fan like I was a Colts fan, not anymore. I will not buy anymore content from them, and finally put the controller away, and no longer take the 3 day break when the new game of the year comes out.… Expand
  75. saywhatIfeel
    Mar 10, 2012
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Do not play this game if you've not played the other 2. The PR BS stating that ME3 was fine to start on was said to ship a few more units and is an insult.

    I've never been one to post reviews before, but the conclusion of what had become one of my favorite new IPs ever has completely ruined my opinion and feelings about this franchise.

    From a technical standpoint, I enjoyed ME3. While retaining much of the same mechanics and gameplay style of the previous two games, there was not much adjustment needed coming to it. There are some stunning graphical moments and all in all despite a few minor bugs/glitches, nothing took me out of the atmosphere. The game's music should be lauded and is absolutely perfect. Along with Jesper Kyd's Assassin's Creed soundtracks, Mass Effect 3 has easily my favorite music in any game this generation.

    What annoys me most is what is annoying other fans of this series, the ending. Never in my wildest dreams did I think BioWare would take this way out. My guess is that EA forced this ending onto the franchise in an effort to leave the door open for continuation. I'd be fine with that if they had allowed the player to tie up Shepherd's story in a meaningful way. They don't. No matter what ending you are faced with, there's nothing uplifting or positive. It's just....gray. The only way they can really go with this story now is prequels considering the outcome of ME3. I don't care about the past other than how it effects the now. I cared about Shepherd and his friends.

    This is extremely unfair to the players that have been with this series since day one. I've never been much of an RPG fan. This game changed that for me. I took the choices I had to make in this series seriously, as I believed the developers when they said that every choice the player made has an effect on the ultimate conclusion. The ending shatters this notion completely as no matter how you play your Shepherd, whether a pious 100% Paragon good guy, or a 100% Renegade butthole, the same endings occur. There is no meaningful epilogue explaining what happens to the galaxy or the multitude of races you encounter. Just a few random screens and the Normandy door about to open on some tropical looking place. And then an old guy...and a kid.

    From a personal standpoint, from the moment of the first dream sequence where you're chasing a child you witness the death of early in the game, I knew that something was afoot. In any form of story, any time a child is put in this sort of role, it is a cop-out tool to garner emotion. This is fine, but its an easy way when the story is already in place to generate that emotion. If your Shepherd is a 100% renegade, why the heck would he even care about a kid? From my perspective, nothing can be done to save this franchise now. Shepherd's story and the 2 prior games were ruined by this terrible conclusion. I will not purchase any DLC nor will I revisit this franchise again. It received a 4 based on technical merit alone. Not since Darth Vader screamed, "Noooooooooooooo" at the end of Episode 3 have I felt this let down by a story and this trumps the Star Wars prequels for hokey. What's sad about this is that Mass Effect 3 is a good game. It plays well. It had the suspense needed to portray such a massive undertaking. The game does tie up many of the secondary plot points in the game and you have to make some hard decisions that supposedly influence the conclusion. The conclusion is an absolute cop-out and no matter how your Shepherd has progressed is very similar across the board.. We played these games to see what would happen to our character that the developers allowed us to develop and in the end we're force-fed (I blame EA almost entirely for this conclusion) a non-sensical conclusion. Multiplayer was needlessly tacked on and making it a mechanic in the single player story was a huge slap in the face. I play sports games or shooters multi, not RPGs. One of the positive aspects of the negatives of this game is how it shines a light on video game "journalism". The fact is the majority of reaction to this game's ending has been almost universally panned by players. Yet, it's received universal acclaim from the so-called "experts".    … Expand
  76. Urumashi
    Mar 10, 2012
    1
    It saddens me to no end that i have to write a negative review of this game, the gameplay was terrific, the multiplayer is well thought out and addicting and the story up to the last 10 minutes of gameplay made me laugh, cry and cheer. But then there was the ending...three static choices which in no way reflect upon or base off of the other choices you've been making for the past threeIt saddens me to no end that i have to write a negative review of this game, the gameplay was terrific, the multiplayer is well thought out and addicting and the story up to the last 10 minutes of gameplay made me laugh, cry and cheer. But then there was the ending...three static choices which in no way reflect upon or base off of the other choices you've been making for the past three games, the endings give no insight towards how your choices play out (do the krogan start another war for example) and no matter your choice of ending all of the mass effect relays get destroyed. In summary, no matter your pick...everyone's dead anyway. I will never understand why Bioware choose to so intentionally ruin a perfectly fantastic trilogy. Mark my words they're going to release a 10$ DLC to "fix" this....… Expand
  77. Lauz
    Mar 11, 2012
    3
    Such a let down. First two games in the series were amazing. Such amazing character interaction, the paragon/renegade options and control over how your characters personality grows throughout the game. Engaging side quests and interesting story twists. All of these things that made the series great have been removed for Mass Effect 3. The amount of choices in the first two games gaveSuch a let down. First two games in the series were amazing. Such amazing character interaction, the paragon/renegade options and control over how your characters personality grows throughout the game. Engaging side quests and interesting story twists. All of these things that made the series great have been removed for Mass Effect 3. The amount of choices in the first two games gave the user a great sense of control over their Shepard and led to satisfying results, Mass Effect 3 (not unlike Dragon Age 2) give the user the illusion of pretending they have a choice in the storyline yet no matter the choice, the result is generally the same; give or take a few minor details. They have effectively taken the role playing out of this role playing game and turned it into a typical shooter with dull cut-scenes and a real lack of control over the character's development and personality.

    And the climax to the series? Well, without spoiling it, I think I'd rather bang my head against the wall than experience such a bland, disenchanting and completely lacking ending to such a long journey.

    Bioware, what happened?    … Expand
  78. L0rd0fSn0W
    Mar 11, 2012
    1
    Mass Effect 3 in most cases was like the best piece of pie I have ever eaten in my life until I got to the end and realized the crust was moldy. Like many others on this site I had played the game since Mass Effect 1 and feel like Bioware really tried to rush this one out. My biggest hatred of this game was that all choice was just ripped away from the players, Bioware for the most partMass Effect 3 in most cases was like the best piece of pie I have ever eaten in my life until I got to the end and realized the crust was moldy. Like many others on this site I had played the game since Mass Effect 1 and feel like Bioware really tried to rush this one out. My biggest hatred of this game was that all choice was just ripped away from the players, Bioware for the most part let us run free in the first two games making any decision we felt was needed but then once we got to ME3 Bioware decided that they wanted to end the game on their terms and thats what really ticked me off. The so called 16 different endings you can have really fail to have any big difference from one another and they all end with the same outcome of the galaxy being plunged into even more chaos then the reaper Invasion. That being said there were some parts of this game that really startled me to how good they were, the mission were you retake the Quarian home world was absolutely fantastic as were most of the conversations with Garrus. As for the rest the injustices could go on and on, killing off pretty much all of your ME2 squad companion after spending that entire game getting to know them was just harsh and unneeded, shafting all the romances (Miranda, Tali, etc) and instead shoving homosexual relationships and forcing us to choose either Ashley or Liara also was annoying. The ridiculus script and the plot holes that were everywhere during this game were to big to ignore and the inclusion of squad mates that I'm pretty sure no1 used (JAMES). I never even had a conversation with the guy because looking at him reminded me to much of Jersey Shore. One last thing, the multiplayer isn't to terrible it can actually be really fun if you get a few buddies together and play but when you have to rely on complete strangers where if one of them is an idiot you ussually get screwed. As for the day 1 DLC, welcome to the world of big corporations seeing nothing but $$, I have a feeling that in order to fix a lot of the plot holes Bioware will just keep churning out DLC, heck they might go the direction of Fallout 3 and since every1 is rightfully screaming about the ending they'll offer you a new ending if you do all the DLC.… Expand
  79. Qantaqa
    Mar 12, 2012
    2
    Horrible animations, story, and dialogue. Nice audio and voice acting. Watch ending from youtube and save your time.. this is not an RPG. If you like the Sims you might like this.
  80. Gamster
    Mar 13, 2012
    1
    I have been Effected Massively since I downloaded this, so called, PC game. What a lot of hype for very little. Is there a switch somewhere in the game that turns it into a 21st century gaming experience. When you compare it to the current GREATS, Battlefield 3 and Batman Archam City, it does not even get off the starting block. Playing in 3D is dreadful and the movement options and theI have been Effected Massively since I downloaded this, so called, PC game. What a lot of hype for very little. Is there a switch somewhere in the game that turns it into a 21st century gaming experience. When you compare it to the current GREATS, Battlefield 3 and Batman Archam City, it does not even get off the starting block. Playing in 3D is dreadful and the movement options and the way Shepherd jerks (that says a lot) around is like turning the clock back ten years in gaming. How did it ever get the 9 and 10's score. I would give it an ambitious 1. I know very litte about what's happening at EA, but I do know that when I spend £34.99 I expect to get value for money. I can't comment on the content or story line, and this is my first and only experieince with Mass Effect, as I have dumped it after playing the first ten minutes. A waste of money. Don't make my mistake and buy it now, wait until they pay you to take it.

    A very, very disappointed gamer.    … Expand
  81. gimmeabreak
    Mar 13, 2012
    2
    The music is very good, but a mixed bag due to the number of different writers. The sound effects are very good but the sound engine doesn't give realistic sound. Going from one room to another (through an opening, not a door) often results in the sound abruptly changing -- no mix of the sounds from the two rooms. The graphics are good to excellent. Animation generally is very buggy. GoingThe music is very good, but a mixed bag due to the number of different writers. The sound effects are very good but the sound engine doesn't give realistic sound. Going from one room to another (through an opening, not a door) often results in the sound abruptly changing -- no mix of the sounds from the two rooms. The graphics are good to excellent. Animation generally is very buggy. Going from cinematic to live action can be laughable. So can going from one cinematic to another. Often the characters will jump into new body positions. The story this time sucks IMO. They put this out way before it was ready!… Expand
  82. Bandicool
    Mar 14, 2012
    4
    I really don't know what went wrong but those endings and their consequences must be the biggest letdown i've ever experienced in gaming history. The game (without the 10 mins in the ending) deserves a 9/10 but the ending is so horribly full of plot-holes and unansweread questions that I am left speechless.
    In a game where the story and it's characters are the main reason for buying it,    I really don't know what went wrong but those endings and their consequences must be the biggest letdown i've ever experienced in gaming history. The game (without the 10 mins in the ending) deserves a 9/10 but the ending is so horribly full of plot-holes and unansweread questions that I am left speechless.
    In a game where the story and it's characters are the main reason for buying it, how can you end it like this?    … Expand
  83. pitufos38
    Mar 19, 2012
    2
    SPOILER FREE CRITIC:

    1-All your decision in the game produce military points that determine the type of ending you have. But these points affect argumental outcomes that are not related with them. For example (not real, but good for giving you an idea): if you have saved Jon the missile would destroy the reaper. If you didn't save him the missile will fail. That's it, as stupid as it    SPOILER FREE CRITIC:

    1-All your decision in the game produce military points that determine the type of ending you have. But these points affect argumental outcomes that are not related with them. For example (not real, but good for giving you an idea): if you have saved Jon the missile would destroy the reaper. If you didn't save him the missile will fail. That's it, as stupid as it seems. So through the "trick" of measuring your decisions in a completely "out of context" point scale they have save a lot of story work. Without the story been changed by our decision, the decision lost the meaning, this is only a gears of war with almost no rpg in it. Even the different ending are the same clip with diferent colors.

    2-Taking apart the ending the game resemble mass effect 2. Too repetive, although has some good points, but you can forgive that because you are preparing for the big finale. Problem here is that the finale is horrible. However you will enjoy the rest of the game. I encourage to not make sidequest, it is not worht it (the ending will be still horrible) and main quest have a much better quality.

    3-The game sucessfully take into account your previous game actions for providing you (or not) help (or trouble) in some missions. That was quite good, at least in my story (I have heard not all are so good).

    4-Missions are repetitive, lot of them with very poor argument. Lots seems like a multiplayer match with boots (indeed they seems like multiplayer maps).

    5-Too much cloying conversations. In pevious games they were there too but were well introduced. Here they are all around and feels very forced. This is specially true in conversations between male characters.

    6-You got the sense there is a love story because is has become a standart of these games. Very forced, underworked. If you are going to put love in your game do it properly with an appeling story, nothing bad happens if you do not put it.

    7-DLC day one content. Quite important indeed, unlock protean squad member, that means unlock argumental questions about mass effect lore. Should not be an extra.

    8-The protan lore, from the dlc is quite good. like the protean society a lot.

    9- Wraping up. A few closer too mainstream thrid person shooter that previous games and less RPG. Still would be a good game with a good ending but...    … Expand
  84. fuzio
    Mar 20, 2012
    4
    more then 200 hours of playing just to get this stupid ending, and no, i don't care for closure or happy one, but this one slap in the face. Beside that game was fun, not ME2 fun bu still playable, too combat heavy and not as good as two other parts. In the end frustration and anger forced me to make account on MC just to warn - if u play - stop playing before ending - more fun thenmore then 200 hours of playing just to get this stupid ending, and no, i don't care for closure or happy one, but this one slap in the face. Beside that game was fun, not ME2 fun bu still playable, too combat heavy and not as good as two other parts. In the end frustration and anger forced me to make account on MC just to warn - if u play - stop playing before ending - more fun then watching the real one :/… Expand
  85. Armis
    Mar 21, 2012
    7
    Just echoing what I'm sure many others have said. The game itself is OK. It's not nearly the 10 that bought off critics seem to be giving it. It's simply a mediocre shooter with above average dialogue. But. The ending. Not only is it amazingly bad, but in order to make it even slightly less **** you'd have to grind at the horde-mode multi-player. In a single-player game. Boycotting BiowareJust echoing what I'm sure many others have said. The game itself is OK. It's not nearly the 10 that bought off critics seem to be giving it. It's simply a mediocre shooter with above average dialogue. But. The ending. Not only is it amazingly bad, but in order to make it even slightly less **** you'd have to grind at the horde-mode multi-player. In a single-player game. Boycotting Bioware from now on.… Expand
  86. Beddead
    Aug 30, 2012
    4
    К сожалению это самая плохая часть серии. Везде чувствуетсяК сожалению это самая плохая часть серии. Везде чувствуется халтура. Окружающий мир мертв. Никаких событий вокруг при блуждании по цитадели не происходит. Инженер в доках прощается со своей девушкой практически на протяжении всей игры. И так далее. Так же намного меньше внимания уделено дизайну уровней. Ощущение что все слеплено на скорую руку. Второстепенные квесты тоже примитивны. С ностальгией вспоминаю вторую часть где можно было нарваться на драку просто идя по цитадели. Ну и концовка подкачала.… Expand
  87. Maximo
    Mar 30, 2012
    4
    Somehow, everything good about Mass Effect left with the writer that was responsible for the opening part of the trilogy. I cant think of any positive thing about ME3, none, only the terrible things remain. Suddenly, I realized how poor of a sci-fi ME is, things that didnt matter suddenly became game-breaking for me. For example, the animations, the "every species speaks english", theSomehow, everything good about Mass Effect left with the writer that was responsible for the opening part of the trilogy. I cant think of any positive thing about ME3, none, only the terrible things remain. Suddenly, I realized how poor of a sci-fi ME is, things that didnt matter suddenly became game-breaking for me. For example, the animations, the "every species speaks english", the sci-fi clichés, the bisexuality, etc. All in all, the story is just plain boring, not to mention it has many plot holes. Dialogues were terrible and the ending was a colosal dissapointment, something for people to gloat about for decades to come.… Expand
  88. JonathanM
    Apr 5, 2012
    2
    Why, oh why did this game get good reviews? It's very poorly done compared to the first two (I was a big fan of the first one, and the second one was okay.) This newest addition to the mass effect series is beyond flaws with not-so-flowing storyline, poor animation, and poorly optimized for the pc. To make matters worse, the storyline is full of holes as well, with parts becomingWhy, oh why did this game get good reviews? It's very poorly done compared to the first two (I was a big fan of the first one, and the second one was okay.) This newest addition to the mass effect series is beyond flaws with not-so-flowing storyline, poor animation, and poorly optimized for the pc. To make matters worse, the storyline is full of holes as well, with parts becoming inconsistent or unnecessary. I am a fan of Bioware, but this is by far the worst game I've ever seen them put out. Nice job, guys, you wasted my money. I truly say do not bother with this one, it will only ruin the series for you. Go play the first one.… Expand
  89. Speech500
    Mar 10, 2012
    3
    I feel that i have to give a fair review of Mass Effect 3, though there will be minor spoilers throughout, but i will try not to give too much away.
    1. Graphics
    The graphics in this game are, i am unhappy to say, just not up to scratch for 2012. Though they didn't empair my experience too much, there were definitely scenes that were nice but i know that if they were in better quality, the    I feel that i have to give a fair review of Mass Effect 3, though there will be minor spoilers throughout, but i will try not to give too much away.
    1. Graphics
    The graphics in this game are, i am unhappy to say, just not up to scratch for 2012. Though they didn't empair my experience too much, there were definitely scenes that were nice but i know that if they were in better quality, the game would have been stunning.
    2. Cutscenes
    I think bioware uses so many cutscenes because their textures aren't very good. Needless to say, the cutscenes are very nice, but they don't give much to the overall experience, as i can think of only one or two that looked really cool.
    3. Conversations
    I have to say that the conversations in this game took a turn for the worse. In ME2, Shepard doesn't say anything unless you make him, this gave players a feeling that it was their character. In ME3, you are given a very mean line or a very nice line, and this gives it a bit of a Fable 3ish Feeling. These give you lots of reputation as you very rarely even get to choose what Shepard says at all.
    4. Carry Over Choices
    Not many things carry over from ME2, Though the couple that do are just about if Ashley died or if your team died, you get a memorial in the Normandy. ME3 was more about ME3 than the trilogy.
    5. The Boy
    This was really something i wish i could forget. Shepard obsesses over this kid right up to the ending, no doubt in an effort to pull our heartstrings. It's not like (spoiler) Mordin dying, as we know and love him. What do we care if some badly textured kid gets blown up!?
    6. The End
    The End was..... God no... (spoilers)
    The player has a readiness rating going from 0 to 5000, the readiness rating is increased by playing multiplayer. At the very end of the game, the player can choose from three options, all pretty **** for the galaxy. The more you played multiplayer, the more of the tree are open to you. You can either Control the reapers, killing yourself, to make them go away; You can turn every race into cyborgs of sorts, making the reapers go away; or you can Destroy them. These three vary depending on how much you did multiplayer. If you didn't do multiplayer, you can only choose destroy, and you kill all life on earth. The fact that the single player campaign has nothing to do with the end is completely shocking, and the multiplayer addition is worse still. The endings aren't even good! I finished yesterday and I just feel cheated.
    7. DLC
    This is an important part of the trilogy, and i am not going into why i am not happy that it isn't in the game in the first place. Though i can understand why it isn't on the disk, it should not cost me money. In my opinion, this is worth pirating, but don't quote me on it.
    8. Combat
    I chose narrative, so for me it was EZPZ but it was also fun. As an adept, I looked forward to playing. I liked to pull people into the air and then either explode them with a throw or make Liara use stasis, making the guy just hang there for a while. It's a laugh.
    9. Interface
    The interface is really nice and clean in Mass effect 3, something i loved. Everything is easy to do and the power system is flawless. The map is nice as it gives markers for certain places of interest.
    10. Minigames
    I actually missed the Mining interface. It game people a reason to visit planets and explore. I just couldn't afford a lot of the things that needed researching, and i felt the research option in ME3 really went down hill. I am very happy that the Debug and Hack mini games are back, because i personally always hated the **** out of them.
    11. Citadel
    I loved the Citadel this time around, though it was at the sacrifice at Omega and Illium. I'm not sue it was worth it, but forgetting those two, the citadel is bigger and better! Instead of the colorful techno feeling to it, there is a vibrant metropolis filled with sunshine and terrorists. It's a lovely place to go and relax after killing evil monsters from outer space.
    12. Characters
    The characters were really well done, when you don't count the jersey shore cast... Forgetting Bioware's slip up with the romance stuff, i really felt an attatchment to a few of the characters, I.E Garrus, EDI, Liara, and Tali. not having as many people in the team was worth the fact that they really come into their own as individual people. And yes, the loyalty missions are gone, but bioware gives you a sort of loyalty mission for watch, like a central mission revolving around that person.
    13. Antagonists
    The Baddies (Geth, Cerberus and Reapers) are really good and well defined in this game, you can tell instantly who your fighting, as each has it's own fighting styles and representatives. This was one of the things Bioware and Sata... EA did right.

    I'm not going to tell you which is the best, that's up to you to decide, but the information i gave you is mostly unbiased. Thanks for reading my review on Mass Effect 3!    … Expand
  90. SIckTired72
    Mar 10, 2012
    0
    Canâ
  91. schwegs
    Mar 11, 2012
    2
    ME3 has the worst ending to to any game I've ever played. I cannot express how disappointed I am and what a super let-down feeling I have after playing this to completion. The game is literally ruined by the fact that there is NO possible "happy ending" where you save earth and are re-united with your friends -- you know, kinda what you were fighting for the entire series. If they hadME3 has the worst ending to to any game I've ever played. I cannot express how disappointed I am and what a super let-down feeling I have after playing this to completion. The game is literally ruined by the fact that there is NO possible "happy ending" where you save earth and are re-united with your friends -- you know, kinda what you were fighting for the entire series. If they had written an ending as good as the rest of the game/series, this game would be great -- I'd even overlook the plotholes/failures to explain things (which are pretty bad in spots). As it stands, however, it will be difficult to look past this sickening ending to one of my favorite series and characters of all time.… Expand
  92. Ninjastyle
    Mar 13, 2012
    0
    Game is Excellent until..... the Ending the last part of the game is rushed and then the ending makes you feel angry, sick og just plain weird as in WTF happend there?

    Plain and simple the game is a total failure that makes the two previous games feel like **** games that had no point to them. such a sad sad ending for what was going to be the most fantastic Trilogy game to date. From    Game is Excellent until..... the Ending the last part of the game is rushed and then the ending makes you feel angry, sick og just plain weird as in WTF happend there?

    Plain and simple the game is a total failure that makes the two previous games feel like **** games that had no point to them.

    such a sad sad ending for what was going to be the most fantastic Trilogy game to date.

    From this point onward I will never buy a bioware game again nor will I sub to their mmos i've allready unsubbed from SWTOR becaus of the utter redicules states these two games have been given to us in.

    I cannot see Bioware being an active game makeing company in 3 years from now if this continues for I for one will Never EVER support this new "EA" direction that Bioware has taken with all their games lately Dragon Age 2 definently started showing this to me directly but just sick I feel now is allmost impossible to describe.

    Please do not support Bioware again if you must have their games dont buy them atleast.    … Expand
  93. TobyTucker
    Mar 12, 2012
    5
    While I can certainly see the point of those giving this a 0 score to send a message to EA/BioWare over the DLC issue and the way the ending seems to be tacked on by people who have no idea what Mass Effect is all about, I can't honestly do that. But I didn't give it a terribly high score either because this COULD have been a truly great game. Unfortunately it seems to have been pushed outWhile I can certainly see the point of those giving this a 0 score to send a message to EA/BioWare over the DLC issue and the way the ending seems to be tacked on by people who have no idea what Mass Effect is all about, I can't honestly do that. But I didn't give it a terribly high score either because this COULD have been a truly great game. Unfortunately it seems to have been pushed out the door before it was completely ready. It also appears to have been "dumbed down" as far as its RPG elements go in order to appeal to a mass audience. Knowing what I know now, I would have waited until it went on sale instead of paying full price. Hopefully, with a patch or two, perhaps a (free) DLC to fix the ending and this game will live up to its full potential. Seeing as I have the PC version there's always the chance that modders will come to the rescue! It just a shame that a game with such promise turned out the way it did.… Expand
  94. jesperc
    Mar 13, 2012
    2
    I mostly loved the game as I played true it , it has a great atmosphere and you can really feel how the war was creeping in everywhere, as the game progressed, sorrow for the lost, people in misery, and how Shepard becoming more and more stressed, and really taking it hard when old friends die. It touch a lot of emotions in me, and it felt kind of cool.

    The missions was to shooter    I mostly loved the game as I played true it , it has a great atmosphere and you can really feel how the war was creeping in everywhere, as the game progressed, sorrow for the lost, people in misery, and how Shepard becoming more and more stressed, and really taking it hard when old friends die. It touch a lot of emotions in me, and it felt kind of cool.

    The missions was to shooter like with no real dialogs and explorations of area, that is OK for the side missions, but I had hoped for the main missions to be more like ME1.

    It was to short as well, took me 36 hours to complete(the first 2 spend around 60 hours pre-DLC), to bad they didn't spend the resources from the multi player part to put the final touch on the single player game.

    I wont comment on the multi player part. I haven't played it and have no intentions to do it

    Then I hit the ending of the game and my mass effect world crumbled to dust. I loved all 3 ME games and that ending destroyed that.

    I give it 2 out of respect for the game up until the ending the last 8 points has the worst game ending in history swallowed.

    I will not recommend to people that loves the Mass Effect series to buy it or it you really have, to quit the game before the ending.    … Expand
  95. deex
    Mar 13, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The final conclusion of what was an epic series is pathetic and disappointing. As a fan of the Mass Effect games, which were truly inventive, creative and ground breaking, I expected so much more out of the finale. But instead, EA Games and Bioware failed to deliver. For three games, players shaped the fate of the galaxy through their actions, decisions and choices. This was what Mass Effect was at heart, choosing your own path, crafting your own story, and facing the consequences of your actions. And for three games, players expected that their self made paths within the game would determine the fate of the Galaxy. But rather it's the opposite. The last 10-15 minutes of the game throw out the qualities that made the Mass Effect games so amazing. What I mean is, despite all the work and effort you put into the three games, everything you did does not matter. Your actions throughout perhaps 100 hours of gameplay boil down to a general, and universal ending. Despite what it may initially appear, there is only one true ending. Granted this ending has tiny tweaks depending on whether or not you played multiplayer or downloaded some iOS app, but these differences are so puny, so miniscule, that it is almost unnoticeable. This game is a slap in the face to the fans.… Expand
  96. LostInReverie
    Mar 13, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm only rating this down so much, because Bioware and EA need to pay attention. The rest of Mass Effect 3 up until the end was great, dare I say even fantastic with a few flaws. The biggest flaw during the main game was how they treated the romances from ME2, especially Thane, Miranda, Jacob and Jack. Thane doesn't even get a Codex entry in the game, for God's sake. His romance is treated almost identically to the friendship path in ME3. But by far the worst part of the game is the end. It's extremely poorly written and seems like it was smashed together with little thought for plot continuity or even coherence. It also relies on one of the biggest and most unforgivable deux ex machina's I've seen in a long time in the god/child/AI, which is ironic because deux ex machina of course means god from the machine. If that was supposed to be a little joke on Bioware's part, it's not funny. I was so disappointed by the end of this game that I felt physically sick. We fans were more than just let down; we were slapped in the face by an ending that seems like little or no thought was put into it at all, that doesn't take into account any of our choices and doesn't fit in with the narrative the previous games had been expanding upon. Bioware, your fans deserve better, and that is not entitlement. It is a simple fact.… Expand
  97. TotalBiscuitXXX
    Mar 14, 2012
    0
    A forgettable experience! From its copy and paste level & characters its copy and paste waves of enemies, frustrating controls over its run and cover system (binded to space on PC). Its like EA/Bioware forced the Devs to design multiplayer, kinect and dlc instead! Mass Effect 3 leave you with a real hunger for a more then lackluster experience. The trouble with this game steamsA forgettable experience! From its copy and paste level & characters its copy and paste waves of enemies, frustrating controls over its run and cover system (binded to space on PC). Its like EA/Bioware forced the Devs to design multiplayer, kinect and dlc instead! Mass Effect 3 leave you with a real hunger for a more then lackluster experience. The trouble with this game steams from its re-write, and I'm guessing corporate or hierarchical interference overwhelming common sense and appealing for a money grab. Was a shameful display I was really looking forward for Mass Effect 3 but I had my hopes dashed when I first read about the script leak last year!… Expand
  98. Pr0wl4r
    Mar 14, 2012
    0
    Absolutely and completely disappointed. I played the first two games and thoroughly enjoyed them, the feeling of my decisions making a difference to the outcome of the overall story was great. I was also thoroughly enjoying watching the final story unfold - even with, lets not kid, the lack of proper dialogue between missions and lack of dialogue options with characters and randomAbsolutely and completely disappointed. I played the first two games and thoroughly enjoyed them, the feeling of my decisions making a difference to the outcome of the overall story was great. I was also thoroughly enjoying watching the final story unfold - even with, lets not kid, the lack of proper dialogue between missions and lack of dialogue options with characters and random civilians (a real step back from what the ME series is about, UNFORGIVABLE!! Those side quests were horrendous, listening in for them? Absolutely no involvement. Just like a couple of the quests from ME2 on Illium.) and the lack of armor and armor mods/weapons mods etc featured in the first game which were 'to come back'. I would have given the game a 7 at this point. And then I got to the ending. What a pile of horse manuere! It went aggainst everything we were promised. The decisions made in the first and second game meant absolutely nothing to how the finale played out and were quite minimal to how the mid-game played out, instead of an unforgettable climactic satisfying ending we got "DOOR ABC, YOUR CHOICES DON'T MEAN ANYTHING TO ME" rubbish.

    My recommendation to anyone who has played ME1 and ME2 and hasn't picked up ME3. As many below me have stated, stay away, its a huge let down to the franchise.    … Expand
  99. Trompello
    Mar 15, 2012
    1
    I am so sorry I have to give this game a 1 but it is the truth. The Mass Effect trilogy is my favorite game series of all time..hands down. The story is incredible. The music, intense. And the characters seemingly alive. The trilogy was a gold mine until ten minutes before the third game's ending. Bioware has utterly RUINED the best game series I have ever known. Your choices mean nothingI am so sorry I have to give this game a 1 but it is the truth. The Mass Effect trilogy is my favorite game series of all time..hands down. The story is incredible. The music, intense. And the characters seemingly alive. The trilogy was a gold mine until ten minutes before the third game's ending. Bioware has utterly RUINED the best game series I have ever known. Your choices mean nothing because it all ends the same. The fact that they would give this ending is appalling and shows that EA has truly corrupted what Bioware used to be. Do not buy this game. Even if they change the ending, they have already ruined it. They screwed up Dragon Age by making it for 12 year old kids who just want to see things explode and don't like to think.… Expand
  100. nantaeg
    Mar 15, 2012
    0
    NON. Apres une trilogie si rondement menee sur le plan scenaristique, les 5 dernieres minutes sont catastrophiques. Aucun libre arbitre, des cinematiques baclees et quasi-identiques peu importe la direction selectionnee par le joueur. Bref, le nom de Mass Effect se fait salir comme un malpropre sur une conclusion qui bafoue les codes de la serie.
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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

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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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