2007’s Mass Effect set a new standard for sci-fi RPG’s by creating a lore rich world that in just a single game was able to compete in complexity with the likes of Star Wars and Star Trek. Its sequel, 2010’s Mass Effect 2 took a more streamlined approach to gameplay without sacrificing the story and received overwhelming positive critical attention around the time of its release and has since gone on to be considered one of the greatest games of the seventh generation, and one of the greatest games of all time. It’s then a monumental task to wrap up a story like Commander Shepard’s in just one more game, but the series was always planned as a trilogy, so Bioware went back to the drawing board and tried to present the most well-rounded Mass Effect game yet for Mass Effect 3. Whilst it was an impossible task to try and improve upon what Mass Effect 2 achieved, and though ME3 does have some areas where it trips over its own feet, the experience at large is still one of exceedingly high quality even nearly ten years later.
Despite Commander Shepard’s best efforts in destroying the Collectors and delaying the Reaper’s arrival into the Milky Way the inevitable has finally happened. The Reapers are here and they’re killing all intelligent organic life in sight. The Batarian’s are on the verge of extinction, the Asari are making a last ditch effort to preserve their history, the Turian’s have pulled all their forces back to their homeworld of Palaven to make a final stand, the Krogan are prepared to fight if the Genophage is cured and the Salarian’s are more concerned about the Krogan than the Reapers, the Quarian’s are amassing their fleet to attack the Geth on their homeworld, and Humans are trying to stop Earth from being completely obliterated. It’s up to Shepard, now a disgraced war criminal, to try and unite every species under one united military force to defend each other against the Reaper threat; as well as build ‘The Crucible’, an ancient Prothean weapon designed to destroy the Reapers for good. Unfortunately, galactic politics is never straightforward, alliances must be forged in the fires of war, and sacrifices must be made; all meanwhile Cerberus and The Illusive Man seem to be working with the Reapers with the intention of trying to control them.
Despite Commander Shepard’s best efforts in destroying the Collectors and delaying the Reaper’s arrival into the Milky Way the inevitable has finally happened. The Reapers are here and they’re killing all intelligent organic life in sight. The Batarian’s are on the verge of extinction, the Asari are making a last ditch effort to preserve their history, the Turian’s have pulled all their forces back to their homeworld of Palaven to make a final stand, the Krogan are prepared to fight if the Genophage is cured and the Salarian’s are more concerned about the Krogan than the Reapers, the Quarian’s are amassing their fleet to attack the Geth on their homeworld, and Humans are trying to stop Earth from being completely obliterated. It’s up to Shepard, now a disgraced war criminal, to try and unite every species under one united military force to defend each other against the Reaper threat; as well as build ‘The Crucible’, an ancient Prothean weapon designed to destroy the Reapers for good. Unfortunately, galactic politics is never straightforward, alliances must be forged in the fires of war, and sacrifices must be made; all meanwhile Cerberus and The Illusive Man seem to be working with the Reapers with the intention of trying to control them.
If Mass Effect 3 does anything well it’s adequately presenting the sheer unfathomable scale of an intergalactic war. There are so many disparate factions each wanting to protect their own from the Reapers at the cost of other Milky Way species, but the only way they’re going to survive is if they’re convinced to work together. Alone they’ll be annihilated, no matter how strong their armies are, but if everyone comes together and fights as one then the galaxy might just live to see another day.
Mass Effect 3 sets the tone right off the bat with Earth being invaded by Reapers in the opening minutes as you make a frantic escape to the Normandy. Buildings are being torn down, civilians massacred in the thousands, within minutes what was a beautiful world full of bustling life is decimated into a burning rock with just a few pockets of fighters left to defend it.
From here you venture out into the stars to re-assemble your team with familiar faces like Liara T’Soni, Tali Zorah, Garrus Vakarian, Ashley Williams, and Kaiden Alenko. It’s a considerably smaller squad than what was present in Mass Effect 2, but any surviving characters will also return such as Urdnot Wrex, Urdnot Grunt, Miranda Lawson, Thane Krios, Samara, Jack, and Jacob Taylor, as well as many more.
As you complete missions to unite the different species you prepare for a final assault against the Reaper threat. The more species you unite, the more likely you’ll win. But Mass Effect 3 ensures that you can’t just have a happy ending where everyone holds hands and gets along, difficult choices must be made and not every species will survive the Reapers. Some choices will be made that mean former allies will become enemies, and foes become new friends.
From a story perspective it works incredibly…but as I’m sure it’s impossible to ignore, Mass Effect 3 was infamous for its ending upon release in 2012. Mass Effect 2 broke new ground by allowing you to import you Mass Effect 1 save, meaning that choices you’d made in the first game impacted how the second game would play out. If a squad member was killed in the first game, they wouldn’t be present in the sequel. If you saved someone’s life, they might be able to help you, or even hinder you in your fight against the Collectors. Mass Effect 3 boasted the same function, importing your Mass Effect 2 save, and by extension Mass Effect 1, into Mass Effect 3 to create a truly unique story experience for each player. The idea being that no two people would have the game end exactly the same way.
Marketing hyperbole is a wonderful thing however and Mass Effect 3 gives you the choice of three (now four) basic ending choices, with the specifics as to what happens to major characters and races changing depending on your actions. So, whilst you may never see the exact same ending twice, it is boiled down into one of four choices you pick in the final moments of gameplay.
I personally don’t have an issue with this because let’s be realistic, it was never going to be totally unique for each player. But the ending still rubs me the wrong way because it kind of comes out of nowhere, and the real problem of this is Cerberus’ involvement in the story.
Pro-Human splinter group Cerberus saved Commander Shepard at the start of Mass Effect 2 where they in turn worked with them to stop the Collectors. In Mass Effect 3 they’re very much against Shepard and now an enemy faction. But they aren’t present all that much until pretty much the final third of the game wherein a cyborg ninja assassin, Kai Leng, is introduced as Shepard’s nemesis. At this point I stopped taking Mass Effect 3 seriously because firstly, I can’t take a cyborg ninja assassin seriously, and secondly this guy has never been mentioned before and he’s somehow Shepard’s nemesis? Anyway, the game’s moving at a steady pace until Kai Leng shows up for the second time in the entire game for the third to last mission, steals something, and then you’re locked into the final two missions of the game where a whole lot of stuff just happens with no real explanation as to why, other than because Kai Leng stole this thing.
The final mission takes place on Earth and has the entire galaxy’s final stand be in London next to Big Ben and honestly, it’s so dumb it hurts. There is no reason for it other than Bioware evidently wanting to make the finale happen on Earth but having no real narrative reason as to why. It would make more sense to have it on The Citadel but (SPOILERS) they move The Citadel to Earth! Yeah, a massive planet sized space station can now be flown apparently, and they just plonk it next to Earth because it’s actually really important to the ending, but they wanted the fighting to be on Earth…it just infuriates me as to how nonsensical it is.
Mass Effect 3 sets the tone right off the bat with Earth being invaded by Reapers in the opening minutes as you make a frantic escape to the Normandy. Buildings are being torn down, civilians massacred in the thousands, within minutes what was a beautiful world full of bustling life is decimated into a burning rock with just a few pockets of fighters left to defend it.
From here you venture out into the stars to re-assemble your team with familiar faces like Liara T’Soni, Tali Zorah, Garrus Vakarian, Ashley Williams, and Kaiden Alenko. It’s a considerably smaller squad than what was present in Mass Effect 2, but any surviving characters will also return such as Urdnot Wrex, Urdnot Grunt, Miranda Lawson, Thane Krios, Samara, Jack, and Jacob Taylor, as well as many more.
As you complete missions to unite the different species you prepare for a final assault against the Reaper threat. The more species you unite, the more likely you’ll win. But Mass Effect 3 ensures that you can’t just have a happy ending where everyone holds hands and gets along, difficult choices must be made and not every species will survive the Reapers. Some choices will be made that mean former allies will become enemies, and foes become new friends.
From a story perspective it works incredibly…but as I’m sure it’s impossible to ignore, Mass Effect 3 was infamous for its ending upon release in 2012. Mass Effect 2 broke new ground by allowing you to import you Mass Effect 1 save, meaning that choices you’d made in the first game impacted how the second game would play out. If a squad member was killed in the first game, they wouldn’t be present in the sequel. If you saved someone’s life, they might be able to help you, or even hinder you in your fight against the Collectors. Mass Effect 3 boasted the same function, importing your Mass Effect 2 save, and by extension Mass Effect 1, into Mass Effect 3 to create a truly unique story experience for each player. The idea being that no two people would have the game end exactly the same way.
Marketing hyperbole is a wonderful thing however and Mass Effect 3 gives you the choice of three (now four) basic ending choices, with the specifics as to what happens to major characters and races changing depending on your actions. So, whilst you may never see the exact same ending twice, it is boiled down into one of four choices you pick in the final moments of gameplay.
I personally don’t have an issue with this because let’s be realistic, it was never going to be totally unique for each player. But the ending still rubs me the wrong way because it kind of comes out of nowhere, and the real problem of this is Cerberus’ involvement in the story.
Pro-Human splinter group Cerberus saved Commander Shepard at the start of Mass Effect 2 where they in turn worked with them to stop the Collectors. In Mass Effect 3 they’re very much against Shepard and now an enemy faction. But they aren’t present all that much until pretty much the final third of the game wherein a cyborg ninja assassin, Kai Leng, is introduced as Shepard’s nemesis. At this point I stopped taking Mass Effect 3 seriously because firstly, I can’t take a cyborg ninja assassin seriously, and secondly this guy has never been mentioned before and he’s somehow Shepard’s nemesis? Anyway, the game’s moving at a steady pace until Kai Leng shows up for the second time in the entire game for the third to last mission, steals something, and then you’re locked into the final two missions of the game where a whole lot of stuff just happens with no real explanation as to why, other than because Kai Leng stole this thing.
The final mission takes place on Earth and has the entire galaxy’s final stand be in London next to Big Ben and honestly, it’s so dumb it hurts. There is no reason for it other than Bioware evidently wanting to make the finale happen on Earth but having no real narrative reason as to why. It would make more sense to have it on The Citadel but (SPOILERS) they move The Citadel to Earth! Yeah, a massive planet sized space station can now be flown apparently, and they just plonk it next to Earth because it’s actually really important to the ending, but they wanted the fighting to be on Earth…it just infuriates me as to how nonsensical it is.
Moving on from that or I’ll be there all day; Mass Effect 3’s gameplay is given a significant amount of tweaking from Mass Effect 2. Starting with more fluid movement, Shepard is considerably nimbler than ever before with the ability to perform running mantles, jump gaps, and even dodge rolls during combat. The shooting mechanics are also snappier and less stiff than in Mass Effect 2, making the game feel more along the lines of a shooter than an RPG made to play like a shooter. But the skill trees have been expanded a little after being massively stripped back in ME2 from the original game. Whilst not as extensive as the first game, Mass Effect 3 strikes the perfect balance between ME2’s simplicity in skills but ME1’s variety. You have set skills depending on your class, but each skill has its own small skill path that can branch in two different directions allowing for greater playstyle flexibility.
New to Mass Effect 3 is weapon weight and attachments. The more weight Shepard carries the slower your skills will regenerate, and weapon attachments allow for weapons to be tailored to particular missions or playstyles.
From a gameplay perspective, Mass Effect 3 is the clear winner out of all three games with the greatest flexibility in playstyle options without the clutter of Mass Effect 1’s menu systems. Plus, the more agile movement mechanics make Mass Effect 3 more fun to play on a moment-to-moment basis.
I don’t like that quests are more difficult to track now. In Mass Effect 2 you could select a quest in the pause menu and read about it, as well as see your next objective for it. In Mass Effect 3 however the quest outline is significantly scaled back, only giving you minor details as to what it’s about, and you’re left to your own devices to find out where you need to go and what to even do for a lot of them as it never shows you your next objective. This can mean if like me you want to see everything, you’ll spend a lot of time wandering around places like The Citadel interacting with every single NPC and object to see if it helps with your quest. This can drag the gameplay pace down to a crawl, but it’s a small complain in an otherwise near perfected system.
New to Mass Effect 3 is weapon weight and attachments. The more weight Shepard carries the slower your skills will regenerate, and weapon attachments allow for weapons to be tailored to particular missions or playstyles.
From a gameplay perspective, Mass Effect 3 is the clear winner out of all three games with the greatest flexibility in playstyle options without the clutter of Mass Effect 1’s menu systems. Plus, the more agile movement mechanics make Mass Effect 3 more fun to play on a moment-to-moment basis.
I don’t like that quests are more difficult to track now. In Mass Effect 2 you could select a quest in the pause menu and read about it, as well as see your next objective for it. In Mass Effect 3 however the quest outline is significantly scaled back, only giving you minor details as to what it’s about, and you’re left to your own devices to find out where you need to go and what to even do for a lot of them as it never shows you your next objective. This can mean if like me you want to see everything, you’ll spend a lot of time wandering around places like The Citadel interacting with every single NPC and object to see if it helps with your quest. This can drag the gameplay pace down to a crawl, but it’s a small complain in an otherwise near perfected system.
Visually Mass Effect 3 is similar to ME2, but what’s most noticeable is how much more is happening on screen at any one time. There are more enemies with combat scenarios now being significantly larger in scale with complex backdrops and arenas often sprawling out in many directions. It feels less linear, despite it still always funnelling you from point A to point B.
Levels like Tuchanka and Palaven are real highlights with you feeling like you’re genuinely in a warzone with explosions going off all around you, being attacked from all angles, and having environmental hazards to deal with as well. So, whilst there’s no major visual upgrade like there was from 1 to 2, the fact that 3 is so much busier than 2 without sacrificing performance is a sign of clear improvement.
Mass Effect 3 also has the best soundtrack of the trilogy with some of the best tracks from ME1&2 returning, as well as a whole host of new tracks that are hauntingly beautiful or pump you up for combat.
Whilst Mass Effect 3 certainly isn’t as all round flawless as Mass Effect 2, it does improve on its predecessor in a number of very noticeable ways that make it overall considerably more fun to play. But with the final third of the story really letting the game down, Mass Effect 3 is also the game you’re least likely to remember fondly when looking back at the trilogy as a whole.
It’s still a phenomenal game and an essential game for anyone who’s a sci-fi or RPG fan, leagues ahead of the competition at the time, but it does fall short of the crowning glory that was Mass Effect 2.
Levels like Tuchanka and Palaven are real highlights with you feeling like you’re genuinely in a warzone with explosions going off all around you, being attacked from all angles, and having environmental hazards to deal with as well. So, whilst there’s no major visual upgrade like there was from 1 to 2, the fact that 3 is so much busier than 2 without sacrificing performance is a sign of clear improvement.
Mass Effect 3 also has the best soundtrack of the trilogy with some of the best tracks from ME1&2 returning, as well as a whole host of new tracks that are hauntingly beautiful or pump you up for combat.
Whilst Mass Effect 3 certainly isn’t as all round flawless as Mass Effect 2, it does improve on its predecessor in a number of very noticeable ways that make it overall considerably more fun to play. But with the final third of the story really letting the game down, Mass Effect 3 is also the game you’re least likely to remember fondly when looking back at the trilogy as a whole.
It’s still a phenomenal game and an essential game for anyone who’s a sci-fi or RPG fan, leagues ahead of the competition at the time, but it does fall short of the crowning glory that was Mass Effect 2.