Mass Effect 3 Review

Overview:

Well…the time has come, the Reapers have finally attacked and they are wiping out everything in their path, despite Commander Shepard’s constant warnings, the galaxy is hardly ready to fight, now its up to Shepard to build an army to fight the reapers, getting anyone and everyone he can to fight the Reapers, this is the Last Stand…and its not looking good…

Gameplay:

The gameplay has been fine tuned a good bit from Mass Effect 2, the combat is more or less the same, now you can hot key three skills, one to each shoulder button and the Y button, each skill will can be branched three times once it reaches a certain level. The ammo issue was fixed as well since the foes will drop more ammo and ammo pickups tend to max out your ammo. You also have more guns to pick from, all of them upgradable and can be modded with attachments that raise the gun’s damage, how much ammo each clip can hold even dealing extra melee damage, which leads to the ‘new melee system’ it really hasn’t changed that much, you can now combo melee strikes together as well as hold down the melee button for a Heavy Strike which deals a LOT of damage.  Planet scanning has also been reworked, now you don’t have to scan EVERY planet, when you enter a system that is taken over by the reapers, you scan the map and any objects of interest found within the scan range will show up, planets will have one Item of Interest, which can either be more units for the War Effort, an object or money. places in empty space will be extra fuel for the ship. however every scan will draw the attention of the Reapers, once the bar fills the Reapers will show up and you have to get out before they catch you. They will leave after you complete a mission of any sort. You earn money after each mission to spend on weapons, upgrades, models, whatever you need at the Citadel or on the Normandy for a higher cost.

Multiplayer:

While I haven’t played this myself, it is said to be like Hoard Mode, with objectives to complete while fighting off waves of foe, completing the mission will raise the Galaxy Awareness percentage which will effect your collected War Assets in the Single Player mode.

Graphics:

The game still looks amazing, the character details, level details, the skybox, everything, really isn’t much more to say, you’ll have to see it for yourself to believe it. Each character looks different in their own way.

Story:

Just in case you haven’t played Mass Effect before I’ll give the basics. Long time ago, 50,000 years to be precise, an ancient race called the Reapers wiped out an entire race and now they are returning to do the same thing again, Commander Shepard has to build an army, with anyone and everyone he can get to join the war effort, in a final effort to take back Earth and stop the reapers for good. That is the basic story, parts of the story change due to choices you made in the first two Mass Effect games, every choice, despite how little they were will have some effect in the last game, good or bad. From dealing with a obsessive fanboy,  to sparing a race that once terrorized the the galaxy at one point or destroy them for good. Some choices made, while it may seem good during that time, may come back to bite the player in the rear when they see the bigger picture.

Final Words:

Mass Effect 3 closes the story on Commander Shepard’s story, his battle the with reaper threat and his fight to stop them, the ride has been one to remember and while I can’t speak for everyone, it will be one that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

The Good:

Gameplay issues fixed from last game, no more countless hours probing planets.

Story comes full circle to show the end of Commander Shepard's story.

The Bad:

The players have to play in multiplayer to get the best ending possible, a hindrance for those unable to play online.

Upgrading weapons is borderline useless as they show no major improvement in their stats.

The Ugly:

The Game's Lackluster Ending