A universe in crisis, galaxies in flames, and warfare on an interplanetary scale — and that’s just the fanboy fallout about the way that Bioware brings its space opera Mass Effect 3 to an end. The game itself goes to even darker places and plays for higher stakes with the universe in which Commander Shepard and his crew live.
For most gamers who started with Mass Effect nearly four-and-a-half years ago, the closing moments of Mass Effect 3 mark the last step of a journey that has taken 120 hours or more to complete. Little wonder that the ending has caused such outrage for those that feel cheated or baffled by the machinations that bring the story to its climax.
The ending of Mass Effect 3 is actually fine, even if Bioware has hinted that it plans to “directly address” the problems some fans had with the conclusion through downloadable content. But the real joy in Mass Effect 3 comes from seeing how choices you made all those hours back in Mass Effect affect the universe. It is the little pay-offs along the way that really matter.
Mass Effect 3 picks up soon after the suicide mission in Mass Effect 2. The Reapers — sentient machines that wipe out most organic life every 50 000 years — have embarked on a programme of intergalactic genocide. Human supremist organisation Cerberus is spreading chaos, too. Shepard is called back into action to put together an army and build a device that can stop them.
As Shepard seeks allies for the war — from the blue-skinned Asari matriarchs and reptilian Krogan to the sentient Geth machines and their Quarian creators and enemies — you’ll see the impact he has had on individual people’s lives and on entire races in earlier games in the series. If you have kept your saves from Mass Effect 1 and 2, you’ll really feel as though you have made a difference in the game’s world in nearly every key moment.
As with its two predecessors, Mass Effect 3 focuses on space exploration, conversation and combat in its gameplay. Conversation mostly takes place in the Citadel (a sort of United Nations HQ in space), on board Shepard’s spaceship, the Normandy, and at predetermined moments in combat missions. Depending on your play style, it’s about bullying or persuading others to get behind your cause. The approach you take in conversation shapes the way the game plays out.
These interactions are some of the best parts of the game — whether it’s a moment of camaraderie with the Krogan soldier you took on the suicide mission, dealing with a slimy Salarian diplomat, or a quiet moment of reflection with a squad mate before you throw yourself into another war zone.
It’s all brought to life by some wonderful voice acting from the likes of Martin Sheen, Seth Green, Carrie-Anne Moss, Tricia Hefler and Freddie Prinze Jr. Kinect’s speech commands for the Xbox 360 version are quite neat here — you utter phrases rather than selecting them on the menu.
When it comes to combat, Mass Effect 3’s action roleplaying game (RGP) mechanics are robust. Mass Effect 3 gives you a little more flexibility in customising your character, his powers and his weapons than Mass Effect 2 did. For the most part, however, the RPG elements are once again downplayed in combat in favour of straight action.
That said, there is a fair amount of tactical depth to play around with between Shepard and the two squad mates he can take into action with him. You need to take a team with complementary strengths into battle, think carefully about your weapon load-outs and work tactically with your weapons and powers to triumph on the higher difficulty levels.
Though the core combat is fun, the mission design is a little dull. You’ll land on some of the most richly storied planets in the Mass Effect universe, but there is no time or room to explore. You are hurried through a series of tight corridors as you would be in a Call of Duty game. Most level layouts don’t even offer interesting flanking routes, as you’d find in something like Gears of War.
Soon, the pattern of fighting towards a checkpoint to secure a gun emplacement and fighting off waves of enemies while someone hacks a computer or opens a door becomes predictable and tiring. This is not helped by the fact that there is only a limited variety of enemies to fight. The all-too-few missions that break out of this template are the most enjoyable ones.
Another nod Mass Effect 3 makes towards current shooter trends is heavy use of set-piece moments in its combat missions. With entire worlds in rubble and flames, Reaper machines as big as high-rise buildings on the horizon and spacecraft tearing through the skies, you do feel like you’re right in the centre of a universal war.
HOW IT SCORES
Graphics 8/10
The visuals haven’t been upgraded much since Mass Effect 2, but stand up pretty well against most games in the market. Character and facial animations are little dated.Sound 10/10
Rousing battle music, a classic ambient electronica score, excellent voice acting and great sound effects.Gameplay 7/10
The core combat and conversation mechanics are great, but deeper side missions and more varied level design would have been welcome.Value 9/10
One playthrough will keep you busy for nearly 40 hours; the really dedicated will want to replay it and spend at least few hours with the multiplayer mode.Overall 7/10
Despite some uneven gameplay and a little crassness, Mass Effect 3 is a stirring send-off for Commander Shepard. The storytelling ranks the trilogy among the best sci-fi sagas in any medium in the past 10 years.
Mass Effect 3’s final gameplay component is the planet-scanning mini-game that simply involves moving an icon of the Normandy around and finding war assets on planets. It’s simplistic and not particularly engaging. It is disappointing to be sent to retrieve an ancient technological artefact or to evacuate aliens from a dying planet, and to not get your boots on the ground.
The three gameplay strands are all about getting war assets — technology and people — for the fights against the Reapers and Cerberus. Everything you do in the game feeds into the final confrontations. There are no quests here to rescue kittens or to get a young woodcutter to fall in love with a shy maiden. It’s all about the business at hand, giving Mass Effect 3 an urgency lacking from most RPGs.
There is so-so multiplayer mode that makes it easier to build up your war assets and work towards the game’s “best” ending. You level up multiplayer characters in cooperative horde-like game modes and can inject them into your single-player campaign as war assets.
Mass Effect 3 trailer (via YouTube):
I did not find this intrusion of multiplayer into the Mass Effect 3 universe particularly welcome. It isn’t really tight enough to compete with franchises like Halo or Gears of War. It is competent, but mostly unnecessary.
It is the story, the richness of its characters and the texture of its lore that elevate Mass Effect 3 into a top-tier game. There are many moments of poignancy, of wonder, of humour. It is a game where the intimate conversations feel as meaningful as the epic battles.
There are a few missteps along the way — game reporter Jessica Chobot as a crassly sexualised TV anchor, clumsy romance scenes, and some stilted exposition among them. But these are seldom more than momentary distractions in a game that burns like a fuse from the opening scenes of Earth’s invasion by the Reapers. — Lance Harris, TechCentral
- Reviewed on Xbox 360. Also available on Windows PC and PS3
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