The story across three games in question has led to this; a full scale invasion of the Milky Way galaxy by the Reapers, an advanced synthetic species bent on erasing all organic life. Earth is just one of many planets to be struck and Commander Shepard (Who can be imported from Mass Effect 2 or created) is forced to flee the planet in an effort to rally the forces of the galaxy in an effort to take back the burning planet. The stakes have never been higher which is heavily apparent from the ultimate theme of sacrifice and loss present throughout the game; every brilliantly developed character faces the prospects of losing the war which will almost seamlessly translate onto the player. Many will be hoping and praying that the characters they have come to care about will live to fight another day, others could be brought to tears at the loss of a significant character. The impending destruction is counter balanced by the theme of control, in the form of Cerberus making a return. The sinister organisation is still striving for human dominance and is out to hamper Shepard's progress at every turn, making the story all the more unpredictable as well as striking home the impression that the entire galaxy is in turmoil and struggling to deal with the Reaper situation. This emotional tale continues to show off Bioware's high standards in storytelling and expressive characterisations and this is enhanced further by the many decisions factored into how the plot is narrated; deceased comrades are replaced, past decisions are factored into the gameplay situations and relationships between familiar characters are woven into every conversation.
After such a well told tale across all three games, you'd expect a worthy ending that ties up every loose ends and incorporates every last decision made over through the series but unfortunately you'll be frustrated, angry or as baffled as I was to find a seemingly stripped ending cut scene that differs little across the final decision you make; yet despite this immense disappointment for some, personally I thought the story in general remains engaging and moving across the campaign leading up to the final battle thanks to every character playing some role or another through the game and the intense emotions injected into the story at every turn.
Across a campaign stretching around twenty hours or more, most of what you play in Mass Effect 3 will be familiar to anyone who played the second; only this time a huge change comes in the form of play style; new players can choose to focus their personal experience solely on combat, (which restricts the conversations to plain cut scenes) story (which downgrades the combat difficulty) or the traditional combination of both combat and role playing found in the series. While this has made the third entry in the series significantly more accessible to a wide audience, it's a slight disappointment that these newcomers aren't brought up to speed with a Dark Horse Comic that enables decision making across prior games. Missions still tend to involve getting to a certain location, defeating enemies as a squad of three along the way. Most of these are now much more focused on combat; hacking is now handled with little input and levels have significantly more wide open space and verticality, making combat much more multi-faceted than before. You'll also be wandering around the citadel (which has been made much larger than before) listening in on conversations to pick up item quests that involve heading to planets and scanning them for potential resources. This has replaced the slow mining activity from the previous game which keeps the game moving at a steady pace, but these missions tend to become to become rather tedious, thanks to the bare bones journal system that doesn't notify when you took the item nor the person who asked for it. The scanning of planets can also unearth credits and even war assets but this can also lead to a chase in which Reapers arrive in the galaxy cluster and must be evaded, though again this seems like a missed opportunity for space combat considering that upgrades were fitted to the Normandy's weapon systems during the second game. On the other hand, N7 missions given by Admiral Hackett, fare much better through the action packed scenarios and the way in which many of them reunite Shepard with various characters.
The biggest addition to the campaign of Mass Effect 3 is the Galaxy at War system; In order to be prepared for the final battle, war assets must be collected from different sources which includes completed missions both main and secondary and scanning planets which contributes to an overall readiness rating; (which is essentially an average of each sector of the Milky Way) these can all be viewed in the new War room aboard the Normandy which makes it simple to track your progress. The readiness rating can also be boosted by participating in Mass Effect 3's online mode.
A first for the series, this coop mode takes place on maps from single player missions in which four players can take on different classes and (finally!!!) different species from the Ex Cerberus Operative to the mighty Krogan. Credits are earned from each match which are used to buy packs that contain new weapons, one time usage power ups and even new characters depending on the price which gives players unlockables to strive for. Couple this with the many upgradeable biotic and tech powers thrown at the enemy and Mass Effect 3's multiplayer manages to be fairly engaging and enjoyable despite not offering much innovation compared to other horde modes.
With the two sided approach to paragon and renegade sides to the campaign, combined with the addictive multiplayer that adds to the story and is sure to be supported with extra characters and modes, Mass Effect 3 manages to be a much better value purchase than its predecessor.
The gameplay of Mass Effect 3 remains similar to its predecessor; a cover shooter in which Shepard and his squad can deploy different biotic and tech powers based on whichever class and weapons you choose to bring to battle. Combining the many powers available remains as satisfying as ever, thanks to the new biotic and tech explosions when two powers are mixed for extra damage. Other changes to the combat also make their debut; any class can now use any weapon but total weight now plays a role in power recharge time. A soldier would want to focus on gunplay, bringing every weapon to the table, whereas an adept would find it more beneficial to bring only a pistol or SMG to ensure their biotic powers regenerate quickly. Different types of grenades have also arrived in the Mass Effect universe offering both standard and biotic varieties. These can be hurled out freely based on ammo count rather than cool downs, but the enemies are packing them too and will toss them to keep Shepard from sticking in one cover spot for too long.
These additions make the combat much faster paced and also more challenging. While teammate intelligence hasn't improved a great deal, constantly being dropped by enemy fire, the enemies are now slightly smarter; while they aren't the best at taking cover, they'll now use evasive rolls to avoid grenades and powers as well as bringing new, more aggressive units to the battlefield. Tactical units such as the Cerberus engineer can deploy a deadly turret that can quickly eat away at your shields, aggressive units like the Geth Hunters which are very deadly up close and all new mega units such as the hideous banshee which are capable of one hit kills. Thankfully Shepard has also learned new tricks to aid in combat. Evade mechanics have been brought to the forefront, allowing for quick combat rolls and cover switches to ensure you'll never be exposed for too long despite sometimes feeling slightly clunky, occasionally rolling instead of taking cover. He or she also possesses a charged up melee attack unique to each class which can be used to cause great damage to the enemy up close or yank an enemy over cover for an instant kill. Indeed the combat can get very challenging later on, requiring a smart selection of both squad and cover usage yet it never becomes cheap or frustrating and remains enjoyable whether you're sniping from afar as an infiltrator or getting up close and personal as a vanguard.
Aside from the combat, mechanics for role playing have remained mostly identical, you'll still be playing either Paragon or Renegade in every decision you make and you'll levelling up both powers and weaponry across sixty levels through earning experience points, keeping the game easily accessible to fans of the franchise.
Mass Effect 3 continues the series standards in conveying an immersive and detailed science fiction world. Planets remain both vast and varied boasting both impressive creature design and a huge scale matched only by the gigantic reapers that dominate every major war front. Rarely are there any rough textures or areas which look bland due to the destruction that has shaped differently every world you'll visit. Atmosphere is heightened further in several areas from the Purgatory club on the Citadel to the silent desolation of a Geth dreadnought. Bioware proves once again that its use of facial expression, voice acting and animations are the best in the business for every last character, especially during cut scenes, bringing the characters to life and making them feel real as ever despite being fictional alien creatures. The music also stands out as the most emotive and sombre in the series, excellently complimenting the theme of sacrifice present throughout the game.
Imperfections that have plagued the series unfortunately rear their heads once again; Shepard can sometimes get stuck in parts of the environment, characters often clip awkwardly into their next line of dialogue or animation and regretfully the loading times have increased with less interesting backgrounds to gaze at as well as a game crash here and there while going to different floors on the Citadel but despite these gripes, Mass Effect 3's fictional galaxy wins the day once again with even more set piece moments. From watching a colossal battle between a thresher maw and reaper to witnessing a huge space battle, all are riveting and enhance the huge scale brought about by the galaxy wide invasion.
Mass Effect 3 is a both a worthy and truly emotional end to a brilliant trilogy of games. While the few changes to the gameplay and the lacklustre ending are sure to upset long-time fans, the package as a whole does much to engage and entertain throughout. Commander Shepard's story may have ended but this final chapter in his or her tale continues Bioware's standards and should not be missed by any fan of role playing games, third person shooters or both.
Rating: 9/10
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