Mass Effect 3
Product Details
- Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
- ASIN: B004FYJFNA
- Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches ; 4 ounces
- Media: Video Game
- Release Date: March 6, 2012
By : Electronic Arts
Price : $58.63
You Save : $1.36 (2%)
Product Description
Platform: PlayStation 3|Edition: Standard
Amazon.com Product Description
Mass Effect 3 is a Role-playing Game (RPG) / Third-Person Shooter hybrid set in a Science Fiction universe. Mass Effect 3 is the third game in the popular Mass Effect series, and is rumored to be the final installment. In it players continue the adventures of Commander Shepard utilizing extreme character customization which is the hallmark feature of the series. Additional features include: the ability to import decisions from both of the previous games into the new game, ownership/play of previous games not required, customizable weapons, improved mobility and melee combat, many returning characters (if they were not killed off in previous imported games), an improved cover system that allows for more action and more.
The Final Chapter in the Mass Effect Trilogy
Not everyone will survive. An ancient alien race, known only as "Reapers," has launched an all-out invasion leaving nothing but a trail of destruction in their wake. Earth has been taken, the galaxy is on the verge of total annihilation, and you are the only one who can stop them. The price of failure is extinction. You are Commander Shepard, a character that you can forge in your own image. You determine how events will play out, which planets to explore, and whom to form alliances with as you rally a force to eliminate the Reaper threat once and for all. How you wage this war is completely up to you: go into combat with guns blazing or use cover to plan a more tactical assault. Utilize your squad to full effect or take a lone wolf approach. Rain death from a distance or go toe-to-toe with enemies using devastating melee attacks. Mass Effect 3 will react to each decision you make as you play through a truly unique experience of your own creation.
Key Game Features
- A Rich, Branching Storyline - Experience a sci-fi epic with multiple endings determined by your choices and actions throughout the game
- Massive in Scope - Battle on many worlds across the galaxy as you unite the ultimate force to take back the Earth before it's too late
- Large-scale and Intelligent Enemies - Battle enormous enemies and take on a smarter type of foe that will consistently challenge your best combat tactics and put you on the edge of your seat
- Unlock a Customizable Arsenal - Tailor each weapon with devastating upgrades including scopes, grips, barrels and dozens of other unique attachments. Each weapon boasts its own powerful impact and visual flair
- Unleash Death from Afar or Go Toe-to-Toe - Customize your soldier and squad to engage the enemy on your terms. A huge variety of weapons, abilities and equipment allow you to combat the enemy in your preferred style of play
Additional Screenshots
Earth is burning. Striking from beyond known space, a race of terrifying machines have begun their destruction of the human race. As Commander Shepard, an Alliance Marine, your only hope for saving mankind is to rally the civilizations of the galaxy and launch one final mission to take back the Earth.
Product Features
- Battle as Commander Shepard on many worlds across the galaxy as you unite the ultimate force to take back the Earth before it's too late
- Enormous enemies and take on a smarter type of foe that will consistently challenge your best combat tactics and put you on the edge of your seat
- Customize your Commander Shepard, your squad and weapons to engage the enemy on your terms
- Allows the option to import decisions from both of the previous games into the new game, but can also be played as a standalone game
- Experience a new emphasis on melee combat, movement and an improved cover system
Customer Reviews
(If, you don't want to read all of this, skip down to the Summary section)
Ok, a couple of things before I actually review the game:
1) I will not talk about any spoilers at all.
2) I played through the entire game. I started when the game launched on March 6th and finished it tonight (March 10th)
3) I did not play Mass Effect 1. I played through Mass Effect 2, all the way through, 3 times and even though I had problems with the game, they were insignificant to my overall enjoyment of the game. (I would place ME2 in my top 10 favorite games of all time). If you see a 3 star review and think I'm a troll or just trying to be one of those guys who didn't give a Mass Effect game a 10 out of 10, just look up my review of ME2 to see how much I like this series)
Anyway, so Mass Effect 3 is a great game, with some problems. There are graphical hiccups here and there, sometimes your squad mate's AI isn't the best, paragon and renegade interruptions take a back seat, the music isn't as noticeable and recycles about half the tracks from 2, and the cover system, with the new rolling and jumping from cover to cover mechanics, either works great or does some unintentional things at the worst possible time. In the end, these points aren't enough for me criticize Mass Effect 3 too much. The game would of course be better if these weren't issues, but it still has a lot of the elements that made ME2 a great game for me.
There isn't too much of an improvement graphics wise between 2 and 3 (on the PS3 at least), but the game runs smoothly and the occasional pre-rendered cut scenes look fantastic. Even though the AI and cover system isn't perfect, the fighting and squad mechanics are just as good as they were in ME2. In some respects, the shooting and abilities are better than what they were in 2. The missions and character interactions are great and the story has some more meat to it compared to ME2. Not that this makes 2 inferior and 3 superior. This aspect mainly compliments ME3's war torn setting.
So, while the game isn't perfect, Mass Effect 3 is exceptional, especially when it comes to cinematic gaming, writing, dialogue, character development and blah, blah, blah, blah.
And here comes the "But..."
But, there is a major problem with Mass Effect 3. It's not with the premise, the conflict, the missions or the climax. In fact, the problem I have with Mass Effect 3 is at the 99% mark. I'm talking about the very ending of the game. The last 15 minutes of game that took me about 40 hours to play through. Of course Mass Effect 3 has multiple endings, and I've only experienced two of them (after I finished the game, I immediately loaded a previous save and tried to get a different ending). I hated my ending. I hated my ending so much. I didn't hate it because it was a sad ending. I hated it because of how it was handled.
I'm not going to say exactly what happened, but I will try to outline all of the problems with it. And so I don't go on for the next three hours, I'll just make a list:
1) The game just...ended: Putting aside whether that was a good or bad way to end the Mass Effect trilogy (side note: it was a bad way), I'm just going to focus on what happened after the end of the conflict. Almost nothing. Remember how Mass Effect 2 ended? That two or three minute cut scene after the suicide mission? That cliffhanger ending to an unfinished story had more closure than my ending to Mass Effect 3. It felt like the entire game and the last big struggle, the final showdown, had no importance. And this is partially because...
2) Nobody reacts to anything: Of course there's no golden rule on how to write an ending to a video game, but typically it is a good idea to have an extended ending after the conflict is resolved to wrap up the characters. You can do this in a couple minutes (as with Portal 2) or an hour (as with Metal Gear Solid 4), it really depends on what type of game you have. With Mass Effect 3, there was no reaction. People didn't say anything, people didn't talk to each other, I didn't even get a montage or a slideshow or where are they now movie. So after spending about 35 hours recruiting everyone for the suicide mission in ME2, being introduced to characters from ME1, then expanding on those relationships for an additional 40 hours with ME3, and even taking the time to talk to people on the Citadel and catch up with people on board the Normandy after I finished an important mission, the resolution I got was absolutely nothing. I don't know how this planet is doing, how this alien race is adapting, if this race is even around anymore, if this side character, like a turian or quarian admiral, is still alive, and, perhaps most importantly, what my crew and friends think of what just happened. Regardless of what ending people got, whether nobody died or everything, everywhere died, there should be some reaction. Because of this, it feels as if nothing mattered. Not only that, the ending made me feel like...
3) In the end, none of my relationships and conversation decisions mattered: This was perhaps my favorite thing about Mass Effect 2. If I had to summarize ME2 in one sentence, it would probably be something along the lines of "Saving the galaxy and having some really interesting conversations with really interesting people." By not wrapping up and providing closure to all of the characters, it feels kind of pointless. I wanted Garrus, Tali, Legion, Grunt, Mordin, Thane, Kasumi, Samara, Jack and everyone else to survive Mass Effect 2. Their presence in ME3 enhances the experience, but it is incredibly disappointing every single story, character, and subplot just ends. This strips away the consequences and the dynamic and interactive story elements which made Mass Effect famous, and I bet people care a lot more about this than combat. This leads on to the next number.
4) The ending made me feel like none of my preparations, side quests, and decisions in the game mattered: When the credits rolled, I sat down and looked at my TV thinking about the impact I had. Doing this deal with someone, or saving this person's life, or deciding not to kill this person, or running off to this star cluster, to fetch this book, and bring it back to somebody on the Citadel didn't feel like it mattered. This goes a little farther back than the game's last 15 minutes, but it undoubtedly still applies to the game's ending. When I was doing the last set of missions, I didn't feel like everything I built up was having an impact. It was as if my readiness meter was there only for me to look at, but had no affect on the story. In comparison, with the suicide mission in ME2, people talked about the Normandy's status, characters talked to each other (like people didn't trust Miranda, or Miranda disagreed with Shepard if he picked someone she didn't like for a job), and the success of the mission depended on your decisions and getting people loyal. If you picked the wrong person to do something, somebody died. If a person wasn't loyal to you, they were likely to die. If you didn't follow someone's advice about the mission, the crew, or the ship, more people died. It felt like your actions mattered. Even if somebody simply says, "Good thing you did X" it still mattered. With 3, I didn't feel that at all when the game ended. Did doing X make the last set of missions any more or less successful? I have no idea and I shouldn't have to look at the game's programming, or read a strategy guide cover to cover, or play through the game 5 different times to realize how all of these variables work in the end. The decisions I made with the digital comic included with the PS3 version of Mass Effect 2 which summarized ME1, the decisions I made in ME2, and most of my decisions I made in ME3 didn't matter. In ME2, I created a second character (Male Shep, renegade) who handled situations differently, who picked the opposite key decisions, and purposely killed certain people during the suicide mission to see how my story in ME3 will be different. So granted, I will see some of the differences when I play the game with that character. However, after playing through 3, my guess is all of those differences will likely appear in the first 90% of the game. And besides that, I shouldn't have to play the game 2 or 3 times to understand the impact I had on it the first time.
I know at this point I'm beating a dead horse, so I'm just going to move on. Unfortunately, there are still more problems with the ending, but some of the problems get into story details. So I'll just talk about one problem in extremely vague and unhelpful terms. So, finally...
5) That stupid thing that appeared at the end: I don't want to say what that "stupid thing" actually is. Oh well. BioWare decided to include something in Mass Effect 3. Whenever this something appears, it is either unintentionally funny in how bad or stupid it is or it is painfully annoying. This something would not go away, and I started to hate this something, not only for how it was used, but how BioWare keeps forcing this something into the story. Ok, I'm going to stop here, since I can't actually talk about it unless I say what it is. So I'm just going to wrap this up.
SUMMARY/CONCLUSION:
Mass Effect 3 is an exceptional sequel to Mass Effect 2, but the game is ultimately undermined by it's horrible ending. When you include the mythos, the characters, and the dozens of plots and subplots, the ending goes from bad to devastatingly bad. Honestly, it is one of the worst endings I have encountered in a video game. (NOTE: I'm not saying ME3 has the worst ending in a video game ever. I'm just saying it has one of the worst endings I have played through and have seen with my own eyes).
It feels like BioWare abandoned what they established... Read more›
Overall the Mass Effect 3 is a very fun game to play, it certainly is better than Mass Effect 1 ; 2 in many aspects. However, it is plagued with minor problems and one horribly written ending (don't be fooled by Bioware, the so-called 16 different endings aren't that much different from each other). Don't waste your hard earned cash on it if Bioware isn't going to release a DLC to correct this issue.
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