Mass Effect 3 PC
User Score
4.7 out of 10

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 4362 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,809 out of 4362
  2. Mixed: 367 out of 4362
  3. Negative: 2,186 out of 4362

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  1. Plucx
    Apr 23, 2012
    0
    I never was a Huge fan, but I played the two first and had fun. However ME3 is BARELY a ME game! 1) First is Disregards for announced gameplay: a)Promised closure : -No closure depending on what you did in 3 games. No difference. -Cheap loophole, stuff made before is IRRELEVANT - PERIOD -Old crew is not to be part of new crew so, if they died or not have NO impact beyond some score (20pts on 5000 total, yeah it's that cheap, Miranda is now some points ... )
    -Xenophage or not, end stat, no more
    -Saved council in first one or not ... who cares? Same with Anderson In Council, nope whatever you chose in any games i'ts Udina. Yep, in a way they tell us to shut up and swallow!

    2) Poor quality ending that disregard the working of it's own story mecanics.
    -Deux-Ex writing mecancis ... writer did an asspull in the end. CHEAP ONE TOO!
    -Reaper having circular logics, really they seems to be there because of a simple logic loophole ... but it's even worse than that in term of writng skill!
    -Illogical and inconsistent ... so much stuf going wrong here!

    3) Unacceptable answer from BOTH company. They ignored that we spent OUR money on stuf we THEY promised in their product but did not.

    4) Low quality pre-ordor edition that is NOT worth it!
    -Bad weapon mecanics. Special weapons are all broken. Who need a shotgun with medium damage and pinpoint precision! It got no range too ... jeez. All basic weapons are beter than the 'special' sones.
    -They cna't even be there for the show! You can only see them in single player!

    5) Day one DLC! Enough said

    6) Trough the whole ME3 experience, you feel like a cash cow. and up to the end game. Deep rooted impression that the publisher or makers are pushing too hard on their client wallet.
    -Day one DLC
    -Cheap end game pop up (yeah, they do a 3 line epilogue saying "Game over, shepard is hero and wait for more in DLC).
    -Pre-Order Art book is in fact a DEMO of the "real one". They also advertise it along the way (Do you really think that afther 80$ spend on DIGITAL i'm going to break another leg and buy a 80$ book from these guys?)
    -Their PR keep to the players not as customers but as "emotional fans". Oh, I'm getting emotionnal alright and I'm sure NOT a fan. I'm a human being and i'm spending my FXXXXXXX money on falsely advertised prodcuts! -These guys have NO respect for their clients. I wonder what we are in fact, I cows are at least well cared for so they can be milked for years. Yeah, it's THAT bad ... 7) EA and Bioware Refused to appologise that is/feels sincere. If you read between the lines it says : Shut up whiny kids. Hey i'm over 30 with two kids and i'm not that rich. If I spend 80$ on a product that is badly advertised I'm expecting at least a little respect from those who sold **** to me and called it gold!

    8) The interconnection inbetween game journalism and publisher is not to be dismissed. We all know it, we don't beleive the big review guys anymore. Especially thioses who gave a 10/10. And chowbot, com'on! A journalist should not be part of the story she's reviewing! Imagine if Lucas tell you phantom menace is great, will you beleive him?

    9) One of these mistake in itself would not be too bad. Actually there is a ton of games that have similar or bigger issues. However, it's when you put it ALL together that you get a pile of **** soooo smelly and soo disgusting that you don't want to go trough the ME3 experience. Play 1st and 2nd but don't ever play the THURD one!

    Do they think we are morons? Do they care calling 90% of their client idiots? WE, the hard working players, we don't seem to matter for these guys, In fact, we are less important than the lowest of corporate scumbag at EA.

    Why should I care anyway, i'm not here to help these company, i'm here to tell you guys:

    DO NOT BUY THIS GAME!!! IT'S NOT WORTH YOUR MONEY!

    And if you love ME, Please please , don't finish the game in ANY way. Get your character killed and call-it a day. Avoid the rage. Marauder-shield forever. He tried to warn us :(    … Expand
  2. kimaasen1984
    Apr 25, 2012
    7
    An all right game, but not really up to the standards we've come to expect from the Mass Effect franchise. My expectations were sky high after getting sucked into the Mass Effect-universe early 2011. I had put in well over a hundred hours in the two earlier games, but this third one turned out to be a massive anticlimax. The game itself is all right, but I was hoping for a more conclusive finish.
  3. Broxigar
    Apr 27, 2012
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am so sad I had to do this, I never thought I would have to. Mass Effect WAS an epic series. However I cannot condone what they have done with this game. If you don't buy this game new you will have to pay more to access the tacked on multiplayer. Yea, you heard me. There was Disk Locked Content that you had to pay $10 to unlock, which most people were going to given that the character was a Prothean. They promised you would not need to do multiplayer to get all the endings, however the best ending (a five second scene of Shepard taking a breath) is not possible to obtain without doing the multiplayer currently. Excluding 2 or 3 the side quests are atrocious. The gameplay is improved and the characters are great, Garrus being the stand out, but all this is forgotten as you try to figure out what happened in the last 10 minutes and realized it wasn't written by the same people who did the rest of the game. It's a disaster I won't even bother to go into detail as I'm sure every other review hits on it. This is the single worst ending in the history of gaming. It's like Bioware doesn't want anyone to buy from them again. Giving me a terrible ending and adding the text "Buy more dlc" isn't going to make me happy.… Expand
  4. BlueB52
    Jun 17, 2012
    3
    The ending honestly just brought anger and depression. It literally ruined the series it was quite terrible. Bioware let down it's fans on this one.
  5. NinerJonny
    Jun 28, 2012
    10
    Do not believe the negative trolls that have taken over this review site. This is one of the best sci-fi games ever produced and comes to an excellent conclusion. The new extended cut makes it that much better. If you pass this game up because of the negative idiots, you have no one to blame but yourself. Try the game and come to your own conclusion...
  6. Vangriffeth
    Jul 5, 2012
    5
    While I enjoyed the game play on its own, it most definitely was not the Mass Effect I remember. This game is to Mass Effect what a personal plane is to a personal jet, good on its own, but not what you wanted.
  7. oliver1h
    Feb 7, 2013
    5
    What to say that has not been said already? Importing your save files from the previous games is a must... Meeting old friends, and doing missions with them was the biggest fun for me. The story was decent, even some characters were total clichés (Kai Leng the Asian space ninja for example...). The combat was slightly improved compared to ME1 and ME2, but the cover system remained a litttlle crunchy. RPG elements felt a little less developed than in ME2 (Renegade options for example were pure evil...They could have balanced the reputation system a little more...). Everything else basically remained the same as it were in ME2. I think the developers stayed on a safe ground on purpose. The music and sound effect were really good. Now let's talk about the infamous ending. Well they really screwed this up, and the "Extended cut" did not really makes it much better (When I first finished the ME3 my gaming experience was ruined...They can not make that back anyways with some cheap slide show, sugar coating stuff!) About the indoctrination theory! I think the developers at one point (might ...not sure) wanted to implement it, but they did not....The theory is now refused by Bioware and EA so it is not part of the original Canon. Overall a decent game that stays in the safe path, with a bad ending. Could have been the best science fiction game trilogy ever, but they failed!… Expand
  8. grazr
    Sep 13, 2012
    4
    ME2 was something of a downgrade to ME1 and ME3 even more so. A sorry attempt to conclude the narrative, gameplay is basically more of the same with a few redundant character developments. Character developments that do occur mean **** all, detracting much from the role play value. the redundant 3 choice system at the end also negates much of the games replayability. Recommend the game only for ME nerds that feel the need to complete the franchise narrative for brovado's sake.… Expand
  9. MikeMaximus
    Mar 11, 2012
    7
    Lets get the bad stuff out of the way first, and sadly it is mostly bad. Yes the game comes with day 1 dlc, but if you've bought a big release EA game in the last 3 or 4 years you should be used to this by now. It's not worth coming on here and giving a zero over no matter how much it sucks. The biggest fault of ME3 is that it feels even more linear in comparison to the previous games, you are funnelled along a set path of main quests with other systems only randomly appearing on your map once you reach a certain place in the story line. It's almost like a linear FPS trying to pretend that it's still an RPG. The side quests are also extremely lame fetch types that you generally come across while running by conversations in the citadel with the odd extra N7 mission during your journey. Mining has been replaced with another "scanning" mini-game to find extra resources for your war effort, it feels like a cheap waste of time, mostly because there isn't much to explore really and it could have been a lot more interesting. Thankfully the hacking and circuit mini-games from ME2 have been removed completely. The story & dialog is really hit and miss, mostly miss, your choices from the previous games don't seem to have any kind of large meaningful impact on the big picture, but I need to test this more with multiple playthroughs. The differences between your paragon and renegade choices seemed, odd to me in a lot of cases, almost like they were mixed up. It seems a lot less thought went into story, dialog and character development this time around, or it was rushed. Now the good things, the combat has been streamlined and in my opinion it's probably the best out of the series. It's a little faster, there are more powers and they are fun to use. The production values are extremely high, it looks good, sounds good and the voice actors all did an incredible job for the most part. It isn't much of a boost technically when compared to ME2, but it is still an improvement in most areas, my only issue is some of the animations, especially running, just looks wrong. Now oddly enough my personal saving grace for this game is what most think is blasphemy, the multiplayer. I find the multiplayer extremely well done over all, it's easy to hop into, it's fun and addicting and provides a good challenge. It also gives a little boost to your single player campaign but it ISN'T required to get the best ending as some idiots on here have been giving a 1 or 0 over.… Expand
  10. Vicissitude
    Apr 11, 2012
    7
    I think a lot of the user reviews here are unfair. Yes, the game has some surprisingly nasty technical issues. For one mission, Garrus disappeared for about 20-30 minutes. Sadly, he was integral to the mission, so characters kept turning to talk to him, but there was nobody there. Much of the time I couldn't hear what he was supposed to be saying. Also, there are tracking issues during conversations. They tried to make the characters turn to face the current speaker, but this mostly just confuses them when there's more than one speaker. The most hilarious was when Liara's helper bot flew by during a conversation, and Shepard flipped out. He started thrashing about with his eyes rolled back in his head. Reminded me of the Exorcist.

    I'm not convinced the ending was bad, but I don't think it was very explicit about how your choices impacted the ending. Looking around online I found the ending thresholds, so it turns out it does matter what you do. It's just hard to directly see the impacts. The different endings are apparently pretty similar.

    The technical issues are my main gripe. I would say I still liked this better than the first Mass Effect but less than the second. I did not find it as disappointing as Dragon Age 2. I feel like people are comparing Mass Effect 3 to some ideal of what they hoped the game would be instead of comparing the game to its peers. Comparing the game to its peers shows that it some things well. It's a beautiful game graphically, and I enjoyed the cameos from throughout the series and seeing how choices I made came back to affect the third game.    … Expand
  11. ahtf
    Mar 14, 2012
    10
    Love the game!! The ending however dosn´t tell you enough of what your choices led to or what your companions did after your death. I however still think its a wonderfull game which deserve something between 8-10. Ill give it 10 since the 0-1 are just ridicolous :p
  12. Rakshall
    Mar 20, 2012
    6
    To be honest 98% of the game is very good and personally i would place ME3 somewhere between first and second installment of the series. However the last 2% is simply terrible . I don't say ending is bad (I could accept it!) - it simply doesn't fit to the ME universe. It really made me think that i wasted more than 100 hours with trilogy for nothing.
  13. DrGulag
    Mar 7, 2012
    8
    This is to all those people who have major concerns regarding Mass Effect 3, especially after Dragon Age 2 since that abomination basically killed the whole series for me. So yes, I was also worried about auto-dialogue and lack of quality textures/animations. When you begin ME3 it's hard not to cringe when Anderson is running in Vancouver.

    +-But at the same time the storytelling feels mor    e fluid and immersive. I have to admit that I'm only in the Citadel at this point but no "mission completed" screens so far. Yes, there are less dialogue options but it doesn't really take away from the experience during the opening act. Conversation wheel isn't the most important thing when things are exploding and you are trying to take down enemies but if it continues like this inside hubs...well then it will be really annoying.

    ++I also have to say that ME3 is by no means a cakewalk. I'm playing on insanity at the moment and so far the fights have been more challenging than in ME2. The AI has clearly improved.

    ++You also have weapon customization so that's an improvement from ME2.

    -I do dislike how you perform so many actions with only one button (spacebar). Sometimes I'm accidently rolling around like an idiot eventhough I just want to perform a simple action.

    In a nutshell : Gameplay is better and visuals are not great by todays standards (I miss the film grain effect).

    At this point it's a solid 7.5-8 and definitely worth a buy. :)    … Expand
  14. talonius
    Mar 12, 2012
    2
    The Good: * The game has the classic Mass Effect play style and combat. The Bad: * They shoe horned multiplayer in and created a reason to make it pertinent. * The equipment (and hair) of the player models is constantly poking through. * 90% of the conversations you have do not offer choices of replies - they don't even bring up the conversation wheel. * Day one DLC which requires one line of code change in order to make it appear and which should have been part of the overall game as it was the one thing that managed to add some depth.
    * Failure to take into account player choices (from ME1, ME2, or ME3) with the ending.
    * Endings which appear to provide a choice, but don't. (What color would you like your universe destroying beam to be in?)
    * No sex scenes, demonstrating EA's editorial control over Bioware productions despite Bioware's claims to the contrary.
    * None of the side quests you complete appears to have any impact other than increasing your forces' strength for the final battle. The narrative that one might expect from Mass Effect for the individual units brought into play is not there.

    As a single game, it's a shallow and fun romp until the very last portion of the game. When you and Anderson are side by side with each other, chatting, stop. Right there is the best ending you can hope for - do NOT continue. Walk away and imagine your ending. You will be happier.

    As a series finale this game does NOT suffice. I don't care what theory you take to - that they wanted to show predestination, that Shepard was indoctrinated, that they're holding the series open for DLC. None of that matters. What matters is that the ending to the game - and the series - brings no closure for the player. NONE.

    People are claiming that those of us who are complaining about the ending are overreacting. I don't think we can overreact. I have spent hundreds of hours of my life playing this game, I overrode my ban on EA games in order to purchase it, I hoped as a property of Bioware that they would treat the series finale properly. All of those hopes were dashed, destroyed, thrown down, stepped on, and ground into tiny pieces.

    Don't buy this game. It's not worth your money. When it's a $5.00 special, it might be worth it. If Bioware rewrites the ending, it might be worth it. Right now? I spent $80.00 on the collector's edition and I wish I could get a refund - of my money, and my play time.

    Between this and Dragon Age 2... well, I'm glad the indie games are ramping up because it's obvious I need to find my Western RPG fix somewhere else.    … Expand
  15. BadlyBrowned
    Mar 11, 2012
    8
    The game is an absolute masterpiece through through the beginning to the climax. However, in the end it becomes apparent that the writers had a vision for a sort of Greek tragedy for the series, complete with a deus ex machina and endings that vary from "really dark" to "kinda dark." There is no happy ending, no real catharsis for Shepard. However, it is not the darkness that bothers me as much as the execution of the resolution. It feels so convoluted and illogical considering the themes and narratives that have taken place through the 3 games. In fact, it would make more sense to me if the so called "resolution" turned out to all be a dream. The game itself is very good. The level design was much improved over previous installments, and storytelling wise they generally did an excellent job creating a story that could account for all the possible Shepards. Not everyone from previous games are available as squadmates, but I felt they generally all got enough screen time to do good by the fans. Overall, it was a very engrossing and enjoyable experience, up until the last 5 minutes or so. Because of that, I have to bump it down from a 10/10 to an 8/10.… Expand
  16. worldcitizen19
    Mar 15, 2012
    10
    I love it and think it's a brilliant work of art and game and should be GOTY. 10/10 It doesn't get much better than this. Sound, graphics and gameplay as well as story are awesome!!!
  17. Mrsoandso
    Mar 9, 2012
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Mass effect 3 was fine through the whole game as game play went but the ending was awful to say the least, i was a big fan of the other mass effects this one was ruined by the poor ending being too abstract and poorly executed. the game play was overall fun but the ending...… Expand
  18. rayken154h7
    Mar 11, 2012
    0
    Overally an excellent game. The RPG mechanics and combat feel like a synthesis of the best parts of ME1 and 2. The dialog for the most part is well written. Though, there are some cringe worthy dialog sequences. There are numerous animation glitches that can be distracting. Most of the main plot scenes are amazingly well animated. This game has some of the most brilliant fight scenes in the entire series. Truly fantastic. Getting ready for my second playthrough… Expand
  19. Humboldt1337
    Jun 7, 2012
    1
    Worst. Ending. In. Video. Gaming. History.
    Exactly what the **** were you thinking Bioware?
    It is hard to imagine that this game was not just a massive troll on everyone who has played these games.
  20. Habbibus
    Sep 21, 2012
    10
    Nice story, good graphics, awesome
  21. YuRown92
    Mar 12, 2012
    10
    Mass Effect 3 is EPIC ending of space saga. I don't know their people, who don't like final of this game. Final is very interesting, very adrenaline, very clever. And... It is one of the best Action/RPG in all videogame's story!
  22. spinx
    Mar 19, 2012
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The user score tells it all... The gameplay of the third installment was underwhelming... The series has evolved to a mediocre cover shooter with almost no decent RPG options and even killing its wonderfull Dialogue option from the previous games... Also the ending... We fight 3 games long, get emotionaly envolved with characters, make hard choices... AND at the end, we don't get to see what these choices have done? How is the universe now? How is sheppard honored? we see nothing of this...

    Bioware should look at The Witcher 2 and really study why it is better in all fronts... it's a shame that this series has ended so underwhelming...

    Sure, its very epic and you get goosebumps from time to times... But there was so much more potential...    … Expand
  23. Hybridiction
    May 18, 2012
    9
    This is the score the game actually deserves. Now before you down-vote me, you will find if you average around the fifty + critic scores the game received it would be around the 89-93 area. Take off the moronic user score feature metacritic, it is used as a tool by a bunch of forum trolls and butthurt fanboys who really have no clue how to review a game. Of course this review will be down-voted by them, and I'll probably be called a "suck up" to the gaming media, but let's look at the facts first. High expectations almost always lead to disappointment, and those who have insanely high expectations will always be disappointed. This is why when you look at a game objectively, or rather as it is, instead of what you wanted it to be, you would find that it truly is a good game. Whether you disagreed with the ending or had problems because you "Felt" that the choices you made in the previous installments weren't reflected enough, it really doesn't matter. It's no reason to give this game a score below 7, and the fact that this game is rated a 3.9 is really quite pathetic. To even think that this game is only worth a "3.9" you would have to be some grumpy old man living in some old folks home or some kid who stays in his room all day, has no friends and doesn't know how to enjoy quality entertainment. The decisions you made in the previous games do reflect in this one, and yes they matter. Characters that die in ME2 wont be around, characters you saved in ME1 do make an appearance and yes your choices DID have reflect in ME3. Name a game that carries the choices you made from game to game on the same level mass effect has? You cant, there is only stand alone games with choices like the witcher 2, but what game from sequel to sequel to sequel does what the ME series has?. The fact people cry because they feel that their choices never meant anything is LAUGHABLE seeing as how they have nothing to compare it to. Give mass effect some credit, it has done a pretty damned good job. The ending to the series is fine, and honestly it really doesn't matter what bioware did people would have cried and crapped their pants. Everybody has a different idea of how it should have "ended" Bioware cant possibly meet everybody's expectations. The gameplay was much improved from the previous two, they added in some more RPG elements, still not as robust as ME1 but pretty close with the talent choices, weapon mods and tons of armor and loot to find. Mass effect 3 is a good game that sold well and that the majority of people enjoyed playing, don't listen to the vocal minority of idiots on here who probably pirated the game or never even played it at all and are just jumping on the hate bandwagon to hate the game like it's some "fad" to do so or makes them "cool and different" Stfu, sit down and enjoy the game. End of story. and....advice to metacritic......implement a system where people need to enter the serial code of the game they bought in order to actually review it. See how many of these idiots are still around after that......you wont find many.… Expand
  24. mr_cupcake
    Apr 9, 2012
    2
    This game showed great promise for being GOTY 2012 but based on the fact that the whole ME series so closely copied other sci-fis the whole prothean device idea was figured out by me and my brother before the game was released. Despite this let down the game had some great features throughout which were suddenly pushed to one side by that horrific ending. Considering the how game was based on the choices you make through out these had no effect on the three ghastly choices at the end which all end the game in exactly the same terrible way… Expand
  25. JonoR
    Mar 15, 2012
    10
    I must have played a different game from the majority of reviewers here because I found it a highly enjoyable experience. Not going into the endings but it was perfect wrap up for who my Shepherd was and on the way to it I enjoyed reconnecting with old friends. As with Mass Effect people die and while I'm sure I limited it as much as I could the deaths that were locked in made me feel something, which is how it should be.

    I see a lot of complaints about unanswered questions and while I do have questions, enough was answered for now. I don't need every single thing spelled out for me, plus it leaves stuff for the future. Shepherd's story might be over, but the Mass Effect galaxy doesn't have to be and I hope to see much from ME in the future.

    It looks good, I didn't encounter any major bugs or crashes, I enjoyed it, so I'm quite happy to give it a very good score.    … Expand
  26. m_elders
    Dec 16, 2012
    10
    Originally I gave this game a 9 due to the terrible ending, but the new (free) DLC has made the ending bearable. I'll admit, this game suffers what many of its kind due in that the gameplay is totally separate from the story, rather than an integral part of it (like Spec Ops: The Line or Flower), but I think it deserves a 10 because the story and gameplay are both great by themselves. If you liked Mass Effect 2, you'll like Mass Effect 3. If you haven't played Mass Effect 2, go play Mass Effect 2.… Expand
  27. SirCabbage
    Mar 16, 2012
    1
    ** SPOILERS ARE IN THIS REVIEW ** The game was amazing, every story felt tailored to my choices and I felt rewarded when I could chose things others could not due to my diligence in the end of the game. The sound, music, both amazing, and while the graphics seemed a little aged they still worked. (well, bar the random 2D sprites and textures that sometimes popped up which looked like they were done in paint. As of now, I would have put a rating up for 9, or 10 for this game, it was fun, loads of stuff to do, explore, listen to, learn about.. the multi-player is damn addictive and the pokemon trading cards TCG booster pack system is both annoying but addicting. Then comes the bad, the bad that is so bad I am forced to rate this amazing game so low. The bad that is so terrible that it not only ruined ME3 for me, but also made me less likely to ever replay ME1 and ME2. Im sure you all see where I am going, and that is the ending. The endings themselves were weakly explained in story, full of story cannon errors and worse.. but thats not what makes me hate them. The fact is, that no matter what you do, no matter how well you play, no matter if you saved the rachni, made the geth and quarians be at peace.. anything.. Nothing you have done in the past 3 games matters to the ending, you could be good, or evil, and still get the exact damn same choices. The differences between the ending movies are also minor, with a simple colour change being the only thing to stand between controlling them, joining them and destroying them. In all three endings the major transport hubs used by the galaxy are destroyed, meaning that burning civilizations are basically forever alone in the universe and unable to build, travel or anything. A huge fleet of ships is either destroyed, or remains in orbit around earth with no way to get home, and basically all your choices didn't matter since in the end you essentially destroy the universe. Plotholes like my LI who was presumably killed during the final run to the beam mysteriously showing up on the normandy after, the weird joker trying to escape the beam for no reason, The starchild's excuse not mentioning anything to do with the dark energy mentioned all through ME2, or Shepards apparent inability to even question his reasoning. So lets recap why ME3 is good/bad

    Good
    - Epic Soundtrack
    - Rewarding to Import Savegames (during game itself)
    - Fun gameplay/combat
    - Improved squad interactions

    Bad - Ending Scenes are identical. - Ending ignors 3 years of your choices, no epilogue or future games possible unless during/in past. - Plotholes all over - Getting 100%, doing everything correctly, still you get punished by dying in all but one ending.

    Overall. Bleh

    Game 10/10
    Sound 10/10
    Ending -20/10
    Total 0/30 :P Seriously, dont pass this game if you want to still love the franchise.    … Expand
  28. froZn1991
    Mar 11, 2012
    9
    The Game was awesome, never played something better or equal before ------ and then i come to the end, now i hate it .... WHY BIOWARE WHY!!!?!?! i dont have the heart do play this a 2nd time :(
  29. wajeffd
    Mar 8, 2012
    10
    Mass Effect 3 isn't perfect. It has some frame glitch issues and character body & face placement errors (where shep is looking vs. where the character he's looking at is standing) that will likely be fixed with follow-on patches. Yes, it screams "there's DLC yet to come"... but this is a business not a giveaway. For the end of what I hope will just be the first Mass Effect trilogy (GIVE ME MASS EFFECT 4!!!!!!!), ME3 is a wild ride with a lot more that is FANTASTIC than bad. I hope Bioware puts in the work to fix some of the problems, but the work they put in already should make them proud. BUY THIS GAME!!!… Expand
  30. aeuk
    Mar 11, 2012
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I just finished ME3. Overall I'd say ME3 is certainly one of The games in 2012. I imported my character from ME2 and I didn't experience anything ill / illogical (as have been claimed) as a result. Everything felt logical story'wise. When it comes to ME3 itself, there aren't much you can honestly critisize in the game; animation of the characters (especially lip movement / speech sync) isn't exactly great work, and the hunting for artifacts / war assets isn't that exciting (probably the most dull part of game). During the 30 hours I played the game, I didn't experience much any bigger bugs (and zero fatal crashes) - I experienced much more bugs in ME2. In ME3 the main story, missions, characters, dialogs, choices you can make, graphics in general, soundworks ... all in all it creates a truly impressive (and addictive) scifi world that takes you in. It feels like you'd be playing a blockbuster scifi movie. When it comes to the ending of the game, I can't understand all the negative feedback of it. Perhaps it annoys people that the main character "does not always live happily ever after", dunno, but I'll only recommend this game to anyone who likes hardcore scifi. The last time action game felt as much movie'like and entertaining in all aspects to me, was Half-Life 2 and its' episodes.… Expand
  31. Str4toFortr3ss
    Mar 15, 2012
    10
    I think Mass Effect 3 is a fantastic game. Bioware found the right balance between the action and the rpg style gameplay. It's a masterpiece. The music, and the scenery is awesome and create a wonderful atmosphere. The characters are deeper, and better than before.
    I think it's a great ending to the trilogy.
  32. Shommy
    Mar 7, 2012
    10
    So far this game is everything I always wanted... Although it feels more like a shooter/action game than an RPG, that is OK with me. I always wanted a great shooter with RPG elements and ME3 perfected this. They brought back more of the RPG elements from ME1 that they took out in ME2 back into ME3. I don't know what everyone is talking about stuff being dumbed down. I thought they made the character development system much better, if anything all they did was give you slightly less conversational options, but that is not biggie in my book. They did take out the mining that was in ME1 and ME2, which I thought was a great idea I hated mining for ore in the first two games. ME3 is all story and combat none of that crap where you waste your time getting ore. The graphics in this game are improved from the last two games and the map IMO are better they are much more open and have a great feel to them because a lot of them are big war zones which gives the environments a great immersion feeling. They made it easier to purchase upgrades too and it makes sense the way they did it. Being that everyone is being attack by the reapers there aren't really any stores except for the one on the Normandy so you don't have to go searching for upgrades all the time.… Expand
  33. jollysteve
    Mar 12, 2012
    2
    This one is really annoying! There is too much video and too little game in it. The battles are very irritating, especially the grenades and the cover system sucks.
  34. butternut86
    Mar 22, 2012
    5
    Bioware should be ashamed of themselves. This ending was inexcusable. The Deus ex machina explanation for the Reapers and how the Catalyst justified their desruction as a way to save organic's from their own tendencies of destroying themselves was nothing short of ridiculous. Its circular writing, logic and reasoning wrapped into one.

    Let me be clear. 99% of this game is an absolute m    asterpiece. But the end was so god awful that it actually undermined the brilliance of the entire series. Two things pissed me off in Mass Effect 3, the non-existant closure of the ending, and non-reveal of Tali's face (there was a photo.. but come on) .

    Both are inexcusable, and the ending is pathetic. Personally, Bioware, and its Reaper puppeteer should give its consumers FREE ENDING DLC to try and redeem themselves. I already paid around $200 for all three Mass Effect games including numerous dlc packages. Bioware and EA owe their consumers a decent ending with some closure to the characters, planets and races I've come into contact these past 5 years. Bioware should ashamed. TO SHAME!!!!    … Expand
  35. flexasaurus
    Jul 5, 2012
    3
    The main problem of this game has to be the fact that they left out Drew Karpishyn, the guy who wrote the first two games, I knew right from the beginning, that it didn't feel right, wen I figured out EA put their dirty little hands on everything mass effect, That was the end of it. I invested to much time and money on the series, only for it to be sabotaged by EA and their minions. I loved the mass effect universe, it got me through tough times, it meant a lot to me, I know that sounds gay but its true, The first two games hit the right buttons for me.

    But now I feel worse. The extended cut was the nail on the coffin, and now some **** is already laying out the plans for a mass effect MMO. Extended cut.... More like extended disappointment.. Thats my two cents anyways...    … Expand
  36. archros
    Mar 18, 2012
    0
    Probably the worst ending to a video game series I've ever seen. What happens in the last 15 or so minutes completely contradicts the previous ~150 hours of gameplay for all three games.
  37. omegaferrari
    Mar 8, 2012
    10
    this game is brilliant, good graphics and story,all those complaining really dislike pc gaming or gaming as a whole, this game from the very start grips you and even if it is more action oriented, the rpg elements are here and there to add depth to player development , good game. dont miss it , im enjoying it, the same way i enjoyed 1 and 2, if you liked batman arkham city , deus ex 3 , dead space 2 and the like , you are gonna enjoy this.… Expand
  38. nilaihah
    Mar 16, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'd feel guilty about rating the game a 0 when it is such a good game, if it wasn't for the fact that the ending was purposefully a complete and absolute disaster and the aftermath is just worse. Add to this the reused generic assets (for things like Tali's portrait from Getty pictures and the ending slide with the stargazer from the cover of some power metal band's album) that are just inexcusable for a AAA title.… Expand
  39. HunterZolomon
    Mar 31, 2012
    9
    ME3 is a SPECTACULAR GAME with a HORRIBLY AWFUL ENDING. Everything up to the end is superb. The ME trilogy is the best rpg experience I've ever had. However, I do understand the massive disappointment displayed here. It just goes to show just how deeply people care about this franchise, and especially the characters in the game. I can't bring myself to give it less than a 9. It would have been f**king 11 if the ending had rocked.… Expand
  40. Frosty1627
    Apr 23, 2012
    1
    First game was great. Second was even better. So you can assume that third will be the best in the series and again Game of The Year ???. Not in this case. To begin with do you remember how many side quests there were in first game and each of them were interesting in their own way. Second game was little bit different, it tried to be action game with RPG elements so quests weren't that awesome as in first game but still were good. Well in third game there are two types of quests: N7 "missions" and Citadel "missions". First one nothing as N7 missions in previous games. All maps that feature in this "missions" are from multiplayer and tasks are "find and bring something back" or "kill everything". For quests were you need to find something and bring it back you would want a journal so you would know were to go. The "Journal" in ME3 has only description of quest, nothing about were we can find item or were bring it. New Citadel also sucks. It just sucks. Now I would like to skip part about interaction with NPCs and Normandy cause it will take a lots of time. The major problem with game is endings. Remember when developers said that non of the endings will be the same ??? Remember when they said that multiplayer won't be connected to single player ??? Remember when this bastards said that all choices we made in previous games will huge influence on ending ??? Either I play it wrong either developers are really bad liars. To get different endings we need war assets. To get them we need to play multiplayer a lot and a little bit of single player. Then we need to choose between 3 different lights. Light which we choose will be color of explosion. There is some difference like Reapers will destroy Earth or Shepard can survive but you got the point. So what EA did looks like Call of Duty when it was just a baby. With each game it gets worser and worser until they will find another company... Awful quests, ugly locations, f****d up ending, day one DLC and unnecessary interactions make this game worst game of this year. Yes, worser than Amy...… Expand
  41. Ananisapta
    Mar 26, 2012
    8
    I don't understand the negative user reviews for ME III. I think the professional critics are correct to rate it highly. I'm an experienced gamer for RPGs and MMORPGs, and I consider ME III to rate among the highest in emotional impact. The weaknesses I would cite are minor. I would certainly recommend playing the first two episodes in the series because that facilitates understanding the story and developing an emotional attachment to certain NPCs. Episode III has a complex plot in which individual missions can have enough emotional impact that I need to rest between them. It's not primarily a shooter, more an extended drama in which you control the plot dynamics to a respectable degree. I strongly recommend this to grownup gamers who are attracted to space opera. I will agree that the ending was the weakest part of the series. Part of my disappointment relates to the passivity... if I wanted to watch TV I would do that; gaming is better than TV because it makes you active in shaping the dramatic experience. I gather EA is working on improving the ending and I hope they'll find ways to make it snappier!… Expand
  42. Bulldozer
    Mar 30, 2012
    0
    This game could have been a masterpiece but the final result is only a forgettable mix of bugs, holes in a childish plot with the "wish" to be serious, a ton of shadows and emphasis everywhere, no exploration, no puzzles, flat dialogues and the worst ending in videogame history. In certain things it could deserve a 11 but in others not more than a -20 so my balance is 0. Nothing more than a "project" of a game, an interesting project never terminated and poorly done, or at least that's not good to be released like this.… Expand
  43. Esiasch
    Mar 8, 2012
    10
    I'm really confused by the user reviews here. I am quite a ways through the game and the only thing I have experienced is more of the same from Bioware (which is to say, more gaming greatness). The resolution of plots big and small throughout the series is incredibly satisfying. The combat was a little shaky at first but once I started to grasp the flow of the new combat system it became obvious that Mass Effect 3 would not only overpower its predecessors but my highest expectations as well. Great job Bioware!… Expand
  44. Sevorast
    Mar 15, 2012
    4
    One of the greatest stories of all time, ruined by an ending that invalidates everything the player has accomplished through the span of all 3 games.

    Does not matter one bit any choice or decision you made on your playthroughs leading up to the final chapter, your actions meant nothing because bad logic and space magic.
  45. Kosheus
    Mar 19, 2012
    10
    This is Mass Effect! Still. Aside of all critics.

    The only not_so_good_thing is the ending (logicless and dicsonnected from whole game). My hopes for ending DLC from BW. This ending cannot be the official ending of the trilogy. I can't beleive it.

    But overall (not considering ending) game is another great Mass Effect game.
  46. Abisco79
    Mar 7, 2012
    10
    So first off I would like to state my score is more of a 9.8/10, but since I can't do that, I guess I'll stick with a 10.

    So, let me also get out of the way that I am an avid mass effect fan... I've played mass effect 1 and 2 countless times, and love the games to death. They definitely had their flaws, but each had a gripping story and powerful characters. The biggest flaws for me was th    at ME1 had poor shooting mechanics, and ME2 had poor RPG mechanics.

    Mass effect 3 fixed both these issues.
    Now, please disregard all the 1 reviews, and many of the 10 reviews. These people are either trolling or have no idea what they are talking about. The game is NOT a 1/10 (which is the equivalent to a game you cannot play due to bugs such as the DS games that comes out for children based around barbie dolls). If anything, the shooting and RPG mechanics are at their finest, demonstrating a true synergy between the two. It's great fun, but you can definitely choose to focus on not shooting as much, or using abilities as much. The options are readily available to you.

    For me, the game really does ALMOST everything right. All the characters from the past are back, if you import your character choices do matter. Things get very exciting and there are loads of deaths. The soundtrack is awesome, same with the voice acting.

    Now for my two problems with the games (you can assume that everything else other then these points were so irrelevant to me that they fit in to the game well):
    - Auto dialogue: Now I have to say, at the beginning I was really annoyed, and am still kind of SLIGHTLY bummed about it, but when you get 3-5 hours into the game, the choices open up. You don't have as many choices as ME2, but that's because they cut the fat out. No longer do you have 2 choices that are basically the same thing. The illusion of choice has been removed. Maybe that annoys people, but its something you can get over quickly.

    -The endings: Now I won't ruin anything, but I just expected a bit more. I was ready to give the game 10/10 (rather then a 9.8/10), but the ending really detached me from the game... It made me stare at the screen for a bit and think... well... is that it? It slightly ruins the entire experience for me, though the journey was with it, my mind is still getting over whether the destination was worth it.

    Facts for reference:
    22 Hours
    Adept, Hardcore, Imported from ME1. Overall, I loved the game. If you can get past the fact that you don't have a choice about EVERYTHING shepard says, and are ready for endings that may leave something to be desired, then go ahead and buy the game. Its totally worth it and I loved every minute of it. Score: 9.8/10 (Rounded to a 10 for metacritic)    … Expand
  47. raeting
    Mar 7, 2012
    10
    Mass Effect 3 is a great game. I'm 25 hours in. The negative reviews: I cannot reconcile my own playtime with what's written here. Mostly seems like people are sore over the Day 1 DLC, not getting what they wanted out of the narrative, or giving the game a 1 or 0 because it is 'dumbed down' or some other similarly vague reason. With a smattering of balance issues intermixed. DLC is just how it is going to be going forward. I understand the anger, but a game isn't poor or unenjoyable because it has DLC. ME2 had a huge amount of DLC packs, of varying usefulness, many of which were far, far more important to the plot than From Ashes. It was generally regarded as a great game.

    The game isn't dumbed down. Combat is essentially on terms with ME2 in terms of complexity. Equipment is more complex (in a good way). The narrative is more mature, both in content and writing style.

    Finally, there is no major balance issue. In the many hours of multiplayer I've seen every class be a real asset to the team. Can things be improved? Yes. Is the game devoid of value because of the imperfect balancing? No.

    It is dishonest to give the game a 0 or 1 review. There's not enough different between ME1, 2, and 3 to justify such low scores.

    Story:

    Story is better than both of the sequels. There's nothing 'dumbed down' here, from how the squad mates interact to how Shepard changes as a character. It works. There are a fewer long, drawn out, conversations with your squad mates while on the Normandy, but that falls under less is more. There is a /lot/ more realism and casual banter. Everyone feels more like a real person.

    For the first 1/3 of the game, there is a bit of a sense that the galaxy isn't paying attention to what's going on. Earth has fallen, but the citadel is, well, the citadel. The reapers, however, continue their advance and everything changes. It is certainly one of the more dynamic single-player worlds I've seen.

    Your former squad mates return in varying capacities. Many have changed, mostly for the better, since you last saw them. Not all can join you, but that's ok. The choices in ME3 are galactic scale. Several times I've had to walk away at a fork in the road to think about it a bit.

    If I were to point out any big change in the way the game feels, it is a lack of formality. In ME1 and 2, both, there was a bit more of a sense of the ship being run military, so to speak. In ME3, everyone is more comfortable with each other. Shepard doesn't lay down the law quite so often -- it just isn't as frequently necessary. That's not to say there are not strong interpersonal conflicts, there are. Shepard, as well, needs more help this time. They are less of an unbreakable rock this go around, the fractures start to show, and the friendships Shepard has (presumably) cultivated helps take off some of the pressure.

    I'd like to gush more about the narrative, but I'll leave it at: if you enjoyed ME1 and 2's story, this will be a pleasant experience. You can't always get what you want, but that's the point. The reaper invasion isn't a picnic. People are going to die.

    Just as an aside, though, if you judge the narrative by the first few hours you are missing out. Gameplay: It is far improved from ME1 and 2. More of an evolution on what ME2 was, if anything. Combat is focused, fast, intense. Battles can turn on a dime if you aren't careful. Easier than ME2 on normal difficulty, I recommend turning it up if you want a challenge. The enemies and settings are far, far, faaar more varied in ME3. I have noticed that squad mates are a bit less useful without direction, though. Which can be an issue in the more difficult fights. Given orders, though, they are just fine.

    I played somewhere around 50 hours of the demo multiplayer in the couple weeks I could. So combat is fun for sure.

    Technical:

    Load times seem improved. No major technical issues I've run into on the PC. Textures are on par with ME2.

    Overall:

    Great game. I'm positive I'll end up replaying it 3-4 times.    … Expand
  48. Magebear
    Mar 7, 2012
    9
    About 6hrs in I'm enjoying this game. I'm even using a laptop at lower graphic settings and think the graphics are nice. I went for 9-or 10 because the damned spacebar is used for EVERYTHING. On a PC we have a whole keyboard... Couldn't we have different key bindings for cover and jump?

    As to all the user panning: Shooter fans won't like it because it's too RPG, RPG fans will **** because     it's too shooter and all those with closet issues will balk at the options for gay/lesbian relationships. It's a hybrid so the first two are unavoidable, but with regards to the last one, unless you're twelve, it's time to grow up.… Expand
  49. mrcoolman
    Mar 7, 2012
    6
    Mass Effect 3 is a game science fiction game about Star Wars. You play as Captain John Luke Pircard but everybody calls you shepherd for some reason, and you have to kill the grim repars who want to kill everyone in the galaxy. you travel in your spaceship so you can shoot the reaper with your laser guns. One thing i didnt like is that you have to reload your gun because why would you have to reload a laser gun? Overall this game was fun but I give it 6/10 because there are no lightsabers and the klingons look funny… Expand
  50. Juicepants
    Mar 7, 2012
    9
    This game might be the best game I've ever played. I have no idea why so many people feel the need to give it a 1 the day it came out. The one button for cover/sprint/action can be obnoxious, but the dialogue is amazing and it's the culmination of one of the best video game stories. Ignore all the haters If you liked ME1 and ME2 this game will be the icing on the cake.
  51. timriley
    Mar 8, 2012
    10
    Just awesome. Fantastic story line, characters. Graphics are top notch. That BioWare gives players the option to choose the sexual orientation of their character is both refreshing and open-minded.
  52. drivard
    Mar 9, 2012
    10
    A well done conclusion to an excellent series. The ending was clearly not something thought up at the last minute but planned for a long time in advance.
  53. Stoneboy
    Mar 10, 2012
    10
    Well, what can I say? I´ve finished the game yesterday (endings are ok, btw, romantic in me would have loved to have some blue children with Liara,I´m not angry about them).
    The game itself is almost perfect (some technical bugs, badly written quest log entries...), but that almost there won´t stop me from giving it a 10. Because it´s be    autifully written, characters are alive and I felt (with my ME1->ME2 imported Shepard) like I was with my best friends. Garrus mission on the Citadel for example is something I will probably never forget. It was... simply brilliant. And don´t listen to some people, who are trying to tell you, that the ME3 is not an RPG. It is, and it´s more an RPG that ME2 was. It has weapon customization, branching skill trees and you´ll be able to DECIDE the fate of the entire species at one point. Role playing is IMHO not about points or stats. It´s about making choices, and interacting with the world. All this all day 1 DLC crap is just that. I wonder what the reaction would have been if the DLC never got released and the content remained a CE exclusive.
    And "autodialog"? There were one or two conversations where the extra wheel wouldn't hurt, but I suspect, that some of the dialog changes based on paragon/renegade points you get along the way. And you still make decisions, interrupts are still there... Conversations were excellent overall. So, to sum up, If you love ME, you already have ME3 and playing it. There is nothing new in it, that would stop you. However, if you don´t know ME, I honestly wouldn't recommend buying ME3. Try to play the entire trilogy on the PC or X360. You´ll experience something truly special.

    And as I said before, my final score: 10 (or 9.75, because it´s the last game, and I won´t see my friends again).    … Expand
  54. polyak953
    Mar 10, 2012
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is the most incredible game that ever I saw. After the final mission, I sh*t bricks. And the saddest thing that Mass Effect has officially completed.… Expand
  55. Txsnowman
    Mar 10, 2012
    8
    Im surprised by the user review of this game. Even though i believe the critic review is normally to high, or "bought out", this game is by no means a 10, but is also by no means a 0-5. It isnt perfect, but its a fun game, the story falls short of the first 2, but the game play is right up there. I think the people giving the low scores are focusing their entire reviews around the few bad things about the game. I had a very enjoyable 30 hours my first time through and i plan to do it again right away! Would recommend this game to all action/rpg fans, and even more so to previous ME fans!… Expand
  56. HVB
    Mar 10, 2012
    10
    I actually would only give it 9.5/10 (on account of the somewhat unsatisfactory ending.) This game was as close to a work of art as I've seen thus far, the writing is amazing, and I felt the most important thing- your Shepards relationship with the characters and world- is handled brilliantly and comprehensively. So much focus and attentionw as payed to the conversations.

    It is a shame, t    hough hopelessly obvious, to see such numerous low marks are on account of a single gay male sex scene. A scene I might add, that was handled very well, was completely optional and had very obvious leads, and above all- was very romantic and well written, not a porno or anything distasteful. Mass Effect 3 is a brilliant game in all acounts, especially if you are in it for the story as I am. My only criticism would be the ending, which I have a feeling may be resolved entirely in this Mass Effect 4 I keep hearing about.

    This game is a strong contender for game of the year, and should win it for such bold story choices despite raising the ire of the sadly substantial homophobic community.    … Expand
  57. Xolis
    Mar 10, 2012
    10
    I love playing a story...and that's what I got. AMAZING! All these haters are crying about stats this and that. The game is FUN and that's all there is to it!
  58. voiceofunreason
    Mar 10, 2012
    7
    As a game this is perfectly acceptable. I played it on PC and had very few graphic issues. Joker was kind of weird looking but that was my only problem on that front. The gameplay is like mass effect 2 but better. I enjoyed the gameplay. You can snipe or shotgun and use your powers tactically no matter your class. Its a fun game. I've gone back and played ME1 since getting ME3 and frankly ME1 is comparatively, a slow doddering affair and in modern day terms ugly. While the decisions of the last 2 games don't have the impact I thought they would neither are they irrelevant. Most if not all lose ends are wrapped up and in a satisfactory manner. In fact the only major disappointment was the ending. 7 years of this game and that's how they wrap everything up? This game was good. Whatever else you read, know that it as fun as all getout. But the ending is a nice kick to the balls. Buy it, play it, just don't expect to be leaving it happy. This score is 100% based on the ending. everything else is is worth the price.… Expand
  59. Heide
    Mar 11, 2012
    10
    I had to do an account for posting here to do some justice. Best from the series and and top 3 best games ever played. Took a lot of guts for Bioware to end it like this. It is a masterpiece. I can remotely understand why it got this score so far, users from US couldn't grasp the poetic approach in the end. Probably the fact that last stand is in London didn't help as the game was launched first in the US and the regular end US user may be used more with "Independence day" movie approach than something like this. Where the american hero saves the day, the earth and the galaxy. Didn't seen any "terrible animation and graphic issues" though but you gotta whine about something no ? Should have give it 9.8 because for some lack of polish in the dreams and because i am disappointed they cut it off so clearly at the end - no mass effect 4 folks - be happy about it - your winnings will be "rewarded" - you will not have to support another "bad" game from Bioware in mass effect universe. Lets hope that once Europe will start reviewing the score will go up as it deserves. We are too spoiled. Hat off, thumbs up for Bioware.… Expand
  60. mr_fails
    Mar 11, 2012
    10
    There are so many people who claim that this game was a huge letdown from two because the RPG elements are even further gone. After playing this game for about 10 hours, i can say that in my opinion, that is a gigantic load of crap. The choices for equip-able armor are more true to the ones of mass effect with their brand names, the weapon upgrade system is much better now, seeing as they actually have upgrades instead of some **** computer and the need to scan planets to gather resources. Some of the characters, like James , are undeveloped but can you really blame the guy? He came in on the last game of a fully established trilogy. As for the story, yes, compared to mass effect 1 it is dumbed down but compared to mass effect 2 it is much better. I enjoyed mass effect 2 because of the game-play, not because of the story. In ME 3 you are tasked with journeying around the galaxy and creating a united banner under which to combat the reapers in the final showdown. Compared to the ME2 plot line of get some random mother **** to travel to their possible death with you, its a lot better.

    As for other elements, i love the challenge ME3 brings. in ME2 you could stand behind cover and trow warp at people and never get hurt. ME3 brings a much greater challenge. It requires players to actually use strategy rather than sit behind an impenetrable wall for years. The combat mechanics are much more refined than 2 and the return of grenades is a very welcome mechanic. Overall, ME3 deserves around an 8.5 where ME1 would receive a 9.75 and ME2 would receive an 8 just to give you an idea of where i stand. Its not GOTY material but ME3 is a good game that deserves at least one play-through. As for its shortcomings, which are by no means non-existent, blame the EA devil that is turning the gaming industry into a corporate machine rather than a place where creative developers meet to make something amazing and unique, not BioWare.    … Expand
  61. grahamsccs
    Mar 11, 2012
    10
    Absolutely stunning game. Best of the trilogy. I started off not liking the first Mass Effect, but really enjoyed the second. The third is even better still, with extremely high production values.
  62. Berendas
    Mar 12, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. *minor spoilers*

    The choice of endings we get is completely unacceptable. Bioware PROMISED varied and unique endings based on what choices you made throughout the series. Instead we got some illogical deus ex machina garbage that, for a lot of people, utterly ruins the whole trilogy. All the cutscense are identical and after the credits there is no closure or epilogue. We just get a Photoshoped stock image and some old grandpa way out of left field. It takes some serious effort to make an ending that bad.    … Expand
  63. Ob1Kn00b
    Mar 12, 2012
    0
    If Bioware hadn't rushed this out, and put in a proper ending, then I wouldn't have created an account just to voice my displeasure. As it stands, Bioware destroyed several hundred hours worth of enjoyment in all of thirty minutes. They took a series that has, from the beginning, been grounded in enjoyable science fiction, our choices having impact, and a powerful main character that consistently defied the odds... Then they turned said main character into a braindamaged invalid unable to question orders of a random star-child-god-thing. They removed any actual choice, as in the end each ending is just the same thing with different colors. Science fiction went out the window for random crystal-crazy metaphysics and some omnipotent star-child.

    First Dragon Age 2. Then issues with TOR. Now, issues with a finale I have been waiting years for. No, I don't think I'll be buying anything from Bioware again. They can talk all they want about EA not having changed them... But there's been a lot of bad since they came along.    … Expand
  64. Sun_Tzu
    Mar 12, 2012
    2
    Most of the main missions are well done, you can generally get the resolutions you want, with some consequences sprinkled in. For this, the game gets about a 9. I truly enjoyed myself.

    Side quests are weak, they mostly consist of mindless grinding, which is never a good thing in a game. I wanted more on-site side quests as in ME1 and ME2, but was sorely disappointed. For this the game get    s maybe a 3.

    And then there's the ending. In fact, the entire final mission was a huge letdown for me. It's the greatest betrayal of a gaming franchise I've ever experienced, and I've been around since the Commodore-64 days. It makes no sense, it spits in the face of the loyal fan, and it has ruined not only this game, but every preceding game for me. The ending is so bad that it eclipses every positive thing you could ever say about the game. It's a -10 experience. So we end up with a final score of 2. Until Bioware fixes the ending, I'm warning every friend of the franchise and friend in general not to play/buy me3. This was not an experience I'd wish upon my worst enemy.    … Expand
  65. ZawiszaTheBlack
    Mar 12, 2012
    0
    Worst ending ever. 99% of good game and 1% of destructive and wasting fans minds stupidending...
    Few years of my love for universe was destroyed by few last minutes of Mass Effect 3. BioWare... I'm dissapointed and very sad. It's incomprehensible impact!
  66. kesup26
    Mar 12, 2012
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I just finished this and.... wow just wow. I mean all right, the game didn't have the best story and also had those crappy dream sequences, but it was fairly okay(not good though).... until that DAMN ending and three "choose your bad ending/death" choices! Why the heck nothing we do during the game(and the previous ones) matters? Why the relays exploding doesn't destroy their solar systems? Why is the Normandy mid-jump when this is happening and how is that sequence even possible since the jump is almost instant? Shouldn't the Normandy be fighting above Earth? And how the **** do your squad mates especially those that were with you till the end find themselves on the Normandy? I mean there are a lot of annoying gameplay decisions that I could describe but the ending is SO crap and with so many plot holes and questions, that it takes the cake for most disappointing aspect of the game. It's like seriously, I know fanfiction better than this!… Expand
  67. Jesrist
    Mar 12, 2012
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. BAD endings destroyed the game and the whole series. GREAT GRAPHIC, MUSIC AND GAMEPLAY. 95% of the game is interesting. it was so great that you felt even worse when you got through the ending.… Expand
  68. SilentMobius
    Mar 12, 2012
    2
    This game should be a 9, I cared about the characters, the sense of drama was palpable. The action was furious without devolving into a pure shooter, even the side missions didn't feel as forced as they have in the previous games, for the most part it was fantastic.

    However, I have to knock off a point for general inexcusable QA failures (LI's not responding to actions in the previous gam    es) another point for some horrific animation glitches (characters not facing each other when they talk eyes rolling back into heads, necks twisting 180 degrees), a point for the poor integration of the From Ashes DLC (Seriously, a Prothean? much more content was needed for such and important character, I'd have been happy to pay more for it), another point off for the multi-player which is good but the matchmaking is horribly unstable (On PC at least) making it a frustrating process, And finally a massive 4 points off for absolutely horrific and poorly thought out ending that has soured the whole series for me, and obliterated any replay value. Hence we go from a "near-perfect" 9 to an "Oh goddess what have you done" 2… Expand
  69. WindWalker
    Mar 12, 2012
    0
    They did it again, they mad an awesome game with Mass Effect 1, a little while later they made a good game, a little dumped down but still a game that was true to its roots in the RPG genre. And now they made this.... It was, for me, the only game i have been looking insanely forward to, iv have spent so many hours with my 2 characters that they feel like a part of me. But in this game, they don't!!!
    The RP elements is all gone, this is more off elaborate cut-scenes that feels like any time a quirk time event could pop up.... And don't even get me started on the endings, I just don't feel "involved" in every 8 off them....
    The multi-player system is ok, but feels "detached", you cant even text chat with the other players?!?!?
    The companion ai is soo bad... default: they will run off and get them self killed, and if you try to control them they just stand around and can't find the way... or ignores the order... The animations and sound feels rushed, the side quest tracking system simply don't exists, you have next to none communication with the quest giver (they have no idea you are about to go around the galaxy to find something) These are for me just the top off the iceberg. All in all, Bioware has ruined the Mass Effect ending for me.    … Expand
  70. Omega4
    Apr 5, 2012
    10
    Thanks to EA's announcement that a clarification to the ending will be made, I can finally give the score this game deserves. My playthrough was an absolute blast. Meeting my old squadmates again, meeting new ones, travelling to new places... I've never been so emotionally invested in a game. It was an absolute blast to play, and I can't wait to see the ending.
  71. Kor-Skarn
    Mar 12, 2012
    1
    What can i say that it was not already been said ?
    I was disappointed with so many things in that game : the Beginning how did they arrest me ? i was able to destroy the Collector base and survive but been caught by these incompetents that didn't not even care to listen and help ?, not able to recruit again my last crew for some lazy excuses, quest journal so incomplete, the various dialog    ues options and the lack of them, and the endings...
    The Bioware games are less and less attractive than it was before...    … Expand
  72. steveo9286
    Mar 12, 2012
    4
    First off I would just like to say that I am a HUGE man of the Mass Effect series, played the first 2 numerous times, and even read the first three books (I would have read the 4th, but since it was a different writer, and had overwhelmingly negative reviews due to glaring inconsistencies with the established history I seemed like it would be a waste)

    Now for Mass Effect 3 - I will try t    o keep this as spoiler free as possible, but some will probably make it in. You have been warned.

    The story continues about 6-8 months after the last DLC of Mass Effect 2 "Arrival" when the reapers invade Earth, as well as other planets throughout the galaxy. You escape the initial events in order to try and rally the other races of the galaxy to mobilize a massive counterattack to take back Earth, and ultimately the galaxy as a whole. Along the way you meet up with familiar faces from the first two games. Some only last little while, others will stick with you until the end, and you have the option to continue your romance with whomever you were going after (assuming they survived the first and/or second game). To me the character connections and development was the best in the series, and to my memory the best in any video game series to date. From having a friendly shooting competition with Garrus to Tali getting drunk using an "Emergency induction port" It just serves to bring a closeness with companion characters that no game has ever done before. It's not just sunshine, rainbows, and puppies though. Numerous characters end up making sacrifices so that you can succeed at your mission, which ultimately leads to my low review score but more on that later.

    Game play wise this game plays really similar to Mass Effect 2, combat is a bit more challenging and smooth. Weapons are now allow for much more customization through the use of extended barrels for damage increases, scopes for better accuracy, and ammo that allows to shoot people through cover, albeit with reduced damage. The cover system has also been improved quite a bit and plays more like Gears of War, though not quite as responsive while moving in cover, but it's still an improvement over ME2. Combat wise you see a decent variety with enemies, and in some cases it's better to target a specific enemy first as they can "buff" other enemies with armor, shields ect, but as mentioned earlier it's near identical to ME2. One last thing is that you now have a weight system that determines how often you can use your powers. For soldiers it's not as big of a deal since you have all 5 weapon slots used, and with the use of Ammo powers (ammo powers don't have cooldowns and weight does not effect them) it's not as big of a deal. For Classes with numerous Biotic/Tech powers It's more of a concern since you rely on weapon damage much less than the soldier, so it makes you think about what weapons (and how many) you want to load up with. The only notable thing missing are boss battles. Yes you do have certain enemies that you have to burn through multiple layers of defenses, but there is nothing like there was with Saren at the end of ME1 or the human reaper at the end of ME2. Now as many people across many sites have been saying the first 99% of the game is fantastic, it's the last 1%, or 10 minutes that completely ruin the game, and for some people the series. Without getting into specific spoilers it boils down to two main gripes I have with the ending. 1) Is that the plot device used to end the game came out of left field, there was no foreshadowing, evidence or anything else to prepare us for the emergence of this "Deus Ex Machina" and 2) The player loses any semblance of control or choice that they have had throughout the entire series, when it matters the most. The player is simply given options, that quite frankly feel disjointed from the overarching themes of the Mass Effect universe, and you have no way to argue or protest, it simply "is what it is." Add on top of that the "different choices" lead to what is ultimately a near identical result since you see ABSOLUTELY NO consequences of your decision. Heck you don't even know if most of your companions live or die! Ultimately all the choices and relationships you made, all the sacrifices you, your companions, and even the galaxy at large made end up seeming meaningless were unworthy of the ending they received. Graphics 9/10
    Gameplay 10/10
    Sound 10/10
    Story 1/10 (I was nice and rounded up to 1 since there was at least SOMETHING there) first 99% 10/10 last 1% -10/10
    Replay value 1/10    … Collapse
  73. Dev
    Mar 12, 2012
    0
    I am truly disappointed with this game. I loved the mass effect series, and was looking forward to this game for some time. The conclusion of this game makes absolutely no logical sense. This ending has not only ruined the re-playability of this series it also ruined all the time I spent on the mass effect series. I have no idea why bioware opted out like this but I feel cheated and foolish for believing in them.… Expand
  74. Gigerstreak
    Mar 12, 2012
    4
    Would have given a 9 or 10 if not for the final 5 min. The shockingly nonsensical ending really did make the whole experience a negative. The promises made about this game and it's endings, as well as the precedent that the Mass Effect 2 set in terms of choice in the ending, were not executed with the quality one would expect (or at all).
  75. Peturd
    Mar 13, 2012
    10
    I actually waited to play the game before commenting on it. I thought it was outstanding. I tried not to look at it as the game it could have been if they had of stuck with and refined the RPG elements. I would have liked that. The squeaky wheel got the grease though, and ME2 was more of a shooter. ME3 brought back a bit more RPG depth. So I'm not sure why the hate. It was an improvement as a shooter from ME1 and an improvement as an RPG from ME2. The experience was greater then the sum of it's parts.

    The story, individual plots within the story, the music, sound effects and voice acting were all great. The graphics weren't top notch on my PC, but it's limited by the consoles, and lower end machines. This was countered greatly by the overall aesthetic choices I've loved from the start. Some animations were a little weird. Sometimes it seems a characters hands or other things are moving just for the sake of having animation to make them seem more life like, ironically making them dip down in the uncanny valley. Overall the animations were very good though. Very visceral, and gave a great sense of impact. The animations of the powers make the game much more splashy. Others might find it a bit less boring to watch you play as compared to ME1 and ME2.

    Finally, the changes we have seen are a direct result of YOU, the consumer. Game makers make games. They then sell them to make money, so they can go on to make more games. Without money they have to get other jobs, and can't make the games they want. So they compromise on what they want to do with what the consumer wants to buy. This way they have money to get to make things that are 70% of their vision, and 30% what the market wants. If people had of supported Mass Effect 1 better, and bought it, they would have stayed true to it. It's not like traditional art with little monetary input needed to produce a final product.

    TL;DR:
    Haters are ridiculous. This is by far the best Mass Effect game of the three. Refined, improved, and well executed in almost all regards. Deserving of the critical acclaim it is receiving, not the petty down votes from spoiled kids.    … Expand
  76. Jdund117
    Mar 13, 2012
    10
    I preordered this game. I got it, started playing it, and within about an 2 hours of playing it I was satisfied. Bioware streamlined and improved every system, including missions (although some were hard to do because they weren't on the galaxy map), and they brought back the Citadel with a number of new really cool areas to check out. Dialogue seemed so much more casual than it had been in the first two games, and in my opinion it was acted and animated better. Any character that was still two-dimensional after ME2 was made three-dimensional, and every character that was three-dimensional after ME2 was so multifaceted you could believe that they were real. For example, the whole interaction between Shepard and Garrus was just priceless. Garrus used to be just another companion in the first two games, but in Mass Effect 3 he became something like Shepard's best friend. The rest of the characters, like Tali, Ashley, and James were very well-developed. Even the Prothean squadmate had his moments. I felt like the romances in this series were also so much more real. I kept Liara as my love interest from the first game, and there was a lot more emotional talking going on than just plain sexy time at the end (that happened too, aw yeah). The plot was pretty freakin sweet, I loved the Tuchanka mission and the Rannoch mission... but man those decisions can be hard. Conversely, the end of the game was disappointing. The game led the player to believe that every choice would have its unique conclusion to the story, but that never happened. It's really sad to see something that could have been one of the greatest RPG's ever made kind of flop because the ending was lackluster. The multiplayer can be tough getting into it, especially if you fight reapers or something (don't do it, just don't) but it pays off (headshots **** yeah) and makes for a generally fun experience. This game is pretty freaking cool. The ending sucked, but it's definitely worth playing again with a different experience. I don't know why people posted reviews on here the day that the game came out, because you obviously couldn't have finished the game in a single day, and if you did, you didn't pay attention and subsequently the game sucked for you. So boo hoo, go play COD and keep the tissues and vaseline nearby.… Expand
  77. Anferny159
    Mar 13, 2012
    10
    I registered simply to put perspective on the rampant INTJ and pseudo-nerd-computer-hugging personalities that have absolutely infected this review page.

    Mass Effect 3 is not only the strongest game in the series, but also the most thoroughly put together. It, unlike 1 and to a lesser extent 2, is incredibly streamlined and much deeper as a result. The vast majority of negative opinion se    ems to revolve around the ending of the series. That being said, anyone with a brain can assume that hours 1-25+ of Mass Effect 3 will enjoy one of the most incredible experiences a video game can offer.

    Now, ignoring spoilers, the ending is fantastic. It's reception has, so far, been very similar to that of the TV series Lost. A show which drew people in with it's cool Sci-Fi mysteries, but actually MATTERED because of it's human content and ambiguous sense of good and evil. Mass Effect ends in much the same way. If you truly think about it all, the series could not have ended effectively otherwise. The whole series wasn't about choice, but the implications of fate versus freedom and consequences of our decisions. These are HUGE existential question for a video game to approach.

    I CAN and will say, with almost 100 percent certainty, that the backlash originates from a socially inept and ridiculously over invested group of computer geeks. There simply is no other way to put it. If the kids/ gamers that rated this game anything less than a 7 would have written the ending, be it collaboratively or otherwise, it would have been a **** technical-filled-SciFi-Channel-Uber-Geek nightmare with no sense of poetic understanding. I seriously called this sort of ending from game 1. The tone for it has always been there, but unfortunately the personality types of most scifi-douche-bag-couldn't-talk-to-you-about-anything-but-manufacturing-procedures from-the"mars"-series-of-books prevent any sort of large scale understanding of what the game is about.

    Don't deprive yourself. Play the finale and enjoy this great game.    … Expand
  78. Inzomniac9
    Mar 13, 2012
    1
    When I look back at the mass effect trilogy, I really can't see it in a positive light anymore after the terrible ending. This is not about the actual details of the story, for that is Bioware's vision and they can do what they want with their own story. The real reason that this ending is so horrible, enough to ruin this game for me, is broken up into two main reasons. Without spoilers:

    First, the ending does not provide any real closure. In my opinion, as the conclusion to a trilogy that many played 100+ hours of between the three games, ME3 really should at least provide an actual conclusion no matter how the story goes. Even just an epilogue of just text (Which would be really simple to do and something Bioware has done in many previous games) would be sufficient, but the fact that I left this "conclusion to the trilogy" with more question than I started with was really disappointing.
    (1 ending really))
    Finally, and most importantly, the main reason for the ending really ruining the series for me is that none of the choices from previous games matter. Mass effect has always been about having the player create their own story through a multitude of decisions and choices that are given to the player over the course of 100+ hours. This was a main strength of the series, and really drew many people to it. On top of that, the wonderful relationships the player makes with the many amazing(personality-filled) characters of the series just adds to the lasting appeal of Mass Effect. However, all of this is essentially thrown away with the ending, for none of those relationships and choices really mattered at all, which is BS and very disappointing. On top of this, there is essentially one ending, with the only differences really being superficial changes that mean very little. Overall, Mass effect 3 was the most disappointing game I have ever played because the story is basically ruined at,sadly, the very end. I am not denying the amazing moments this game has (I even felt like crying at one great scene) but the ending makes it not really matter(hence the low rating. With the story ruined it is hard to look back on ME3 with a positive light, for, lets be honest, the story is Mass effect's main appeal.    … Expand
  79. Distruttore
    Mar 14, 2012
    0
    I'm not saying the ending should be changed, nor should there be a DLC... this game is dead and done with. I hope it rots in hell with an ending like that.
  80. IAmSovereign
    Mar 21, 2012
    0
  81. zazen27
    Mar 15, 2012
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. **(Possible Spoilers)**

    So like many other here on Metacritic, I am a huge fan of this series from the get-go. I found this game to very engrossing and live up to the exceptions we've come to expect in a Mass Effect game. I really did enjoy the over-arching narrative that gives conclusion to many of the characters in the game. I was also pleased with the level system and the weapons upgrade and customization system. They both feel balanced, but flexible at the same time giving the player plenty of room to try out new powers and weapons without a lot of hassle. The graphics are clean and crisp although there is some rendering problems from time to time, but it's so short it's barely noticeable. I was please overall with the game, the story, and the class system, but I should touch on the subject that has polarized every ME fan: the Ending.

    No spoilers here, but I just want to put on record that I think the execution of the ending is what was a major let down for me, and not the actual ending itself. If you had done the game through 100% you get some interesting extras at the end credits. The ending of this series feels like the end of "2001: A Space Odyssey" both the film and the book. There is this interesting technological philosophical idea that Bioware is attempting to play with at the end that they have been trying to get at for the past few games. Bioware is trying this idea out in an interesting form, but the execution falls flat for me, but this is a little glimpse of hope out there for Shepard's end that may come in the form of more DLC. Aside from the ending of the game, I couldn't have asked for anything more out of this game. Given all of the hype and build-up for the last 2 years this game wasn't going to live up to everyone's exceptions and this wasn't going to be a perfect game by any means. I enjoyed my play-through of the game and it makes me pine to go back and relive all of Shepard's adventures again from the start. For those that have decided to abandon the series entirely just for the last 15 minutes of a 100+ hour series is completely ludicrous.The simple fact that the game ends on a much different note that it has created so much talk is something I find inspiring and exhilarating. I was more interesting in the story or the process than the end. I'll remember my Shepard through all narratives and friendships build up and lost. I get great joy knowing that my Shepard said "I love you" to Liara. i take comfort in knowing that Wrex is leader of the Krogans and is having a child. I also am delightfully surprised to see Tali and Garrus and EDI and Joker together. I am happy with MY STORY of Shepard. We were so focused on the destination, we completely forgot about the journey we had taken to get there. I am happy with the Mass Effect series ending, while the final credits rolled in the late hours of the night. The journey felt complete...that is until so DLC comes out and I start all over again.    … Expand
  82. WaneY
    Mar 15, 2012
    10
    Firstly I am really annoyed that an 'essential Priority Mission' has been charged extra and packaged as a Day 1 DLC. If it was cheap then it would have been acceptable, but it is way over priced for what is something that improves the (back)story. Squad mate AI seems worse then in ME2 and makes the game harder then it could have been.

    There are a few other small issues such as the odd bug    , game crash and game stalling upon Exiting.

    But such is the quality of the game, I still give ME3 10 out of 10. Totally refined and a joy to play    … Expand
  83. charlie45690
    Mar 16, 2012
    10
    What a fantastic game just finished it enjoyed all of it. Now playing multilayer which is just as good. The game is definitely worth buying it has a good solid story and strong game play, as far as the ending goes for me I didn't mind it at all it was definitely unexpected. Anyway a message to all the haters and trollers who rate this game 0,1 out of 10 get a life. You dont know how to write a review. Pathetic minority of people.
    Fantastic game :)    … Expand
  84. Baknik
    Mar 19, 2012
    9
    This game wrapped up many of the plot lines from ME1 and ME2 very well. The only reason I'm not giving this game a 10 is because of the graphical bugs scattered throughout the game (none of them game-breaking). I'd like players to realize that the ending to the mass effect series is not the last 10 minutes of ME3, but instead the ENTIRETY of ME3. I would highly recommend this for true fans of the series.… Expand
  85. paxbanana
    Mar 19, 2012
    3
    For some reason, Bioware decided to make ME3 a third-person shooter game with pretty cut-scenes. The RP element that made the Mass Effect series so unique was largely missing from the game, along with side-quests. I can't say I understand that, given there's a 'combat-only' game option. And, for pretending to be a shooter, there was actually no ending boss fight. I probably would forgive some of the dialogue shortage if the ending had actually been worth the tediousness of playing through the game. I was insulted by the ending that was played off as "16 wildly different endings". Bioware didn't even have the respect for their fans to make ONE different cut-scene and instead recycled the same one for every ending. If they had actually delivered, I probably would have forgiven the fact they dropped the RPG element from the game. As it stands, I can't bring myself to play through the game again. It says something when you'd rather read a book than watch a cut-scene again. In ME1 and 2, at least you could vary the dialogue. 30 hours of mediocre game play (riddled with graphics and sound issues that do not do the excellent VA cast and OST justice) is not worth $80.… Expand
  86. Dandynamite2201
    Mar 20, 2012
    0
    The game itself is a really good game, with good combat and good conversation options. Weapon choices and customization add a great variety, whereas different armour types and moves ensure the player can play exactly as they want to play. The characters are fully evolved and draw great depth, creating what could have been the best game of the year. If I could have stopped a second before the ending, it would have been 10/10. However then there is the ending. This ending respresents something complete unknown to Mass Effect, gives no closure or reasoning, has no basis for being there, and completely and utterly ruins the game. In fact it ruins Mass Effect 1 and 2 as well, as how could anybody restart the series with this kind of appalling disgraceful ending?… Expand
  87. Zagashi
    Mar 19, 2012
    1
    An amazing game, and an amazing trilogy, ruined in 10 minutes by a terrible ending, that makes all of the players actions and choices meaningless. Lets hope the last 10 minutes were all in Shepard's head, and the secret clip is him awaking back on earth to kick some ass in the new DLC ending, only $9.99!
  88. Scarlet
    Mar 20, 2012
    1
    The world of Mass Effect finally came to its end. As a commercial way to rip peoples money off. The game is only full of utter disappointment, besides a few drops of light that are far from saving the game. Good job, you tried to improve graphics that were already working, now the clips have bugs and the game is so huge it eats a lot of space from my laptop's hard drive. Combat had already got so boring I lowered the difficulty before I started multiplayer and story.

    Onto the multiplayer. Such golden promises, a lot of expectation from people and... ta-da! They "created" what's been created in numerous games before. Repetetive, dull multiplayer that's seen after you play a single round of it. It has no chat besides voice, and personally as a female gamer I'd hate to talk to strangers, knowing how it has ended up many times. And what about people that aren't really into shooters and come from the RPG side, or without a microphone? The only drive to keep playing it is unlocking new weapons and characters and the playing itself reminds me of a Disney made childrens game that at some point has a shooter mini-game. If I want to play a shooter game with no "goal" or purpose, I'd rather pick something like Left for Dead 2 or Bulletstorm, or hell even Call of Duty: MW. With real kick-ass weapons.

    What the ****, Bioware? I can't romance James Vega? I went to Mass Effect Wiki because I was curious about the romances. For my utter defeat, I found I cannot romance the (in my personal opinion) hottest character in the ME universe so far. I even signed a petition, a petition, to get a DLC for a possible romance. Which would also be the only DLC I'd ever consider buying for the game. Note, consider. I do not dig aliens. I do not dig whimps. Even though, I have to give it to Kaidan, he's manned up. Did I already mention I do not dig aliens? I wish I hadn't picked any romance in the game, but how was I supposed to know it'd just be 1 man, 1 alien and lesbians in the end. In my opinion the lesbians are there to sell the game more anyway. Personally I really don't like it that my assistant in both previous games has been after my character's bum.

    Besides that, I never finished the game. I played it for a good couple of hours and decided I'm not putting up with having to play multiplayer that murders my brain for a better ending. The story felt like an on-going drag that I just wanted to stop looking at even with my short play time. Much things didn't make any sense. And I was also disappointed I seriously cannot romance Mr.Vega.
    There's been a lot of complaints that the ending is very bad. I probably won't make it there, seeing that it was difficult to motivate myself to finish ME2 either. I shall be glad.

    I can very shortly analyze the reasons I would push myself to play it. 1) I could live in hope to beat Illusive Man, 2) Wrex is splendid, 3) James Vega.

    No expectations, no disappointment. I wasn't expecting the game unlike many people I know, which most likely makes me a lot less disappointed in Bioware and the stupid game. I was more disappointed in Dragon Age 2, which was a joke.    … Expand
  89. XnoX
    Mar 20, 2012
    6
    Even more dumbed down and railroaded than ME2, complete with stripped content.

    Sorry, Shepard, but the real ending is in another citadel.

    Oh, and buy moar DLC!
  90. dmjrnbsn
    Mar 20, 2012
    0
    One of the most profoundly disappointing endings to any story in any medium. The writers removed the cornerstone in which the entire story was built upon - choice and consequence. So, the entire building comes crashing down at the end. In the end, none of the choices your character makes throughout three games matter. All the relationships you've built are meaningless. There is no closure in the relationships made, whether between LIs or squad mates. They never come to fruition, and there is no resolution. ME3 was advertised to have a multitude of outcomes based upon players' choices. That's what originally made the Mass Effect franchise such a great success. The finale should have raised the player to great heights or taken the player to despair... and everywhere between based upon the consequences of the player's decisions throughout the entirety of the series(Paragon, Renegade, or somewhere in between). BioWare should have finished their remarkable work on the strengths that it was built on. Choice and consequence. It seemed like a given, but...

    You leave the game feeling complete and utter disappointment. It is truly remarkable how an ending can be so profoundly and remarkably bad. It truly destroys the franchise entirely. This is not an easy thing to say, as I've loved the series from the start. There is no replay value at all.

    BioWare has ruined years of work in the last ten minutes on what should have been one of the greatest RPGs of all time. It will be a study in the future on how not to end a story franchise.    … Expand
  91. Raupao
    Mar 21, 2012
    0
    This game is great, except the Day 1 DLC AND THE LAST 20 MINUTES!
    Dumbed down EVERYTHING too, less dialogue options, less squad members, less type of missions, less interaction with characters, almost no answers, FILLED WITH PLOT HOLES. Don't buy this game, do ANYTHING but buy this game. Really, we have to let EA know we wont pup up with incomplete ridiculous endings and DAY 1 DLC.
    They li    ed about everything, this game is a fail, on EVERY SINGLE LEVEL.… Expand
  92. me3endingsucks
    Mar 23, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Well I just completed Mass Effect 3. Like 10 minutes ago. Needless to say I am severely disappointed with the ending, because the mass effect games are one of my favorite games ever(along with hl, sonic 2 and silver(1999)). The end itself is totally inconsistent with the rest of the game, it's like if Frodo at the end of LOTR decided to give the ring to Snape (yes Snape from Harry Potter **** you that's why), and then the whole world turns to lava and everyone dies except Boromir and he mates with himself and creates a race of boromirs on Uranus. Also all the choices I made in the game didn't matter whatsoever. It was just brutal to see the awesome universe of mass effect end this way... I expected more. And I bought the collectors edition with the dlc and all that crap, makes me want to puke.… Expand
  93. Lew
    Mar 25, 2012
    4
    The introduction to the game was poorly done and pointless. The first act was somewhat fun but eventually I was just grind thru missions to accumulate items that in the end where meaningless. The next act was more of the same. And finally the end was a huge disappointment nothing in the rest of the series or in the game really impact how it ends.

    The game play was OK but I did not en    joy the addition of hand to hand combat. Also, I missed the heavy weapons of ME2.

    The character development was also pointless. I never felt like anything I gave my character was really important.

    So mostly the game was unfun and pointless. A terrible way to end 2 previously good games.    … Expand
  94. Lspeyer
    Mar 29, 2012
    0
    I have been a fan of the series for half a decade, and I was really looking forward to the third installment of Mass Effect 3. As a result the game managed to disappoint me beyond what I thought was possible. Bioware has created something so awful that retroactively makes the whole series pointless, and I doubt I will ever bother with this series again. Add in the lack of PC customization options and PC controller support, together with day 1 DLC, which clearly was an important part of the game to begin with, and you have one of the worst sequels in RPG history.… Expand
  95. craig8304
    Apr 6, 2012
    0
    Overall interesting and engaging in concept and some content. The black box idea of decisions having consequences was what hooked me. Who were the writers trying to copy, Arthur C Clark? Ursula K LeGuin? My fault for trusting that I was in the hands of capable writers. I find no basis for developers to claim artistic integrity. The current ending has an incongruousness that belies the so called pursuit of artistic integrity. It is lazy. it is cobbled. it is Bad Art.… Expand
  96. mackswift
    Apr 7, 2012
    4
    This is probably one of the few times I've written my review of a game, and those other few times were games like the original Deus Ex and Red Alert 1 & 2. But this.....this....ending, even a week after finished the game; nay the trilogy, and I've still got a bad taste in my mouth.
    Here I was on Earth with my squad and we just handed another Reaper its ass. And we're hightailing it to that     transporter up to the Citadel. No clue what was going to be up there. And then one big laser blast from Harbinger......and it was the series finale to the Sopranos all over again.
    The first game was a great sci-fi RPG that introduced us to the universe and laid out the plot, problem, and all the tantalizing little bits and hints of what was to come. Mass Effect 2 was phenominal. I was so drawn into the story, I literally played all weekend until I finished.
    I was stoked for the third game, and while playing it; I was having a blast. I jumped into the multiplayer and had some fun there too. Remember the Reaper on Rinoch and all the choices you made right after that. My choice seriously **** things up and I ended up taking a mulligan! I never took a mulligan like that before; so understandably I was even further stoked as to what the end of the game was gonna entail.
    Yeah, um, Bill Lumburg style, um, yeeeahhh, that ending......
    It sucked. What happened to my squadmates? To Garrus? Tali? Liara? What a letdown. Not to mention that I read what was intended to be the ending that Drew Karpyshyn had drawn up for the series; that the use of the 'Mass Effect' fields was creating a large buildup of dark energy that was going to destroy the galaxy. And the Reapers were creatures that absorbed technologically advanced races and used their genetics in the hopes of finding an answer to stop the dark energy buildup.
    Now that would have been a cool frakking ending!!!!!!

    Not that Sopranos style series finale mess we were left with.    … Expand
  97. Krown90
    Apr 13, 2012
    0
    total **** I hope EA goes bankrupt. Always **** titles.. They are the cancer of the gaming world. STOP!!! Close yours fk*ng offices EA, just do damage and ****
  98. petarded2
    Apr 16, 2012
    4
    The Mass Effect series started out with Mass Effect 1 as an interactive science fiction epic, reached middle age with Mass Effect 2 as a solid action game with dialogue options, and with Mass Effect 3, develops Alzheimer's disease and becomes Gears of War + occasional purposeless choice.

    I loved this series; the first game's universe and narrative blew me away, and I had a soft spot for     Mass Effect 2, even with it's lack of main plot, developed antagonist, or any real sense of purpose. At least Mass Effect 2 was distinguishable from its predecessor. At least Mass Effect 2 introduced and developed a cast of interesting characters. At least Mass Effect 2 didn't *completely* forget the aspects of exploration from Mass Effect 1. I cannot say this much for Mass Effect 3.

    The majority of "player" dialogue in Mass Effect 3 is automatic, and the dialogue wheel *never* has more than 2 options on it, maybe the occasional "inquisitive" option for the rare gamer who wants more than chest-high cover and a big gun. Maybe this would be admissible if the choices had any considerable difference, but typically both options just say the same things in different ways.

    The Citadel in ME3 is much improved over any city in ME2. This struck me as peculiar until I realized that it was literally the *only place* in the entire game where Shepard isn't constantly shooting things (other than the Normandy, of course). It's the only place with stores. The only place that gives nonessential quests, the last remnant of RPG in this series packed into one location.

    The nonessential quests are just insulting. I refuse to dignify them with the title "Side Mission." They are 3 lines of dialogue: (1) "Gee, I wish I had item X," (2) "Here you go," (3) "Thanks." I'm not even exaggerating. Literally 3 lines, every time. You don't even enter into a conversation.

    One impressive feat is that this game manages to find time for all of the immense Mass Effect 2 cast of characters, but these encounters are brief and generally don't provide much closure for the characters (with the notable exceptions of Thane, Mordin, and Legion).

    The combat is an improvement over ME2, that is to say, "it's slightly more like Gears of War." It feels a bit like clunky and you can roll around to your heart's desire. However, it has somehow found a way to be even *more* segregated from the story. You could replace all the combat situations with black screens saying: AND THEN SHEPARD SHOT THE THINGS, and the story would make complete sense. No decisions are made outside of the designated decision-making areas.

    This isn't even touching on the cliched story. After countless generic often-forced self-sacrifice scenes, generic space marine characters, and innumerable poor attempts at adding emotion, the game tries to save itself in the last 15 minutes with a forced twist ending. It'd take over 5000 characters to explain just how many different ways this ending is awful.

    Overall: Lazy game, what little that distinguishes from predecessor is negative, if you liked the previous installments just replay them. Had potential, but extremely poor execution.    … Expand
  99. VitaminK
    Apr 23, 2012
    5
    Was definitely a let-down but I dont think it deserves the 1-2 that a lot of people are giving it. I do think it lacked a lot of what was promised though and what made the previous games so solid.
  100. kinraze
    May 4, 2012
    2
    It's BAIT and SWITCH at its lowest, a fun game at its highest. Unfortunately the more invested you are into the story and the universe, the worse off you are for it. If its your first Mass Effect game, you don't read the codex, you don't really care about anything other than how it plays and if its fun, your in for a treat. If you got all the merchandise, books, dlc, and get thoroughly into a game for its world, you may find the ending very off-putting. Its not as bad as MetalGear switching out the main character a quarter of the way, but its 3 quarters of rad-ness followed by an 8th of ferocity, and an 8th of WTF?!!!!!! The gameplay is the same as ME2 but polished, duck-cover shooter but weapons are now far more powerful to the point that you don't require combinations within your team to pass levels (again, power you probably don't have if you haven't xferred experience over from previous games, so more fun if you haven't played before). Spawning mobs comes from dark walled patches like every other game. Side games like hacking consoles, and scouring each planet for resources are gone. Choices don't even offer alternate combat paths like cookie-cutter FPS's do in their single player mode. As a full priced expansion, this would be an 8 in my mind, but as a solid sequel, this game falls far from expanding on its engine and system other than technical mechanics that i'm sure developers and critics are hailing it for. If i were rating a movie where i got to shoot stuff every now and choose which rad decisions the hero made, then the medium itself would warrant a 10. But as a video game this is a 3. Let's save polished remakes for programming school shall we?… Expand
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Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
89 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. CPUGamer
    Apr 11, 2012
    90
    BioWare captures the scale of the conflict well, but always focuses on the people involved in it. It's pretty amazing just how badly EA disregarded the heart of the game – the characters and the world – when they began their marking blitzkrieg, but don't worry, it's oh so definitely there – Day 1 DLC, controversial endings, and questionable use of resources be damned. This is a fine, lovingly crafted game with a clear vision despite the realities of corporations and damning business practices.
    Read full review
  2. PC PowerPlay
    Apr 5, 2012
    80
    A game that's more shooter than role-playing, and a conclusion that's more spectacular than dramatic. [Apr 2012, p.47]
    Read full review
  3. Absolute Games
    Mar 31, 2012
    85
    Finishing a trilogy is always difficult. Tying off dozens of story threads which had been woven by players into many different tapestries is a daunting task. Mass Effect 3 is the first game that succeeded at this colossal undertaking.
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