Mass Effect 3 PC
User Score
4.8 out of 10

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 4422 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,847 out of 4422
  2. Mixed: 379 out of 4422
  3. Negative: 2,196 out of 4422

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  1. Anonbro
    Mar 11, 2012
    0
    Fan from the first hour, this episode might be my deepest disappointment in my game history. Mass effect took foot in this rare category of the space opera, and today it commits a shameless suicide in the **** Call Of game butt hole. Why would the developers destroy this unique franchise by turning it in a total void of personality... 25 missions based on the following rule : "meet an old buddy from previous episodes, help him, watch him die/disapear somewhere". Why waste time on the multi-player side when 99.9% of this game reside in the solo side ?
    Why every game editor enforce the "multi-platform" downgrade rule with the **** texture ever on PC ?
    Didn't Bioware studios learned from DAO 2 ? It's the exact same scenario... Turn a brilliant unique game into a tasteless piece of **** for console kids.

    **** you Bioware for ruining what could have been the best game trilogy ever.
    I seriously hope you'll announce a Mass effect 4 just to show us that your stupidity knows no boundary.    … Expand
  2. Supmotto
    Mar 12, 2012
    2
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  3. 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!
  4. iamthespark
    Mar 12, 2012
    9
    Mass Effect 3 had me laughing, crying and truly entertained for 35 hours. It deserves recognition for pulling all those emotions out of a player, and to do it so consistently. The action and continuing romance of the series blew my mind. The developers listened to its fans when improving these two aspects of the game. My Love Interest (Liara) was so well written, and the time that her and Shepard did have together was meaningful. Playing this trilogy has been an honour and I hope Bioware continues creating titles that span numerous games like they did with Shep because after a span of 3 games, I felt like I really knew those NPCs and I was emotionally invested.

    Bioware also has a special place in my heart for creating same-sex characters and they will always have my respect for making that happen with a high-quality story.

    Day 1 DLC? I don't care. Bioware makes the kind of games that I want to play, and if they create more content, I will gladly pay for that content.    … Expand
  5. sandrom
    Mar 12, 2012
    0
    i am sorry, but this was very disappointing. i am not one of those guys bashing bioware alltogether, cause actually da2 was in a lot of regards superior to da1 in my opinion and i loved it for what it was (not the typical rpg). me3 was quite different. the series was never the best ever, but very good executed and satisfying in the other parts also knowing that there will be a finale in part 3. now this finale really was one of the worst i ever encountered and this is really a shame. it made me instantly close the game and look for alternate endings just to find out that they are not better at all, all "4" of them. i have to say, the game was nice up until the end and it had so much potential for multiple endings, for closure, for so much. dont get me wrong, from a technical point of view those endings make sense, but we are not machines and as such deserve something more personal and emotional. just putting sad music over the ending doesnt make it nice. i dont mind if everything blows up in all of them, but please give a little closure to what happened to the friends, not to the future - leave it open at will, but there is no closure at all. it feels like money went out and someone did not care about the ones playing it and for what its worth, i will seriously consider not buying bioware games anymore when this is how players are treated. its a shame. a lot of games dont have the potential but can go for nice endings. this one had so much - but epic failure would still be nice to say. :(… Expand
  6. Holo_Benkai
    Mar 13, 2012
    1
    False advertising, lies and an ending that ruined the entire franchise. Nice work! I only gave it a 1 as the game up to the ending was fun - for a 3rd person shooter. If I had never played ME before and chose "action" mode over RPG and did not give care about the characters, I would have scored it an 8+ but as it stands, it's a travesty and a slap in the face.
  7. 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
  8. GrandMasterJR
    Mar 15, 2012
    10
    Amazing game. Don't listen to the poor reviews, the reason people are responding so critically is because this was a fantastic game, that had a deep emotional impact on them. The mass effect series has created a world that really made me care about what my character did.
  9. Lycanthrope
    Mar 15, 2012
    6
    I have never been so disappointed in a game as I have been in Mass Effect 3. The story, for the most part, is well-constructed and engaging--essentially the kind of stuff you'd expect from BioWare.

    But the ending? It's the epitome of a deus ex machina plot mechanic. It is random, incomplete, invalidates your choices throughout the entire series by throwing three incoherent and indetermina    te "choices" at you and then nothing.

    Everything you've done, everything you've looked forward to turned completely meaningless. The questions that need to be asked: Was this deliberately done by BioWare with the intention of selling post-launch "proper ending" DLC to us? In which case, it is a sorely underhanded sales tactic. Was this unintentional and the result of rushing to complete a game that they slapped an ending to it and hoped nobody would notice? In which case, shoddy development shows the true state of what BioWare has become.

    Either way, the disappointment remains. The damage is done and for me, someone who used to laud the ground BioWare walked on, I will always be cautious of any and every BioWare game from now on. Clearly underhanded sales tactics is the norm these days.    … Expand
  10. TheArchitect
    Mar 15, 2012
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. While I raged against Bioware for ruining Dragon Age series with Dragon Age 2,and feared they might do the same with Mass Effect I was positively surprised with Mass Effect 3,while not perfect it is pretty good combining elements of Mass Effect 1 and 2 in one game,personally I dont mind the endings,though I would like more explanation and closure,something that they should fix with a DLC.I do understand that most players expected a fairy tale ending "and they all lived happily ever after" but I was positively surprised by the generally grim endings.Fairy tale endings are rather unrealistic,especially in consideration that galaxy is fighting against vastly superior enemy.Still the endings need more closure and explanations,current endings leave a lot of things open to interpretation though it is possible they wanted to make them like that.

    Pros

    -Smoother and more dynamic combat though I dont like the too fast power cooldown time (enables constant spamming of powers meaning that on lower difficulties you can win most battles relying on powers alone)
    -Decisions from Mass Effect 1 and 2 have a significant impact on the experience of Mass Effect 3
    -Lots of cutscenes that add to immersiveness and cinematic feeling
    -Feels more realistic and darker than 1 and 2
    -Interesting missions and twists (for example EDI becoming available as a squadmate)
    -Beautiful visuals and great performance
    -Haunting music

    Cons

    -Endings need more closure and explanation
    -EMS has little effect except for getting a third ending which is synthesis (they should make it similar to Mass Effect 2,low EMS means dead squadmates and other allies)
    -Not enough squadmates (Mass Effect 2 spoiled me with the number of squadmates)

    Hopefully they will bring in some great DLCs that will fix loose ends,add more to the story and give closure to endings.Still it is pretty good game and I was positively surprised.Low scores on Mass Effect 3 present here reflect the hate for the endings,prior to endings I am sure most of the haters really liked the game.    … Expand
  11. Conranos
    Mar 16, 2012
    10
    Do not be fooled by any of the negative comments. These people do not know of which they speak. The Mass Effect story is purely amazing. I went and get copy's of all 3 no DLC just the games. I played through all three back to back. This is THE of the most complex and powerful story I have evens seen. It can be seen though the eyes of anyone. Each person will come up with a different meaning. This game has more than earned a 10. This is the pinnacle of all story driven games. I recommend that you get the entire series. Play them back to back, skip the DLC, and really focus on the story. I personally wish to thank Bio Ware for this amazing game. It has been to long since I have had to contemplate the ending to any story.… Expand
  12. cenkkitapci
    Mar 19, 2012
    0
    Bioware keeps ruining it's name again doing demands of EA . Another huge disappointment sequel to a wonderfull RPG . First KOTOR then DAO and at last ME . This is last time buying a bioware game before reading user's critics .
    ME is not a RPG it is just a FPS including a cheap tv movie story or reverse . Choices (including your choices from ME1 and ME2 ) do not effect anything major in t    he game . They told about 14 different endings but all looked same to me , just colour difference ::)) .… Expand
  13. Alex_Whatever
    Mar 19, 2012
    2
    There is some merit to what Mass Effect 3 tries to do, but it ultimately fails at the hands of some over-zealous writer who ignores everything that happened during the previous 100 hrs. and shoehorns a new character into the ending that brings in a lot more questions and answers none. There is no pay off to this story, no culmination to your personal decisions, no outcome that make sense, and you ultimately wonder if everything you did actually mattered then. The answer is that in the end, no, it doesn't matter.… Expand
  14. Yandaton
    Mar 20, 2012
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Being a huge Mass Effect fan, I can safely say I am disappointed at the "final" of the trilogy. The first game was practically a new genre, a new step in video games that gave a sense of awe, the second game followed this and near matched the sense of awe and continued the genre breaking gameplay but the third game almost takes a step back from the action-roleplay and becomes more 'Gears of War' by focusing on combat, with pretty much all new mechanics revolving around improving the combat system. A step backwards with an action-roleplaying game, the previous games were fantastic and this game broke the trend. The awe inspiring is still here in this game however, when the Victory fleet flew through the mass relay and the final space battle began I was in awe there is no doubt about it, when I talk to all the characters I have bonded with over the previous games, it brought tears to my eyes, it was almost poetic but then my emotions turn to confusion and anger at the finally of the game. We were promised vastly different endings, there would be no A, B, C options and that your choices mattered but in the end, you get 3 options to end the game with no matter of the choices you have made in the previous games, no matter how high your War Assets were (which was a silly mechanic). It really comes down to what is your favourite colour? Blue, Green or Red which is what the 3 endings are, the same ending in different colours, so in reality there is only 1 ending that has filters put over it and tweaked. Even at the end of this sillyness, there is no closure to all those relationships you have developed, you never know if Garrus retired some place tropical or if Tali built her house on Rannoch or if Liara had little blue children. I don't mind Shepard dying, a bittersweet ending can be good if executed properly, this was not executed properly and it fails for it. As we had learned before, the destruction of a mass relay causes a supernova like explosion and destroys a whole system so you have just destroyed practically all life in the galaxy which is worse than the reapers. Even putting that aside, the destruction of the mass relays means everyone is stranded where they where, including the Victory fleet which will now starve to death. Joker fleeing the battle for no reason, it just doesn't make sense.

    Now apart from the endings, there is a lot of other discouraging things to be mentioned. A day 1 DLC that "was developed by a different team after the main game was finished" yet if you change 1 line of code on the game files, you can get the Prothean on your game without the DLC. A DLC that costs $10.00 for the most interesting character and one of the best guns in the game. The reveal of Tali's face, being a slightly edited stockphoto from google images. Reputation having no physical effect on the game apart from the terminator look, going so far of having to do renegade actions to save your own life? Wat. Even if Bioware was to release a new DLC for a different ending which I highly doubt, why do they need to release a new ending, it should have been on the disk, it should not have sucked so badly that it has distressed the whole of the mass effect community and destroyed the metacritic score for it. I'll be even more amazed if they make you pay for it. I however don't see why people are complaining there is multiplayer, it is a great thing to play with your friends every now and then and it adds more value to your money however integrating multiplayer into singleplayer and forcing you to play it so you can get the 'best' ending in the singleplayer is just pathetic and whoever organized that should lose their job.

    So yeah, the journey was still interesting and thrilling at times but the destination and cheap cashing in's just ruined everything that we had been working up to.    … Expand
  15. ryan_howard
    Mar 21, 2012
    10
    Bioware has once again provided a excelent game with mass effect 3. From the amazing storyline, to the perfected shooter experience, the new customizable weapons, and the multiplayer that to be honest i was a little worried about they have came through once again and provided a great game that I would recommend to anyone.
  16. Armis
    Mar 21, 2012
    0
    Just echoing what I'm sure many others have said. The game itself is OK. It's not nearly the 10 that bought off critics seem to be giving it. It's simply a mediocre shooter with above average dialogue. But. The ending. Not only is it amazingly bad, but in order to make it even slightly less **** you'd have to grind at the horde-mode multi-player. In a single-player game. Boycotting Bioware from now on.… Expand
  17. andraip
    Mar 23, 2012
    10
    It's a good game, the endings suck but I don't understand how people can give a game a 0 if they love it but just hate one thing... sad.

    And it did many things better then ME and ME2
  18. ProNada
    Mar 24, 2012
    10
    THE BEST OF THE SERIES! I'm 90% completed with the game, and didn't want to play through the ending before writing my review. Reason being, I don't want to change the overall game score (which is damn near perfect) based on what happens with the end of the story line. Basically... this game balances the best of the first two and adds a ton of choices on top to change the way the game plays out. Each decision weighs heavily on the outcome... not merely for kicks, it actually affects your ability to fight the reapers! I am playing through as an Adept and have played the same class since ME1... the new abilities are tweaked perfectly and with armor customization, I'm able to achieve the exact build type I wanted (pure Biotic). The game makes it easy to jump in with no backstory at all, if someone wanted to start playing the series in this last adventure, however it's recommended that you at least play through ME2 so you have an understanding as to what major events pre-curse the scene you're entering. I do have a Gripe though.. the cover system isn't perfect by any stretch. I've gotten caught between covering between two objects involunteerily... just trying to come out of cover on one and jumping right behind the next. The aiming is tightened, the battles themselves are very exciting, and many times it forces you to be strategic on your placement of the squad to avoid flanking. It's impossible to play this game and not have fun in the combat. Of course the story line is amazing... the characters and dialogue continue to be the heart of this game, whether it be Joker falling for EDI (the artificial intelligence that takes on a hot robot form), or Anderson talking about how hard the reapers are hitting Earth... it all blends together so well and becomes immersive! Amazing game. Don't hesitate buying it based on these user reviews complaining about the ending... BAH, you'll miss out on an amazing experience. Two thumbs up!… Expand
  19. Ristul
    Mar 25, 2012
    0
    Bioware is not the company it once were, Mass Effect 3 is less of everything compared to the previous games. Thanks for nothing Bioware, now go make another crappy Dragon Age sequel.
  20. Aepervius
    Mar 26, 2012
    7
    Mass effect is a great ending to the trilogy , albeit with a sever flaw. The graphic are great , but there is no way to change the setting, and console limitation are forcing some design decision. For one you can't change FoV, you can't change graphic setting much, and you are forced to watch the back of a shepard taking 1/5 of the screen the whole time (Typical console trick to avoid calculating world geometry in a part of the screen). Often I found myself unconsciously using the mouse wheel to zoom out or in to go into FP , and sadly this is not possible. Graphic option include anti aliasing, screen resolution, brightness, and shadow, that's it. Still the graphic are great, only it is a bit sad to be saddled with console limitation. Sound wise , It is relatively good. Music is good. Sound effect sound stock or did not leave me with a strong impression. Dialogs OTOH are good sounding, and the sound of the reaper still leaves me a chill in the back. Plot : I found the story fitting. The ending was OKish. On its own I found it OK, what I was sorely missing was to know what happens to the various folk/species taking part into the battle. I won't spoil it for you for the content of the ending, but I had been hoping for a little bit more, like the diagshow at the end of fallout saying you what happens afterward. It does not happen. Nonetheless the ending were satisfying enough for me, just lacking a tad bit. Big big big bad things : the screen at the end telling you to wait for DLC. They could have sparred that, or made it more discreet, as if the main menu "downloadable content checking" was not enough. That blue screen with DLC at the end was .... Over the top. Multiplayer is OK, consist in you and 4 trying to fight off waves, with XP reward and a store to buy items. but is problematic due to 2 things : they tied part of the game (effective military rating force) to the multiplayer. Now some people are playing it so finding coop player is easy. But what in 2 month ? What in 6 month ? If you find nobody you WILL be stuck at 50% rating, thus making it harder for you to get certain ending. This is definitively a BAD BAD BAD decision. Overall, I enjoyed Mass Effect 3 very much, but I think it has been clearly bracked by financial decision, and attempting to cash in, by having day 0 DLC (a clever marketing and salesman would have made it a week 1 or week 2 DLC) the shop/multiplayer influence on single player and the problem described as above, and the endings, which looks actually as if they had to make them on the quick due to financial reason. All in all, the lasting appeal of this game is IMHO lower than for ME1 and ME2 and the console influence has make it much more evident the lowering of the RPG element in favor of FPS element. I would still recommend it to anybody having played ME1 and 2 , but as a stand alone I cannot recommend it too much. Final verdict : 7. Would be a 8 if not for multiplayer undue influence on single player Military rating, and would be a 9 if only they had added , even a few still picture telling us what happens afterward as in fallout or other game did. This is after all the END of the trilogy.… Expand
  21. schweinhundert
    Mar 26, 2012
    0
    Well, I enjoyed the first two games, dunno why this one felt so cheesy and horrible right off the bat to me. Veryconsoley feeling.
    I always found the series a little cheesy, stiff, and b-movie grade, but this one, I couldn't even stomach for more than an hour.
    So there's my uninformative text to allow me to give it a lousy score of one.
    :)
  22. casellacrack
    Apr 1, 2012
    0
    Mass Effect 3 is the least successful episode in the saga: you play it because it is a bond that lasts for years, because the vulgar scifi also always has a shot (even if only in some microexperience side), because the mechanical augmentation between phases play with the characters and relationships always work, but basically is a way to appeal to the full only to those who still enjoys this kind of epic onanistic… Expand
  23. MKOBANER
    Apr 1, 2012
    2
    Im a big fan of the series and like other people i think the ending was incomplete however for me that wasnt the biggest problem. in ME and ME2 there was a connection in story and you can effectively see the actions you make changes galaxy and open up new path , sometimes you even have to sacrifice one path for other. However in ME 3 there are no connection between missons. Even worse at final misson you dont see the effects of your missions. I gathered entire galaxy to help world but no interaction with them ? That game seriously broke my faith in bioware. I think swtor was lousy too and now this. Funny thing is all the game sites say game is perfect, well it is NOT !!! i dont know how much they pay you to write this but i dont even look at game review pages anymore thanks to your inaccurate fanboy reviews. Games ending was only the part of the problem, this game has lost its soul...… Expand
  24. Octoowl42
    Apr 1, 2012
    6
    I have to say a lot of the game was great. The mix of Mass Effect 1 and 2 as far as gameplay was concerned was great, combat has never been as fun and the environments were dynamic and interesting for the most part. Team interactions were good, although a bit sparse for my liking (character interactions were what drew me to the series) However there are many major flaws. Yes the ending is pretty weak for a lot a of reasons. A lack of catharsis with your teammates, it's too open ended with far too few questions answered. Another problem with it that irks me, but doesn't seem to have come up in other reviews is how little the choices I made in the game seemed to effect the ending. I worked my butt off scraping together every little resource I could find and every ally and army I could muster and for the most part it seemed to have no impact on the end fight at all. There was a 5 second extra cutscene of two of the armadas I put together but that was it? Why did I bother? Why did I only see Turrians, Humans and Krogans and Assari at the end? Why did I have a lame human strike force when I worked so hard at making allies with various alien races? The Journey was great but the end seemed... well pointless. The series offered so many choices I feel like bioware thought they couldn't wrap everything up... so they didn't… Expand
  25. antoinedumont50
    Apr 2, 2012
    8
    When the time for change has come, one must welcome it. Mass Effect 3 is in no way a bad game. This game is shot down in flames either by people who dismiss the day 1 DLC or homophobes. Mass Effect was the best of the three, but ME3 is a huge improvement on ME2. I played it on a high-end PC and it looks gorgeous. No glitches, no slowing down. I agree that Dragon Age 2 was a real failure, but it is not the case here. Alright, it is more action-oriented than ME1, kind of in the vein of ME2. But it is definitely not a bad thing. The plot could have been much better, but I think that it fits the series well. Now, there's also the question of the endings. At first, I must say that I was really disappointed. But in the end, it was a very good lesson of life. Sometimes, you must make a choice even though you don't have many options. Life is hard and death is a part of it. The users have taken it too far here. Come on, the user score is almost as bad as Postal 3! Users also complain about the addition of a multiplayer feature. Let me tell you something : it's just amazing. And challenging too. There are a few glitches/bugs that haven't been fixed yet (the flying vanguard bug for instance), but all in all it is nice.… Expand
  26. Tweete
    Apr 5, 2012
    3
    Mass Effect was a great game. Mass Effect 2 was very simple but still a good game. Mass Effect 3 is just not very good. It seems like Bioware is on a crusade to address every social issue known to man and squeeze it into a 40 hour game. I play to have a good time and get away from real world crap. I wont comment on the terrible ending as thats been covered.
  27. 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
  28. survivor_686
    Apr 12, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Warning Spoilers ahead:

    I must admit I eagerly awaited Mass Effect 3. I was eager to see how all my decision from the previous game carried across. Needless to say I left Mass Effect 3 with some very mixed feelings. However one thing I can say is that 95% of the game is amazing. The story is tight, the characters feel alive, the environment has come to life and the weapons feel unique and powerful. That is to say however until the last 15 minutes of the game.

    At the ending the player is treated to what happens to be a complete mistake. The ending breaks all the rules of narrative coherence, contradicts several plot points, introduces alien concepts and characters and creates several plot holes. Regardless of how you played your Shepard, all are treated to the same lackluster, half-baked, ending. Were this any other company it would be understandable. This being Bioware; an entity that has prided on its writing skills, this is shocking. Its as if someone decided to add random, metaphysical concepts in order to generate pointless speculation. This is NOT how one ends a story. Perhaps the best simile for Mass Effect 3 is that of a five star, three course meal. The appetizers whetted your palate, the main courses were splendid and then it was time for dessert. Unfortunately it would seem that someone dropped the dessert, scraped it back up and then threw some crap on top of it. Sure you'll remember the other four amazing courses, but its the crappy dessert that will stay with you. I would consign this game to the rental or discount bin.    … Expand
  29. LewisMweiR
    Apr 15, 2012
    3
    Great game until you reach the anti-climax deus ex machina lost ending,the mass effect franchise is one of the best of the game industry and is sad that the trilogy end is such a disappointing way
  30. Smiley15
    Apr 15, 2012
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Honestly in this game, everything good they add they add something terrible to even it out. The biggest improvement, by far, is the gameplay. They added tons of new weapons, rolling in cover, and to make Trench-Warfare a bit easier, quick-killing(grabbing). The singleplayer isn't as monotonous, in Mass Effect 2 it was recruiting and helping squad mates with the occasional mission against the collectors. However, the squadmates are a let down. Javik and James are the only new ones that haven't been seen before(forgive me if I'm wrong). Garrus, Tali,Liara, and Javik are the only alien squad mates, and there's no Drell or Salarian squad mates, much to my dismay. The graphics and animations are pretty much the same, if not slightly better. You can still upload from Mass Effect 2, so you aren't starting from scratch. For the ending, I am quite furious about it. Anderson is a fixed death (alongside other Mass Effect 2 squadmates like Legion and Thane) and apparently the indestructible Reapers are led by a ghostly kid who is also the Catalyst, a componet for the Crucible that you spend a lot of time looking for. Also, 2 randomly chosen squadmates will appear with Joker on survival island at the ending, not saying a word. However that's something that they're changing, so I will not be giving this game the 6 it deserves with it. As I mentioned before, many former squad mates are fixed deaths and die no matter what you do. However, all of the deaths, even the optional ones, are fitting. Thane dies saving a life rather than removing it. Legion dies either in defense of his species or to save them from annihilation. Mordin CAN(but doesn't have to) die curing the genophage, his biggest mistake. Samara CAN die fulfilling the code. Of course they add a heap of stupid and soulless characters, including a lesbian and a gay person. They also added Kai Leng, which I have concluded is a female after watching Thane hit him in his nonexistent balls 10 times. At least you get to slay him when it's over, I didn't hesitate for a nanosecond about the renegade interrupt. Also, they added Co-op Multiplayer which is the biggest new thing out of all the epic updates. You can FINALLY play as Salarians, Turians, Quarians, Asari, Drell, Geth, Krogan, Batarian, and even as a Asari Justicar. It's hard to implement slow motion attacks like Biotic Charge and such when others don't want random slow-mo, but they executed it very well. And a very prevalent topic is the day 1 DLC. I hated it too, but it's not a good reason for plop a 0 down as your score. The new War Assets idea was brilliant. Now you can do side quests and scanning parties for something more important than research material(removed, sadly). Anomalies and random missions were pretty much worthless in mass effect 2, except being very fun. Now they are fun and benefit you by giving a War Asset. Depending on the final decision in Mass Effect 2(destroying the Collector Base or not) you need a certain amount to keep Shepard alive and to keep Earth from utter destruction. A HUGE problem for me was the enemies. Besides having fairly stupid 1-shot kills (unavoidable once it starts), there's only THREE FACTIONS. It would be fun to have a boss on wave 11 in multiplayer, like a Geth Colossus or a Gunship, but no. In fact, in single player, the final boss is the infamous Marauder Shields, in which you have no choice but to use the limitless ammo M-3 Predator(Which I never used after I found my first Weapons Bench). At least they added gun modifications like extended barrels, and upgrading the guns to I and V and X. All in all, this game is excellent but if you're a poor starving person on the streets, prepare for the attack of the DLC.… Expand
  31. lod757
    Apr 15, 2012
    1
    i am still recovering from the shock , the entire game right upto the last ending part was amazing , and then it fails so hard , i don't think there is no excuse for ruining such a awesome game this way , on top of that , they are extending the horrible ending with a dlc nice :X what good is a game if the ending has been a joke
  32. 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
  33. AndrewE
    Apr 16, 2012
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm not just giving this a "10" to attempt to combat all the "0"s out there, I honestly think this game is a ten and it is probably the best game I've played in the last 7-8 years.

    I was genuinely astounded... as to how WONDERFUL the ending was. The controversy is ridiculous. It basically boils down to unintelligent individuals who need to have everything explained to them very slowly to be satisfied, and intelligent people who are capable of inferring their own ideas for the future of the galaxy. Shepard did his job, he sacrificed himself not only for the galaxy, but every single life that will ever come into existence in the future. That is amazing. The specifics of what happened after his death are no longer his concern.

    Please DO NOT change the ending Bioware. Don't give in to the lowest common denominator. People were expecting a Michael Bay ending and instead were introduced to Andrei Tarkovsky. It's unfortunate that people don't have a far enough reaching intellectual grasp.    … Expand
  34. ebo974
    Apr 25, 2012
    7
    Ahhhh sad... i'm sad. The 1 was great, the 2 good... And that 3 is just average... Not bad, mainly because we love the caracteres. We are attached with them. Some scenes are still great, as a nice space opera.
    But that game is far poorer than the two others. It is very contemplative game... Like a story we read, but not as a good video game should be.
    I don't complaint against the ends. I     can understand them and I accept the dev's choice.

    It's hard finishing such trilogy like that...    … Expand
  35. GhostDog24
    May 3, 2012
    1
    The game graffics just the same as the ME2 with a little update. The game easier and faster than the ME or ME2. And not to mention the awful story... just a question for BioWare: Why the f**k did you fired Drew Karpyshyn out (ME and ME2's writer) and changed him to, no name writers such as Mac Walters and Neil Pollner? I can give this game 1 point because, I'm a huge Mass Effect fan and I used to love these games. Either way, if you wanna destroy this game history, play with it, and !no complain! because a lot of people warned you.
    PS.: Do me a favour EA/BioWare/Legendary Pictures/WB: Do NOT make a movie from this game 'cause I do NOT want a piece o cr*p from it. This game and the story already bad enough (and not because someone die at the end or not if you "lucky"...)    … Expand
  36. Yourself
    May 4, 2012
    9
    Spectacularly good game, with many heart-wrenching and laugh-out-loud moments and solid action. Too bad the ending didn't hold up. You missed the 10 by a hairs breadth, ME3.
  37. SHELOB
    May 5, 2012
    10
    It's a good game, not a great ending for the series. I enjoyed the journey, the cinematic experience and the characters though. The RPG mechanics are too simple for my taste.
  38. GuardianOS
    May 15, 2012
    10
    Overall the best game in the series. The multiplayer is great, the emotion in the story is unrivalled. The only flaw is the rushed and terrible ending. I give it a ten simply because even with that, until the last ten minutes and with all the fun in multiplayer the complete package is worth it.
  39. Andulesan
    May 16, 2012
    0
    This is what happens when EA gets involved. Doesn't feel anything like the previous two games, crap story, dull cut-scenes with limited interactivity, very recursive game play. Also decisions from previous two games don't mean anything whatsoever. Avoid at all costs for any true ME Fan.
  40. benny0909
    May 21, 2012
    1
    What was the one thing that made Mass Effect unique. It wasn't explosions, or multiplayer. It was the dialogue wheel. It is so streamlined in ME3 that the story more or less goes on regardless of what decisions you make. Your decisions over the past 2 installments meant nothing. The earth mission was very underwhelming as you don't see any of the assets you have been working for in action. The last 10 minutes ruined the entire series. The starchild needs to be removed entirely or the extended cut will not satisfy the fans. Why is he the antagonist when harbinger has been interacting with shepard all throughout ME2? Just makes no sense...Ending needs to be completely redone, ruined everything....… Expand
  41. Rastrelly
    May 31, 2012
    0
    Disappointing and internal law breaking product, that lowers the plank raised by previous games. Uninteresting and not original waste of time and money.
  42. Xehlwan
    Jun 1, 2012
    1
    On the surface, Mass Effect 3 is a worthy sequel to a great trilogy. It has amazing cinematic scenes, while still letting you control the action. It brought back a good amount of customization and upgrades for your party. It even tells some really good - if somewhat overly dramatic - stories.

    After the amazement over the brilliant touches of returning characters and story-progression from     the previous games calms down, some problems start to show. First, you will start to realize that the game is even more linear than ever. Sure, some missions are "optional" - that is if you don't mind getting worse endings for your story arcs. Side-quests have been reduced to small text pop-ups when you survey the correct planet, and side-stories are almost exclusively put in chunks of text in your log.

    The grand main campaign has obviously forced the developers to cut corners on other content, but the main story is presented beautifully. Until the last moments of the game. Some 10-15 minutes before the game ends, all semblance of a coherent story is thrown out the window. What remains is a convoluted mess of a "final revelation", with plot-holes the size of Alaska, and forced choices you have no interest in making. All of which ends in a final movie, which at the core doesn't care about your choices - or even about making any sort of sense.

    You may enjoy the ride, but the ending to this epic trilogy will leave you with a sour taste.    … Expand
  43. zagorec92
    Jun 3, 2012
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ahh, the ending...THE ending...IMHO the "destroy" ending was the best to choose. But after I decided to go with it, I expected some sort of animation-closure fiesta if you know what i mean. Despite all of the negative comments and review regarding the end, I just couldn't believe that is true, so the hope existed. So, let's go with recap - Earth was saved, soldiers were celebrating + ; Normandy crew ended up on some world, we don't know how far from Earth and could they return to the homeworld - ; Were all of our team aboard the Normandy? If not, what happened to them? - ; Mass relays destroyed (ok, we have been warned), but what happens with other races? - ; Guy breathing, people are convinced that's Shepard...so am I + ; Did the people rebuilt the Earth? Or are they somewhere else (next part of ending)? - ; After the credits, there is a kid with his grandfather on unknown world and the grandfather talks about Shepard and what happened while mentioning that was a long time ago. Well, how long has it been? Are the people again unaware of other life forms (actually, I think he mentions something like that), can the people travel throughout the universe (Solar system and beyond, but not far)? - ; Buzz Aldrin's voice (Stargazer) + ; Ending recap conclusion -> +(3), -(4) = - = unacceptable

    But this is game review. The entire game, except the ending, was breathtaking and definitely worth all the playing time invested throughout the series. Mixture of dramatic, bad ass, serious and humorous moment in this game is something all the other games want and hope to achieve. I would give the game 9, maybe 10, but if we account the weak ending, I must decrease my score. I seriously hope the "ending DLC" will bring more info about the aftermath of the game.    … Expand
  44. azefir1
    Jun 5, 2012
    9
    Very dissapointing ending but.... This game is just pure awesomeness. Way better than me2, and as good as me1. Me3 would be perfect if not the ending...
  45. vlado_work
    Jun 7, 2012
    10
    Before I started ME3, I had finished both ME and ME2 a few times, including DLCs. Based on rather negative comments, I was worried that ME3 will be a big disappointment... but it's not! If you liked ME and ME2, you'll surely like ME3 too. Amazing story and adventure continues and it is not true that the end doesn't make sense, as many complain. It does. It may just require a bit more thinking. I recommend the game!… Expand
  46. rwh1
    Jun 10, 2012
    10
    I have played both versions 1 and 2 to the end several times over and while I'm only starting chapter 2 on the 3rd game I very much like what I'm seen so far. Based on the huge numbers of negative reviews I came very close to passing this game by, but I'm glad I gave it a try. It is a whole lot better than people have been saying. Good graphics, good crisp game action along with well developed characters and story. The game allows you to import saves from of the prior verisons and the decisions you made in those games play important parts in this game. Over all this is a hybrid action shooter coupled with RPG elements. The Biotic and powers have the role of magic systems in similar games. I've been reading that many folks have had problems with the ending, but I believe the most important thing is if the game is fun to play and does it drag you into the story so you care about the characters, your decisions and the outcome of the war. In fact, the decisions and consequences in this game are much more difficult and far reaching than in the other two, a fact that has caused me to replay missions I'd already won because I couldn't get comfortable with the moral decisions I'd made. Anyway, don't pass this game by you will be sorry. If I had one nit, it is there is not as much DLC for this version, but I hope EA works to put a little more content into the single player instead of focusing most of their work on the MPlayer verision.… Expand
  47. mondieu12
    Jun 12, 2012
    9
    IT WASN'T THAT BAD. The majority of the game is excellent, with certain character deaths really adding to the overall experience of the series (two in particular). The combat is exciting and fluid, the dialogue well written and well voice acted, and some of the choices are deep, and philosophically challenging. Yes, the ending wasn't what we expected, and I'm as annoyed as everyone else, but we can't let 10 minutes ruin a trilogy which we have passed countless well-spent hours playing!… Expand
  48. Deadgraphics
    Jul 1, 2012
    2
    As a fan of the two previous mass effects I have to say this was a let down, some gameplay issues, story is decent to a point, but what hurt most was the ending. Bioware not think that throwing there own lore out the window would hurt the fans really took me aback. Since the extended cut was released it fixed some issues but still leaves a bad taste in your mouth, plus a few new plot holes. An unfortunate ending to what was a good series.… Expand
  49. TheFlaminboy
    Jul 21, 2012
    9
    Just finished the Game with the Extended Cut, then compared it on Youtube with the original ending. I can see why many people didn't like the ending, there really are a few too many things left open in the original ending. The Extended Cut is therefore a nice addition to give players more closure. However, I have to say, that this is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played and definitely does not deserve the criticism it got about it's ending. I personally loved all the endings, even though I only chose the bad ending to see what it was like, normally I wouldn't choose it. This game is an amazing and perfect conclusion to the Mass Effect Trilogy and true fans will love it like I did. Mass Effect 1 had the most epic ending, Mass Effect 2 was the most epic game overall and Mass Effect 3 was the most beautiful of them all. Also, since it mainly used music from the first and second game and didn't show that many more additional good soundtracks (apart from the beginning and the end of the game) I give this game a 9 out of 10. Well done Bioware and thank you!… Expand
  50. piccina808
    Aug 5, 2012
    4
    As a huge fan of previous games, especially Mass Effect 2, to say that I am disappointed would be a serious understatement. The ending of Mass Effect 3 is not only the conclusion for this game, it's for the entire franchise, so for it to be like this is an insult to the fans. But to forget about the ending for a second, and look at the entire product, it's not at all brilliant. Combat is faster and yes you can now climb. roll, etc. but it just feels awkward, especially on the pc version, where one button for all makes your head explode. Tons of auto dialogue, many of the previous choices don't matter at all, it's like you didn't have any choice in the previous games, side quests are not side quests, they are fetch quests, extremely boring and idiotic, and to make matters worse, journal is a complete mess, there is no information about any of the quests, have you collected anything, is it 75% complete, no, so you better prepare piece of paper and a pen and get working. Unacceptable, the entire game. I will give it 4/10 because there are still great moments because of the surrounding characters, but all in all, they should just forget about making this and start anew.… Expand
  51. Nicoskov
    Aug 9, 2012
    9
    I think it's absorlutly unfair, to give Mass Effect 3 a score under seven, simply based on the ending. Mass Effect 3 is like the other games in the series, an amazing game! Everything that leads up to the ending, is superb, every mission is fantastik, the graphics is fantastik, the characters, the environments, just superb. The ending was patched up by the extendet cut DLC, but yes .. its still not as great as i would have liked, but its definitely acceptable now. The multiplayer is also pretty good. I personatlly play Mass Effect for the single-player, but the multiplayer is a nice feature when you have completed the game, and just need some more Mass Effect.
    All in all, Mass effect 3 is a great game, which is absorlutly worth buying.    … Expand
  52. Nemo888
    Sep 4, 2012
    10
    YOU MUST GET ALL THE DLC. With that this is the best Mass Effect. EA stripped out 5GB of content for the initial release. That is about one third of the game. Without it the game is total crap and deserved to get panned.. When a gold edition comes out in a year or so with all the DLC at a good price get this title for sure.
  53. plushcarpet
    Nov 26, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. There are four endings now (post extended cut)

    Red ((destroy)): Destroy all synthetics indiscriminately, including the reapers. This means bye-bye Edi, Geth, plus a lot of tech that organic races are dependent on. (This is pegged "the bad ending" by many.)

    Blue ((control)): Control the reapers, keeping them and their husks alive and turning shepard into the new Harbinger. Bad idea on so many levels.

    Green ((synthesis)): "Become one with the reapers". Like control, this keeps all the horribly deformed husks alive (cannibals, marauders, banshees, scions which are 3 headed abominations fused from 3 different ppl from 3 different races, harvesters, destroyers, etc.)Turning every sentient race, organic and AI alike, into a organic/synthetic hybrid, which is the final stage of evolution, according to the translucent star child. This is pegged "the best ending" by bioware and fans that support synthesis.

    4th ending ((refuse)): You shoot the star child, give a little speech and watch as everyone dies. Then you see one of the beacons Liara made for the next civilizations to find and stop the reapers their way.

    Just awful.

    I've played Mass Effect 1 & 2 multiple times over the years. but ME3, I've only played twice and have since uninstalled. My friend also got the game on release, and now regrets it. She wanted me to play co-op with her, but why? The multiplayer looks like mindless and repetitive and like it would get boring after two rounds.

    Major letdown. I'm scared for dragon age 3, there's a 90% chance that will be a letdown aswell.    … Expand
  54. Knyte
    Dec 10, 2012
    0
    Well... You can really see the difference that EA taking over Bioware has made in this game. Essentially, they improved the visuals, and left everything else by the wayside, making what should have been an outstanding final title in a great series just another mediocre sci-fi shooter. The cutscenes and voice acting are weak compared to ME1 and 2, the storyline, while interesting is not very innovative, especially when they had so much to work with from the previous games. One thing that really annoys me is the combat; it is more twitchy and the controls are not as intuitive as the previous games. Add the ridiculous FPS style hit counters and you get a sub-par combat experience. The game does have some nice visuals and the scale of the combat/war is cool at various points throughout the game, however that isn't nearly enough to redeem this.

    What EA did to this series is a travesty... It could have been so much more, and I have never been so dissapointed with a game. It's really too bad Bioware sold out to the big kids before finishing off one of their signature series.    … Expand
  55. Wessen
    Dec 29, 2012
    9
    Come one people! i don't normally write reviews, but i felt compelled to, because the game was really enjoyable, no idea why so many are complaining about the ending, it wasn't that bad, i enjoyed the game and found myself captivated throughout my playtime, there's no reason to trash the game if the story line didn't meet your expectations, its a phenomenal experience. i had very little performance issues, and i highly recommend this if you enjoyed the other two titles, don't let the user reviewed put you off trying this out, for once the game critics got it right.… Expand
  56. Daverid
    Jan 5, 2013
    4
    These days I play just RPG's (And the occasional session on WoW), I have all but lost faith in the FPS and RTS Genres. Nothing quite sucks me in like an RPG with a; Riveting Plot, Interesting Characters, Good Gameplay and a powerful sense of Immersion. Mass Effect 1, although lacking in the Gameplay department, was 10/10 on every single other aspect of the game. Mass Effect 2 corrected the Gameplay errors that were extremely evident in ME1, however the plot took a MINOR hit, but still was extremely engaging. Then Mass Effect 3 rolled around, and I don't really know what went wrong. People blaming EA, People blaming BioWare... Who knows, all that's evident is this game was nowhere near the sequel we were waiting for.

    The gameplay didn't really improve from Mass Effect 2, but it was good in ME2 so it remains good in ME3. The Characters are still as interesting as ever (and as cool), but of course instead of the massive party selection we got in ME2 it was reduced down to ME1 numbers.
    And the plot, was just ... A mess (And that's giving it credit).

    If there's one thing I can say positive about BioWare, is that at least they still know how to write engaging and interesting characters. I cried several times throughout the game, simply because you get so attached (Or from the previous games) to these 3D people and it's hard to watch some of the tragedies happen, even if you can tell there was going to be casualties in the game. If it wasn't for BioWare still doing such an amazing job in the character department, this game would be lucky to receive a 2 or 3. The plot is just an abysmal mess. You can't really explain the mess without massive spoilers so I'll simply say this. Alot of people (Inlcuding myself) claim that it's 'The Ending' which was at fault, but frankly we just used the Ending as a scapegoat, we didn't/don't want to admit that the problem is in reality the entire game. Singular planet plots like Rannoch and Tuchanka is great, because you're concluding something that was setup in the other games, but the whole 'War Assets' and the nature of the 'Overarching Plot' is just a disgrace. And then after being taken on this wild ride where you go from, 'What the heck this doesn't make sense' ... To 'Omg this is fking awesome we are doing something massive and important' ... Back and forth multiple times, just to end on the 'This doesn't make sense' side of the fence was just the Ash sprinkles on top of the Crap Cake, and it hurt the fans deeply. It's clear alot of the story was designed with players who had been with the series for a long time in mind. Moments that would leave a normal person lifting an eyebrow, was leaving us fans who had been playing since ME1 bawling our eyes out. But then they made this Overarching plot to serve, I don't even know who, because it didn't make sense to the fans and it didn't make sense to anyone else. It was just some kind of strange mess.

    So if you're going to play this regardless of reviews, enjoy the characters, enjoy the locations and enjoy the decent gameplay. Enjoy the Single planet Arcs like Tuchanka and Rannoch, but don't expect to understand the overarching plot, and certainly don't expect to be satisfied and the end, because most likely you won't be.    … Expand
  57. AtomicZap
    May 24, 2013
    9
    I must say, this game starts very poorly (even worse than ME2) and it probably has the worst ending of any of the hundreds of games that I have played. It also doesn't provide much direction at the beginning, so if you play without using a wiki (like I did) you can miss out on a lot of content that I would have liked to play. That said, I have no other complaints about this game. While you don't get as many squad members, you can still develop meaningful relationships with them throughout the game. The world is fantastic. I'm probably going to be crucified for this, but I think the Mass Effect story/universe is superior to both Star Wars and Star Trek. Its not perfect, but it is still a shining example of what sci-fi should be, and is definitely worth a play, just don't have your hopes too high for the ending.… Expand
  58. NextGenFilter
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    This review is going to be a book of revelations to many readers. In particular, many will be surprised to learn that Mass Effect 3's capable of monstrous effrontery and infamous misrepresentation. The nub of what I intend to say here is that Bonapartism has its stronghold among vainglorious, picayunish nutcases. Why does that matter? It matters because the time has come to choose between freedom or slavery, revolt or submission, and liberty or Mass Effect 3's particularly sententious form of parasitism. It's clear what Mass Effect 3 wants us to choose, but he's like the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. Pull back the curtain of mysticism and you'll see an inarticulate cumber-ground hiding behind it, furiously pulling the levers of cronyism in a postmodernist, stingy attempt to progressively narrow the sphere of human freedom. That sort of discovery should make any sane person realize that Mass Effect 3 is like a stray pigeon. Pigeons are too self-absorbed to care about anyone else. They poo on people they don't like; they poo on people they don't even know. The only real difference between Mass Effect 3 and a pigeon is that Mass Effect 3 intends to silence truth-tellers like me. That's why if Mass Effect 3 isn't abhorrent, I don't know who is.

    I would like to put forth the possibility that some people are responsible and others are not. Mass Effect 3 falls into the category of "not". If you will pardon me for mentioning it, he maintains a "Big Brother" dossier of incriminating information about everyone he distrusts to use as a potential career-ruining weapon. Is your name listed in that dossier? The answer is rather depressing, but I'll tell you anyway. The answer begins with the observation that at this point in the letter I had planned to tell you that the cure for corruption, conspiracy, and treason must start by exposing the problem to people who care and are not themselves corrupted. However, one of my colleagues pointed out that people like him make me sick. Hence, I discarded the discourse I had previously prepared and substituted the following discussion in which I argue that this makes me fearful that I might someday find myself in the crosshairs of Mass Effect 3's raving half-measures. (To be honest, though, it wouldn't be the first time.)

    Mass Effect 3 is still going around insisting that all it takes to solve our social woes are shotgun marriages, heavy-handed divorce laws, and a return to some mythical 1950s Shangri-la. Jeez, I thought I had made it perfectly clear to him that he contends that people find his unrelenting, over-the-top hostility rather refreshing. What planet is he from? The planet Querulous? Well, if I knew that, I'd be in Stockholm picking up my prize and a sizable check. If you want truth, you have to struggle for it. This letter represents my struggle, my attempt at tackling the multinational death machine that Mass Effect 3 is currently constructing. It is also my soapbox for informing the community at large that you don't have to say anything specifically about Mass Effect 3 for him to start attacking you. All you have to do is dare to imply that we should transform our culture of war and violence into a culture of peace and nonviolence. To reiterate the main message of this letter, in this case, the obvious solution is also the correct one.

    Mass Effect 3 overall makes for a disappointing game and a even bigger disappointing close to the trilogy

    Pros:
    Sometimes enemies die when you shoot at them
    Reused music from previous games reminds me of better times
    The ability to delete files of the game to remove macho bro character from the game.

    Cons:
    Choices made across the games don't really matter the writer retcons them as they see fit to tell their cliche little story rather than the player's personal story
    Nonstop parade of fan pandering from a computer being put into a fembot to a D-list gaming celebrity making a appearance.
    As the game progress enemies take too long to kill and feel like fake difficulty to pad out the game length
    No prompt or option to immediately kill party members upon their introduction.    … Expand
  59. CRIPLEDPRIEST
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Honestly Bioware? after setting up so many good characters you give us the **** ones for our squad and completely hack apart the interior of the normandy.
    not to mention the fact that 90% of your choices from the previous games do absolutely nothing.
    dissapointed bioware so dissapointed
  60. oh_brother
    Mar 6, 2012
    10
    This has been some ride, since Mass Effect first grabbed my attention. I have played through every bit of the first two games, and loved every minute. Now the final comes, and I feel equal parts excited and sad. Sad that it will have to end, but thrilled to get a chance to play it.

    And it does not disappoint. The emotion - always the strong point of Mass Effect - is brought to another le    vel. The characters that I have come to care so much about are even more fleshed out. And the goosebumps at certain points of the game...well, I won't spoil. Just get it.… Expand
  61. fastblood
    Mar 6, 2012
    2
    In all honesty, 2/10 is being generous. Bioware has consistently proven that they are one of the worst video game companies. The fact that they rely so heavily on downloadable content, and squander their funds on shooting copies of the game into space instead of actually putting effort into it will forever astound and confuse me. The first Mass Effect was a decent game, and I would give it an easy 8/10. However, over the second and third installments, more and more content was taken away and casualized. On top of this, great chunks of the game were cut out to later be sold for more profit in DLC. This portrays Bioware as the money-grubbing gamer-hating company that they really are. They capitalize on the popularity of a product, and cast aside the devoted fanbase in order to garner more sales from less involved gamers who buy annual releases of Call of Duty. It's a sickening fact, but it's true.

    The writing is also piss poor, and almost insulting to those who enjoy quality storytelling in their video games, or any other medium in general. Gameplay has further been dumbed down to include a one hit kill melee button, and squad members have lost all of their interesting angles by becoming strange amalgamations of jersey shore contestants and jocks, or characterized versions of their former selves.

    I urge you to stay away from this game, or at least buy it used so Bioware does not get any of your money. Gamers who buy these releases should be ashamed of themselves for hurting the industry further by giving Bioware the ability to make more low quality games for ridiculous amounts of money.    … Expand
  62. Welp
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Day one DLC, forced romances, boring gameplay, terrible graphics, pants on head retarded story, uninteresting characters and the list goes on.

    So much did EA/Bioware pay the reviewers?
  63. TheGreenBaron
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Sadly, for a game with so much promise, Mass Effect 3 fumbles the ball in the end zone. The game suffers ridiculous bugs, and a clearly rushed ending. I hate to say it but as I play through, I almost wonder if at some point EA came in and said 'You've got three days to finish' about three months early. I'm givng this one a zero, for much the same reasons I gave Dragon Age 2 a low score: It does not live up to the hype. It's buggy, rushed, and when it does have good ideas, they're badly damaged by the bugs. The story is forced, there is auto dialogue where you do not decide what Sheppard says, and no matter what you do, you get the same crap endings.… Expand
  64. Gorlak
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Finally a site that lets the people who didn't run Mass Effect ads for three months state their opinion.

    The game is **** storywise. Oldest twists in the book. Hurr they were good all along. Hurr the little kid is super powerful.
  65. ThirteenthOwl
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Even after the tragedy that was Star Wars: The Old Republic I thought my favorite game developers at Bioware couldn't be able to mess up another game, I mean every band has at least one bad album and every studio a bad movie right? Well turns out the Bioware I knew and loved died with SW:TOR as their most recent release ME3 has created a new level of failure in video game development. The animations are terrible compared to those of any game post 2005, and the sky is a single jpeg. I could have forced my way through the **** that is this game if only to hear what would happen to the characters i had grown to love from past games, but the story took a turn for the worse from moment one. Bland dialog and expressionless faces were everywhere, how could it be that they actually managed to take a step back in animation and writing from their previous games? Combat is bland and what you choose to do does not matter in the end as the story funnels back to where Bioware wants it to be (unless of course you buy the $100 non-****ty ending DLC[available on the disk at launch of course]) I mean now they are forcing you to decide whether you are hetero/homosexual IN THE ACTUAL GAME not in some pre-game customization but in the actual story completely breaking what little immersion the game held at that point. Does Shep have amnesia? did you forget if you liked men or women until that very moment? no. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS GAME.… Expand
  66. Krichevskoy
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    I enjoyed ME 1 immensely but this feels like an empty shell compared to that. My previous choices seem pointless, it's like that story and deaths are ignored.
  67. nuttex
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Instead of an amazing finale to one of the best franchises in last 10 years, all we get is one big grim disappointment. Either way, endings can be described as "Life sucks then you die". Can't say this is what I was expecting. Ironically, it turned out to be that what Bioware was to Mass Effect is what Reapers were to the galaxy in game.
  68. stargategod1989
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    i had already read the spoilers for this but i decided to pick it up just to check it out im sorry i did and will be taking it back for a full return since it "somehow" stopped working. this is a terrible game, with a terrilbe plot and a horrible ending that sucks any tiny enjoyment one got from the game
  69. F_U_Wannabes
    Mar 6, 2012
    10
    since when its a reason to give bad score for dlc or origin? well Trolls thinks so, so ignore them.

    sure isn't mass effect 1 but if you liked mass effect 2 you'll like this one too, same mechanics if not even better, story isn't bad and since its triology we true ME fans we already knew how this triology would end and now this is the last chapter. mass effect 2 in a short version this was     more a scounting mission and at end preemptive strike, but now this gets more weight and tension then ever before, its WAR .

    game is fluid, animations too, more weapons and costumization too (also weapon mods). story is good but it feels like you're racing against time (obviously its war of survival), fight on earth, mars and everywhere this is great. decisions more then ever effects the outcome on a much bigger scale, no longer they stay with you if you take the worst decisions or act like jackass-selffish human.

    multiplayer is great and very fluid and various classes, characters and weapon mods and unlocks and its co-op featurings 6 maps (for now). i reccomend this game and i give 10, sadly majority here gives 1 and 0's but based on something wich isn't the game itself "dlc, EA, origin, no sense" ........    … Expand
  70. Narquez
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    totally frustration..
  71. HateApe
    Mar 6, 2012
    3
    Disappointing, derivative and convoluted. BioWare tries to make things deep and emotional but with their Bayesque approach to storytelling it just ends up utterly pretentious. You'd expect better from the supposed masters of interactive storytelling. Speaking of interacting there is barely room for it in Mass Effect 3's dialogue system. With the cinematic presentation taken too far you will be watching Shepard go on and on without any form of player input almost as if you were really at the cinema. While the generic shoot and stop gameplay isn't necessarily bad it doesn't begin to make up for the rancid conclusion of this maudlin space opera.

    Do yourself a favor and play Deus Ex instead.    … Expand
  72. DoctorBarber
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    If you look closely at Mass Effect 3 you will see the last tiny bit of Bioware's soul rot away, consumed by EA forever. As someone who has been a fan of their games from Baldur's Gate to Dragon Age: Origins, seeing how far they have fallen has been a painful experience. Writing has deteriorated to the most basic black and white, with most dialogues presenting only 2 options rather than 3. As was feared the series ends with a Deus Ex Machina (quite literally as the ending was almost entirely stolen from the game Deus Ex). Further evidence plagiarism of a desktop wallpaper of all things in the game's FINAL SCENE does not help Bioware's case. The whole thing seems like it was rushed with little care about the game's quality, as if they expected people to buy it automatically no matter how bad it was (and I'm sure they do). Creativity seems truly dead from that studio at this point. Do not buy this game. No not rent it, do not waste the bandwidth of pirating it. Vote with your dollars in the slim hope that Bioware may someday return to its senses.… Expand
  73. sparklesf
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    This game has been ruined by EA. The Bioware that made Mass Effect 1 and 2 is gone. Mass Effect 3 has been made to cater to the lowest common denominator. While the first one was a little rough around the edges, the second was perfect. Three however, is too far. In terms of visuals, they are too dark, made to look like the current CoD games. This is an RPG, not an seasonal shooter. Please EA, get your hands out of where they shouldn't be, and let game studios make games for their fans, not for your wallets.â… Expand
  74. uddehh
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Greedy people demanding 10 bucks for dayone dlc. That is not acceptable. For all paying customers is should have been free. Just like in ME2. Also, the RPG elements are very much cut down, making this game more COD-alike. PC version has worse graphics. Outrageous!
  75. Lnz666
    Mar 6, 2012
    9
    Wow there are so many low scores on here already did anyoneeven play the game?.im 10 hrs in and i absolutely love it. Ive played all 3 of the Mass Effect games and to have choices i made in a game 4 years ago affect whats happening in this one is awesome. There are some great plot twists and some of the decisions i made i had to stop and have a good think about which way i was going to go.
    The graphics are great and maybe the people complaining might need to upgrade their Pc's (although i suspect they dont play games they just troll and **** so their old rigs are perfect for that). The sound is great and the music score in all 3 ME games have been absolutely awesome.
    On a side note i dont understand the hate towards Origin? its just another digital download service and ive never had a problem with it.
    This is the best game ive played in ages i was hooked on Dark Souls then Skyrim but ME3 has me sucked into the story and im loving it. Even if you didnt play the first 2 games grab your self a save file and have a crack at this one, dont listen to all these haters who most likely havnt played the game .    … Expand
  76. Nil
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    So, let's start. My last review got deleted. Why? This game genuinely deserves a 1. -Disregards previous installments. -Gameplay is akin to Gears of War, this is not a good thing. -Graphically inferior to the previous game in the series. -Horrible, uncanny valley, character models. -Favors "sexy" over logic. -Story driven game with a story so badly written, including cheap emotional manipulation attempts. Oh sorry, I am meant to cry about a child who turns out to be important just because.
    -Old characters die in unimpressive scenarios and for no real reason. Remember those characters from previous games? They are not important anymore.
    -Enemies are simple, gameplay tediously repetitive whack-a-mole.
    -Disregards choice, it gives you the illusion of selecting where or what happens, but in the end this doesn't affect outcome. Ending choices happen LITERALLY at the end. Whatever you did beforehand plays no role in the end.
    -The ending.
    -The dialogue throughout.


    Overall this game took everything that is wrong with modern games and tacked it onto this franchise, a franchise we once loved and cared for.
    This is completely unacceptable.    … Expand
  77. Mothhive
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Day 1 DLC, reduction in graphics and animation quality, dumbed down even further than ME2, requires Origin, not available on Steam... how on Earth Bioware and EA are still in business are beyond me. First Dragon Age, then KOTOR and now the Mass Effect franchise? From great games to lazy cash ins. I hope they made enough money out of nickle and diming their customers over the years, because I really can't imagine many people buying any more of their games after their last few failures and complete disregard for their customers (besides their wallets).… Expand
  78. Myster2
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    Unfortunately this game just does not stand out in any way shape or form and it seems to just be a recycled game design. Multiplayer is fun for an hour or two as well then just kind of gets boring as well.
  79. horsemnonkey
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Hardly any actual gameplay, just cutscene after cutscene after cutscene. For **** sake.
    The cutscenes would have been bearable if they actually were worth the storytelling. But it was just plain awful and cringeworthy to have to sit through. I felt ill irl.
  80. getsomepie
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    I don't want to spoil the ending, but this game was really, really bad. I don't have a problem with the gay scene, but the gameplay here fell extremely short and the ending left much more to be desired.
  81. InTheRain
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    This really saddens me. I enjoyed the first Mass Effect greatly, it was one of the top games and one my personal GOTYs. But this is a travesty, it is nothing short of a joke, the punchline written by Hepler. SPOILER : The ending reveals it was all just a grandpa telling his grandson a story. How lazy do you have to be that you have to end a story with "It was all just a story."? I don't even understand how being hired through nepotism has helped Hepler maintain her position as a writer for bioware, this is the third game in a row that they have released with just horrid writing. You can disagree all you want, but why don't you go back and play Baldur's Gate and compare the writing of then to now. Admittely most of the reviews are probably trolls, the positive ones at least. Fans in denial that their perfect company could ever have a flaw, who likely haven't even played the game. The plot makes no sense, they go out of there way to make sure every past action of the player doesn't matter whatsoever, they sexualize characters for no reason and the ones they have no way of sexualizing they completely ignore.
    Picking a heterosexual option is a renegade choice, how? Overall I'm not disappointed, I was disappointed when they ruined Dragon Age. Now I'm just waiting for them to release their ultimate garbage ball which will either kill the company and put it out of it's mercy or get them to reconsider their writing staff a little more carefully.    … Expand
  82. Saldrin
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Play the demo if you don't believe my rating. And then laugh in amazement at the $70 price tag and say WTF Bioware.

    This game is garbage, and bioware is continuing the trend of bad PC games.
  83. Ardonas
    Mar 11, 2012
    7
    Best game of the series, right up until the "push a button' ending. I still loved it, but God is that ending frustrating. It's like the end "Under The Dome" but even more frustrating. Buy it, just don't finish it.
  84. bigsby_major
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Worse game of the series, not to mention Origin deepthroats flaccid donkey penis to the max. Do yourself a favour and avoid this garbage and the pos spyware EA wants to force you to install.
  85. Cruxador
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    I wanted an epic conclusion to the previous two games that brought the full weight of my choices to bear in a glorious ending involving the previously lampshaded themes of entropy. The ending I got instead simply didn't fit, it was a hybrid of the endings from Deus Ex and Toppa Tengen Gurren Lagann, and somehow still failed to be compelling.

    The only "positive" aspect of the game that the    y could think of to market being gay romance. As a heterosexual, I don't care about gay romance, and as a gamer I care very little about romance as a sub-plot in the first place.

    Additionally, the visuals and gameplay are both substantially worsened from the previous two games.    … Expand
  86. saroDimz
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Hundreds of day 1 DLC's, explosions like a Michael Bay movie, bad story, bad ending, mediocre gameplay. Do NOT buy. This game was marketed only for the COD fanboys and is just a sad attempt at cashing in. Shame on you Bioware.
  87. Rycr
    Mar 6, 2012
    10
    I love this game. So much. This game is the pinnacle of everything BioWare has learned about storytelling throughout the Mass Effect series. While the first game was heavy on plot-driven storytelling and the second was heavy on the character development, Mass Effect 3 has both in spades. The cutscenes vary between epic and heartwrenching, the dialogue is great, and the voice acting has improved. The fate of all life in the entire galaxy rests on Shepard's shoulders, as it has since Mass Effect 1, but for the first time in the series, it's easy to get a sense of just how heavy that burden is.… Expand
  88. ed103
    Mar 10, 2012
    1
    Short and sweet: the endings are soo badly written and contrived that it ruins the entire game. They endings do not make any sense, none of your decisions in ME3 much less other games really impact the outcome in a meaningful manner, huge holes in what's going on and why these events are even possible are present, etc... I'm not talking bad endings like say the Soprano's, I'm talking like they had to have a totally different team do the ending; like made up of marketingexecutives or something horrible. In anycase, I feel like I would be doing my fellow men and women a disservice if I did not make this review warning people not to waste time and money on this.… Expand
  89. skulltac
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    So is Bioware even trying anymore. This game really is just a letdown for me. I really enjoyed Mass Effect 1 a ton, but playing this game is really quite depressing. Everything seems just off. All of the animations are terrible, the voice acting is beyond horrendous. (Seriously I was cringing while listening to some parts.) And one of my biggest complaints is the release day DLC. What that essentially means is that they have they content out and ready and it could've been on the disk but whatever I'm sure people would love to spend TEN DOLLARS for a new ending.

    Please don't waste your money on this game. It's almost as big of a let down as TOR which guess what. Was ruined by Bioware.    … Expand
  90. ARTHURIUSS
    Mar 6, 2012
    10
    A terrific game.Bioware has really outdone itself in this final installment.Everything including the game play, the story and the music has been improved. This has got to be the most emotionally compelling experience in video game history. The ending though was depressing and I would would have preferred a happier ending. If anyone deserved a happy ending it was Shepard but it was still beautiful. My favorite Mass Effect game and deserves a perfect 10.… Expand
  91. Vigil
    Mar 7, 2012
    1
    To me, the Mass Effect franchise was something that symbolised and epitomised what a sci-fi video game could be. The only other francise to have captured my mind in the Science Fiction videogame genre like this was Homeworld. I have fond memories of the original Mass Effect; ones that I'll likely never forget, like meeting Vigil on Ilos the first time and hearing the fate of the Protheans.

    ...and now we have a Prothean as a squad member. Drew Karpyshyn must be able to taste the bile in the back of his throat.

    Where to begin with Mass Effect 3? Origin? Sexualisation of characters that don't need sexualisation? The Jersey Shore effect? Day 1 story integral paid DLC? Dumbing down of gameplay mechanics? Two choice conversations? Your decisions mean nothing? When in doubt, retcon earlier games? Cerberus? Mac Walters? Forced emotional engagement? Shepard having post traumatic stress disorder about things that should be water of a ducks back? The list goes on, and on, and on.

    There is a lot wrong with Mass Effect 3. A lot. It's the whore direction the francise has taken. Bioware, I am disappoint. I'm giving ME3 a 1/10. It's the best I can do.    … Expand
  92. Mynter
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    The day-one DLC makes this a 0/10 title. Under NO circumstances should it be okay for developers to release day-one DLC unless itâ
  93. DoubleCore
    Mar 7, 2012
    2
    The game is very disappointing. They removed the planet and resources exploration, almost no dynamic dialogs (most of the game if cut scene dialogue), removed completely the RPG from the game..
    A bad way to end a trilogy. Mass Effect 2 was the best in the series because it mixed RPG and action TPS but now with Mass Effect 3, it remains only Action TPS and that's sucks!!
  94. MerpanDerp
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    Day 1 DLC aside, this game was quite possibly the biggest disappointment so far. The story and especially its end was an incredible let-down, driven by boring, static dialogue. All of the 'new' characters lack depth and character or end up being completely irritating due to bad writing. Gameplay is lacking, RPG elements almost completely removed and the oh so praised 'Cinematic Experience' destroyed by awkward animations.

    0/10
    Try again without EA, Bioware.    … Expand
  95. oatzsquatz
    Mar 7, 2012
    3
    PROS: - Shiny new cutscenes - Wonderful Clint Mansell soundtrack - Better combat, particularly melee (plays like the melee in Dragon Age 2, one button does everything), improved powers - Smarter enemy AIs CONS: - One button does everything in combat - Ridiculously **** dialogue - Forces sexuality into everything (I could give concrete examples, but I may give away spoilers). I will say this much: EDI, and, this small segment of dialogue: Shepherd: I hope you're alright, Kaiden Kaiden: Are you flirting with me, Commander? This is literal dialogue and not a joke - Rubbish, rubbish, dialogue. Cringe worthy. Nearly all the time. Some characters do save the ****show, like Garrus. - They actually used a voice changer (blatantly obvious) to use less voice actors (if you don't believe me, once you get to the Citadel you will be able to hear it) - Rehashed animations from the last game (lack of innovation) -Filters, filters everywhere -Cheap emotional pulls and attempts at emotional manipulation EVERYWHERE. It's like they used this to replace bad writing. - SEVERELY LIMITED DIALOGUE OPTIONS. If I wanted to play a shooter, I would have. Two dialogue options? Most dialogues with no options whatsoever? Poor show. -Totally retconns the lore established in the previous games Overall this game shows a shocking lack of attention to detail and blatantly ignores what the fans wanted (contrary to what the developers claim all the time. No one wanted this). The voice acting is stiff and so is the animation. Complete lack of innovation and the only thing they improved was the fighting - to add to this, they even used well-known stock images as some of their sources and the copies are glaring - look up "winter on mars" and you should see what I mean, if you've beaten the game. They force sexuality on the player, and if you reject it then the characters hate yours. This series has ended on a bad note. For fans of the series, it sucks majorly. For people who want a shooter, play Call of Duty or Gears of War instead… Expand
  96. Nomus
    Mar 7, 2012
    8
    Game is good. Ofcourse it has bad grapics and animations because Bioware didn't give a single **** about it but it's interesting. I don'r remember the last time i was so interested in the game. Plot is **** but good enough to justify it. Characters are neat even if they have so much drama. I liked the game but i don't think it was the best one. ME2 is still the best in the series.
  97. femshepka
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    I'am a big fan of Mass Effect and my femshep specifically. But... I HATE THIS GAME. Femshep can not die! Can not! I love her. Femshep is meaning of my life. Bioware kills her... Time to die. Goodbye everyone. I always hate my life and love femshep. Please remember that.
  98. Rakka
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    I loved Mass Effect
    I adored Mass Effect 2
    I truly and utterly despise Mass Effect 3. EA and Bioware basically killed one of the best gaming title of the past 10 years with this last installment. It's boring and blatant, it tries to act like an FPS game, it's overly simplified, it's ugly, it's story is nowhere comperable to the previous ones, it forces gay romances down your throat, it's t    oo easy even on insanity, it's...it's just BAD. And this comes from a gamer who even bought ME2 Collectors Edition because of how much I loved these games.

    I strongly suggest not buying this game, Boycott Bioware, BOYCOTT EA, do anything that you can to make them realize this is not what we wanted.

    This is a sad time for gaming.    … Expand
  99. jonasion
    Mar 7, 2012
    3
    I haven't played the game, [nahhh, dont stop reading, go on:...] and probably wont.[just a bit more...] Having read what other fans of the series ME1+2 have had to say I will keep my money in my pocket and just comment on this: Why is it that game review magazines seem to have completely gone 'corporate'? Look at the difference between the review and the gamers perspective: "http://www.gamespot.com/mass-effect-3/reviews/mass-effect-3-review-6363906/" Gamespot, which I has always been my guiding star has of late begun completely not focusing on the essentials: Will the gamers actually like what they see? Battlefield 3 was so riddle with bugs it was unplayable. ME3 is so riddled with messy dialogue and bad story line that it seems a travesty to try it out, especially with this DLC being thrown in your face early on. A game is not only good if it has great graphics, sound track and is playable without a patch on day 3. Time to try some Indie games perhaps?

    My point is this: If we can't trust the game reviews we read, then we cant trust MetaCritic's scoring either. Thus, MetaCritic needs to exercise some journalistic control on these review sites.    … Expand
  100. ancient_serpent
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    Hey Eric Kain, believe it or not, my negative review has nothing to do with any gay or lesbian choices. It has to do with the terrible endings that absolutely negate any choices I made in the previous two games. hours getting those exactly the way I wanted. You know why? Because I cared about the characters and the results of my characters decisions. The ending choices are a non-choice. I will never support Bioware or the freaking retard Helper that wrote this abominations with my money again. To everyone saying "Oh, they're just mad at the gay sex": Grow up. This has nothign to do with you wanting to be a victim, it has everything to do with poor writing, crappy endings and the disloyalty Bioware has shown ME fans.… Expand
Page:

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.
    Read full review
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