Mass Effect 3 PC
User Score
4.7 out of 10

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 4368 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,813 out of 4368
  2. Mixed: 368 out of 4368
  3. Negative: 2,187 out of 4368

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  1. Thaeru
    Mar 6, 2012
    3
    Rather than trying to expand on the formula which set Mass Effect as one of those rpg-shooter hybrids which grow more frequent as the years pass by, Bioware decided to dismiss it completely in favour of Michael Bay-grade explosions and the like.

    Mass Effect 3 starts off almost a year after ME2 where Shepard has done nothing of note except somehow end up on Earth and is being trailed by th    e Alliance for the **** you've done". That's nice, guess he stopped working with Cerberus and the Council's spectre status meant nothing.

    Anyway, auto-dialogue sets in with little to no player input for minutes on end, probably one of their new innovations when impatient people found dialogue boring and then explosions occur and the Reapers are there. The entire galaxy acts shocked.

    Now, maybe I expected too much from the writers but the pacing is horrible. This isn't just for the intro--though the intro does a wonderful job of showing it--with the entire game having Shepard talking without the player's input and the game hoping to imagine you know **** when you don't before explosions happen everywhere.

    It almost seems like they were trying to build a blockbuster movie rather than write the end of the trilogy, Mac Walters and Casey Hudson being supervised by Michael Bay who's constantly yelling "MORE EXPLOSIONS" throughout the entire creation process.

    In addition to this, importing serves little to no purpose. Killed a character before? It's somehow back alive! Spare a character? Well, they died off-screen! The consequences which were advertised for years now, since the very inception of the series, becoming meaningless and serving nothing but wasting a writer's five seconds to create a new line for the sake of importing.

    I feel like I've been robbed, not simply because of my purchase of ME3 being a complete waste but the entire trilogy built up absolutely nothing. Unable to play ME1 or ME2 anymore, ME3 spoils the entire experience. If I wanted automatic dialogue, crappy plots and one-liners I would find myself playing Gears of War, least they have a slightly rewarding ending (Yes, ME3 ends on a downer note that tries to be optimistic and leaves you with hundreds of questions, none which they try to answer).

    Bioware has fallen hard as of yet, I don't trust they'll be able to stand anymore.

    Useless information:
    Gameplay is choppy on PC, one button covering a thousand functions reeks of bad porting.

    Graphics are worse on PC, shadows everywhere try to obscure poor textures. High Res Patch may be coming but it won't matter since everything is hidden under layers of shadow.

    Multiplayer gets tiresome quickly, essentially being singleplayer without the dialogue (oh wait, that is the singleplayer. lol.) which you fight waves of enemies with Hackett telling you to do things here or there. Level up system is poorly thought out, certain characters have huge imbalances and you need to sacrifice your MP character to get assets for the Single Player (REPLAY VALUE!!111 *cough* not).

    Multiplayer is also necessary to get the better endings, which is absolutely **** absurd.

    Day 1 DLC up the ass costing upwards to 900$ for everything.

    Mass Effect 3 is absolute garbage, as much as I hate to say it.    … Expand
  2. MaroonMoose
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    The first Mass Effect, though it had its faults, was a very good game. The writing, while sometimes stupid and drab, had its moments such as the conversation with Sovereign. As time goes on, the quality of the series lessened until now we have this terrible hunk of crap. Terrible writing, on a level that is so embarrassing listening to the characters speak sometimes it hurts. "DAMN" - Shepard. Stiff animations and the game has also completely shed almost all elements of an RPG game, now its Gears of Effect 3. Unfortunately, Bioware has become a company that makes piss poor games, I've tried to give them chances, but it's too late now. They **** up what could've been a great experience, and killed a potentially amazing franchise. Oh well.… Expand
  3. newtee2
    Mar 6, 2012
    5
    As a big fan of multiple RPGs, and fan of the first two Mass Effect games, this game does not live up to current RPG standards. The plot is unusually boring, the gameplay is surprisingly lacking, the graphics and animations have barely been touched since ME2, and worst of all the game's ending is the biggest let down I've witnessed in years. The most outrageous thing about ME3 is that the day one downloadable content contains information that is crucial to the series as a whole. This game was the biggest letdown to me in years, and I almost feel as if I have been ripped off.… Expand
  4. jafor004
    Mar 6, 2012
    5
    The first Mass Effect is one of my all time favorite games, with really enjoyable gameplay and immersing story, I rate Mass Effect 2 as good but not as good as the first one, the story just didn't progress enough. Sadly Mass Effect 3 is the weakest in the series in my opinion. While the gameplay is about on par with the previous games, which is good, the story was really lacking. Large plotholes made the game unenjoyable for me and the ending was real letdown. I'm quite sad this trilogy ended on such a mediocre tone.… Expand
  5. MrMephisto616
    Mar 6, 2012
    2
    Ah, Mass Effect. A series that has drummed up just as much(if not more) controversy than the company that makes this. Now, don't think I'm going to rant about how Bioware is supposedly killing the video game industry(however they do certainly seem to be trying). We all know about their past masterpieces. We also all know about dreaded day 1 DLC, and are acting like it's the first time it has happened. I will just take a few sentences to sum up a review for this game, in contrast to the past Mass Effect games of course. As it were, the story was really the only thing this franchise had going for it, from a role playing perspective. To get the action part of the game out of the way now, it's still fine, if not slightly dumbed down. However, this game still feels like an interactive Gears of War from a role playing perspective. Yes you can choose your outcome(except you know, when it comes to the end of the game). Dialog choice are still more the same, Paragon choice, Renegade choice, Neutral choice, and hear more. Now I understand this was prevalent in the past installations but it feels even more watered down in this game. Now for the story. There's not much to say here other than I found it extremely disappointing, anti-climatic and all around dull-witted. You'll have to decide for yourself if you really want to try it to see how the story runs, but keep in mind basically none of the writers for the past games are contributing to this one. Overall, just a poor ending to what could have been an above average series. As well what could be the final nail in Bioware's coffin. And for all the people baying to pirate this game to "stick it to Bioware", if you really want to hit them where it hurts, don't pirate it. Don't buy it, don't even mention it. The only way to show a supplier you want them to change their product, or even get rid of it, is to no longer demand it. Showing them that you're willing to commit a crime to obtain it doesn't help your case.… Expand
  6. adcret7
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    Il be honest i was looking forward to this game true ME2 was more casualized and streamlined then ME3 but i still liked it and was still waiting ME3 now what broke the camels back and drove me to not even buy this game? Where to begin for starters it keeps ME2's lobotomized leveling up system which is thel ats instance of any "RPG" in it on top of that they included some bulking meat head jersey shore wannabe into the crew and in addition gave ashley facial reconstructive surgery so she doesn't even look like the same person. On top of that we have day one DLC YES THATS RIGHT day one DLC. The DLC of course contains a prothean character you know the characters that were supposedly genocided in ME1? Then apparently turned into collectors in ME2 who were then all wiped out now apparently there is one left and for the first time you can have a prothean squadmate... OH one last thing he costs 9.99 on day of release so pay up. Then they tried to excuse the DLC by stating they had recently begun work on it and it was finished late. Gee bioware then explain why we knew of him in early 2011. In addition to that they break the camels back, legs, and any other bone this poor animal may have with the ending. The ending which *SPOILERS* is a travesty wraps up this beloved franchise by revealing how the kid from the demo/beginning was the crucible AKA controller of the reapers and how the reapers exist to exterminate organic life so they do not create synthetic life which will then rebel and destroy all organic life. SO basically the reapers kill us so we don't kill ourselves and if that isn't the most moronic plot you ever heard the end wraps up with a kid being told this game as though its a story and ends with "papa shepard tell me another story" and "papa shepard" then saying "its getting late but ok one more" which basically implies that A. This whole thing was a story which in that case i swear off bioware products forever or that B. The ending was trying to wave their upcoming MMO in peoples faces which in that case i swear off bioware products forever. Then we have player choices. The choices in the game are gathered from ME1 and ME2 to culminate and finally reveal what consequences these choices will have in the final battle against reapers. They however have proceeded to royally screw that up by ignoring half the choices in ME1 and ME2. Rachni exterminated? Doesn't matter theres some behind the orange juice in the great big galaxy fridge. Destroyed or kept the collector base? Bah who cares that wasn't important infact it was so unimportant we won't even talk about it at all. In addition to all these games short comings we get to a matter which has me personally riled up my character in Mass Effect 1 (doesn't exist due to installation of Windows 7 over vista in 2009) has sex with Ashley. Now recently and by recently i mean as recent as tonight (3:30 AM EST right now) a magazine has announced a quote from a bioware employee saying how Ashley is a transsexual. This is what pissed me off not the transsexual part. I have no problem with transsexuals but to literally wait til Mass Effect 3 to tell us something as vital as that and to casually tell us this very vital piece of information is unforgivable. It is basically the equivalent of having sex with someone then mentioning they have an STD. Then we have the multiplayer mode. To those saying it is tacked on i can completely say yes it is tacked on. This multiplayer mode is nothing but horde mode from gears of war, or onslaught mode from BFBC2 (ps3 version only) or killing floor, or horde mode from gears of war, except they have something at least original to them. BFBC2 has onslaught mode which is basically conquest with bots but conquest is objective based so its not endless hordes of enemies. Gears of war invented horde mode which is the first to do something wave based. Killing floor has a shop mid wave which you can use to buy new weapons since you start out with a pistol to begin with. This game on the other hand has nothing new or original in the multiplayer. The only reason i can fathom even having a multiplayer mode is to attract some of the call of duty kiddies to play it. Except they fail to see that people who play COD will never play a game like Mass Effect 3. Thats about it for my review of this waste of money.… Expand
  7. Magnus
    Mar 7, 2012
    6
    I'm speechless. Why ? I did something stupid, played the first game imported my character in to the second game,imported to ME3.
    Why the rant? When did the gaming industry decided that a person able to enjoy a adult movie is unable to comprehend Schindler's List?
    It didn't start well , the intro mission is railroaded, Shepard is a lost minion , irritating for every player that shaped     his character thru countless hours of the two previous games, pondering the outcomes of hers/his decisions. I seriously have no idea why I did what I did in the previous games.
    It's a clone of so many movie/game decisions where the Hero does the ultimate spoiler thing, and everyone is aware that the morally grey , isn't really grey it's just trying to create the illusion by pressing on the tear duct by removing the few things a RPG player cares about-the characters and interactions with them , one by one .

    The game has one of the worst endings in history, all of them and the idea that the player is not worthy to get some closure is strange, feel's like subconsciousness marketing for DLC.
    The characters from the previous game suffer at times cringe worthy writing , and lack of screen time.
    Simply there isn't enough time for anything, and the dialogues took a major hit, feels completely rushed. New players probably will not care, the game doesn't even introduce them in a proper manner, they can run and gun without consequences and even enjoy the game.
    MP is very well done,interesting and addictive , so nothing to criticize except the Origin client.
    Rated DA2 with a 1 rating this game with a 6 to reflect the technical superiority, but only the technical , the disappointment is identical like DAO vs DA2 despite never seeing the ME games as RPG's , and wondering why the "Jack of all trades, master of none" figure somehow became the most defining aspect of Bioware's recent titles.    … Expand
  8. Soomsoom
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    It does not add any RPG elements, it continues to make it more call of duty to mass market it, it makes it more "hip and cool" to mass market it, it makes day 1 DLC to rip money as much as possible from mass appealing it to max, and beneath now is soulless, uninspired story that just feels bad how badly it is constructed. I have played better third person shooters. You should not support company for making a RPG to boring third person shooter and says CONVERSATIONS are a RPG element - it's not.

    Goodbye bioware, stuff you do to your own franchises that start out OK, is just sad.    … Expand
  9. DSPxx
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Terrible game. Graphics are horrible, lip syncing is way off, story is predictable, textures are awful, combat is boring. This game is not RPG, its Action. Do not buy it!
  10. Yasuchika
    Mar 6, 2012
    4
    I feel awfully betrayed that the series went from and expansive sci-fi space opera with consequential choices; to a fairly streamlined action adventure with RPG elements. Its attempts at emotional manipulation are slightly hamfisted, not ineffective but very clumsily implemented and unrelated to my character's background - which I imagine Bioware has forgotten about at this point. The writing and designs for some characters also seems out of place, Vega is expected to be a bulky man but not to the extent that he's a jersey Shore cast member, the addition of Jessica Chobot and redesign for Ashley also complement this lovely little tan-orange motif. My largest qualm is with the Day 1 DLC - which I strongly oppose - by all means create new characters that are not plot-integral. But when you create a squad member who is heaily tied to the universe's lore and mystique and then aim to charge an extra $10 for it on top of the game's already hefty pricetag you know you fit a stereotype.The romance system is fine, although I'd like to be able to talk to my companions without the intention of making out with them. I wonÃ… Expand
  11. mechta
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    A once great series, ruined by a once great company. Now both are garbage. Don't buy this. Don't give bioware any money, don't support what they are doing to gaming.
  12. thesisko
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    Another turd by the BioWare sequel-machine. If you're looking for a B-movie plot combined with a weak and repetitive on-rails shooter this will suit you. But if you're a fan of BioWare's earlier work, such as Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age: Origins you're better off forgetting this development house existed and look towards more serious RPG developers like Larian Studios or Piranha Bytes. Also keep an eye out for Brian Fargo's upcoming "Wasteland 2".… Expand
  13. supaorange
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    Just so mind numbingly average. Every dialog choice is completely disconnected to the actual conversation and the choice misinterpretation is at is worst. good bad, yes no, affirmative or negative but its even hard to determine which is what and what they mean and 80% you will say the same thing. the paragon renegade pop-ups don't actually do anything either way the same thing happens. There is no challenge to the combat, by staying out of automatic cover and aiming manually out you can actually shot enemies with that just standing there an behaving like your not even in there line of sight. Mass Effect 2 and 3 were meant to exist, the original was made with no sequel in mind.… Expand
  14. shadycharacter
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    -bluebad
    -redgood
    -greenbad
    This "game" is not made for gamers by any means. It is made for drooling trash with no standards, and bioware confirmed them as their target audience. If you are supporting this game, you are supporting the cancer that's slowly degenerates and kills the industry.
  15. Shiki
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Everything about this game is terrible, just like Dragon Age II, it messes up the few elements Bioware had gotten right in their dumbed down franchises.

    You are presented with less "illusion of choice" than in ME1 and ME2 when it came to dialogues, and a lot less stuff to probe from the NPCs. The "neutral" sounding choice has been completely cut from the game. The whole atmosphere emitted     by the game is creepy and takes itself way too seriously, cue the sad sounding piano tune that's played in many of the worst scenes written by bioware, beating Dragon Age II in the derp department. The whole story does not make sense at all and spends a lot of time basically retconning the stuff we took for granted in the first two installments of the trilogy. For each of the episodes, Bioware changed the writing team and it shows. ME3 is an unplanned abortion and not something that was carefully crafted from material built since Mass Effect 1. The textures are disgusting, the animation laughable (you can find better animations in Skyrim which says a lot in itself since Bethesda's games are not known for that kind of virtue..), everything about this gays says "quick and dirty development" to cash in on the name of the franchise as fast as they could without regards for the quality of the work, just like Dragon Age 2, which took a lot less time to make than Dragon Age Origins and had terrible texture, terrible models, backgrounds, copy pasted dungeons in the side quests and basically being nothing more than a shell devoid of actual content.… Expand
  16. dgh
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    What would be a mediocre movie becomes a horrible game. This what became of the RPG genre in the year 2012. A copied Universe filled with walking stereotypes and the combat from the Call of Duty series. The ending is beyond horrible and if you want a better one you better get you wallet out because with Bioware nothing comes for free, especially the fun.
  17. Sheogorath34434
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm sad to be mixed in with these bombers, but I was unbelievably disappointed. Horrible writing, terrible voice acting, and the murder of some of my favorite characters for no other reason then artificial stake-raising. I wish I could give it something higher, but I can't.… Expand
  18. captain-sinclai
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    It is easy to say that Mass Effect 3 represents everything that is going wrong about the path that modern videogames are taking. From the tacked on multiplayer to pre-release DLC to disregarding and retconing past titles mercilessly Bioware is sending a clear message: They are prepared to do anything to squeeze as many dollars out of their customers as they can.

    The worst part is that thi    s cash milking machine is going to sell millions, with people spending $60 + $40 on average on the game itself and on the DLC. With this you are also sending a clear message to companies like EA and Activision: We customers like to be treated like **** and we like to buy our games multiple times in the form of overpriced DLC.… Expand
  19. danu22
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    Another piece of trash spewed out from the depths of the money hungry company we know as Bioware. I honestly can never trust Bioware games ever again, I thought after the abomination of Dragon Age 2 I could give them one more chance, but they have gone too far now. This game is completely brainless, and worst of all the day one DLC.
  20. 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
  21. Wrds
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    It's really hard to overstate how disappointing this game is. Even more so than ME2 it wreaks of railroading and half baked ideas. Sure it looks pretty, neat characters, charming dialogue, but you can't let that delude you. This is some of the hammiest, and phoned in writing in gaming history. It's absolutely devoid of any satisfactory closure, and does nothing with the story worth talking about, that is, it's really embarrassing.
    The gameplay, like the characters/dialogue I mentioned before, seems nice at first, but it's just a disguise for a cover shooter of the worst kind. You fight wave after wave of identical mob with a few cheesy bosses with horribly scripted moves to wade through.
    At one point in my life I would have easily told you this is my favorite game series of all time, but I am just so disappointed right now.    … Expand
  22. USA_DOES_RULE
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    I must say I looked forward to this game before. Now that I've played it I realize it's **** The plot is bad and so is the graphics. The controls are the worst I've played with aswell you can feel it's a bad console port through everything this game.

    Don't buy this...
  23. mikeh
    Mar 6, 2012
    3
    Everything that was right in Mass Effect 1 has vanished in Mass Effect 3. This series is no longer an RPG with Third-person shooter elements. This game is a really ban gears of war clone with horrible animations, terrible textures and cringeworthy dialogue.

    Also, Day 1 DLC should be frowned upon by everyone. It is absolutly unacceptable in this day and age.
  24. ma3isterrible
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    by the way, the critic scores are a joke. dont be fooled people, they get paid for saying that crap. i see it time and time again, if it wasnt for crooked critics that are only out for a quick buck then we wouldnt have to deal with so many bad games. its just like the paid movie critics. our paid entertainment is just like ordering food at crapdonalds, have you ever ordered anything and have it look anywhere near what the picture looks like. these marketing firms that the companies hired should be taken out back and put down, every last one of them!… Expand
  25. theplagueman
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    They said that the choices from ME1 and ME2 would carry over but they didn't. Day 1 DLC for $15 that allows you to see the best ending. How the **** you go from KotOR to ME3 / TOR is beyond me.
  26. JebusGobson
    Mar 6, 2012
    3
    I created this account just to be able to express my disappointment with the route Bioware has chosen. It's becoming depressingly common that RPG game creators, after carving out a loyal fanbase and establishing their name, suddenly get an aversion from everything that constitutes an RPG and try to craft their games in order to cater to the lowest common denominator (see for instance: Fallout, Deus Ex, etc. - although the latest games in these series have gone back somewhat to being actual RPGs, somewhat). It's curious how game developers still seem to assume that the average gamer is a 14-year old console player with no taste or opinion. Did they really think that no-one would 'notice' Mass Effect has turned into a Gears of War clone? Of course they do. Also, why in the world would they even want to emulate Gears of War? Isn't Mass Effect at least as big as Gears of War is? It really puzzles me.

    I had the same feelings when I played Dragon Age II, but I hoped that was just a fluke. After Mass Effect 3, it has become obvious that this is really a new strategy. I wish them well, but in me they have now lost a customer. I own every RPG they ever made - except that MMORPG - but I will be buying no more Bioware games, until I feel confident they've improved on their current trend of mediocre gameplay and (especially) terrible writing. It's never a good idea to alienate the most loyal and (because of age) most financially capable of your fanbase, in a stupid attempt to gain 'new fans'.    … Expand
  27. LukeDukem
    Mar 6, 2012
    2
    This is very sad :-(
    Better go with The Witcher 2 or Deus Ex: HR, Skyrim or FNV Ultimate - not with this s**t!
    I'm very dissapointed :-/
    I hate you EA/BW!!!

    ME1>ME2>ME3 :-(
  28. Duncaaaaaan
    Mar 6, 2012
    2
    Oh how the mighty have fallen. If you're one of the following, or a combination of all three: a newcomer to the series; someone who doesn't like roleplaying games; someone who prefers shooters like Gears of War or CoD; Go give this game a 9.5/10, it was made specifically for you. If you're someone who was a fan of the ME1 franchise since the first one, enjoyed the fantastic and witty writing, the dialogue choices and essentially what was a perfect hybrid of shooter and RPG mechanics, rate this game somewhere in the 1-3/10 region. There is also a huge lack of polish, animations are absolutely terrible and glitchy. voice acting is unbelievably bad, the lead writer, Mac Walters, is f*cking crap at his job and should be sacked. Graphics are very low quality. Skyboxes are a joke to look at, just a muddy pixelated mess Iooks more at home in the original Half-Life1, low res textures are buried under excessive amounts of shadow and poor contrast settings that can't be changed, space bar does EVERYTHING. Choices in the past game mean almost nothing, which is contrary to what was advertised. And now, the autodialog. Shepard just talks for ages on end, with absolutely no input from the player. This isn't YOUR Shep you play, it is something else. Shep often says dickish things I didn't want him to, so and there's only 2 choices of dialog now, not 3-4 from the previous games. One good and one bad. It's like we're being treated as retards, it's insulting. I give it a 2/10, and that's generous.… Expand
  29. DingDongBansu
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    An incredibly cliched plot which completely nullifies all the work you've put in up to this point across three games, ridiculous amounts of DLC and a shameless 'Buy more DLC to play more!' banner as soon as you have finished the game make this game feel incredibly hollow in comparison to the last two titles in the series.
  30. stickylicky69
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Mass Effect 3 is what I imagine would happen if Mass Effect 1 got made into a badly done Hollywood Movie and that movie had a badly done game based upon it. Oh and the movie was directed by Michael Bay and the game was done by THQ.
  31. Rufsian
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Play this videogame then you will understand why it is so bad.



    ent as the years pass by, Bioware decided to dismiss it completely in favour of Michael Bay-grade explosions and the like. Mass Effect 3 starts off almost a year after ME2 where Shepard has donnt RPG standards. The plot is unusually boring, the gameplay is surprisingly lacking, the graphics and animations have barely been to    uched since ME2, and worst of all the game's ending is the biggest let down I've wit… Expand
  32. enlive
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Horrible game, day 1 DLC, awful story and voice acting. Instantly got a refund after being exciting for it for over 4 years. No big surprise seeing how TORtanic went down, Bioware isn't what they used to be.
  33. waiv
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    This game is an irredeemable mess from start to finish. The animations and writing are a massive joke, even compared to the first 2 games. Don't get me wrong, I loved Mass Effect 1 and 2, but that's why I'm so incredibly disappointed. This is the last Bioware product I will ever play, they shown with SW TOR that they're incompetent at what they do, and this is just the icing on the cake.
  34. Xarlable
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    I don't even know how to start this. Remember how they kept hyping the game from its story elements, the decision making replayability and how it'd influence the game? HAH. Your decisions barely change the way the game goes, especially towards the endings. Endings which are completely ripped off the original Deus Ex, too, and make no sense whatsoever in the game. I won't spoil you because I don't want to take the fun (see: disappointment) out of the game for you, if you haven't finished it yet, but let's just say that Commander Shepard is more of a character by itself now, instead of what it should be and was in the other games - You control him, he reflects what you think/do in the game, not play as him only and act like you're nothing but a spectator. And the amount of feelings the game tries to force on you will make you cringe rather than actually getting sad. All the drama it tries to get down your throat (most notably around the kid who appears in the first part of the game), the "decisions" you have to take which usually mean something gets saved while the other gets destroyed - that makes me go "oh no I have to choose what to save i cri evertim ;_;". It'd work if they wouldn't have done it so many times. The amount of plot holes in here make me want to scream "NURSE!" because of how big and many they are, and how many questions they let unanswered. And let me guess, fans will say "it's so you can come up with your own responses to it" - well, I wish I could've come up with different endings then, and it still proves that Bioware was lazy on the matter. They give you the illusion of free choice in the not as many interactions you take in dialogue, but it all ends up in the same. And in these fewer times you can choose what to say, there isn't much other than Paragon or Renegade. No neutral response? Why would you remove that? Now, don't get me wrong. The gameplay and graphics aren't bad. They're just ME2ish, bringing almost nothing new, but it's still enjoyable enough. Facial animations are subpar, and the characters have almost no emotional response to what happens (which contrasts with what the game is trying to do). Also, explosions everywhere. It's like we're back... in... MW3. Good lord how easy it is to compare ME2 and ME3 with MW2 and MW3 (because if you think about it, both MW3 and ME3 were made with their focus more on multiplayer, they have the same graphics, same gameplay as their previous games, and are cashins more than a proper game). Anyway, animations... Well, they aren't horrible (except the Anderson running animation on the first mission, holy hell it makes me laugh from how bad it is, and the Femshep running animation) but you could've expected better, even from Bioware. What irks me is that the most important parts of the game, the biggest selling points, its plot and how what you do influences the whole game (and series), are just... ruined. I can't think of a better word, and I wish I wouldn't find myself saying this, but I never had big expectations for this game and it still managed to break them, on the bad way. I'd say more, but I'd be spoiling the story to prove my points. 1/10 because it's not a HORRIBLE game... But it's close. Just my opinion.… Expand
  35. bigsilverhotdog
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    I was there the day of the Mass Effect 1 release. I've since played it all the way through 7 times, 3 of them on the hardest difficulty. I love Mass Effect. Not because of the gameplay, because the world they created was believable and sucked you in. It made you care about the characters and their problems. Mass Effect 2 was a huge step backwards, but the story was still fairly solid, the characters were still excellent, and the world was still believable. Mass Effect 3 is a travesty. First off, I can't import my character's face, or recreate it because it's impossible with the new face generator. I spent 3 hours trying. So I have to play the final chapter as if my character had her face rearranged surgically after being disfigured, because she still has exactly the same voice. It's unpleasant to see someone else speaking in the voice of my beloved Alexey Shepherd and now I have to put up with it for the entire game. Second, the story in ME3 is a total joke. It's simply not believable. It's utterly full of every bad movie cliche in the book, and it repeats them constantly. You cannot play for even 5 minutes without wincing at the terrible dialog and plot developments. The characters that return from the previous games do not act like themselves at all, and in a few cases (Ashley, UGH) don't even LOOK like themselves. Ashley looked perfectly fine before, why motion cap some ugly reject of American Idol and put her in a video game? Oh, and the biggest middle finger from Bioware is making the only surviving member of the Prothean race, a race that is central to the plot and core story of all 3 games in the series AND is referenced in nearly every single mission in every single game, a paid launch DLC just says, "ohi, we're Bioware and we hate our fans. Give us your money and get lost." I hate Bioware for creating the unique IP that is Mass Effect and then systematically destroying it. I hate EA for helping. And I hate how gaming has gone from a labor a love, with gamers creating games they know other gamers will want to play, to executives and boards designing products by committee with a sole focus on how much money they can get from their potential customers. Bioware, EA, you've lost this customer for life.… Expand
  36. AHomosexualMale
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    As a homosexual male, it is painful watching bioware act like they are champions of the gay community. Their insulting representations of gay individuals are merely an attempt to politicize their business, so they can look progressive while deflecting real criticism as homophobic, just because some homophobes exist. Their behavior is a mockery of homosexuals everywhere and I would urge any homosexuals interested in activism not to be deceived by these insensitive people.… Expand
  37. chao1313
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    One of the best western RPG series turned into one of the worst. I don't even know where to begin with this, it's a horrible console port, the animations are so horrible they will make you laugh out loud, the writing is worse than Dragon Age 2, the story is made out of plot holes and alien sex, the characters are so unlikeable you will want to stab most of your crew, Day 1 DLC, the skybox is a .jpg like in CounterStrike 1.6, cheesy soap opera drama scenes are sprinkled everywhere, etc....

    This is a day 1 refund.    … Expand
  38. benzei
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Too much subtle liberal propaganda in this game. The dialogue writing is horrendous and doesnt hold up to the previous Mass effect titles. A heap of plotholes and terrible ending that was a huge letdown.
  39. MajestyLOL
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Absolutely awful and a disgrace to the Mass Effect series. BioWare has really sold out worse than I could have foreseen. The dialogue, story, and characters are not what they used too, and this feels like a game made for that annoying 12-year old that I play Halo 3 online with. I don't want to be that kid, BioWare.
  40. defive
    Mar 14, 2012
    5
    A decent game let down by one of the worst game endings I've ever seen. The ending is incoherent, inconsistent, and incomprehensible nonsense that really wrecks any sense of accomplishment.

    Other than that the game is okay, but my least favorite of the three. Plus there's the issue of the cheeky paid for Day One DLC.
  41. hellogoodbye
    Mar 6, 2012
    5
    I thought I was lucky at the time to secure an early copy for myself and my partner. By the time I was 10 hours in, I was left wondering what happened to this series. Where did it all go so wrong? It's as if Michael Bay created this game in just how lame the story ended. Didn't help that there were 2 stars from Jersey Shore in it either.

    Audio and music were pretty good for the most p    art, but there was nothing as cool as M2 playing at the end of ME1. I'd recommend people just youtube the ending and save themselves the agony. I'd also suggest you start praying that if they start a Mass Effect MMO (the universe is really quite good for this) that they hand it to a different company as TOR got boring fast.… Expand
  42. 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
  43. Iceforge
    Mar 6, 2012
    3
    I can't believe this.
    I've played ME1, it was a great FPS/RPG hybrid with its flaws, but the story and the art direction pushed it foward, I've enjoyed every single moment of that pearl.
    Then I've played ME2, and I was disappointed, it wasn't BAD but it was suffering from being the middle title, so no real plot progression, most of the game was going around being the fetch boy for the loca    l quest givers, but I actually liked how they evolved the gameplay into being more dinamic even though I was worried about it going closer to a over the shoulder FPS and the mediocre quality of the wriiting.
    Now here we are at Mass Effect 3... what is this Bioware ? Did you mistreat your employers and they've decided to release a bad product out of spite ?
    The bad writing got even worse, you have destroyed all of the characters, the reapers have been downgreaded to a generic space conqueror when they were well fledged space death bringers in the first two games. "LET'S FIGHT BACK !" ? Are you joking me ? Should I be scared of a villain who dances between being an unbeatable abomination and Team Roket ?
    The gameplay is Gear Of Wars, plain and simple, you've thrown away the original gameplay and gave the middle finger to the people who made ME famous in the first place, but I should've seen it coming on ME2.
    The graphics are dated, UE3 is good if used right but if you put low resolution blurry textures and badly designed blocky levels with the same level of phantasy as TRON, the game looks bad even if the tech behind it is great.
    The Soundtrack is good at least, doesn't get boring and does its job into helping you immersing in the game.
    There is one thing that really hit me though, none of my choices matter. none. Everything just turns out the same in a different flavour, with some dialogues changing. That is NOT shaping the world on my choices, that is playing Deus Ex on your story and making sure things go the way you want regardless of what we think.
    And I can accept that, but at least don't LIE to us, tell us sincerely that you got over your head, wrote yourself into a corner and were forced to retcon stuff to make the game better, it's understandable and way better than giving yet another middlefinger to your customers.
    Finally, I don't know if Bioware's success got to its head, but they have forgotten their roots, they think they are god and whoever disagree is either a troll or WRONG by divine right, they won't accept critics and improve upon them, which can only lead them into making even worse games.
    I hope EA will do something about the few bad member of your otherwise great dev team.    … Expand
  44. TheOmgmissile
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    I have played Mass Effect 1 and 2 but 3 is a complete disappointment. First of all, they haven't put any effort on the PC version. The settings are anemic, the lack of official mod support, day one DLC, the game is only played with your mouse and the space bar, and you need to have origin. Those are big enough reasons to not buy the game, but that's not all. The game has also been made accessible by the brainless. I think they made a mode specifically for them, thus taking away development time from important things like the inventory system we loved from Mass Effect 1. Maybe I should from now on write to review for the brainless. Ok, so ur like dis space cowboy girl and u go around da citadel whacking folks who talk bhind ur back, k? And tehn tehres liek tehse aleins who u must kill. Is liek gow but u have sheild so u dont haf to liek stand in covers. U can nao also skips teh blah blah if u wanna kill the stuffs.… Expand
  45. Makin
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Why, Bioware, why would you ruin the franchise with this awful gameplay and storytelling??? WHYYYY????? It used to be deep and choice-oriented, what the **** is THIS?
  46. Quakecry
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    So, how in god's name is it possible to **** up so much with the sequel? I have empty new folders with more entertainment value than this. The graphics? Its 2012, and i expect things to look better, ALOT better. If tom and jerry had looked like this i would have been disappointed, AND IT WAS MADE IN THE 50'S. The sound in this game? Well that is pretty much the only positive thing to comment on. If you see this game in a store, RUN the **** out from it - and never return. Your life is worth it. Actually i can think of other things that would be better than playing this game, strapping my balls to a rock and throwing it out of the window, jump down from a 5 story house, putting my eyeballs out with a spoon. Oh how much more fun that would have been. If this game was played in my house, i would have puked 5 times, before the god damn game had even started. If you have bought it, take the dvd and throw it the **** out of the window as soon as possible. However, if you still feel for buying it, you can rather just call henry won bick in Germany - and become lobotomized with a needle. If i ever, ever meet a bioware employee that is in charge of the ME-series, i will find the biggest cactus you can find in mexico, and **** them from behind with it.… Expand
  47. skillface
    Mar 6, 2012
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. 10 reasons why Mass Effect 3 doesn't even deserve a serious review: 1. Bioware kills Emily Wong over Twitter 2. 7 variations of the same basic ending (90% of all endings involve Shepard's death) 3. The entire trilogy was a story told by a grandpa to his grandson at some point in the distant future 4. Shepard somehow gets PTSD over that one random kid that dies at the start of the game. Final Reaper also decides to take the form of the dead kid for some reason 5. Reapers decide to kill everyone that can make AI because AI MAY decide to kill everyone (The hell BioWare?) 6. Prothean crewmember is DLC (Disc Locked Content), also Jamaican for some reason. 7. All decisions from the previous games are turned into power bar, some are even totally retconned 8. The Citadel is used as religious symbolism, it's actually called Crucible and Shepard must sacrifice himself 9. Tali is a space elf 10. BIG McLARGEHUGE There's many more but I think I got the point across. Still can't believe there's so many people already giving perfect 10/10 reviews. And yet reviews like mine will get deleted. DINGU DONGU BANNU END OF RINE Be excretion to each other.

    Oh by the way: http://imgur.com/Nz54M    … Expand
  48. L000m
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Worst letdown ever. Obviously ruined by clever production managers. However, consequences will only follow for the Studio. This is how you Britney Spears a Nina Simone.
  49. maiv
    Mar 7, 2012
    2
    Bioware dropped the ball on this one. The execution of the story is pretty terrible. I stood by them when they strip down the gameplay from ME1 to ME2 but now they've stripped down even the story and dialogue that it's actually quite disappointing.
  50. stefanakisgr
    Mar 8, 2012
    0
    Mass Effect was great . The story , the characters , the combat system . Pure brilliance . Then came Mass effect 2 , which took a step back from the rpg part , but made it up somehow with richer companion stories , great voice overs , and a story build up to the 3rd part , that while weaker than the 1st , gave a sense of continuity and a promise of great adventure to come with mass effect 3 . Well crap . This is the biggest disappointment in the history of gaming . Don't be fooled by the critics , I honestly think they either took money or they didn't play the game AT ALL . Its terribly linear , your choices are choices only in name , they affect nothing . Graphics glitches everywhere that break immersion constantly , the story is just stupid , and the ending ? REALLY ? The Kotor2 ending was a masterpiece compared to this . And while they are at the business of ruining a great game , how about cutting a very important piece of the story and charge extra for it from day 1 ? Yep they did that too .

    Bioware , you are dead to me ....    … Expand
  51. JamesX
    Mar 7, 2012
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. My previews review after 30 minutes I gave it a 4, now I am revising it to give it a 3.

    All the holes in the plot just gets bigger and bigger. They sacrifice character consistency for cheap cinematic moments that felt as empty as it is cliche.

    Sad moment where refugee gets wiped out by the Invaders? Would be sad if you don't realize that the main character is standing there dumbfounded on top of a WAR SHIP with GUNS that can easily take out the enemy or at the very lease get the transports time to get away.

    A moment of polarization that set you against Cerebus? Would be motivational if you realize that Shepard (which mine did) had Singularity (or that Liara could do the same). The whole thing with Ashley being disabled is a dumb founding moment as Shepard is once again, yep, stand there mouth gaping dumbfounded, as the opponent RADIOS IN and WAITS for conformation from Elusive Man.

    This pattern repeats through out the whole movie and VASTLY distracts from the plausibility of the story, and is expanded upon things like

    The World is being destroyed, and what does your companions say in the Lift while Alliance Personnel are being slaughtered... "Well.. Shepard... I am not sure I can trust you.... can you comfort me and make me feel better?" all this is within the first 30-60 minute of the game.

    The dialogue is so horrendous, the plot so forced, it is a WORSE attempt at Action RPG than the Dragon Age 2 fiasco. At least Dragon Age 2 isn't a patch work of one liners that can be used on advertising posters.

    Going to struggle through to the end like I did with Dragon Age 2, but so far it does not bode well.    … Expand
  52. Breadordecide77
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    Another "rpg" from the glorious west, except this time with enough plotholes to sink the Titanic. If Bioware fans keep on supporting this stuff, I fear for future games where this kind of game is considered "good" by any standard. The WRPG died a decade ago. Do you like watching terrible sci-fi space operas? Do you enjoy mindless third person shooting? Do you enjoy "moral choices" that really amount to nothing? Then please buy this game and all its DLC.… Expand
  53. Stronglegs
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    BioWare, honestly, what happened? You used to take so much care with your RPG's; so much detail over every little thing. You've made classics such as KOTOR, but somewhere along the line you evolved into this money-eating, DLC-spewing menace to WRPG's. And Christ, where do I even begin with ME3? The story was half-assed and it felt more like a "Babby's first vidya" than a serious RPG. For shame, BioWare, for shame.… Expand
  54. Mirakulava
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Horrible. Gameplay is extremely dumbed down, lack of holstering weapons is obvious and the greatest disapointment is the lack of actual effect of your choices. Also, forcing **** and tranny relationship is a horrible idea.
  55. MrRiggs
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Only Mass Effect fanboys will like this pew pew pew laser toy gun game. This game was overrated form the start. Good graphics is the only thing it has going for it, its a typical RPG generic shooter that brings nothing far out to the table, only get this if you like average games form a once good franchise.
  56. 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
  57. alien5
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    The series has fallen downhill since the first. Everything has been continuously simplified, and the writing has fallen out of the realm of anything that could be considered acceptable. It's lazy, and one a person who has someone managed to enjoy the same game that Bioware has been recycling for the better part of the last decade will be able to enjoy this.
  58. Yuze
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Really enjoyed the game, thought the characters were really well developed and the set pieces were fantastic, you really did feel as though you were in the action. Amazing graphical updates and the fact that the series was in fact a story told by a granddad to his kid makes me happier as now I can await the MMO which will involve the true story instead of make-believe.
  59. Fatteh
    Mar 6, 2012
    2
    Mass Effect 3 ... I'm left with the same feeling as I was with DA2. How could they take such an excellent franchise and butcher it so. Disfigured and lolling in any sensory depth of story telling. Bioware have really sold out to they're paymasters on this one for what seems nothing more than a quick cash in on what would of wrapped all those hours ... no days; of choices, heart ache on Tali or Liara, keeping Wrex in check all to culminate into .. this ... "This" ... monstrosity, Thank you Bioware, for the years of great games, characters and story telling, You are sorely missed;.… Expand
  60. norolim
    Apr 21, 2012
    6
    I could give this game an 8.0. I actually liked it more than Mass Effect 2. Combat is better, RPG elements are better, quest structures are more interesting and above all you constantly feel that you are taking part in something gigantic, something epic. That is until the ending sequence. Artistically it's not bad. The options are interesting and dramatic. But after fighting so hard, making so many difficult choices and sacrificing so much over the course of the 3 games, you kind of feel all that was in vain. There is no feeling of fulfillment. Quite the contrary, when the credits roll you are left with an overpowering sense of failure. And that is not an impression a game should leave. In my view this piece of bad judgement costs the game 2 points. So final score for Mass Effect 3: 6.0.… Expand
  61. exliontamer
    Mar 24, 2012
    5
    Setting aside the ending (which has been covered to death), there are too many flaws in this game to give it anything higher than a 6. The journal, for example, which defaults to the middle or bottom every time you open it, rather than the latest quest you've received; the dozens of "find my long lost doohicky on some random planet" quests which amount to simply scanning a planet to resolve; and ultimately the fact that most of your efforts to save the galaxy boil down to adding 50 points to some vague number which you're trying to get as high as possible before the final battle. And this arbitrary number results in minor little changes to the cutscene you watch at the end -- and none of it really matters. It feels incredibly empty -- wow, sure glad I saved that guy back in ME1 so I could end up with a higher Military Readiness number at the end of ME3 so I could... um what exactly did it change? Oh yeah, Big Ben didn't get vaporized in the cutscene at the end! Yay! That and the fact that every decision you made didn't really matter: let the big bug queen live in ME1? Great! She's back and happy to help you! Killed her? Great! A cyborg version of her is back and happy to help you (or not... but does it really matter?).

    None of this would matter all that much if Bioware promoted ME3 as Gears of War in Space, but they piled on the hype about every one of your decisions meaning something BIG, about all your questions being answered in the end, etc.    … Expand
  62. scotius
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    Did you like mass effect 1 with its far reaching decisions or building the ultimate team of badasses in mass effect 2? I did, and was led to believe that my decisions in mass effect 1 and 2 would have implications in mass effect 3. Guess what? They dont. Have you ever wondered what would happen if an excellent cover shooter like Uncharted or Gears of War had been developed by a bunch of retards? If so, this is the game for you. The gameplay is absolutely effing atrocious. For all the money that went into this game, it feels like it was programmed by Andre the Giant slamming his spastic head on the keyboard. One button serves about 18 different purposes meaning you will die a lot. The hardest difficulty setting is too easy. The gameplay also applies to the multiplayer. Bioware decided that you can only get the best ending if you sink A LOT of hours into the multiplayer. This is them really taking the piss because the cover shooting (gone is the RPG elements, meaningful conversations and minigames from the first two games) is crap. The graphics... Everything has been purposefully darkened to hide the fuzzy details on a visual engine that is now aging very badly. The graphics will not blow you away but neither will they disgust you. They are very average. Nothing special. Remember how you could be a paragon or a renegade? That was good, wasnt it? Bioware got rid of them both now to the point where they are utterly indivisible from each other. This game is disgusting. I am very glad I rented it. Make sure you buy it used. Notice how all the professional reviewers are giving it 10/10? Also note that EA and Bioware are advertising heavily on their front pages. These reviewers are all bought and paid for. The one thing in this game I thought might be cool was that Jessica Chobot was in it. I was hoping I would be able to gun her down like the **** mutt she is but you cant even do that either. I hope Jessica Chobot gets eye cancer, aids or both. She is a talentless hack with a push up bra. Her being in this is a gimmick and that sums up this game. A bunch of failed gimmicks. Because this game has no redeeming features whatsoever, I am voting it a zero.… Expand
  63. whitespider999
    Mar 12, 2012
    10
    Mass effect 3 is a fitting conclusion to the mass effect saga. It boasts significantly improved gameplay fluidity and mechanics, as well as a more varied campaign. The story is emotional, hard hitting, and diverse. The games visuals have been improved a lot, and the pc version looks quite spectacular despite and aging core engine, and runs smoother than the previous games to boot. In terms of streamlining - which I hate - the game is in between mass effect 1 and 2, the major disappointment in the game is the planet exploring, which has been stripped down. Imported save games determine a lot, from entire characters no longer existing in the story to conflicts that play out entirely different.Multiplayer is fun, and is not required to get the best ending in the game. In the end, mass effect 3 is special. As good as mass effect 2 in storytelling, and almost as good as mass effect 1 in rpg-like skill/item medications and exp distribution. My favorite in an acclaimed series.… Expand
  64. KerrJMF
    Mar 8, 2012
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game itself was, by far, the best of the series. However, it was absolutely ruined by a slate of unbelievably sour endings. None of your previous choices matter in the end. The last twenty minutes are depressing and bleak, even with the "good" ending. If your are emotionally invested in your squadmates or LI, proceed with caution and expect the worst; for the worst manifests. The Bioware writing crew seemed to go the extra mile, complete with introducing inexplicable plot holes to make the endings extra dour. The ending will ruin it for you. Promise.… Expand
  65. Valvar
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Why did I waste my time on this piece of crap? I could have watched The Room about 15 times instead. It's about as bad as Dragon Age 2, and that's saying a lot.
  66. dmz82
    Mar 9, 2012
    1
    The Mass Effect series has carried much promise. The first two games were real winners and successfully implemented the notion of player choice influencing the plot in meaningful ways. It's hard to think that with such a demonstrably successful formula in their possession BioWare could do anything to damage the series, let alone ruin it. But that's exactly what they've done--in as little as five minutes. Of course, I'm talking about the ending everybody is in fits about. From a plot perspective, the ending to this game is unforgivably bad--a true facepalm moment in the history of gaming. The game purports to have numerous endings, but the reality is that this isn't true. They are, for the most part, the same. Mass Effect 2 had much more variance in its endings, which is ironic considering Mass Effect 2 had to account for an upcoming game when mapping out its endings. Mass Effect 3 had no such constraint, and yet it funnels all your choices into what is the same ending at its core.

    I rated this game a 1 because the ending is truly THAT bad. It's just horrible.    … Expand
  67. anubite
    Mar 8, 2012
    3
    Mass Effect 3 is a bitter disappointment. I will do my best to briefly explain its flaws without spoiling anything.

    1. Very little care was paid to the story. There are many nagging plot holes that will distract you throughout the game. Glaring logical flaws that have existed since Mass Effect 2 and even Mass Effect 1. More importantly, characters behave very erratically in this game, sel    dom true to their original characterization in the previous games. BioWare took the easy way out in most cases, killing off characters at obvious moment. The plot is predictable (I found myself calling out what would happen hours before it did) and the characters and concepts new to Mass Effect 3 are either ridiculous (Kai Leng, the future space ninja) to just shallow (James Vega, token mexican-american space marine). The endings, suffice to say, will leave you in shock with how lazy they were crafted.

    BioWare did impress me with how it handled some of its lesser side characters though, I did not expect so many of them to return as cameos and not simply emails saying, "Hi, remember me?"

    2. None of your choices impact much in ME3. If you played the previous games, you'll find ME3 a little easier to play with some difficult decisions removed (such as choosing one character or another to live), but overall very little changes depending upon your choices in the previous two games. Almost nothing changes based on your choices in ME3, which is a bit surprising. Not even your paragon/renegade status really seems to influence anything.

    This is really wrenching. Major decisions like letting the Rachni living in the first game or not, have no bearing on the game's events in any meaningful manner. But also, deciding who you ally or help or not in ME3 really has no effect on the game's ending... or really much of anything.

    3. This game is ugly. BioWare really outsourced its artwork this time. Facial animations and modeling are inferior to ME2. Many big game reveals (a picture of Tali's face) are stock photo touchups (and by that, I mean literally importing a stock photo into photoshop and putting a lens flare over it). Level design is not as creative as in the original ME. There are occasionally some good in-game environments (such as a certain vegetated piece of Tuchanka) but they are few and far between. In order save memory consumption, BW even had to remove the ability to holster your weapon in combat areas. This broke immersion for me, with my character always hunched over looking down the barrel of their gun.

    Whoever designed Diana Allers' "dress" should be shot.

    4. The voice acting in this game is tolerable, though there are some spotty moments (Wrex stands out at times).

    5. The dialogue wheel is horribly dumbed down in this game - I was shocked. Immensely. There is always a "top" or "bottom" choice to pick (two choices) and every once in a while you'll get an 'investigate' option with 3-5 choices there, but less than 10% of the time do you ever get a "middle" option to pursue in dialogue. You're either paragon or renegade in this game, you can't walk the line through any situation. You're either on their side, or you're not.

    6. The gunplay is a little improved. Some of the new abilities are interesting. However, level design has not been improved from ME2/Me1, I'd say it's gotten worse actually. A lot of corridors, people constantly shouting at you to keep moving -- you can't even stop to look around and enjoy the scenery you like, or even plan an approach to your enemy. Corridors and guns are pretty much all you can expect in this game.

    I did enjoy the aspect of building up an army to fight the reapers though, and for a moment (towards the beginning of the game), I felt a little desperate as to whether I would be able to reach maximum army strength. I thought that the more time I dawdled on side missions, the less chance I would have at beating the game. But I shouldn't have been so silly - of course not. Why challenge the player?

    7. The multiplayer is trashy and I don't understand why they wasted development time on it -- besides marketing purposes anyway.

    8. The different difficulty selections are nice, but narrative is immersion breaking and insanity is pretty much 'dumb' in some instances of the game, where enemies zerg you.

    9. The AI is atrocious. Many encounters in the game are made easy when enemies funnel in through drop points or doorways - you can't just stun them all with a Biotic spell. AI tend to just get behind something and shoot from it.

    10. Not a single boss fight was designed well. They feel really tacked on and lame.    … Expand
  68. gorgathoon
    Mar 6, 2012
    5
    A lot of expectations came from the first Mass Effect. Unfortunately, Mass Effect 3 delivers on very little of what was promised. ME3 has taken the more casual approach to reach a wider audience. Unfortunately, this has shunned those who played the first one. There's a saying "Dance with who brought you." Bioware did not do this with the Mass Effect series. This cannibalization of its fanbase is at the heart of ME3.

    I played through an advanced copy of ME3 and found it entirely underwhelming. It is the weakest game in the series -- this coming from someone who found the story of ME2 a pointless placeholder.

    It's not that ME3's story is cliche, it is but that takes a back seat to how nonsensical it is. It's rushed and never follows through with the story from ME1...in fact, it makes irrelevant most of ME1 despite it having the strongest story in the series.

    The gameplay is nothing special either. Sure it's fine, but it's clunky and several actions are mapped to a single button meaning you'll roll instead of take cover and vice versa. It's on par with say, Kane and Lynch -- a mediocre shooter from a few years back.

    Once the game ends, it prompts you with an advertisement to buy DLC. Th;is is one of the most offensive things I have ever found in a game. Mass Effect 3 is a bad experience. I recommend picking it up used in 6 months for $10 bucks.    … Expand
  69. No_LiMiT
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    As I opened the box I was immediately hit by swarm of flies that nested on this piece of **** game.
    Bioware with DA2, ToRtanic and even ME2 has gone to deepest depths of hell, became one of worst developers and money hungry whores. You can pirate this but it is certainly not worth the money because by playing it you allow to be raped by Bioware and their sugar daddy EA and they' gotta mak    e their 300mil tortanic money somehow so enjoy 800$ dlc.

    P.S. That running animation, forced homosexual romances, bad textures and animations, taking away all RPG elements and making this a corridor shooter doesn't help either.    … Expand
  70. seuche
    Mar 6, 2012
    7
    its an "ok" first-person-shooter with a movielike displayed story and absolutly no innovation. with other words: its the call of duty of the action-adventures.
  71. Goden
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    They intentionally cut STORY-HEAVY content from the game in order to sell it on the side as DLC. Inexcusable business practices. I cannot give this game more than (1) for that reason. Abusing and manipulating your trusting fanbase for extra money is NOT acceptable.
  72. koodeta
    Mar 13, 2012
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I was really anticipating this game from Bioware. I'm a huge Mass Effect fan but this title was WAAAY off the ball. There were some gaping holes in the plot that really needed to be fixed, graphical errors (shouldn't be too hard to fix in an update), and just the unbelievable lack of care in this. I have played all of the Mass Effect games and this one falls short, QWOP short. The game has progressively moved toward action and less RPG, which is what defines Mass Effect, and more toward Gears of War-ish style of play. True, the story was epic and completes bits of the story left over from other games; but I'm very disappointed in how the game ended. I wanted to play Paragon the whole way through but no, I have to do Renegade actions to even continue the game or I die! At the VERY end of the game I have to choose to control the Reapers, wipe out all synthetic life, or join synthetics and organics together (which just looks nasty at the end picture). These are pretty much all the same choices but enacted in different ways. And after all that Shepard has done, he dies in a giant Michael Bay cliche explosion? Bioware is better than this. It's a terrible way to end the series and I disapprove.… Expand
  73. Stardog
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    The Field of View makes the game unplayable. We need a simple FoV setting in the options somewhere. It would take less than an hour for one programmer to implement.
  74. tommy22
    Mar 8, 2012
    6
    Reasons for a bad score (i would normally give this game an 8.5 but the ending really sucked and the only way for bioware to take notice is to take an extreme score). -movement on the battlefield, not as smooth as mass effect 2 -the find the resource being as boring as scanning planets -side missions have nothing to it -overall story on cerberus -some speech was very childish especially in the beginning (who wrote this script?); some was excellent tough
    -lipsinc off
    -very disappointing ending
    -ce dlc
    -no original missions (except for the one where you hack into the server mainframe)
    It is certainly not as bad as dragon age 2, but I am still disappointed; maybe I expected to much.    … Collapse
  75. SauceBoss
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    This game is terrible. I loved Mass Effect one, I'd probably give that one like a 9/10. the second one came up and **** it up. It turned into a COVERBASED SHOOTER BLOODY SCREEN SO REAL. and now this third one just destroyed everything. Ammo? Really Bioware? You added AMMO when the first and second one DIRECTLY said that ammo doesn't exist. full retard bioware. $10 prothean squadmate DLC? Why would you remove something so important like a prothean and sell it for $10? It's pretty obvious that you didn't make him "after" the game was put on the disc and everything, because many groups have already created a ME3 dlc UNLOCKER that UNLOCKS the dlc ON THE DISC. That's right, the DLC is right there on the disc, but you have to pay 10 dollars to unlock it. there's no way to get out of that one. Other than the terrible running animations, black and white choices, CHEST HIGH WALLS SO REAL ACTION PICK UP THIS AMMO, and payed reviews, this game sucks. About those reviews, let's take a look at destructiod for a second here. They claim that people are "trolling" the metacritic reviews, by putting useless reviews and 0's. Really destructoid? Are you really that paranoid? "holy **** this person hates a game that I like! they must be trolls!" That's a very childish thing to say, and for you to look over all of the legitimate complaints and call them "potentially legitimate" is also childish. It's great that you get paid by bioware and they let you have their games early and stuff, but sometimes you just need to stop being retards for a second, and think about what you're encouraging. Furthermo-
    You must pay $10 to unlock the "Review Ending" DLC package.    … Expand
  76. Sigvatr
    Mar 8, 2012
    0
    Synopsis review: Mass Effect 3 sure looks great (Models look nice, both characters and levels, and no visible textures problems on the main characters/levels.), yet it has many deep flaws that cannot be forgiven, these flaws are: The ending was horrible, a lot of issues story wise, very weak animations, the level design is mediocre (I said it looked nice, but design of a level does not equal the quality of the models/textures/UVs.) and to round this list off; There are some issues cornering the gameplay. While being a resident of the Netherlands, I was obliged to actual download this new, and fresh game from Bioware: Through the Piratebay. (Your jimmy can remain unrustled, it is legal here to do so.) Yes, really the Dutch law allows for downloading of everything. Look into our Wetboek van Strafrecht if you don not believe it, Biodrones. Warning: Spoilers. Anyway, time for the main review: After the start-up the menu looked clean and normal, and even for a console-port it had many options within the options menu. I could actually change AA-options, any many other things to! (Poly amount of the characters and levels, resolution of the textures, etc.) I applaud the people who designed the menu, I consider this menu one of the better things of the game. And after playing the game itself I noticed that the animations are very weak, the NPC's walk and run like any random Bethesda character. (For the scrubs, this means that when a NPC decides to run his upper body doesn't show any sign of the running that is going on, it's horrible.) The level design is also pretty bad, while not as bad as the animations, it's still weak. The potential of the nice models/textures isn't fully used in the design of many levels. This might be because of the CoD approach, yet it feels more like a corridor shooter then a game where a full blown assault is launched against the ENTIRE universe. (The last levels really show this off.) For instance take the level where you join up with the Turians: There is a very tiny space where you can walk and find/talk with NPC's. One reaper walking somewhere near the base, and a small vista here and there. It should be: A big and well designed fighter base. This is not the case. That's a bit sucky, Bioware, sucky indeed. Story and gameplay then: The two most important thing in games ever. Story wise everything comes to an end. This is ok, yet it feels cheap: Tali jumping of a cliff, Miranda dying, that doctor alien dying, these NPC's survived almost two games, and now they all die by jumping off a cliff. Blergh. Also some other NPCs are poorly written, from characters that are really stereotypical gay (In a game that takes itself very serious this feels strange and awkward, it's just as bad a stereotypical straight character.) and two NPCs that keep making talking gestures yet they do not speak. And I found this couple of mime players throughout the game, perfect for movies, weak for games. Toke me out of the immersion. My final note is on the very low rating, while Bioware/EA deserves this. ME 3 would get a 5 maybe a 6 out of 10. Yet this very low grade it due to a few events, first off all: Dear Bioware, hiring people who do not like to play video games will get you a 3.2 for your 20+ $ million game. For sure. And going after the CoD audience is even worse, the average gamer is 32 years old, Caucasian, semi-Atheist/christian, that raises the question: Was this game created for the average gamer? In my opinion: Nope. Leave this game be, and if you see it in the shop, place another game in front off it so people don't throw away their money. Sigvatr out.


    Edit: After playing the game some more I have seen a lot of sprites. Lowering the score to a zero because of that. Sprites in a 3D game? Almost in front of the player, Bioware please! Shameful Display!    … Expand
  77. exuwarshow
    Mar 9, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. One of the worst game I have ever played. Biggest let down in my gaming career. There was no happy ending, only **** If you watched BSG you know what I mean: an epic scifi tale with huge moral crises and battles and epic confrontations, ruined because some writers thought that they should get all existential at the end. I'll sum it up: there are 3 endings, all of which involve Shepard and Anderson dieing and the Mass Relay network being destroyed, resulting in organic life being sent back to the stone age. 1 is the reapers leave the galaxy forever, but an EMP destroys all electronics and the mass relays are gone, so there is basically no point in intelligent life. 2 is the reapers leave, but humans and geth are fused to make a new race of reapers for when the cycle begins again. And 3 is nuke everything, geth, reapers, humans, relays.

    There is no victory over the reapers, and a new age of galactic peace and cooperation, prosperity, etc. Only dead Shepard and dead dreams.    … Expand
  78. lucian01
    Mar 8, 2012
    0
    What a crap game! Bioware has done it again! Crap characters, crap story and crap setting. I don't understand all the positive reaction from users. They can't be playing the same game as I am. Either that or they are running a smear campaign against the public because they think we're homophobes. If that is the case - GET A LIFE!
  79. Cordelayne
    Mar 14, 2012
    0
    I signed up at metacritic just to write this review. It's awful that metacritic gives this game a 93 rating on some top screens, based on the reviews of 13 "critics." The spread here between a 9.3 critic score and a 3.6 user score is the largest I've ever seen. This game is the most annoying game I've ever seen.

    I'm going to this trouble because I absolutely loved Mass Effect 1 and 2,     and I was really pumped for 3. But 3 is a DISASTER!

    1. Paid $50 for store version plus $25 for game guide. I can't return it because I wrote my Origin password on the insert with the validation code. The game guide got a cracked spine the first time I opened it! Low quality all the way.

    2. I'm a sophisticated computer game player and computer programmer, with more than 25 years of experience. This darned game took me 2.5 hours to install! All kinds of problems.

    3. I was so beat down after that, I punted after about 15 minutes. I just didn't like the feel of the initial sequence.

    4. The game expects you to buy DLC content concerning a critical element of the game (the precursor aliens) right off the bat! The DLC was promoted the day the game was released! That is incredibly greedy and stupid. I never buy DLC unless I really like a game AND have finished what I bought at high price.

    5. The Origin intermediary program is insane! Having selected an option at some point during the install to have this automatically start when I reboot my computer, there is no way to turn it off.

    6. The game is almost impossible to run. After getting a successful install, off the $50 of DVDs I purchased, it takes 15 minutes or more to start the game! You can't just play the game you bought. You have to have Origin running (Electronic Arts's version of Steam) and it takes forever for it to log on and validate your password. Then, after the game loads, it doesn't start until it logs onto separate Electronic Arts servers. That can take more than 30 minutes!!!!! In my case this morning, it took about 8 minutes, but I've seen people complaining that at high-volume periods like Saturday night it can take more than 30 minutes. What in the heck is up with that??? Why do I need to be logged onto EA at all to play the game I just bought!!!???

    7. After a full install, it is impossible to run the game offline. Most civilized systems permit this. For example, I bought Skyrim in November and was able to run it for four months offline of Steam, after getting the initial patch. Origin is a very stupid program.

    8. I'm on a crappy satellite Internet location in a rural location, and the Internet connection goes down rather regularly during rough weather. But I can't play Mass Effect 3 during bad weather. That sucks. I paid $75 to buy the game and the game guide. I should be able to play it offline! (And I should be able to play it on a laptop during travel, etc.)

    9. When I tried to start the game this morning, Origin insisted I had to install a 16 GB update!!! WTF? I just bought the game with physical DVDs a few days ago. No way is such a patch required. The stupid Origin program obviously thinks I need to download the entire darned game, even though I've already got it installed! By the by, on my Hughes satellite Internet connection, if I did a download like that, it would knock me off the Internet for a couple of days.

    10. Finally, in the ever-growing list of fantastic aggravations, I learn from the manual and the initial game screens that I start out with all of my "war assets" in the "galactic war" set at 50%. That means ALL of the essential allies I am gathered are gimped to one-half. The ONLY ways that can be upgraded is to start with an end-game save from Mass Effect 2, or to play many, many hours of mulitiplayer combats.

    Well, I can't import a Mass Effect 2 save, because the computer I was using for that was destroyed by a particularly virulent virus. And I don't want to play multiplayer combat exercises, and I couldn't do it even if I wanted to, due to my current crappy and laggy satellite Internet connection.

    So, in other words, this crappy game, after collecting so much money, forces me to have such inferior troops that it may be impossible to win the game.

    ************* I'm VERY sore about this! I feel VERY ripped off and abused by a greedy and stupid company.    … Expand
  80. Catbus
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    I loved the first Mass Effect. Bioware has absolutely ruined Mass Effect for me with this latest installment. Horrible endings, writing, etc. What Bioware has done to this series that had so much potential from the first installment is criminal. Avoid this game, avoid this developer.
  81. 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
  82. Rubenh
    Mar 7, 2012
    1
    Painful. I loved the Mass Effect saga, but this installment utterly ruins it. It's an insult to gamers worldwide. Bioware approaches the story telling as if they are attempting to make a brain damaged turtle comprehend. Consequently, it is HIGHLY flawed, simplistic and lacking. An awful result. Addtionally, they have taken a break from anything that made the previous installments interesting and unique(choice-based storytelling; intriguing plot turns; emotional commitment) and replaced it with blatantly ostentatious cinematics that would only impress the aforementioned ''turtle-minded''. It's not just a shame, it's an insult. Bioware has gravely insulted and disappointed me by ruining what used to be such a great story. Don't go look for it and don't buy it. The only thing this game has to offer is a lesson in how blatant greed can ruin absolutely anything.… Expand
  83. camoe
    Mar 6, 2012
    3
    Do not listen to the people giving this game a 10 they are lying or bioware ea employers or just plain stupid this game is horrible its the worst in the series bye far their are no RPG elements left in the game at all even when you pick to play the game as an RPG they don't are about the pc you an not use your mouse wheel to scroll you ant access the journal with the j button on your keyboard you cant crouch any more like you could in the first game witch i liked the graphics and textures are appalling if you have any sense you will not bye this game if you do wait for it to be on sale or rents it other wise you are wasting your money honestly.… Expand
  84. trunk_slamchest
    Mar 6, 2012
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. im about 6 hours in...and im gonna flat out say ME 3 has jumped the shark.

    i had just finished playing through ME1 + ME 2 to get hyped for ME 3...and it just feels

    ....like its made for guidos....i legitimately feel dumber for playing Mass Effect 3. the first thing i said when i got on the Normandy was..."what the **** is Ronnie from the Jersey Shore doing on my ****ing ship?"...then i realized it was James, the new guy...frohawk and all...the first hour alone is 95% cutscenes with 100 BAYSPLOSIONS that you have no interaction with.

    the dialogue and voice acting is horribly done....everything feels force and emotionless. every piece of dialogue is centered around THE REAPERS and THE PROTHEAN DEVICE, which aria magically has the only access to..BUT NO ONE KNOWS HOW IT WORKS. garrus is as souless as a polititian. the council dilibrates and discusses things like theyre a group of high school girls. its so ****ing bad its hard to play.

    the interaction with the game feels like its designed for 10 year olds. scanning consists of pinging for THE REAPERS. there is no planet scannign or resource finding...theres WAR ASSETS...loot finding consists of open your eyes and look for the green reticule.

    the illusive man randomly shows up on mars...goes haha im backstabbing you...and dissappears...WITH NO EXPLANATION. you magically get spectre status which grants you a **** ton of cash...THERES NO DEPTH TO THIS GAME. i played as an adept through ME 1 and ME 2 which was ****ing fun...but the gameplay for adept in ME3 is use power + m1 + wait for cooldown + power + m1 + wait for cooldown...while the game throws hoards of enemies at you. its not fun.

    the worst part is...shepard has been pussified beyond belief...i regrettably saved ashley (who went from unattractive in ME1 + ME2 to super hot in ME3 btw) and the first 3 hours of the game surrounds this bull**** love triangle between ashley and aria...and out of no where...this guidette shows up to replace kelly on the normandy and starts getting jealous of EDI because its giving Shepard orders. theres one really obvious boob shot that was the most obvious ploy for guidos to get hooked on the game, it was pathetic. THE SOB STORY WITH THE LITTLE BOY AND THE DREAM SEQUENCES MADE ME FEEL EXTREMELY HOMOSEXUAL AND FEMININE. I DID NOT EVEN HAVE A CHOICE TO SAVE HIM OR NOT. I HAD TO FEEL BAD.

    i know im just ranting...but im gonna keep trying to push through the game til it gets better...but the more i play the more i feel like im getting dick punched in the jaw.    … Expand
  85. R6ex
    Aug 9, 2012
    0
    Worst Ending Ever!

    No Gamepad support!

    Minimal RPG elements!

    Low quality rendered cutscenes! Where are those photo-realistic CGIs???

    EA Origin!


    Enough said.

    Terribly disappointed.
  86. Gheedish
    Mar 6, 2012
    10
    This stunning game is by far the best of the trilogy. I tried playing the first one like 2 years ago and i couldn't figure out how to do all that stupid rpg crap. I love how this game just lets you run around and kill stuff without all those menus slowing you down. The story was a constant rollercoaster ride that keeps throwing curveballs at you. I was on the edge of my seat for the whole 7 hour campaign. Bioware has released another timeless classic that will be remembered forever. This truly is a company that can do no wrong… Expand
  87. Taciter2000
    Mar 8, 2012
    0
    I keep messing up my score so let's try again. I can't speak for anyone else but personally, I thought this final episode in the Mass Effect franchise was a colossal betrayal. I have spent a considerable amount of time and money procuring and experiencing every bit of available content for both prior episodes. I have spent countless hours meticulously refining my Shep and his backstory only to see my efforts frittered away by a unscrupulous EA board and their erstwhile stooges in BW, both of which are now beyond redemption in my eyes. I was savvy enough to avoid the travesty that is SW:TOR but I surrendered my judgement went I decided to give BW the benefit of the doubt this time round - more fool me. Oh and why are all the the fanbois attacking other posters? It's not their place judge others' critiques.… Expand
  88. 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.
  89. muchacho
    Mar 8, 2012
    0
    A shining example of what a terrible job Bioware does when porting console games to PC. Space bar is used to do four functions, the fov is terrible making it hard to explore the game environment and the textures are a lower quality than the ones in Mass Effect 2.
  90. PC-Gamer-Fan
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    Really bland game. An almost 1:1 360 port. No gamepad support on PC either yet Bioware can tell us they had to make day 1 DLC for 3 months but not enough time to support the 360 gamepad this UI is designed around!! You be the judge of how credible that statement is!

    Bland UT3 gfx & even worse average story which is little different to 1+2 just more of the same & confusing as well. ME1 g    ot away with it 5 years ago now its just whatever......

    If you like bland sub-std sci-fi with dated gfx & almost no PC enhancements then please buy as many copies as you can to let Bioware know they can get away with this & the approx â    … Expand
  91. WitcherGabriel
    Mar 8, 2012
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Let me put it this way - after this game I'm pretty much done with Bioware as my favorite RPG develoeprs. Lets go from the beginning. First of all - why is ENTIRE crew from Mass Effect 2 left you?! I mean they said that they with Shepard till the end no matter what. They with Shepard till Reapers destroyed. And bam! You have no one. If you romanced the most fragile and complex character in the ME2 - she's not in Me3. Why? Shepard fixed her, Shepard was her fortress sort of speak. And she left him right on trial... what's the point of Vega? I mean he has no idea what is going on with Shepard and other crew members, he has kinda no idea who is Shepard. So Vega is 5th wheel in all that. Also boxing scene is pathetic because of how very slow they were boxing and how repeatetive moves were. And council... I sacrificed them and placed Anderson in there and yet here we are... council is the freaking same and Udina is there (default option if you don't import save game). What was the point of doing what I did? I finished maybe something like 1/4 or 1/5th of the game and honestly I don't want to come back. Also - it's origin only with clumsy controls. So bottom line - I am VEEEEERY disapointed in this.… Expand
  92. ItaJohnson
    Mar 8, 2012
    0
    The other reviews all giving this P.O.S. negative reviews all cover the points pretty well so i dont feel the need to make a long diatribe asto why this game eats crap. The fact that the paid reviewers rate it so high makes me want to vomit. Aside from the whole gay thing (and being gay is pretty common these days.. if you own an apple product you ARE gay and probably in denial) the game is short as **** but what do you expect when they make a 1/2 assed single player game and a 1/2 assed multiplayer game. Mind you i never liked the first mass effect and HATED the fact that they took the 1 enjoyable thing (the mako) out of the second game. When will the idiot masses learn that bioware doesnt exist anymore, they are EA and as such they release more DLC than they do game. PLEASE for the love of god do not buy this game and if you already did DO NOT buy any DLC, if you do you are essentially saying " i am all for paying too much for ****ty games and than paying even more for content that should have been in the game to begin with.", which makes you an idiot. I wouldnt mind releasing a game and then an expansion like in the old days, but **** no frills gaming.… Expand
  93. Kordaris
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Terrible, terrible game. Gone is the excellent space climate of the first ME1. In is the cheap shooting and shallow plot more fitting a dumbed down shooter. Once interesting villains have been turned into "Evil Robots" completely lacking any imagination from the part of creators. Unfortunately Bioware is long gone as a company capable of creating interesting new plots, characters or adventures. Too many people with talent seem to have left, and we are left with ones who are inspired by "Twilight"(and in the case of Mass Effect 3, it also seems to be Jersey Shore). This is very sad, since the universe of ME had such a great potential, which was completely wasted.… Expand
  94. Khallighanm
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    First EA decides to remove Mass Effect from Steam and make it an Origin exclusive. Them EA starts supporting SOPA. Them Bioware spits on its fans, by releasing a extremely relevant DLC on day one. It is very clear that they want to maximize their profits... but, who doesn't? Every single developer of every single company wants to "milk their fans". The problem with EA is that they do it in a way that we feel exploited. I dont care about wasting 60 dollars on a good game. But buying a game for 60 bucks, on a EXTREMELY worse online platform than Steam, and feeling that my game is missing a very important part of the story unless i spend another 10 dollars, it is too much. I bought Mass Effect 1 and 2, and I`m not going to buy the 3rd game. Shame on you Bioware!… Expand
  95. RPGROB
    Mar 17, 2012
    0
    This game is a prime example of why the video game industry is dying--not by sales, but by soul. Release day DLC is an insult to consumers and this is exactly what this game has done. 60 Dollars isn't enough, they want more of your money upfront for the "full" experience, but we all know they will release DLC after DLC to try and milk as much money as possible from you. Just play Mass Effect 1 and leave it at that.… Expand
  96. halfcentaur
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Absolutely terrible game. This game is every fan fic writer's wet dream. Over 20 minutes of a single cutscene, then 5 minutes of gameplay, and then right back to more cutscenes. The game has zero gameplay value whatsoever. Recycled combat system, useless squad based choices, you're basically just a rambo that has to carry about 3 retards throughout the entire game. The reviews of this game from the mass media are just the perfect example of how EA buys out reviewers. The reviews are 95% fluff and buzzwords, 2% actual reviewing, and then the rest is just them trying to make up for the small criticisms they've given it. No really. I saw a review that complained about graphic glitches and problems with having to restart missions entirely for no reason, and then they go, "THE CHARACTERIZATION IS CHILLING THOUGH" as if it had anything to do with what they were saying. This game is a virtual choose your own adventure, where your choices don't actually end the story or change it in any way.… Expand
  97. paketep
    Mar 14, 2012
    0
    Origin, content removed to make gamers pay even more from the game, multiplayer that affects your single player ending, absolutely **** ending. This game is the poster boy of how EA has sunk the mighty Bioware.

    Wait until you get a 90% discount if you want to finish the trilogy. Avoid like the plague otherwise.
  98. v-The_Vidya
    Mar 7, 2012
    2
    Absolutely horrible, the first Mass Effect was good, I actually enjoyed it. The second one was a sinking ship. Now look what we have. Some space dating sim with shooting abilities. Is this the future of modern RPG's? (it's a rhetorical question, don't answer that). It's linear and the conversations are dull and boring . Can you imagine this game had a multimillion dollar budget? Look what they made. It's a disgrace and it makes me sad. And what about the first day DLC? What is this **** If you pay 60 dollars for a game you pay for a complete version of the game! I don't want to pay for a 56kb file to enable content in a game. At least the graphics are nice… Expand
  99. 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
  100. Pandafuhrer
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    From the entertaining first game to the "okay" sequel, it sank deep into "Terrible". Lazy Modeling, bugs everywhere, dumbed down just like dragon age 2, appealing for a wider audience and alienating fans, disappointed disconnected dialogue, piss-poor writing. I could go on. Not to mention removing in-game content and forcing people to pay for it as "downloadable content", which is given to you day 1 instead of with the game, to extract more money from people.
    Sadly, the blind fans will continue to support it, but as a refined gamer, I warn all others to not even touch this sinful shadow of a videogame.    … Expand
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Critic Reviews

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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.
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  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]
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  3. Absolute Games
    Mar 31, 2012
    85
    Finishing a trilogy is always difficult. Tying off dozens of story threads which had been woven by players into many different tapestries is a daunting task. Mass Effect 3 is the first game that succeeded at this colossal undertaking.
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