Mass Effect 3 PC
User Score
4.7 out of 10

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 4364 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,810 out of 4364
  2. Mixed: 368 out of 4364
  3. Negative: 2,186 out of 4364

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  1. CazicLFD
    Mar 8, 2012
    3
    This game was a huge dissapointment for me. The soundtrack was terrible compared to what was in me1 and me2, the animations are awful, most of the writing is absolutely horrid. The way they handled the characters from me2(besides garrus and tali) in this game was also a big let down. What pissed me off the most about this game was the story however, more specifically the ending. I wont give away spoilers, if you enjoyed ME1 and ME2, stick with those, dont waste your time with ME3, because when you finish it you will be thoroughly dissapointed with the entire series because of the ending.… Expand
  2. Ansatsu83
    Mar 9, 2012
    2
    My review is based on the game as a whole. It is poorly planned, buggy, storyline left many unanswered gaps. The multiplayer is mediocre at best, the whole game is an extreme disappointment to the franchise. Bioware should have stopped focusing on that failure of a game known as "The Old Republic" and planned this one and given it their soul.

    The storyline just did not seem intriging, the     multiplayer has bugs where you can lose unlocked characters and equipment that you buy, sometimes for real money. A lot of players have lost a lot and are pretty angry at bioware.

    I encountered a bug when importing a character from me1, to 2, to 3. I romanced liara in 1, but it said I romanced ashley, which is false. I have never romanced Ashley in any of my play throughs. I loaded the same me2 file into me2 and played the storyline, it was definitely Liara as well.

    On top of this the game has horrible controls. I have no idea which moron decided to put the action button the same as the roll and take cover button but all I tend to do is barrel roll all over the place or stick into cover I don't want to while I try to activate a door or revive a team mate who was in cover.

    I recently lost every bit of gear I had unlocked on multiplayer, a level 4 pistol, a quarian engineer, a salarian engineer, multiple level 3 sniper rifles and assault rifles with multiple level 2 mods, a turian character, an asari vanguard, etc. I am done with mass effect 3 and I highly recommend every gamer stay away from this.

    The only reasons I am giving this a two out of ten, the graphics are still not bad, the worlds seem well constructed despite the controls being terrible. And you get to see Tali's face for once.

    I am sorry Bioware, you have failed us a second time in a couple of months, you have lost your edge just like Bill Roper and his constant failure of game development after Diablo 2. Some advise to bioware, leave your industry...    … Expand
  3. Arata
    Mar 7, 2012
    2
    Can't play without origin. I bought it today and am currently downloading a copy that doesn't use origin. I fully recommend this action to everybody. I haven't started playing yet, but I'm guessing that it's half a game with lots of DLC that I will never play.
  4. RanleyStoo
    Mar 6, 2012
    3
    Mass Effect 3 is yet the latest disappointment from BioWare. Gone are the days of a solid RPG setting taking the foreground and a plausible story in the background. With the addition of Autodialogue you are now forced to witness a story first and a game second. Calling this an RPG is an insult to real RPG's like Planescape, Fallout, Baldurs Gate and Neverwinter Nights. The first Mass Effect game was truly great, it had the classic RPG elements and focus while still telling a good story. The second game began to discard RPG elements for a more Gears of War style shooting game. By the time the third arrived all hope was lost, the "decisions" you make can be skipped over in auto-dailogue mode, the reprecussions of the decisions have little to no impact upon the endings except at the very end. ME3 will be heralded by many as some truly great game in a series of great games. Perhaps, and for that it earns at least 3 points from me. However, to see it called an RPG and created by the same people who were responsible for great ones such as NWN BG2 and DAO it's a massive step backwards and thus lost 7 points.

    But you know what? You'll just ignore all of this and claim I'm being a homophobe instead.    … Expand
  5. Kuudou
    Mar 6, 2012
    2
    The result here was massively predictable, given the controversy surrounding EA/Bioware's recent policies regarding their other games and their fanbase in general. All of which can be overlooked if ME3 turned out to be a decent game, which was not the case.

    The end of ME2 actually set up a great cliffhanger and promised great things to come, and ME3 drastically feel short. This is mainly     due to its focus on romancing options, having the personal trials of the crew overshadowing the main story, and an oversimplified explanation to tie up everything. Gameplay offers very little innovation from the last two games in the series, and the squad mechanics are downright retarded.… Expand
  6. Nil
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    So, let's start. My last review got deleted. Why? This game genuinely deserves a 1. -Disregards previous installments. -Gameplay is akin to Gears of War, this is not a good thing. -Graphically inferior to the previous game in the series. -Horrible, uncanny valley, character models. -Favors "sexy" over logic. -Story driven game with a story so badly written, including cheap emotional manipulation attempts. Oh sorry, I am meant to cry about a child who turns out to be important just because.
    -Old characters die in unimpressive scenarios and for no real reason. Remember those characters from previous games? They are not important anymore.
    -Enemies are simple, gameplay tediously repetitive whack-a-mole.
    -Disregards choice, it gives you the illusion of selecting where or what happens, but in the end this doesn't affect outcome. Ending choices happen LITERALLY at the end. Whatever you did beforehand plays no role in the end.
    -The ending.
    -The dialogue throughout.


    Overall this game took everything that is wrong with modern games and tacked it onto this franchise, a franchise we once loved and cared for.
    This is completely unacceptable.    … Expand
  7. wijse
    Mar 6, 2012
    4
    Mass Effect 1 is the best PC port in the trilogy. more customizable keyboard bindings , walking stance on/off, you can holster your gun, better writing, better fov. This game is lacks all of these, they don't even care about PC players anymore. I can not fathom why they do not want to take advantage of the power of the PC and release high resolution textures, like they did with DA II. The game also has fewer dialogue options and more auto dialogue, they really really want the Gears of War derpy console market.… Expand
  8. 123456
    Mar 14, 2012
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. With regard to the ending, I completely agree Ross Lincoln on Gamefronts article called Mass Effect 3 Ending-Hatred: 5 Reasons The Fans Are Right. It is a fantastic article and the only negative comment from an established media site I have yet seen.

    The many hours prior to the final one are really very enjoyable. I was close to completing everything in the game on the first play through that was available, barring a few non-combat side quests.

    The combat remains the same as ME2 but sped up a great deal. The cover system remains quite clunky where you sometimes get in cover, sometimes just do a diving roll against a wall and stand up again but it is not that bigger deal. You will probably only die by going too far ahead too quickly and getting flanked, where due to the very rigid but effective combat system you are reliant on enemies being in only one direction.

    The acting, story and missions are everything you would expect from the series, which to me means a high standard. Legion and Thaneâ    … Expand
  9. PinballWizard
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    I bought Mass Effect 1 on release, and it was great. I rented Mass Effect 2 and it was a bit of a letdown, but I still got some enjoyment out of it. I decided to try this even after all of the horrible things I have heard about it. This game is just a huge disappointment. Wonky controls, texture and graphical issues, retarded dialogue, and (oh boy) super politically correct gay sex scenes. Not to mention the ending is a huge copout. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this game.… Expand
  10. Sharky70
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    Loved Mass Effect 1 and 2, this is a linear piece of **** I find myself watching TV in the background simply to keep myself somewhat entertained. Characters lack emotion, and don't have the same feeling in the previous games. Bioware pretends that the criticism is purely hate, when by looking at the negative reviews, this is clearly not true. Dialogue options are simplified and boring, combat is about the same, hardly any improvements, and explore-able environments have completely disappeared. This game is a giant joke. Personally, I'm pretending that Mass Effect 1 and 2 are true to the series, and 3 never happened. This is what the Crystal Skull movie did to the Indiana Jones series, it raped it.… Expand
  11. e_x_p
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    Do not buy this game. I repeat: do not buy. Never have I been so appointed with a supposedly *blockbuster* game. The let down comes not only from the video game itself, but the company philosophies behind the production and marketing. Mass Effect 1 was a fine game to begin with; Mass Effect 2 dumbed down the gameplay but intrigued with a mass universe of options and story lines. Mass Effect 3 has neither. EA & Bioware decided to throw away the fine-grained RPG elements and hooking storylines all together. Instead, ME3 became a gimmicky and overhyped product behind EA's big corporate strategies. First they refused to release the game on Steam (Valve's premium gaming platform with high praires from millions of players) because Valve had *incompatible* policies for publishing games. What does EA want? Right, spy on its users with Origin. Secondly, the honest user reviews here are both the truth and a protest to EA's review-lobbying strategies (9.2 vs 2.9 which do you really believe). What happened when they realized the truth? Like a dictating government, they pushed Metacritic admins to remove unfavorable reviews. Even if it's true that EA, Rockstar, Blizzard and other big game companies all buy high reviews for their marketing, at least MAKE A GAME that deserves to be praised. Not this piece of junk. Steam removals such as Dragon Age, Crysis, and Mass Effect .... I am not going to buy another EA game again.… Expand
  12. Guildenstern
    Mar 7, 2012
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It's a great shame that the fanbase is being painted as uninformed, unreasonable and even homophobic. There are a few idiots letting us down, but the vast majority of disappointed fans are unhappy with this game simply because it does not nearly deliver on the promises made by Bioware since the franchise's inception.The endings are particularly poor, not only because the twists are illogical and the tone is so depressing, but because your choices barely make any difference to the final outcome. Favourite characters are reduced to cameos. Long-awaited moments are handled with complacency (for example, the reveal of a particularly beloved character's face, for which a Getty stock photo was used with only the most minor of Photoshop edits). It's a very good game in many ways, but it could have been so much more. We didn't want this to happen. We wanted it to be everything Bioware promised that it would be.… Expand
  13. chickymug
    Mar 14, 2012
    3
    BioWare did some great things with Mass Effect 3 in terms of character moments and inclusiveness. It's a shame that the incomprehensible ending overshadows all of it. I can't, in good conscience, recommend a game if I have to add "just stop before the end" on to the recommendation.
  14. ryn
    May 15, 2012
    4
    There are many areas where ME3 has improved upon it's predecessors. Unfortunately, the price for all of these improvements was too high. Let me start by saying that the ME universe has never felt so small. The Citadel is the only hub "world"Â
  15. Scritty
    Mar 17, 2012
    0
    Every iteration of Mass Effect BIoware seem to actively looking to "simplfy gameplay". From the herady heights of Baldurs Gate 14 years ago - to this generic simpletons game "Gears of War Lite". In another 20 years Bioware will be releasing a stunning graphical representation of Pong - and still having the nerve to call it an RPG. There is so little to Mass Effect 3 - gameplay wise I would rather spend my time on one of those free Java game sites. Rubbish - and made all the worse by the fact it bears the name of the once mighty Bioware - Along with the generic and shallow "Star Wars t OR" this game goes straight to the back of my games cupboard, to be tossed out when the day comes that I don't wince at the waste of £35… Expand
  16. crescent
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    After Dragon Age 2, I didn't believe that bioware will have what it takes to throw out another bad game. What has gone wrong with this once top-notch developer? Are they all short sighted with only cash in mind, or have they fired all those who actually cared about making a good game with pressure from EA to crank out more dough. What happens in the end, non of us would know. One thing we are sure though is that Bioware is no longer the esteemed developer it once was, its reputation going down the drain in a year, with ME3 being the final nail to the coffin. Disappointed.… Expand
  17. valero
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Played it for an hour. It's completely unfun. The levels are EXTREMELY linear. There's no sense of discovery or anything, just a generated static level with a few objects thrown in, and a straight line to follow. If I were 8 again, I would still be getting bored by how uninteresting the levels and objectives are.

    The main quest is just a compilation of side quests where you meet character    s from Mass Effect 2. You might ask "how can you know if you only played for an hour?" It's easy to tell since it's the exact formula from Mass Effect 2 (which I actually played through, somehow). You do a billion "data retrieval" quests where you just infiltrate some building that has data in it, kill a billion enemies that you couldn't possibly die to even with the highest difficulty on, and then go back to your ship and make some sort of progression.

    It's disgusting that you can actually just rush a game and expect to make money. I'm sure they'll sell 80 billion copies somehow, even though it's really nothing more than a 65$ expansion pack.

    I give it a 0/10 because I'm actually annoyed even though I played it at a friend's house, and didn't pay for it. I haven't been this disappointed for a game since Dragon Age 2 (ANOTHER BIOWARE TITLE!, WHAT A SURPRISE?!).    … Expand
  18. JJDrakken
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    Your lured & lulled into a sense you'll finally make a difference. When you get to end you realize nothing you did matters, your herded into endings that no matter what will leave very bad taste in your mouth. They have flat out ruined emotional investment in the series you may of put into it.
  19. Narquez
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    totally frustration..
  20. PenIsMighty
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    A lot of the reviews here seem to be from people who haven't played the previous games. As a completionist Mass Effect 1 & 2 player who reached level 60 and then level 30 I think I am in a very strong position to advise you all on this game.

    Let me begin by saying I detested Mass Effect 3. It turns out every choice I made in the first two games was wrong; Bioware didn't like the way I pla    yed so have fixed all my choices for me.

    You wanted to be a full renegade heterosexual male Shephard? Sorry, Bioware says you were wrong. It turns out you were gay for Garrus all along. Do Bioware really need a 10 minute homosexual love scene in the intro? As an adult I could understand, if not accept, what was happening to my character, but will the younger generation? My prediction is that, like my Shephard, they will be pretty butt hurt.

    And this is repeated throughout the game:

    You wanted to save the Collector base? Sorry, Bioware says you were wrong. You wanted to kill Tali? Sorry, Bioware says you were wrong. You wanted to liberate the Promiscuans data? Sorry, Bioware says you were wrong.

    The concept of making character choices which worked so well in the first two games has been removed from this third chapter. Bioware knows better than you.

    Also the chat skipping bug is still there, where you accidentally select the next line of dialogue when trying to skip through the endless terrible cut scenes. Hint: make sure you save regularly so you can undo the inevitable homosexual consequences.

    My rating: 0/10    … Expand
  21. RedxLeader
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    I am generally morally opposed to writing reviews for games I haven't even played, but it's okay this time because I have played ME1&2. Since EA is in the business of making the same games over and over until they run them into the dirt, it's safe to say that I have already beaten this game a million times. Seriously though, EA can eat a bag of male sexual organs. We're tired of being treated like criminals for being fans. We're tired of you pulling content from your games and selling it at premium prices on or directly after launch day. We don't want Origin because one game launching client is enough. You don't need access to our computer files. EA is a criminal organization that peddles their franchises to the masses with the absolute most devious money-grabbing methods possible. EA is the cancer that is killing all the creativity in the games industry, and they will do and say anything to get away with it. Don't buy this game.… Expand
  22. TeamSprocket
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    I came expecting the continuation of the world of Commander Shepard and his battle against the Reapers. What I got was "Kill Everyone : The Movie"
    The gameplay (What should be a major factor in any game, "RPG" or not) was severely lacking, feeling like contemporary shooter #8153. The animations looked like some kid's first Garry's Mod video. And the ending, the ending is just plain bad. I     hoped Bioware would make ME3 the best one of the trilogy, but this has to be the worse of the 3.… Expand
  23. tototototo
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    If you liked Mass Effect, and were disappointed with Mass Effect 2's gameplay changes, then you probably won't be surprised by this game.
    The storyline retcons almost any choice the player made in the first 2 parts of the trilogy in favour of 'Bioware's official canon', removing any sense of a uniqe story.
    The climax is also incredibly cliché, in that the small child is actual    ly the villain and he's killing everyone to save everyone but the chosen one changes his mind.
    Graphically it looks average, the only real issue is the reusal of bodies, merely re-skinned. esp. during the gay sex scene.
    Overall this game is a waste of money, but luckily I've already got someone who needs the game and will pay me full price because he can't find it anywhere else, so no loss on my part.    … Expand
  24. vamos
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    From the timelimited quests that you get from walking around (and you can't see the actual time limit) to the numerous dumb deaths of characters. The gameplay is, of course, even further dumbed down yet again. The writing is like something out of fanfiction, and the Reapers get retconned to hell and back.
  25. fosuno
    Mar 6, 2012
    3
    After playing Mass effect one and two for hours on end I was heartbroken when I lost my save-files, So I decided before this came out too marathon through the first two games. However I later found out that wasn't even necessary as with the dumbed down choices and for the most part Ignoring of past decisions playing the first 2 games was not even necessary at this point. This was a huge let down because ME2 showed us just how important our choices were. as for the game it self Multi-player is decently fun however sacrificing the quality of single player to add it is a extreme let down. Overall If you enjoyed the overall feel of the first two games this will feel like a let down however if you just want a bro-op game wait for it to go on sale and it should give you some hours with a friend.… Expand
  26. Inception
    Mar 8, 2012
    0
    I dont know old Bioware. This game doing other company, because I seen very bad game.
    Bad graphic - where is HD texture pack on PC? Where is it? Dialogues - bathos, bathos, bathos everywhere, many bathos. What is that? I dont 7 year is old Gameplay - crap. Where is RPG elements? Where is it? Shooting, always shooting.........
    This is EPIC FAILURE.
  27. TheChecker
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    So, there's a lot of problems, like Day 1 DLC of content that Bioware blatantly removed from the game to sell as DLC, trying to make us feel sorry for a kid when our Shepherd have probably encountered worse tragedies, the incredibly lazy photo of unmasked, which is pretty much just a stock photo of a woman that had twenty minutes max in photoshop, the depressingly disappointing endings, when Bioware told us that there would be a happy ending that we would have to fight hard for, and so many more. Not to mention being exclusive to Origin, which is a massive sin in itself.

    I would have given this game just a five, as it's just that, an average game. However, since it's clear that Bioware bribed journalists and reviewers to give their game a good review, I decided to counter the inflated reviewer scores and give this game a zero.

    Criticism and feedback is one of the most important things for a game developer. Unfortunately, it seems fanboys nowadays views criticism as a direct attack at them or the developers. Fanboys. Understand that criticism is the only way for a game developer to get better. Bioware probably suffered a overblown ego from the fanboys, which results in declining quality for their games. From a fan who enjoyed Baldur's Gate, KOTOR, Mass Effect and even Dragon Age: Origins, it's just depressing to see all of this unfold. I can only hope that Bioware will return to their senses and start making quality games without Day 1 DLC. Also, DLC is a horrendous blight on the gaming industry and should never be supported ever unless it's purely cosmetic. Sincerely, The Checker.    … Expand
  28. notyourproblem
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    EA and their Origin service have raped the good name of Bioware. Not only they pumping money with their **** websites, their customer service suck. With their so-called piracy protections, normal customers have problems playing the game they used money on. Prepare to pay up and get nothing in return when you're dealing with these guys.
  29. Mr_Chow
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm terribly disappointed and dissatisfied by this "game". To tell the truth, I never thought about Mass Effect as an "shooter", but merely as an "Visual Novel" in its classical meaning - a book with CGI pictures, music and voice acting.

    I never cared about the graphics or shooter/pseudo-rpg aspect of the game. The only strong point of Mass Effect 1/2 were the characters we, the players, interacted with.

    Not only BioWare has crippled every single character's personality, but altered them in a truly terrible ways. Ashley being transgender?! Male Shepard being gay for random crew member?!! Tali's face being a photoshopped human photo?!?! Humanized EDI with clearly visible female part?!?!?! The player no longer being able to save everybody and live happy ever after?!?!?!?!

    Even literally stolen illustrations and the game being crippled to multiple DLCs are nothing compared to what BioWare/EA did to the plot and the characters, which were the only strong points of the series.

    I've got a refund in the shop where I bought my collector's edition and going to buy a bucket of strawberry shaved ice instead - at least that will be more enjoyable.

    P.S. Sorry for bad Engrish.    … Expand
  30. RustyShackle
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    The homosexual views of this game are very offensive to my Christian beliefs, I think Bioware should be much more aware of how many of their fans are Christians.
  31. Honeybadgers
    Mar 11, 2012
    1
    I'm not one to just bomb a game for silly reasons. I can find redeeming features in almost any game to at least call it mediocre. But Mass Effect 3 is the biggest letdown in PC gaming history. ME1 was plagued with wonky, unintuitive controls and menu navigation, but painted a rich, colorful universe that just demanded exploring. And explore we did. The Mass Effect universe was second only to Dune. The storytelling and acting were deep and meaningful, and the game just FELT enormous, even if it wasn't. You had so much freedom to do things your way, that it was mind boggling.

    The sequel narrowed the scope to your ship and your companions, telling a deeper, more personal story that blended wonderfully with the broad moral strokes in the first. Sure, you had to be a completion junkie to get the perfect ending, but the characters were fascinating, their stories meaningful, and the voice acting was superb. I really cared about the people I went to battle with, so much that I happily replayed it entirely just to make sure that one crew member survived.

    And then comes three. It starts out very serious, if a bit disjointed. You have saved the galaxy twice, and you still got court-marshaled? Your estranged companion is thrust upon you and then taken away. Relevant members jump in and out at complete random, you have no control over whether or not people live or die, and the woefully limited, boring citadel (seriously? How do you make the CITADEL boring this time?) is just a place where you go to get side quests that are essentially a dull minigame that doesn't even encourage exploration. Your companions are very mismatched, with Garrus and EDI being the only really meaty characters. Joker is thrust into some disjointed, ultra-serious role, and the animations make his eyes look downright crazed. All the animations are pathetically stiff and wooden. Why not simply use the wonderfully animated SWTOR engine and simply transplant the gorgeous textures? The stories are short, the side quests are almost meaningless and always presented exactly the same way. You either fly around collecting items whose relevance is never explained, and running from reapers in the minigame, or you are on a tiny, repetitive map fighting for equally irrelevant resources. The combat is okay, but feels so sluggish and imprecise that you can feel the "controller-itis" in its DNA. So low marks there. Also, I don't know about the other classes, but the Vanguard feels downright worthless, with absolutely no synergy in its skills, whereas in the first two, it was a fast paced engine of destruction.

    The new relationships are shallow, jerky, and forced upon you so quickly and back-to-back that it's laughable.

    And then the whole story draws to a conclusion. All that work you did to unite the galaxy, seems to have no impact or weight whatsoever. The final mission is disjointed, and all it appears to change is the length of your cutscenes, because it all boils down to the ending. The choices you're presented with mirror nothing that makes sense, let alone what your goal was. No matter what type of person you chose to play in the Mass Effect series, the ending presents nothing that you have any interest in pursuing. Not to mention glaring plot holes and absurdities. The ending was so bad, it single handedly ruined the entire series for me. After learning how things turned out, I will probably never pick up a Mass Effect title again. Nothing you can do will alter the eventual outcome, either. Finally, we get to the day one DLC. I didn't knock off a point from Portal 2 for having it. That DLC was cosmetic and completely unnecessary. But the DLC that adds 1% to the game and costs 20% of its retail cost and should have OBVIOUSLY been included, is the final nail in the coffin for bioware. I don't like making broad generalizations, but after the awfulness that was I can't help but get the feeling that EA has finally destroyed what was once my favorite RPG makers. The Mass Effect universe was the most astonishingly well-conceived, lore-ridden universe in gaming history, and EA just destroyed it. The user score (and it's not like the /v/ bombing of portal 2, which I stood against) clearly shows that EA just pays for ratings, because while barely tolerable as a game itself, the second you finish it, there is no way you can seriously sit back and think "That made sense. That ending was totally logical."    … Expand
  32. HateApe
    Mar 6, 2012
    3
    Disappointing, derivative and convoluted. BioWare tries to make things deep and emotional but with their Bayesque approach to storytelling it just ends up utterly pretentious. You'd expect better from the supposed masters of interactive storytelling. Speaking of interacting there is barely room for it in Mass Effect 3's dialogue system. With the cinematic presentation taken too far you will be watching Shepard go on and on without any form of player input almost as if you were really at the cinema. While the generic shoot and stop gameplay isn't necessarily bad it doesn't begin to make up for the rancid conclusion of this maudlin space opera.

    Do yourself a favor and play Deus Ex instead.    … Expand
  33. Electro-Delic
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    EA treats players like retards, while they are the biggest one, and should be taken care of. They may be thinking that they are in such comfortable and stable position that no matter what they say wont have any effect on whatever they do. Wrong! Players remember and don't forget.
  34. Mysk
    Mar 10, 2012
    5
    Honestly it's a fantastic game til the final 20 mins. The ending of this trilogy doesn't end with Shephard's combat or wit, but with a long cutscene that renders all previous decisions you made in the trilogy moot. The End is what bothers most of the gamers. It's out of character for Shephard, is confusing and is always "bad" regardless of how well you play the game. Basically skip side quests and such you get the Worst Ending, do the most you get a Bad Ending.

    Gameplay wise it plays similar to ME2. Combat is essentially the same, with the addition of slightly better melee capabilities. They aren't really that good even if you spec for doing melee, simply too many enemies are far to dangerous to get close to. In addition, muliplayer, despite Bioware's assurances, is REQUIRED to improve your ability to get a Not-As-Bad Ending. This may put off some who will feel that a single player rpg shouldn't be reliant on multiplayer. This time around there are no character driven side quests unfortunately. In ME2 the point was to gain loyalty, yet here there could have been SOME reason to help someone do something. Overall, the game feels rushed and is a very unsatisfying end to what was otherwise an outstanding trilogy. 5/10    … Expand
  35. HotdogAssistant
    Mar 6, 2012
    3
    What can I say? This is a HUGE letdown. It's one step forward and three steps back for Bioware. The Production values, graphics and coverbased shooting is bigger and better the ever. But at the cost of EVERYTHING else. Mack Walters Human-centric story telling is even more pronounced then in ME2. Cheap Melodrama is everywhere. Choices from previous games are just explained away in a sentence to get things the same for everyone.
    You need to have played ALL the DLC from ME2, as well needing the novels to "get" this game due to all the changes and ret-cons.
    By the end of the game, I was sick of seeing that kid that died at the beginning. Why does this traumatize Shepard when the death of his lover, his family, his friends and even himself have NO effect on him? Gotta get those Cawwadooty kiddies right?

    The endings are a **** cop out, that serve no purpose but to set up the MMO. The vision was compromised and the narrative is now clearly driven by EA suits, and hack writers trying to push their agendas in the subtext.

    I'm just....sad that it came to this. The talent has left Bioware it seems.    … Expand
  36. fastblood
    Mar 6, 2012
    2
    In all honesty, 2/10 is being generous. Bioware has consistently proven that they are one of the worst video game companies. The fact that they rely so heavily on downloadable content, and squander their funds on shooting copies of the game into space instead of actually putting effort into it will forever astound and confuse me. The first Mass Effect was a decent game, and I would give it an easy 8/10. However, over the second and third installments, more and more content was taken away and casualized. On top of this, great chunks of the game were cut out to later be sold for more profit in DLC. This portrays Bioware as the money-grubbing gamer-hating company that they really are. They capitalize on the popularity of a product, and cast aside the devoted fanbase in order to garner more sales from less involved gamers who buy annual releases of Call of Duty. It's a sickening fact, but it's true.

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

    I urge you to stay away from this game, or at least buy it used so Bioware does not get any of your money. Gamers who buy these releases should be ashamed of themselves for hurting the industry further by giving Bioware the ability to make more low quality games for ridiculous amounts of money.    … Expand
  37. alban
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    Well. Mass effect started great. We all know how good the first mass effect was and how much fun we all had playing it. Mass effect 2 went down hill big time but it was still playable, still fun. Not nearly as good as the first game but we let it go since we were just happy to have a sequel of the game we love. Mass effect 3. Well. I'm not sure what to say about this game. How? how could they mess this series up this much? Where did they go wrong and why? I could list the reasons but I won't since I only have 5000 characters to write this review. So I will make it short and sweet. Bioware stopped loving their games. That's all. They have become less interested in making games that are actually good and more interested in selling games to the mindless masses so that they can make more money. Simple really. Look at their latest games and tell me i'm wrong.… Expand
  38. MassEffete
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    I registered just to warn people away from this game.

    The dialogue is on auto-pilot, the new characters are terrible, and your old decisions don't matter. There are plot holes so huge in places it feels like Bioware never PLAYED the first two games. It's painfully obvious that the development time spent on a (terrible) multi-player mode that no one wanted, in addition to the story/action     mode options, really hurt the game in other areas.

    ME 1&2 did something really, really well. ME3 tried to do that and like six other things, and given another few years might have been able to. As it stands, though, it failed at all of them.    … Expand
  39. Hebelecan
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    I LOVED ME 1's story. The second one was pretty great too. But this game; where you are forced to have gay sex in order to be ''good'', where your actions barely influence the outcome. Plot holes are everywhere. RPG elements dumbed down so much it just looks like a damn third person shooter. Not to mention the Day 1 DLC that was CUT OUT from the game. I can't even fathom why some people actually accept this, you basically produce content that you can release WITH the game (and it's a LIVE PROTHEAN, jeez) but you choose to SELL it as DLC. This is flat out unacceptable. Instead of the usual **** EA spews out every year maybe you guys should try to make a good, full game that I can purchase, and actually feel good about it. I'm gonna sell this game, make the guy I sold it to sell it too just so you guys lose an extra sale.… Expand
  40. saroDimz
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Hundreds of day 1 DLC's, explosions like a Michael Bay movie, bad story, bad ending, mediocre gameplay. Do NOT buy. This game was marketed only for the COD fanboys and is just a sad attempt at cashing in. Shame on you Bioware.
  41. Shep260982
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    Total disappointment. Mass Effect 3 universe is dead. I spent more time in ME/ME2 reading the Codex and discovering the well-built sci-fi world. But here... This is some sort of B-rated movie, CoD from BW
  42. perfect
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    I registered to metacritic just to rate this piece of trash. Bioware is officially dead and buried to me and I am not buying anything from that company ever again. Signs of Bioware going down the drain were there but I refused to believe it, wanted to give them a chance after massive failure that was DA2. People can't even inform themselves about the game, is it any good or what because the internet is full of paid off reviews. In short, the game story is terrible and full of holes. Animations are ridiculous and dialogues are dumber than in DA2, complete travesty compared to ME1.… Expand
  43. CMASC
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    If you're a fan of the Mass Effect series, you'll be disappointed by this third installment and I'll just note the things cons straight away:

    -Having the multiplayer or co-op tied to the outcome of your single player campaign ending (DRM) therefore forcing you to play multiplayer just to get the best single player endings.
    -Absolute rubbish ending for the series, and there's no after stor    y narrative either.
    -Having to pay extra money just to get a DLC that should have been free in the game at the first place since it has essential information and part of the plot for the game.

    Those are just few of the many other things that makes this a total disappointment for me and about everyone else, I just feel cheated and betrayed by Bioware and EA, want my money back.    … Expand
  44. vaultboy26
    Mar 9, 2012
    0
    I've register there to say: I'm finished ME1 and 2 several times and I still a big fan of them but this game is really sucks. Ending messed up everything. I just finished a game and I'm in shock... For me - this game equals to Dragon Age 2. both of them - **** Bioware, what's happening to you!?
  45. DosFerret
    Mar 10, 2012
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. With stunning cinematic displays, horribly dumbed down gameplay and the ability for gay luvinz, you might think this title a shoe in for GotY. Unfortunately the story feels like your on rails with only 1 or 2 side missions popping up between main story plot points. If your bringing in a past love interest from ME1 or 2 I hope it's Kaiden, Ashley or Liara, Tali'Zora STAYS masked for all intents and purposes (search it and you'll find the photo is a stock model pic w/ lines drawn on it), Miranda's is ok, the rest are basically in there for bioware to say we did it without putting thought there. Most all of this I could forgive IF they had put ANY thought behind the ending. Controls are pretty smooth but due to almost every action being mapped to the spacebar you will find yourself rolling and taking cover alot instead of picking up that gun mod or looking at a datapad. they completely removed all minigames replacing it with cover your squad mate mechanics.

    Voice acting is still good with few exceptions (femshep is the better actor again) Character models have changed for some, and not for others. Ashley looks like Miranda, Jacob got 10 yrs younger, Zaeed got a personal trainer and a ton of ink, and then there are 2 new people from the Jersey Shore aboard your ship, Tali also looks like Miranda in the picture she gives you.

    Story premise was good until Shep crawled away from Anderson, when that happens turn off the game and just use your imagination to end it how you like. OR So you got the whole universe to work together, collected all the resources, followed paragon/renegade choices like a religion? you can look forward to the Exact same story ending as someone who rushed through the story and got squat (1 ending with 3 color differences) BTW Shep dies and your crew is stranded on a tropic island.

    Character development - I shouldn't have to even go here due to the other games were building the characters we know and love, but alas they screwed this up too in ways I won't get into. in short Bioware and EA rushed this didn't get a full game out (Day 1 Paid DLC) made an action game that a 4 yo can play and a rpg story that makes no sense with an ending sure to piss off anyone who plays it.    … Expand
  46. JaimeRaz
    Mar 10, 2012
    4
    I was so eagerly waiting for this game to come out since I finished ME2 . I was literally counting the days to get it, and play it with all my 5 different Shepards. I was counting on to experience all my different choices, coming to life with different variations and stories. I definitely thought that this game was going to have a big re-playability value, based on what Bioware sold us that their games give the players the possibility to make those stories yours. So I couldn't wait to play this game over and over, and explore all the different ramifications that it had to offer, but after finding out how the endings were and that we weren't really capable of modifying those things it became a very frustrating experience. This was supposed to be like " The greatest game of the century" and Oh boy had I known what was coming with ME3. First off the game is too linear, the story is set upon a path from where you can't diverge, and it doesn't feel like any of my actions from the previous games mattered at all. You get some benefits that don't really make that much of a difference when it comes to the endings haunted with a fleet of plot holes and bad writing. The game had some good moments I won't deny that , but what really killed it was the fact that it's fallen so low as to what it could have been. Characters' development in this last chapter of the trilogy was bad, it felt like Bioware didn't care anymore about making a good game. The romances thing were really dull and uninspiring. Also the terrible endings were a big screw you, for all of us people who loved the series and were following every detail when it was under development. I just don't know what happened, but this game as mentioned before has been dumbed down and made into a POP game to appeal the masses of people that don't even care about it, and in the process it lost its soul. So what's left is just a carcass of what could have been " The ultimate game of the century " Today I mourn the dead of ME series, and I won't be buying any other EAware titles after this " Screw you " title. Thanks EAware.… Expand
  47. Aetheryn
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    It breaks my heart to see such a series go down the tubes. I would label Mass Effect 1 as one of my favorite games but I just feel so alienated by this game that I just don't what to think anymore. Day 1 DLC, stock images copied, animations, textures, clunky story... I... just no. I refuse to believe this game exists.
  48. RPGFan2
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    Everyone at this points knows the general concept of what Mass Effect is at this point, so I don't need to spend time covering that. In fact, the core audience of this game has probably played the two games leading into this, and have a good feel for the game represents. So let us start there and talk about what has changed. There was significantly less development time this iteration, and it shows. Mass Effect 2 had an incredible prologue, that was polished to a mirror. Doing the space walk and having the sound mute, etc...it was a cinematic work of art. Mass Effect 3 shows it's rushed development immediately. You are cast straight into the game, given a short cutscene for the long awaited arrival of the Reapers. That's right, it isn't a big moment at all. Mass Effect 1 had more suspense going into the first mission, and that was just supposed to be a routine scout mission. The Reapers just show up in the back ground and start shooting stuff. Mundane and unimaginative. The dialogue and writing are atrocious, with the whole game feeling like it was written as a poorly made fan-fic. Inexplicably, actoresses like Jessica Chobot are cast in major roles in the game-despite being wholly inexperienced, and frankly, bad. The graphics are several notches down from what you'd expect in a 2012 game. Games like The Witcher 2, which don't even have a fraction of this games budget, and able to produce better visuals. The combat sections are keep distinct from the story, to a degree that you are either watching or playing, never both. The combat is repetitive and formulaic, often consisting of shooting down a corridor until a time limit expires. The cover mechanic is generic, and the game falls back on this gimmick too much, to cover for its linear, uninspired level design. Ontop of all this, the game has had its content sharded, to be sold back to you at a higher price. To get the full experience, with all additional content available on day 1, you will be paying in the hundreds of dollars.… Expand
  49. hailey
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    This game is terrible and the story is Twilight fanfiction posing as space opera. Don't buy this game. This is not the same Bioware who made games like Baldur's Gate. This is an abomination
  50. MusAddict
    Mar 7, 2012
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm rating this a steady 4. Aesthetics are amazing compared to the first 2 games, but that's pretty much where the pros end. Paragon/Renegade are useless now (they are joined together into "Reputation"), the spacebar for everything got me killed a few times, diplomacy between the Geth and Quarians is not possible, etc. I could handle misc team members from ME2 dying if you didn't help them in time, I could handle that you only have 6 squad members, but the thing that turned me off to the whole series is the lack of effort given in the final ultimatum... Such terrible, non-redeeming options. It makes me not want to replay the series because I know the end is not worth it.… Expand
  51. gambla
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Possibly the worst game of the century. Seriously this a joke. It makes me sick to think how EA will just milk the casual crowd and not realize how bad their game was. It was made in less then a year. The story is predictable, the graphics are filthy and muddy looking. Its beyond a joke.

    EA stop paying reviewers its not gonna save a terrible game.
  52. Yamaxanadu
    Mar 11, 2012
    0
    Not surprised that EA and Bioware made a crappy ending. It looks like in recent years its their ''style'' to slap customers in the face.
  53. TehBub
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Played for a a few hours, and simply couldn't get into it like I did with Mass Effect 1 or 2.
    1 had pretty fantastic writing, 2 was sub-par yet playable, but 3 just seemed to drag my nose down a linear pathway with an obvious, stupid storyline that could only appeal to slow people.
  54. internett
    Mar 8, 2012
    10
    This is not BAD, i vas writed negative review but when i play more then 2 hours is acualy briliant game, dont judge when you just started game ! just finish game and you wil change your mind you wil see
  55. mattlgroff
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    I used to be a fan of Mass Effect 1/2 before playing Mass Effect 3. The plot, the animations, the graphics, the gameplay (many many things taken from the Call of Duty series like Riot Shields, grenades, smoke grenades, hit markers, etc.), the writing, voice acting, and that godawful ending ruined the entire series for me with Mass Effect 3. Worst game I've gotten in a really long time, and the fact that they did Day 1 DLC just makes everything even worse somehow. Mass Effect 3 is a terrible game and should be avoided at ALL costs.… Expand
  56. Biowarelol
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    This is a terrible letdown. One of the greatest dissapointments in my history with video games. Gameplay is solid, but for ruining the game with plot holes and idiotic ending, I give it a zero. Not to mention the Day 1 DLC. This is the last thing I bought coming from Bioware.
  57. SaintArdael
    Mar 8, 2012
    0
    I really like the campaign setting of the world, and first and second part, I took great pleasure. But the third part ... it's a nightmare.
    The second part was good, even if it had some flaws. They were small and inconspicuous. Here they just did catch the eye.
    Shepard. The hero, twice saved the galaxy, put ashore. What the hell? As the Alliance could write off the hero of the galaxy, an    d perhaps the spectrum at the beach? But okay, the plot error. But the animation is running, oh, I do not want to see ...

    That boy, burn him in hell. Yes, he died. It is sad. BUT WHY THEY CURSE OF NIGHTMARES! I am extremely furious when Shepard was walking slowly on the forest. Just do not Mass Effect, and The Path.

    An incredible stubbornness of quarians. No matter what the galaxy is almost captured the reapers, WE WREST HOMEWORLD URA-A-AA COMRADES!

    And, of course, the ending. It's just terrible. Damn you, writers Bioware! Boy catalyst, oh, that was invented. You have killed the game. You burn in hell.    … Expand
  58. Cifie
    Mar 10, 2012
    5
    This was my favorite game ever, until I got to the end. The end ruined the whole series for me and made it so I could never play any of the games again.
  59. lumakker
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    This review is not against the game, it is against How the game is sold. First of all: Origin only is completely unacceptable. I bought both Mass Effect 1 and 2 on Steam and i want to complete my collection in the same drawer. I really love the Mass Effect series but EAs DLC policy as well as the "action-oriented" direction the game is progressing towards to appeal to the CoD audience are the reasons why i will not buy Mass Effect 3. A game has to include everything in the already way too high 60â… Expand
  60. VanFanel1980mx
    Mar 6, 2012
    2
    There was been a lot of negative reaction about the three gameplay modes implemented in this installment, while I find the RPG mode just as the usual Mass Effect while the Action mode is more straightforward and just goes for a predetermined outcome most of the time, but Story Mode is not even what we expected, for one it is not even as Hepler's critics thought, you have to actually fight your way through the game BUT the difficulty is dumbed down to the point of having no inmersion or sense of urgency, if you want to see how the story goes you are better off watching someone else play it on You Tube, otherwise you will be bothered by gameplay a lot.

    The Story is what you could expect and let's leave it at that, the ending was too predictable and as always you can expect another sequel, the "diversity" stuff has been criticized but that's for whoever wants to play it that way, nothing breath taking, more akin to a typical fanfiction.

    For an action game it is an OK game, for an RPG is below average.    … Expand
  61. rpgMasterFan
    Mar 8, 2012
    0
    Poor shooting. Linear schematic. Mainly for the 13 year old. Dialogues for children, the world too. A simple, requiring no trivial for pseudo player. Graphics poor. The combat system poor. Pseudo dialogues could not be. Overall, kitsch and trash.
  62. Haelium
    Mar 7, 2012
    1
    From the hamfisted forced drama to the endings taken straight from Deus Ex and re-branded, Mass Effect 3 is evidence that Bioware is finished. Between The Old Republic and Dragon Age 2, Bioware have either forgotten what made their games great, or they are being forced to make bad decisions by EA.

    The animations are an embarrassment to say the least, the sprinting animation in particular.
    Gameplay is a carbon copy of Mass Effect 2, but with an inferior level design.
    Choices made in Mass Effect 1 and 2 are barely noticeable, which was a major selling point for this game.    … Expand
  63. Activate
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    The story is very unoriginal, and many aspects contradict the lore of the ME series. Basically you're paying for a reskinned Gears of War here, much like ME2. Even worse, the writing in this game is abysmal. My 7 year old niece could come up with better script and story than this. The ending is the star in this. Do not buy this game.
  64. stargategod1989
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    i had already read the spoilers for this but i decided to pick it up just to check it out im sorry i did and will be taking it back for a full return since it "somehow" stopped working. this is a terrible game, with a terrilbe plot and a horrible ending that sucks any tiny enjoyment one got from the game
  65. TheWheeel
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Gameplay feels worse than before and they pretty much just ignored the previous lore. How they could mess it up so bad is anybody's guess. This game was made by EA for the sole purpose of making money off the Mass Effect name.
  66. xxquickscopezxx
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    I just got the game out of the mail, played it, and was so glad I could finally have some good old Mass Effect fun. I was shocked when the game told me I have to pay 10$ extra to get my Protean squad member and the only happy ending. Also, all of the team members of my gender kept hitting on me! I don't understand why this game tries to advertise homosexuality so much to the player. I will have to address this in church group and tell my friends not to buy this unholy piece of sin.… Expand
  67. Votan
    Mar 7, 2012
    1
    Mass Effect 3 is just a terrible game. This game is the embodiment of everything wrong with gaming today. Bioware took one of my favorite all time games and turned it into steaming pile. Mass Effect 3 is poorly designed, poorly animated, poorly written, and is an obvious attempt just to cash with the fanbase with a terrible sequel with none of the effort of the original. The game also features downloadable content that costs extra money that fundamentally influences the story, in an attempt to milk more money out of the the player base which shows no respect for the storyline at all. I will never purchase another game from Bioware.… Expand
  68. Molotova
    Mar 8, 2012
    2
    ----The bad:
    1/ The decisions from ME1 and ME2 have very little impact on ME3. Most are decisions are hacked away to funnel one down the story path. 2/ Romance is forced upon the player. In ME1 and 2, I always picked up "lets focus on the mission, no time for that kindof stuff with whole galaxy at stakes" option. Garrus who was the companion I had with me the most in ME2, except for when I     gave him the lead of the fire squad and the like in the suicide mission. All of a sudden he jumps out of the closet and wants a homosexual relationship !? That is insulting even to homosexuals... makes no sense, breaks the immersion.
    3/ The ending is bad. Seemed to be stolen from Deus Ex, except in Deus Ex they made sense.
    4/ The Game of Thronesque knack for killing off characters/companions the reader/player has grown attached to advance the story and for some canned emotional factor. Except for a novel when it happens the story advances and it is nice. In a RPG the player just feels helpless, conned and like it is a means to shove another cut scene down the throat.
    ----- The good: The multiplayer part. It is a nice addition to the game, although unnecessary if the single player game had any appeal or replayability ---- The ugly: Day 1 DLC. I am less bothered about it than most, for me it just translates into a quite expensive full game. Still it is a blatantly ugly move by BW/EA, and their cover up PR BS is just as ugly.    … Expand
  69. Dresden
    Mar 8, 2012
    4
    I haven't been so let down with a game since Deus Ex: Invisible War. The problems with this game are numerous and I could go on and on. I really don't have a clue how websites can give this 9s and 10s and expect to be taken seriously.

    The graphics are worse than ME2. It's the same engine, how did that happen? The Illusive Man's skin is smudged and compressed now and in some places NPCs ar    e replaced with cheesy looking sprites when a bit further away. Lens flares are WAY overused, even for a Mass Effect game, often being way bigger than they even need to be. Animation is noticeably stiffer and models teleport around in cutscenes. Anderson's running animation in the intro is just laughably bad. I've seen far better work from modders.

    The story will be fine once in a while but ridiculous bits keep pulling me out. For instance, in the Protheans's flashback, ONLY he has a Jamacan accent (which sounds silly in its own right) but none of his other race has it. They also use human military ranks apparently. Tali's big unmasking has been reduced to a badly photoshopped stock image they pulled off of the internet. Joker dates EDI. I mean seriously? He dates a robot? What's next? A romance with option with Legion? Actually don't answer that. The endings are completely ripped off of Deus Ex. And there are so many holes in the plot, I don't know where to begin.

    From Ashes, the Day 1 DLC is $10 for...get ready...30 mins of content. If that. Great huh? Avoid buying it if your money is important to you.

    Just all around disappointed in this game and I've had enough from EA/Bioware.    … Expand
  70. LEMIEUX66
    Mar 8, 2012
    3
    What the heck happened after Mass Effect 1? The story is dumbed down the feeling of the first and partly the second game is gone...Have they fired all veterans at Bioware and replaced them with people who makes action games for 13 year olds??? where is gaming headed??im genuinly scared and sad i really loved Mass Effect 1:-(
  71. Dragoncurry
    Mar 8, 2012
    1
    The execution of ending and many elements of the story is an insult not only to loyal Mass Effect fans but also to RPG fans in general. BioWare managed to do two things successfully: 1) Trivialize the effort a player put into the entire game by not addressing the achievements of the game in a climactic ending and 2) Ruining a trilogy of relationships between characters, races and heroes through a sheer lack of care towards player sentiments regarding the aftermath of the game. There are also incredible inconsistencies in pacing and ending just give off a terribly unfinished, unpolished feel that is a truly disappointing experience. It's really sad.… Expand
  72. Vatolicious
    Mar 16, 2012
    1
    This was a miserable ending to a great trilogy. Simplified to the most basic possible level, one would imagine they would have time to make a good ending. There are no RPG elements in this game, its miserable. There is no exploring planets, the citidel is very small and not open. ME2 made the game more basic, but ME3 took it down to a stupid level. This is NOT what we expected/wanted from bioware. And the ending is not at all based on anything you did in any game what so ever. I repeat not at all based on your choices. Several things in the game happen in cutscense. Meaning that you dont have full control over the choices shepard makes. Not that it matters. Avoid. A miserable ending to a great series.… Collapse
  73. SleepingDog
    Aug 23, 2012
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A terrible ending, your choices from ME1 and ME2 doesn't have any impact. The game feels rushed, the story doesn't add up at all. Too many plot holes, terrible quest system, lack of dialog choices. Most of the time your Shepard will speak on his/her own. Compared to the previous games ME3 is much more linear and depth less.… Expand
  74. Talcon
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Requires Origin to play, has day one DLC, and has the putrid stench of Bioware's writing on it. Avoid it at all costs. Don't support this defunct company, and don't support EA.
  75. Thederaci
    Mar 6, 2012
    2
    This is coming from someone who liked the first Mass Effect and thougth that the second one was pretty good too: Dont buy this game. It's dumbed down piece of over marketed trash.
    It's painfully obvious that most of the money spent on this game went for marketing and buying good reviews. That does not make this a good game, not by a long shot.
    The voice acting is mediocre at best and the d    ialog itself is horrible.… Expand
  76. NarcolepticPyro
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    I was honestly expecting more from this game. The awkward homosex seemed forced, the scenery in the ending is a blatant ripoff of a random wallpaper (Google "space winter"), there's much less dialogue options, the morality is still good vs evil as opposed to several differing factors of morality, and the ending was just a horrible knock-off of Deus Ex, characters can no longer be imported properly, and the game has even less RPG elements than the previous games. If that wasn't bad enough, Bioware removed a core part of the story and sold it separately for $10. This is one of the biggest flops in the industry, worse than Duke Nukem.… Expand
  77. Article_Reader
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    The gameplay hasn't changed at all!!! Same crappy overused generic cover system!! This is supposed to be a sequel! Innovation is needed to keep the public interested!! I returned my copy this morning, the only thing I cared about was the story and it turns out that no matter what you do in game, the choices don't effect the ending; then what's the point of having a interactive sequence?
    I'll just watch a let's play instead and still keep my money    … Expand
  78. DoubleCore
    Mar 7, 2012
    2
    The game is very disappointing. They removed the planet and resources exploration, almost no dynamic dialogs (most of the game if cut scene dialogue), removed completely the RPG from the game..
    A bad way to end a trilogy. Mass Effect 2 was the best in the series because it mixed RPG and action TPS but now with Mass Effect 3, it remains only Action TPS and that's sucks!!
  79. UpsetGamer
    Mar 8, 2012
    0
    I can't believe "news" sites are saying ME3 is hated because of homophobic gamers.This is just the EA/Bioware propaganda talking, hiding behind a homophobia accusation when in fact this game is absolutely horrible.Everything is recycled content, graphics are worse, boring story, boring gameplay and yes boring sexual relationship.The great majority of gamers hate how sexuality is presented in this game because it's stereotypical, boring and forced down our throat, there have been plenty of gay characters in games before and nobody cared, It isn't about that, it's about turning a game into a political platform and making us pay for it by falsely hypeing it up.We knew there was going to be gay romance and nobody cared, what we didn't know was that the game was going to **** this much.… Expand
  80. Boltwork
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    I got given renegade points for refusing a romantic offer from a homosexual man.

    The other reviews speak for the rest of the problems the game has, but I was given RENEGADE points for NOT being gay.
  81. teuton2
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Absolute degenerative garbage. The first Mass Effect was mediocre at best, and the series has gone from bad to worse. Terrible writing, broken combat and misandrious slander.
  82. Bullz3yE
    Mar 6, 2012
    10
    Great end to a trilogy, if you play games to have fun and enjoy an amazing world then this game is for you. All of our favorite characters from the past games make a return and all conflicts established throughout the series get an ending. Mass Effect 3 has a darker tone than previous installments and the game keeps you surprised up to the end. The combat is more fun than ever with diverse enemies and great customizing options which always change your experience. There are bugs, but less than most releases I have played over the past year. Definitely the best game I have played since The Witcher 2.… Expand
  83. Conradverner
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    Bioware has turned their attention to the COD crowd, and by doing so have taken that same approach to making games. Recycled plots, horrible cliche characters and now gone the way of DA2 by making all of your choices throughout the trilogy close to irrelevant. The fact that I give this a 1 is because the cd worked, everything else is deplorable.
  84. Daemien
    Mar 6, 2012
    1
    Given the potential of the first two games, and all the news and promises, I really thought BioWare couldn't go wrong with this game. Man, I was wrong.

    From the terrible dialogue, to the obviously rushed and illogical plot "twist" and the endings ripped-off from Deus Ex, Mass Effect 3 not only proved to be a poor game but it also made me feel like I wasted countless hours playing and repl    aying the first two games.

    Talking about the first two games, playing them is completely optional, given that no matter what (thousands) of different choices you made, the end-game is strictly the same for everyone. Nothing you do really matters. Yet again, we were only given the illusion of choice.Despite all the false advertisement by BioWare, we are playing THEIR (poorly written) story, not ours.

    And not only they ruined the story, but the gameplay experience continues to move towards the generic-3rd-person-fps path, with dumbed down dialogue, less choices to be made, characters introduced to appease the teenage boys and girls and the (profit-aimed and unnecessary) addition of multiplayer. BioWare definitely wants new target market - one in which I'm certainly not included.    … Expand
  85. donkeygames
    Mar 7, 2012
    3
    WOW,after dragon age 2 i didnt think bioware could go any lower than that...day one DLC's,even worse animation than bethesda.2D SPRITES IN 2012,talis face is just bioware at their prime,lazy as hell and trying to milk buyers like...jesus christ,an important character is in the dlc
    this game doesnt deserve the 3 i'm giving it
  86. ancient_serpent
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    Hey Eric Kain, believe it or not, my negative review has nothing to do with any gay or lesbian choices. It has to do with the terrible endings that absolutely negate any choices I made in the previous two games. hours getting those exactly the way I wanted. You know why? Because I cared about the characters and the results of my characters decisions. The ending choices are a non-choice. I will never support Bioware or the freaking retard Helper that wrote this abominations with my money again. To everyone saying "Oh, they're just mad at the gay sex": Grow up. This has nothign to do with you wanting to be a victim, it has everything to do with poor writing, crappy endings and the disloyalty Bioware has shown ME fans.… Expand
  87. Bannu
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    This score is based on the view of the build up to Mass Effect 3. If Mass Effect 3 was a stand alone title, with no prequel or setting up of a sequel, then I'd give it maybe a 5. But this game is utter trash as far as gaming standards are concerned. First off, the gameplay experience is weak. Is it fun? It's time consuming and better than doing homework, sure, but is it actually fun? Not for me, I am sure plenty of drones will enjoy this game for what it is, but looking beyond it, it's just a 3rd person shooter, with a leveling system, and a plot-holed filled story-line. And here comes the problem and why anytime I reach the point where I can say: This game isn't that bad, I realize that this game has a story and it's insulting my intelligence. Mass Effect 1 set up this neat little plot/mythology about Reapers and their times in history where they'd come out and wipe everything out. Through the entire game you kind of feared the Reapers, if not, out right terrified of the idea of them. There are tales of how merciless and prompt they were, wiping out civilizations in a matter of moments. They seemed omniscent. Pretty good stuff. Mass Effect 2, it did nothing for the plot really, but at least it had some fun forever-alone stuff you could do in it. Like continue developing relationships with characters, explore, etc. And the Reapers seemed to be scarcely mentioned. Now in ME3, the Reapers are finally here, in the hour of twilight. And what do they do? They suck at their job. They come off as inefficient. They seem like machines given AI to wipe out stuff, but in a rather slow and terrible fashion. I won't spoil anything, but yea, the Reapers, for having this reputation of being amazing, are terrible at everything, even dying. Sure, if you play it as a game, most everyone will like this. If you play it with the mind set that you want to play a video game worth your/my money, and you have an ounce of intelligence, you will find this game disappointing on all levels. Bioware has proven to not care about you, being innovative, or ethics.… Expand
  88. diula3
    Mar 7, 2012
    3
    this is very disappointing lack of variety of combat elements. just shoot and run shoot and run and thats it binding every action into one key responsible for run,pick, cover, heal is absolutely retarded this will get you killed very often when you try to run but it ducks into some ridiculous cover rpg elements are ridiculously insufficient. poor graphics on pc lack quality anti aliasing , just some ridiculously blurry silly fxaa instead of msaa and high texture also lacking no match for skyrim and previous mass effect titles what a shame bioware such a huge let down… Expand
  89. tsargon420
    Mar 7, 2012
    2
    It has good elements, and the gameplay itself is generally fun, but the awful characters, writing, plot, the fact that its about 15 hours long and features 4 companions while claiming to be a rpg along with the whole dlc catastrophe drags this guy down to a 2.
  90. Slit
    Mar 8, 2012
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. What a train wreck! I got the feeling all the writers got sacked once ME2 was done and the script was written by marketing department. Writing is THAT bad.
    1) Dialogues. Shep can only spew epic nonsense like "This is EAAAAARTH! There is way to much grandeur and epicness in every line, often completely inappropriate, and they took away all the neutral options.
    2) Retconning. You'd think that when they planned Mass Effect to be a trilogy from day 1 of ME1 development they wouldn't have to introduce major villains half way through the 3rd installment, use MacGuffin as a motivator or have a ton of plot holes.
    3) Ending(s). Um yea, some will be happy that those piss off Disney, lived-happily-ever-after, audience. I'm kinda with them myself. But at the same time they have no difference between them except for special effects color, they invalidate completely every choice the player has made over the course of the trilogy, provide zero closure and have more plot holes than a Michael Bay movie.

    Not to mention that MOST of the arsenal is distributed via DLCs now, Origin is forced down your throat and so is a rather poor Multiplayer. And how could I forget the infuriating 1 button control that always does something other than what you wanted?

    How could experienced and talented developers on a huge budget get every single thing wrong? I guess working on DA2 and SW:TOR at the same time as ME3 didn't help. BioWare bit off more than it could chew and the customers ended up paying.    … Expand
  91. BobSponge
    Mar 8, 2012
    0
    Got a refund for the game, here is why:
    1. EA - day1 DLC
    2. EA - Multiplayer/internet access - fighting piracy on my expanse.
    3. BW - Poor story writing.

    Going to play friends copy. EA will not get my money.
  92. AshenPhoenix
    Mar 8, 2012
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Bioware has now proven that they are entirely incapable of delivering sequels nowadays. After the catastrophe that was DA2, which left me with a great feeling of dissapointment, I was vary, but since I thought the ME series had other developers than DA2, I still thought I didn't need to worry. But it seems everyone at Bioware has read the same game developer book, "How to ruin promising IPs". I truly loved DA:O and ME1, I liked ME2 although I was worried of the direction. But this game and DA2 is pure crap.

    Worst of all is Biowares inability to deliver satisfying endings although that is far from all there is. I thought DA2's ending was the worst, but ME3's "Different Colors" endings are a slap in the face of ALL humanity. Take those two games and add in SW:TOR and you can see how badly Bioware manages these days, and the only reason they are still succesfull is because of past glories. To Bioware: Anyone can see that you don't want anything to do with the RPG community anymore so stop trying, leave RPG out of your game making PR and just go make braindead shooters and try to compete with MW and BF series.    … Expand
  93. Bossk-Office
    Mar 28, 2012
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am a big fan of Mass Effect who loved the first two games. And this game certainly delivered, just the way I had hoped â… Expand
  94. Kossak
    Mar 11, 2012
    0
    Bastards - taking content out of the game to sell it on Day 1 for even more money? If you don't respect your customers, customers won't respect you. FU!
  95. Humprt
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    So naive, so boring, and with such bad graphics and funny animation... I really don´t understand the critics at all. Are you guys crazy? Have you actually played the game? Or at least tried?
  96. Golem25
    Mar 7, 2012
    1
    Strike 1: Adding multiplayer (oh come on really?) to a beloved SINGLE player series of games. If I wanted a multiplayer shoot em up I would play Counterstrike (don't even get me started on MW3). Strike 2: From Ashes DLC fiasco . Seriously? you're charging for DAY 1 DLC because you gave us multiplayer that we didn't even want in the first place? Strike 3: Boy am I glad I saw the leaked script and videos. "Yo dawg we made synthetics to kill organics, so organics wouldn't create synthetics to kill organics!" It's painfully obvious that the writing talent that made the first game so compelling is no longer involved. Maybe Bioware should think about hiring writers who, ya know, actually enjoy playing the games too. EA/Bioware, you have broken my heart for the last time. Multiplayer and Day 1 DLC I could *just* about have lived with, but the lack of choices carried over, and the contrived, lazy endings are a step too far. I will not be giving my hard earned money to you ever again. Fortunately I played a friend's copy of ME3 and can get my online version refunded (thanks Origin 14 day return policy!). Oh yeah, don't even bother pirating.… Expand
  97. Anya
    Mar 7, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. 0, zero, cero, nada. It's an utter failure of a game and a disgrace for the franchise that had already went down with the second game.

    That's what this game deserves. Why? Because it's a scam provided by EA and Bioware, they promised something, closure, an ending that would wrap up everything and they delivered nothing. This is simply put another Dragon Age 2 scam. Do not waste your money in this piece of crap, save it for companies that actually deliver what they promise and that have good policies towards their customers.

    The animations are exceptionally terrible. The story is obviously developed by a game company, which is why it's so very badly written. They repeated the same mistake from Dragon age 2, they firmly believe that killing important characters creates a good story, which is what awful writers do in a pathetic attempt to cause an emotion. What they won't understand is that the emotion is negative and people don't pay money to feel bad.

    The endings discourages the player from even finishing the game, they're so bad and makes so little sense that my friends simply stopped playing the game.

    Two critical issues on their writing and design is that they seem to think that Godmodding and metagaming are valid tools for crafting a story, just like the huge amount of clichés that are present.

    They also blatantly copied the ending from Deus ex, itâ    … Expand
  98. Saldrin
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Play the demo if you don't believe my rating. And then laugh in amazement at the $70 price tag and say WTF Bioware.

    This game is garbage, and bioware is continuing the trend of bad PC games.
  99. Lessi
    Mar 9, 2012
    0
    Too little ammo, global cooldown on all abilities defeating use of them in place of fireaarms. Removal of barrier and biotics only having thier full effect on weak enemies.

    The ending didn't tie in with the rest of the game at all.

    Frankly I advise everyone to play Mass Effect 1 and then write their own ending. The spin off on the story that began in Mass Effect 2 isn't worthy of it.
  100. klix
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    this game is bad there is not good thing?? ok maybe there is no wait there not lol ok wait....nope i cant do it maybe you can??? it has guns...ok.... uhm you shoot aliens wtf?? this isnt reelstic at all...cod is better...
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Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
89 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critics

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