This game is garbage, a massive disappointment, and a slap, no, a punch in the face to the Mass Effect series. Being a player of Mass Effect 1, this series has not progressed one bit since then, but actually took a step back in almost every aspect. The animations are pitiful, the choices lead you to the same end, and it desperately lacks originality. Do not buy, do not rent, and do not give this game any of your time, unless for mockery's sake.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm giving it a 5. In short, the game feels like it's building you up for the fight of a lifetime and the story ending of a ultra hero, instead at the end you are left with all the foreplay leaving you shorted and confused, and most of all, pissed off to know it was all only just a "Legend/Dream". The developers this time around followed a true example of "Lost" meets "Matrix Revolutions", which is what doomed this games story telling.

The good:
Awesome immersive gameplay
Epic battles scenes NEAR the end

The bad:
So many story gaps from ME2 > ME3
Cerberus?
Random graphic glitches
The "promised" romance with former ME1/ME2 partners is laughable.
The ending, quite possibly the worst story ending I have ever experienced.… Expand

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

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.

Its an amazing game all the way up till the last 5 mins. I didn't think it was possible but we have an ending so bad that it ruins the entire series. I can't even think about playing any of the other ME games after watching this ending.

So in short its a 9 up til the last 5 mins

The last 5 mins are so incredibly bad that it pushes the game down to a 4.

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.

There are also SEVERE frame rate issues on the PS3. The fps averages around 20 fps. Not kidding.… Expand

A slap in the face to the people who liked Mass Effect 1. The series has changed so much that it's sad. In stead of trying to make a good game for the RPG-fans, Bioware has lowered themselves to the level of Infinity Ward, and make sellout- and actionpacked games without no depth. Stupid dialogue, bad shooting, awful story, moronic characters and Day 1 DLC. Stay away from this game.

Terrible animations, graphics, and gameplay. All wrapped together in the first game that allows you to skip the game. The clear worst in the series, and everything wrong with modern videogames.

If you look closely at Mass Effect 3 you will see the last tiny bit of Bioware's soul rot away, consumed by EA forever. As someone who has been a fan of their games from Baldur's Gate to Dragon Age: Origins, seeing how far they have fallen has been a painful experience. Writing has deteriorated to the most basic black and white, with most dialogues presenting only 2 options rather than 3. As was feared the series ends with a Deus Ex Machina (quite literally as the ending was almost entirely stolen from the game Deus Ex). Further evidence plagiarism of a desktop wallpaper of all things in the game's FINAL SCENE does not help Bioware's case. The whole thing seems like it was rushed with little care about the game's quality, as if they expected people to buy it automatically no matter how bad it was (and I'm sure they do). Creativity seems truly dead from that studio at this point. Do not buy this game. No not rent it, do not waste the bandwidth of pirating it. Vote with your dollars in the slim hope that Bioware may someday return to its senses.… Expand

personally I have no problem with gays, my problem with this game mainly is writing, its a bad story, with bad dialogue, and overall bad gameplay and graphics

Almost no content, one ending, bland dialog, repetitive and incredibly easy combat and animations that look like the game came out in 2007 make this game look rushed. Do not buy this for any reason other than to see what NOT to do when making a game.

The first thing that sticks out for me here upon purchasing it, it's suppose to be an emotionally driven game... yet EVERY character either sounds like a Vulcun or Data from star trek. The game has no emotion what so ever. I'm sorry, am I missing something here? I'm disgusted by the clearly paid off media acting as advertisements for the game rather than reviewers none of them even attempted to pick this (obviose) problem up.â… Expand

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 on PC (it's still the same game as X360 and PS3 - arguably the "best" version.. lol) and can get my online version refunded (thanks Origin 14 day return policy!). Oh yeah, don't even bother pirating.… Expand

Instead of an amazing finale to one of the best franchises in last 10 years, all we get is one big grim disappointment. Either way, endings can be described as "Life sucks then you die". Can't say this is what I was expecting. Ironically, it turned out to be that what Bioware was to Mass Effect is what Reapers were to the galaxy in game. You could say it's hard to believe that developers have dropped their quality bars so much, but after Dragon Age 2 and Old Republic, it was more or less predictable.… Expand

DLC,DlC,DLC, what a complete failure, Bioware, I was incredibly dissapointed of this game, and dissapointed of you, what a tragedy, I hope everyone over there is ashamed of themselves, making us pay on the first day... What a load of bull, I hate everyone over there, Sincerely, Vee Bass

EA claimed that free, day-one DLC for new owners and online passes were meant to reclaim revenue "lost" to used sales. I never really agreed with those tactics; if EA thinks used sales are a problem, they should persuade the consumer to buy their games new, not twist their arms. However, it was never about used sales, it was about control. Their enemy isn't just the aftermarket, it's consumer choice, and the way they handle DLC for ME3 proves that. If you don't pay extra for the deluxe edition of Mass Effect 3, you have to shell out ten bucks ON DAY ONE for what seems like significant and interesting portion of single-player content for the game. New, used, doesn't matter, if you didn't spend extra up front, they'll juts try to squeeze it out of you later. EA are extremely anti-consumer, and as much as I love Mass Effect I'm glad they won't be able to use the series to bend me over a barrel any more. EA, you may make a little extra money now, but the customers you mistreat wish for you to fall apart and make way for better, more innovative publishers who will treat them right.… Expand

Mass Effect 1 was an exciting, innovative new type of Action-RPG. It had an epic story in a unique, diverse universe, very good writing, great characters and real choices for the player. Little is left of that. In their desire to cater to the fans of shooters and casual games, BioWare has reduced the RPG elements, trivialized the dialogue and taken away much of the character development and choices that make a proper RPG. The story that started in Mass Effect 1 as an interesting and mystic space opera has been transformed into a predictable soap opera with mostly mediocre, sometimes outright terrible, writing. It might still be better than most of the other stories in video games these days, but that's of course not very difficult, and it's nowhere near the quality that BioWare used to deliver. Probably the worst example of the inability of the writers are the endings. On the other hand, perhaps they too were imposed by EA, to reduce the required work and costs. One complaint against Mass Effect 1 was the somewhat uninspired combat system. This had already been replaced in Mass Effect 2 with a clone of the usual cover-based shooters. Not very innovative and in my opinion still quite repetitive and not very challenging, but many players seemed to enjoy it. So in that regard, Mass Effect 3 certainly delivers the expected. But that's of course not nearly enough to make it a great game, and it's also not the reason why I play BioWare games or RPGs in general.… Expand

This game has been ruined by EA. The Bioware that made Mass Effect 1 and 2 is gone. Mass Effect 3 has been made to cater to the lowest common denominator. While the first one was a little rough around the edges, the second was perfect. Three however, is too far. In terms of visuals, they are too dark, made to look like the current CoD games. This is an RPG, not an seasonal shooter. Please EA, get your hands out of where they shouldn't be, and let game studios make games for their fans, not for your wallets.â… Expand

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.

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.

The game runs at 20 frames or less on the PS3.How is this in any shape or form acceptable? You make a have ass port and expect people to pay full price for it? Proof : http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-mass-effect-3-ps3-fps-issues
It's 2012 and people still don't know how to work the PS3.Can't wait to be robbed with 15 dollar DLC!

At time of writing a major feature of this game(the ability to carry over your character from a previous game) does not function. The vast majority will play this game to continue the story with THEIR character making it arguably the most important feature in the game. How this made it through QA or was never tested is beyond rational thought. This is tantamount to selling something you cannot deliver.… Expand

PROS: - Shiny new cutscenes - Wonderful Clint Mansell soundtrack - Better combat, particularly melee (plays like the melee in Dragon Age 2, one button does everything), improved powers - Smarter enemy AIs CONS: - One button does everything in combat - Ridiculously **** dialogue - Forces sexuality into everything (I could give concrete examples, but I may give away spoilers). I will say this much: EDI, and, this small segment of dialogue:
Shepherd: I hope you're alright, Kaiden
Kaiden: Are you flirting with me, Commander? This is literal dialogue and not a joke
- Rubbish, rubbish, dialogue. Cringe worthy. Nearly all the time. Some characters do save the ****show, like Garrus.
- They actually used a voice changer (blatantly obvious) to use less voice actors (if you don't believe me, once you get to the Citadel you will be able to hear it)
- Rehashed animations from the last game (lack of innovation)
-Filters, filters everywhere
-Cheap emotional pulls and attempts at emotional manipulation EVERYWHERE. It's like they used this to replace bad writing.
- SEVERELY LIMITED DIALOGUE OPTIONS. If I wanted to play a shooter, I would have. Two dialogue options? Most dialogues with no options whatsoever? Poor show.
-Totally retconns the lore established in the previous games

Overall this game shows a shocking lack of attention to detail and blatantly ignores what the fans wanted (contrary to what the developers claim all the time. No one wanted this). The voice acting is stiff and so is the animation. Complete lack of innovation and the only thing they improved was the fighting - to add to this, they even used well-known stock images as some of their sources and the copies are glaring - look up "winter on mars" and you should see what I mean, if you've beaten the game. They force sexuality on the player, and if you reject it then the characters hate yours. This series has ended on a bad note. For fans of the series, it sucks majorly. For people who want a shooter, play Call of Duty or Gears of War instead.… Expand

It appears the people at BioWare forgot that first and foremost they are making entertainment. Ugly choices, steady personal loss and grief, and an ending which is, to say the least, horrific; left me feeling awlful. Like most I've anticipated this game and a return the ME universe. I wish I hadn't. I'll never go back there again. I could list all kinds of petty gripes such asI was faithful to Tali through ME1, 2 and 3 and I never got to see her face direct. Just a picture which is fine as she's hot but never that personal experience of looking directly at her... You get the idea. But these could all be forgiven if the story was satisfying but it wasn't even close.

And aside from a few references to prior games and a few side plots playing out there was little sense of ME1 or ME2 affecting this game much.

I am not a spambot and I approved this Message.… Expand

Day 1 DLC..... Sorry $60 is plenty for a game, I don't need to fill anybody's wallet more than it needs to be. Shoving homosexuality down our throats is not going to happen on my game console. Maybe it works on the liberal/new age/hippy parents but not in my home. Glad I read the real reviews from actual people and not paid media. Every time the ratings are lopsided like this I wonder. Sometimes I still go ahead and buy some games out of excitement and it always results in the same thing. The User scores are the real deal in Metacritic.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game built up so much epicness and I said multiple times before the last mission that this was the best SP-game I've EVER played. And it got destroyed under 10 minutes, by creating paradoxes (synthetic life who kills organic life so they don't get killed by synthetics LOOOL), Joker's getting some pstd and decides to run to a mass relay, and shepard is gone forever, putting the galaxy into a dark age and even if he survives he will NEVER see his LI, his friends or another nebula again. They tried to make a Deus Ex 1-ending, but they failed miserable and decided that a deus ex machina-ending would do the trick. I'm honestly depressed, it was my favourite game series of all time and Bioware gave me the finger.… Expand

the game optimization is an utter garbage , there is certain points in the game where the fps drops so low that the sound stop working and yet there haven't been a single response from bioware regarding the terrible fps on ps3, while the game is running perfectly on xbox360

Day 1 DLC aside, this game was quite possibly the biggest disappointment so far. The story and especially its end was an incredible let-down, driven by boring, static dialogue. All of the 'new' characters lack depth and character or end up being completely irritating due to bad writing. Gameplay is lacking, RPG elements almost completely removed and the oh so praised 'Cinematic Experience' destroyed by awkward animations.

0/10
Try again without EA, Bioware.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am a big ME1/2 fan. ME3 was a terrible disappointment, a complete retread of stories from the first two games, plus a bad storyline, cliched characters (including a psycho killer right out of a bad Hollywood action movie), contrived plot elements, and a HUGE Deus Ex Machina plot hole. Linear gameplay. Forced choices. Deeply resembles a bad Hollywood sequel. Where are the cool ideas and great dialog from the 1st two games? Not here. I played as a no-romance paragon, so the romance controversy did not factor in my judgment of the game. I was not even aware of the controversy until a few minutes ago. One warning, the emotional balance of the first two games, with humor and other factors lifting the player's emotions, is missing here. There are unremitting scenes of personal loss, death of loved ones, failure, and wholesale destruction that will leave the player drained and depressed. It is possible to witness the deaths of multiple team mates, all in a row, plus attend a funeral, and a bit later witness the suicide of another character. ME3 is a uniquely negative event in gaming.… Expand

I just wasted over 50 hours in completing every quest and collecting all the war assets in preparation for an epic conclusion to my beloved Mass Effect adventures. However, the endings in this game totally ruined the experience for me. I was willing to forgive the removal of the holster button, the lack of a quest journal hotkey, the glitched animations, and the significant reduction of video logs (now most logs are just text). However, the ending has to be the most disappointing in the history of gaming for true fans of the series. I'm big on endings, they are crucial for my enjoyment of most forms of entertainment, games, movies, animated films, and novels. I don't expect every ending to be a happy one, but the endings in Mass Effect 3 has effectively killed this franchise.

I'm a big fan of Mass Effect 1 and 2 (with the exception of planet scanning in part 2); I played through both games at least 5 times. Now I feel I also wasted hundreds of hours in those games to reach the disappointing conclusion in Mass Effect 3. I've already uninstalled Mass Effect 3 and will never play it again. It's sad to see how far Bioware has declined since they were purchased by EA in late 2007. EA is ruining every studio they acquire. If EA hadn't forced Bioware to add a multiplayer to Mass Effect 3 and if they had used a fraction of the money the spent on producing Hollywood blockbuster style trailers to improve the actual game, things would be very different. I also suspect that the Mass Effect series was terminated intentionally by EA Bioware to push fans of space operas to Star Wars Old Republic. However, I can't play that game because it is targeted at teenagers with its cartoonish graphics and combat. I'm in my late twenties, so I enjoy mature stories with realism; Mass Effect was one of the few science fiction game series that I enjoyed, but that is no longer the case. I will never buy another Bioware game until the breakway from EA. Unfortunately, I doubt that will happen. I'm also concerned with EA's anti-trust business practices and their threat to the game industry.

In conclusion, I give this game a score of 1 for the parts of combat that were actually epic and for some the character dialogue that was enjoyable and not contrived. So I suggest you save your money; don't buy this game unless you don't care about endings.… Expand

Mass Effect 3 is the latest installment of Biowareâ

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

I did my best, knowing it was a confrontation I was not likely to survive. I was okay with that. I knew what the stakes were; my life was a worthy price to pay. That sacrifice was squandered. This story's ending is a crime against us all................Hold the Line.

I expected way more than just this. The story just looks like a TTGL ripoff, nothing like the first one was. The dialogues couldn't possibly be worse and the gameplay is the only thing that might save it but still, wasn't anything remarkable.

I hope paid reviewers see their flaw there. Truly unbelievable. As a fan of the series I couldn't expect nothing worse.

What happened to Mass Effect? This was supposed to be the thrilling conclusion to a wonderful space epic. Instead we are given a game which feels like it was written by two different groups. The first 90% of the game (story wise) is compelling and exciting. However the ending and the last hour or so leading up to feel like they were written by someone with no understanding of how to truly write at all. Plot holes opening up all around you and with the endings ripped off from Deus Ex makes me wonder what exactly Bioware/EA were thinking when the final script was approved. The endings completely go against the spirit of the series and more than that they are all essentially the same my making every other choice up to that point completely null. I find it even more offensive that almost all of the RPG elements have become so watered down as to be unrecognisable. The conversation wheel which longtime fans of the series such as myself have come to know and love rarely shows up now. And even when it does all it offers is two ways to say the same thing. Even worse, your choices in the previous two make no really substantial difference in this entry either. Even the illusion of choice is gone. You almost don't get to converse with your crew at all. Instead your interaction is mostly limited to selecting them like you do with Zaeed Massani in ME2 and they talk a little bit while you just stand there. This becomes a big problem because ME3 throws in with no real introduction or background characters who are completely new or have only been featured in the Expanded Universe. I like the voice acting and appreciate that the world feels more alive now with background characters talking to one another when you walk by, that is when the sound doesn't drop out. It's unfortunate that the coders haven't learned anything, all the cut scene glitches are back in full force. Including the one where everyone uses the same assault rifle during the cut scene, regardless of whether or not they can even use one. It's nice to see all characters from the first two one last time, a little family reunion if you will. It's a shame that almost none of them will be joining your squad again. I do like the direction ground combat has taken though the removal of heavy weapons is another negative in my book. The day one DLC feels more like game content that was cut out rather than an actual add on. And having this nearly story essential DLC on day one is just plain greedy.

Mostly though I just can't get around the endings. It feels like a punch in the gut to those of us who were big fans of the first two. It's so out of left field that I almost expect M. Night Shyamalan to be responsible for this travesty. It's almost like ending The Lord of the Rings with Frodo riding a nuke into Barad-dûr with a cowboy hat on. I almost wish it would have been a Dallas-"It was all a dream" ending.… Expand

Why a 5 Rating? Let's talk about this logically. First off DLC on day one. What does this mean? This means EA is mad about something and they need to settle a debt with their players or customers who buy their games. This shows a complete lack of respect or EGO on EA's part. My translation is EA is mad at customers who buy second hand. Well I wonder why players do that when on day one you cannot trust you bought a complete game without software bugs. I mean come on you expect gamers to trust you when you sell DLC on day one integral to the games plot? I give a cautionary 5 rating to the game because you broke the game with this. From here you can infer that in the future you will now release a GOTY edition with the downloadable content for $30 or less. Well I can wait making this day one release at full price a waste of money. EA, you will not win this battle if you want to claim $60 you have to be respectful of you fan/customer base and provide a solid product as with any company. You need our revenue or you will not exist. I do not need your games they are only entertainment and their are lots of games and companies products to choose from. EA look at all the zero scores and do some research on that you are making tons of people very angry. You provide broken or incomplete products then wonder why people buy used. Just have some respect, make a good game, test it, make it flawless, make it worth the money and people will buy it at full price. Make junk and of course no one wants to spend a lot of hard earned money on it. It this game good, probably yes but I'm not paying twice for one game. I'm waiting til the game implodes on you and you put out the DLC on one disc and you will get $30 from me, half the revenue you would have got for not playing your silly trickery with DLC on day one. Just bad business in my humble opinion. Don't forget on ps3 mass effect one does not exist and on DLC is only provided in PS3 mass effect 2. Why did you not provide the same on Xbox 360. Funny that both systems have lack of full game import leading up to mass effect 3. Well you choose to shaft your gamers, now their turn back, look at all the negative zero scores. Your company will slowly implode because of your poor respect for peoples hard earned money. Love is two ways and you need to be the leader in this area.… Expand

i wrote a review before finalizing the game. unfortunately the game ending as it stands ruins everything. dont play/buy it until it gets fixed. the writes somehow thought it would be cool to change a (Great) mainstream popcorn emotional decision driven action-rpg to a linear pace ending with three "pick your color" option endings (completely meaningless) trying to move to "art" and not closing anything.
its very unsatisfactory and dumb. AVOID.… Expand

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.

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

Then ideas of things that you love changing into something really bad, you at first trying not to notice that or avoid it with hope that things will be better. Then I played ME 2 I thought that things will change and after developers review criticism of game develop a true masterpiece of game world. But then we saw a total failure of DA2 that become a fantasy clone of ME2. After that we got a clone of WoW in space (KoTOR) that is failure 2. And now ME3â… Expand

I have been following 'Mass Effect' since the first game, and have been a supportive fan of the series. The game has corrected several of the animations and included multi-player, but has failed in so many other ways to sadden me to only be able to rate it a '3'.

First and foremost, it seemed the MP content was more important than developing the story from the previous games, specifically the completely glossing over of 'Mass Effect 2'. The strength of any trilogy is the ability to draw all the pieces of storyline together, which ME3 did not accomplish.

Secondly, the entire genre is space opera, which means that even if developers felt the endings provided were necessary, they should have included additional alternatives. The endings I feel are a large part of my problem with game 3.

Third, while the idea of creating a smaller squad may appeal from logistics, the fact is, many players like the characters that were introduced previously, and have great attachments to them. By limiting their roles, and in some cases eliminating them all-together except for 'walk-on' parts, the game effectively eliminates the level of characterization we've all enjoyed. The game is bleak, the endings are bleaker, and the real issue is the apparent lack of concern that EA/BioWare has with its player base, especially console players. I cannot stress this enough: 'Mass Effect 3' feels more like an solid attempt to garner MP rather than a successful sequel and ending to a series, and it falls short of that. In some ways, the feel of ME3 is very similar to Dragon Age 2, and that's not necessarily a good thing.

Could DLC correct my rating? Certainly...but I'd have to pay for the mistakes made in storytelling, design, and glitches. I'm not sure that is appropriate from a game which has been eagerly anticipated by players and fans, myself included.

I think for now however, I sadly must only rate ME3 a 3, good attempt, but by no means the game it needs to be.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game started great, the story, the characters, the scope. There were a few mechanical quirks and bugs but by far and away nothing noteworthy or that diminished my enjoyment in any way. The issue is the ending, the grand promises of vastly different endings turned into 3 separate endings that are differentiated by a slight recoloring. Red vs Blue vs Green ambient lighting. Really? It not only made little to no sense, but it spoiled the entire franchise for myself. Going into the game I expected to play and beat it at least 5 times closer to 10 for all the different Shepard's I had created. Instead, I put it down and will probably never pick up Mass Effect, any of the three, again. It ruined the series that much for me.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This was it - the big and long awaited conclusion to the Mass Effect trilogy. So did I enjoy it? Yes - Did I feel cheated after the final credits had rolled past? Most certainly yes.

The combat felt pretty good for an RPG/FPS hybrid. They've learnt from their mistakes in ME2 and brought back a few fan favourites from ME1 such as being able to put modifies on weapons to make them feel/perform differently. The game still has that cinematic feel that Bioware is known for - though the "Paragon/Renegade" system has been taken even further, making most "conflicting" dialogue options moot. Want to get the "optimal" result of a dialogue scene? Just press either the blue or the red text - provided that you've either acted like a do gooder or a downright arse. The concept of "bad / good" choice has been completely removed in favour of this.

The story was/is a mess. This big finale was supposed to tie up loose ends and have a conclusion that would be different depending on your choices in the earlier game - but all "we" are given are 2 (or 3 if you go for the extra curricular classes) endings that leave you with more questions than answers, and feel like a real cop out decision.

Live or die, rescue or kill - all these small and big choices are supposed to shape your universe - but in the end most of these "consequences" will play out exactly the same no matter if you saved someone or killed them, since they all have to tie into the very "on rails" plot that Bioware went for with the game.

The whole "kid who happens to look like the big end baddie" / nightmare sequence was pointless and added nothing to the game. And massive plotholes doesn't help the game either.

Summary: Is ME3 a good game on its own? Yes - it is worth playing. Is it a worthy ending to a long running series of "deep" roleplaying? No, not in the slightest. In fact I feel a little insulted at the "This is how we want your story to end, and nothing you have chosen or done in the prequels matter in the least" road they've gone down.

3 of 10 (Since I don't believe in giving "great" games a perfect 10 - The typical "GOTY" game would get a 7 or 8 at most in my book. 10s are reserved for the classic rare gems that only appear once every so often)… Expand

I really liked mass effect 1 but Bioware decided to remove all real RPG aspects of the game and make a bad casual game catered to twilight and COD fans. The only people who like this game are sheeps who seek approval from t heir gurus and their gurus being mainstream reviewers like IGN and whatnot. And what's witht he pushing of gay sex on us in this game good lord bioware is so crappy.

import backup problem at once oblige to wait for a patch, ridiculous character animations, graphics no improvement, I am disappointed, the dlc I'm sick, and a big update is needed

Mass Effect 3 suffers from two major mistakes made by Bioware's game directors and I'm starting to notice an unfortunate trend in their sequels. The first problem is that ME3 plays like Dragon Age 2. Both games were rushed to market and seem to ignore what the fans loved most about the first title. The second issue is the addition of a multiplayer component to the game. It obviously detracted from time spent on the overall quality of the game. Todd Howard, game director for Skyrim put it beautifully when asked why Bethesda didn't include a cooperative feature in their latest Elder Scrolls game: "We always look into multiplayer, put lots of ideas on the whiteboard, and it always loses. It's not that we don't like it. I can think of ways it would be a lot of fun, but at the end of the day, that dev[eloper] time is going to take away from doing the best single-player game we can, and that's where our hearts are." Enough said.… Expand

I really wanted to like this game, but it didn't live up to my expectations at all. Knowing BioWare, i thought they could pull out a real big one here, especially considering the fact that the production for this game started before Mass Effect 2 even released. Here is a list of the game's Cons: 1) It really annoys me that Shepherd always walks around with his gun pointed in front.
2) RPG, Story or Action? Seriously?
3) Adding Multiplayer would have been quite good if the Single Player story lived up to the hype. But nooo, looks like money wins here.
4) Without spoiling anything i can honestly say this game has the worst ending than any other game which i have ever played.

The only Reason i'am giving this a 4 is because of the Tenney effort BioWare actually put into this game.… Expand

The game had potential, the series had potential. But then the ending happened, the recoloured ending. It's sickening, really. Because everybody knows that in a week or two, they're going to announce a alternate ending DLC for another sum of money. Which is completely wrong, and I do believe this is the end of BioWare.

I followed the games since ME1, and I loved the series to BITS. As a game reviewer, and lover of games. I can't be biased towards a group of people, and I'm not trying to be. It's just- I can't see BioWare being a major power after this act. I cannot.

The game itself has some pretty fancy action, but the characters seem so flat. There's no real depth to your squad mates, they're just there talking to you. The animation, and lip-synching is straight up horrible. And the writing is even worse.

I can't see how any reviewer worth their own salt gave this a 100/100, unless of course they haven't even played the game, or were bought off. There is NO possible way.

I'd like to see the DLC they come out with, with the "true" ending, but I really can't stand BioWare to buy anymore of their dribble.

Do not buy the game, stay away from this one. If you're curious, there's Youtube for a reason, use it, instead. Save your money for a game, and a company that doesn't treat their fans like utter sheep.… Expand

How can this version get so much praise from Reviewers? The PS3 version has some of the worst frame rate issues I have EVER seen. I played it about an hour before I said **** it and returned it. The game is nigh unplayable like that. You just can't release crap like that in this time and age. The PS3 version getting 90+% is nothing lass than a travesty and just proves that professional reviewers just slap big scores on big names because they either get payed off big time or fear the backlash from mindless fan boys.

Concerning the game itself, its alright, BUT DO AVOID THE PS3 VERSION IF YOU CAN.… Expand

This game could have been a masterpiece but the final result is only a forgettable mix of bugs, holes in a childish plot with the "wish" to be serious, a ton of shadows and emphasis everywhere, no exploration, no puzzles, flat dialogues and the worst ending in videogame history. In certain things it could deserve a 11 but in others not more than a -20 so my balance is 0. Nothing more than a "project" of a game, an interesting project never terminated and poorly done, or at least that's not good to be released like this.… Expand

Do not listen to the people rating this game badly. Mass Effect 3 is utterly amazing and if you liked the first 2 this won't change that.

Some of the people writing on here either had completely unrealistic expectations of what Bioware would pull off with the import stuff (although pretty much everything but the end is influenced quite a lot by what you do) or just weren't pleased because the series didn't end exactly as they wanted.

Get this game, and ignore the haters. They are the same kind of supergeeks that hate on Star Wars etc for tiny little things that really don't matter at all. Honestly. Get. A. Life.… Expand

With the release of the Extended Cut, I feel a revised review is now in order. The gameplay is improved from ME2. Still not top tier combat gameplay, but fun for someone not hardcore about their shooters (which includes me). The writing is spotty, rising and falling in quality between missions. Some missions are truly some of the best game writing I've played through. Others are meh. The ending may not feel like a natural story progression, depending on whether you play with your focus on characters or on central plot. It's not the greatest game but it's a good game. Worth a play or two, IMO.… Expand

Don't get me wrong, this game is playable and I'm sure if you had no standards or simply didn't care you could pick up this game and have a midly enjoyable experience. BUT the atrocities EA and Bioware committed mean I cannot give this game a decent rating with a good conscience. So what is so bad about this game? Let me tell you:
1. Day 1 DLC: Whether it was EA or Bioware (Biowhore, if you will) that decided to take this course I don't know, but releasing DLC on the day of release, particularly DLC which is important to the plot, at 1/6 the price of the game itself is unforgivable in of itself. It seems they are laughing in our face as we shell out money for something that should have been on the disc, available to everyone. It is obvious that it was done simply to milk as much money out of the fans as possible.
2. Casualisation: The game was geared towards Call of Duty players in order to cash in on the series' success, while abandoning the loyal fanbase. Not much else to say here.
3. Shoddy Writing: Many uninformed people think that the attacks on the Bioware employee Jennifer Hepler was simply a display of hate for the sake of hate. While they certainly did go overboard, it wasn't without good reason. She was the physical manifestation of the quality of writing coming from Bioware. Examples: Dialogue is awkward, the ending is notoriously bad, after seeing so many people die and killing so many himself, Sephard is emotianally effected by the death of a random kid above all. Overall you would expect something better from a Naruto fanfiction. 4. Laziness of Bioware: For a big budget, triple A game you would expect a certain level of effort from the developers. Bioware, however seemed to have taken shortcuts left, right and centre. There are images circulating the internet which demonstrate this quite well. For example, Copying a stock image for the portrait of a character who dies in the game, and copying another 7? year old image lying around in the internet for the ending.
5. Ininspired Multiplayer: Another cash-in, Wave survival modes have been done to death, nowadays every game seems to have one. It seems this was added in to artificially extend the life of the game and make an excuse for future half-assed DLC releases.
6. Gay Sex: people reading this may call 'Hurr durr homophobe" - but wait to read my reasoning. Homosexuality IS a sin. Being implemented in such as fashion acts to 'casualise' it, pressing on the impressionable 13 year old minds (whose uninformed mothers will be buying this game) that it is fine and acceptable. I do not hate **** I care about them, just as I do any other person. For this reason I oppose it.
Even if this is an attempt to cash-in with the gay audience rather than a political agenda, it gets in the way of the average straight player and does not belong. I do not want to have gay passes made to me by my squadmates when I'm playing a game.
7. Reviewers are sellouts: This goes for every major game release nowadays, but is absolutely appalling. While I'm not implying that EA is necessarily directly paying reviewers to give the game good reviews (not that I'd put it past them) there is certainly a feel that if you don't give it a good review the publisher early access to future releases. I have heard of cases where people have lost their job because they wrote how the felt rather than what they were told to write. This is why I'm writing this review in fact - to help get a bit of truth out.
Instead of a proper, objective review we are fed tripe with 10/10 would play again bs.

Due to all these aformentioned problems with Mass Effect 3, I cannot take it seriously, thus it receives a score of 0/10. The only reason it has earned a 1 from me is because the Biodrone tears are absolutely delicious.
Have a good day sirs.… Expand

There's no denying the fact that BioWare has created a truly vivid and unique world with the mass effect Universe, a galaxy composed of memorable and lovable characters that have drawn in fans all over of the world. Generally speaking, the majority of Mass Effect 3 was well paced, with emotional twists that seem to make the player truly care about the fates of all the characters around him/her. Yet the Ending seems to undermine all of that. It seems as though BioWare forgot the fact that the last two games took a more romanticized approach, that if the player sacrifices enough, whether it be by decisions alone, or by cranking out as many hours as possible on side quests, there's a chance for success, even if it has to be bittersweet. This concept failed to present itself at the end of ME3, which changed the whole concept of hope and brotherhood, which was a constant factor throughout the whole series. I don't believe that the ending deserved a "they all lived happily ever-after", but if enough reinforcements are gathered, a bittersweet ending with severe losses, and an epilogue would of added the needed closure to this trilogy.… Expand

Mass effect 3 a epic conclusion? More like a epic disappointment.
I felt that the ending was a major slap in my face and leave a bitter taste
in your mouth!

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. i've had some time to reflect and punch a few holes in the wall to get my frustration out and i think i'm ready to put into words how i feel 24 hours after the "good" ending in mass effect 3

to start, my RI was Tali. once i killed the reaper on ranoch i opted to upload the reaper code to the geth via legion. despite tali not wanting me to, i felt this was the best course of action for her, her people, the galaxy, and even the geth. i was able to talk the fleet out of counter attacking the geth while the code was being uploaded and tali still loves me. whew. this got me thinking however, what if my paragon was too low and the quarians did attack the geth. what would happen? i pulled up youtube to find out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvATTDgDIqU this was the most moving and emotional punch in the gut i've ever seen in a video game. assuming this had happened in my playthrough, i'd have been devastated. moments earlier tali told me she loved me and i have just wiped out her entire people. heartbroken, she jumps over the edge. thought i was going to cry.

where the hell was this level of emotion and effort in the ****ing end game bioware? as far as voice acting/ performance go, the quarians being wiped out and tali dying was so difficult to watch, yet so well done, i was completely blown away. that level of devastation and pain should've been put into the endgame and i don't know if i can ever forgive bioware for it. they took maybe the greatest game ever made, at least for me, and complelty half assed the last 5 minutes.

now, i'll be clear, i wanted a happy ending, but if that's not how it was going to be then fine. i'll get over it. but to do it the way that they did, i, just, uuuuughhh. ......… Expand

Good: Gameplay mechanics are vastly improved. While not as polished as a Gears of War, it's still very fun to play. Never felt cheated when I died and every victory felt like an accomplishment. Bravo Bioware! On an interpersonal level, the story is tightly crafted. If you enjoyed forging relationships among the dramatis personae then you will love ME3 in this regard. The story, on this micro level, is quite simply superb. As far as the multiplayer goes, admittedly, I am not much of a multiplayer gamer so my opinion may not matter but I really enjoyed this new feature of ME3. The addition of biotics really makes it more fun (for me) than it would be if it were just shooting. The Bad: A lot of your decisions from previous games are rendered meaningless in the third game, which is a shame considering we were sold on ME being "our" story. But I suppose it wouldn't be cost effective to develop such extensively branching storylines and risk having that content go unused. It's a bit dejecting at first especially if those decisions were painstaking but the fun factor of these missions (that shouldn't exist had your decisions in previous games mattered) should mitigate any malcontent. Not a lot of "bad" in ME3 but the PS3 version is glitchy. Not skyrim glitchy, but definitely not the polish you'd expect from a game whose release date was pushed back half a year. The Ugly: ME3 has an ending but not a denouement. There's no closure. In fact, there's a rather desultory twist that doesn't make sense. "My Shepard" (something I was sold on as being important) fought to unite a divided galaxy and also fought for the lives of his loved ones. All the decisions and dialogue choices I made were consistent along this arc. To have the fruits of his labors culminate in an ending that leaves both his friends dead and his briefly united galaxy fragmented left me downright crestfallen. It took a couple of days to get over it. From a videogame? Yeah...at first I was embarrassed by this fact but in reality this poignancy is a true testament to Bioware's creation. If you play story-driven games for the immersion (as do I), then Bioware's trilogy is undeniably for you. My only hope is that the end of the game is not really the ending (while it takes some intellectual acrobatics, you can infer from quite a few clues that the ending of ME3 might not be the ending at all). ME3 has the potential to make a lot of money for EA so I doubt EA would have the story end this way when its continuance is quite profitable. Moreover, Bioware, and in particular ME's writer, is too good at storytelling for ME3 to end without true closure. I'm not saying all stories need a happily-ever-after ending. Macabre endings or even open-ended finales can be well crafted, provided they flow naturally from the thematic arc. ME3's ending sadly does not. Let's hope the conspiracy theories are true and the saga continues... But, as is, the endings provided on the disc are bad and drag the score down to an 8.5ish range. Subtract some more for the bugs and you have a solid 8. I've never been a fan of numbered scores; the price I'd be willing to pay for a game is really a more accurate metric for me (I thought Vanquished was a solid 8 but I wouldn't pay more than $25 for that game whereas Dragon Age: Origins's lackluster graphics and frame-rate issues precluded anything higher than an 8 but I would pay $100 for that masterpiece). ME3: I'd happily pay $75 for this game (and I did since I wanted the day 1 DLC).… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Biggest piece of crap i have ever wasted money on. Not only does shepard die, no not only shepard, but THE WHOLE **** UNIVERSE, you lose anderson without choice cause the illusive man is a dick and the game blows I would take this back but after all the bad reviews i doubt anyone would take it.… Expand

Welcome to the future of Bioware.. It really seems that all those guys which know what they were doing left Bioware and were replaced by characters inspired by the movie "Ideocracy". There is that otaku women responsible for the romances which probably is a virgin and who seems to have a yaoi (gay male romances) fetish. Than there is that crazy dude I saw in a DA2 video and who came up with the "awesome button". And there is probably one EA suit dude who is never without his statistics why call of duty is so successful and who spams his opinion in every meeting that more explosions are needed. And with those 3 responsible for game design, ME3 is what we got. Lots and lots of gay romances, just as much explosions, and the evolution of the "awesome button", the "awesome does all button"! And it really is awesome when you try to run away and instead take cover with your back exposed to the enemy! Yet just like with DA2, the most "awesome" button is the one which removes this **** from your hdd!… Expand

Fantastic game in almost all senses of the word. Great story, great characters, great gameplay, but then it all gets ruined by an awful ending. I mean bad. If you do buy it, stop it right after Shepard talks to his crew before the final push and don't go further.

I was a huge fan of the Mass Effect franchise (and Bioware games in general). Honestly, I even really like SWtOR. But Mass Effect 3 was a huge disappointment! What I hated most: 3. Meaningful interactions with most of your love interests from ME1 & ME2 reduced to unsatisfying cameos, 2. New movement options for Shepard in combat that can be horribly frustrating because they all share the same key as the one used to enter cover (i.e.: I have several times tried to sprint through a door only to find myself rolling back and forth between one side of the door and another, or attempting to leap over cover to flee attackers only to have the game decide I would rather "go into cover" on the wrong side, etc.) and worst of all 1. Three almost identical but horrible endings that totally ignored all of my choices made in the saga up to that point. In my opinion, they not only removed 100% of ME3's replay value (I played ME1 & ME2 dozens to times) but tainted the rest of the saga for me. As far as I am concerned, Jar Jar Binks did less to ruin Star Wars... After all, I did not sink 100+ hours into playing Star Wars after being told my choices would carry through and they would matter! And putting further salt in our wounds, these endings were abrupt, incongruous with the pace and story of the games up to that point, and glaringly inconsistent with established canon (For instance: If one Mass Relay detonating in The Arrival took out an entire star system what does losing ALL of them mean to the survivors in the galaxy?!!! How about a little QA, guys?) If EA/Bioware have any hope of painting themselves out of this corner, I would suggest they look on the Internet for all of the threads discussing "Indoctrination Theory" and deliver us a DLC to 'fix" the endings along those lines ASAP. I know, it is your "art" and your "artistic vision", blah, blah, blah... But you sold the whole ME franchise with the promise of "Real choices that make a difference. Honestly, guys, for ME3 it is time to live up to that.

The bottom line is that for me, Mass Effect 3 was a huge letdown because of the ending. The people responsible for it should be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail. For all those of you who would respond "Most of it was pretty good, so you are just an unreasonable jerk for making a big deal out of a bad ending" or "It is their work of art, so chill man," let me put it this way:

Mass Effect 3 is like meeting a hot chick at a bar. You hit it off real well, see a movie together and have a nice dinner. In the cab on the way home, she shows you some special tricks she can do with those full red lips of hers. Eventually, you get her upstairs and disrobed, only to find out that "she" is really a "he" (Assuming you are not into that, OK?) . That extra sausage in the fridge might not seem like much to some, but if you wanted tacos for dinner it's a pretty big freaking deal. And yeah, sure, 95% of the date was pretty awesome, but that last part kind of spoiled the whole thing for you...

After 5+ years, 3 games and 200+ hours of combined play and replay, I think we all deserved better. So dear Bioware/EA: Fix the damn ending (Internet threads on Indoctrination Theory could give you some good ideas)! It does not have to be sunshine and rainbows, but it should at least follow canon, make some logical sense, answer more questions than it raises and give me a feeling that all my Shepard's sacrifice and work over the past 5 years had some meaning.… Expand

Day-1 DLC, issues of character skipping, dropped animations, buggy scenes with failed DOF usage and characters clipped into and stuck to the scenery, not an RPG, homoerotic gay male sex scenes, garbage ending. Game isn't worth $60 but you should only pick it up if you can find it for $1.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Warning! This review contains heavy SPOILERS!

Ah, Mass Effect! The first Mass Effect, a science fiction, space opera, with a wonderful story that made you want to play until the day you die. And along comes Mass Effect 2. The game play has been refined and polished but the story dropped a bit of its impact in this one. It's a great game none the less.
And in steps Mass Effect 3. I'd really hate to say this, but what happened?! This game is rushed and milked beyond belief.

Let's start out with point one. The DLC. From Ashes stars a critically lore heavy and story driven character that will fight for you, and they sell you this for ten dollars. This is not acceptable! Those who play Mass Effect play it for the story mostly and now Bioware and EA wants you to pay extra to get more out of the story from Mass Effect 3?! Stupid!

Point two. The combat. The combat is clumsy and more dumbed down. You stick easily to walls and you end up rolling to the side when you would like to sprint. This could've been fixed with the ability to rebind the cover, dodge, sprint and interact keys to different buttons or keys or whatever. This ruins the flow of the game and it just sucks to talk so bad about this game. Point three. The side missions and the ending. The side missions... Are basically not useful at all, because no matter what you do, you end up with the EXACT ending in all possible ways. Only two endings. One renegade and one paragon. This is just disappointing. Point four The story. The story, I hate to say is a disappointment, but it's dumbed down. The vastness of the story is large and but it's still lagging far behind the first and second Mass Effect. However... Unfortunately the story has alot of plotholes and the explanation to the reapers ways make no sense, and some of the things in the story just leave you asking... "Why?!". Lastly. Overall. I don't like ratings, but if I have to slap one on, I'd give it a three. This is being generous! The major downfall of this is its story and its ending. The story is rushed and underdeveloped, and those who expect a good one will should not expect it. The game play is rather lousy and if I could sum up the game in one word, it would be "rushed". However, the only reason I give the game anything higher than a 1 is because I admit it. After playing my character E.G. Shepard through ME1 and 2 and then seeing the wrapup. I had tears whelling in my eyes by the beginning of the ending cinematic. I choose the Paragon way, because, really... Unless you're just experimenting, nobody would pick the Renegade ending when they actually follow their heart on what to do. Because that one is just cruel!… Expand

Buggy in combats (poorly balanced some ennemies are simple some are simply tremendously hard to kill), poorly written scenario, sh*tty ending. The worst of series already seriously overrated.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. **** u Bioware. And **** u EA. And also **** u too Commander Shepard (ha).. I had high hopes for this game.. I have the N7 edition and ME2 is my fav game of all time (PS3). I beat ME3 a little under 40hrs. All was good, and I was beginning to think ME3 would be my new fav game. I saw Tali's face and was pleased for the moment, cause I didn't know it was a stock photo yet. But all was still good, I saved Tali's homeland, cured the genophage, found peace between the geth and quarians, helped Miranda save her sister, help jack save her children, stopped the illusive man, etc... then BAM!! I get a **** ending with 3 decisions that are all basically the same but with different colors. You said we would have closure and have all our questions answered. Uh, I have a question. Why the **** did I spend all this time perfecting my Shepards story, if none of my decisions were going to matter at the end? I expected the prothean device to kill the reapers and save the galaxy, but na, it summons that kid that died and he's telling me some **** that doesn't even make sense. But seriously, I don't mind Shepard dying, I kninda knew he was since its his last game. But how about showing the aftermath of what my final decision caused. Show me whats going on with the people I care about, show me what happens with Tali, Liara, Ashley, Garrus, Miranda, Jack, and all those other people I spent countless hours building a relationship with. Don't show me Joker crash landing on some unknown location. He's gonna eventually starve anyways, since he can't leave thanks to the Mass Relay being destroyed for no reason. I think Bioware put somebody else on charge of the ending, while they worked on the multiplayer that nobody asked for. Or they plan on releasing a DLC for $10 called "Shepard's Alternate Ending" that's really supposed to be the original ending. Either way, they already ruined a once great franchise. I gave this game a perfect 10.. until the last 10 minutes. I That brought the score down to a zero.… Expand

Being the best gaming series I have played it is a sad day when you reach the finishing line and it is as horrible as it is. I love the Mass Effect games, heart and soul and I've played them through countless times. This rating is purely to voice my utter dissatisfaction with how the game ends. I'm not one of those that want a good happy ending and it is not because of some gay sexscene (seriously, do journalists actually believe the crap they are putting out??). It is simply because the current ending (NOT endingS, mind you) makes absolutely no sense. Why is there no difference between the endings? WHY doesn't my choices make any difference what so ever. In a stroke of sheer genious BW implements transfer of savegames which all amounts to a **** nothing come the absurd end. I never write reviews but I love this game to damn much to not make my voice heard. This game doesn't deserve this, it should have top ratings.… Expand

I rented this game and almost threw it into a trash heap after playing it through, thank goodness I didn't or I would have had to buy this piece of junk. RENT do not buy this monstrosity of a movie called a game; pretty pictures, NO SUBSTANCE. I will never buy another Bioware game until user reviews on a subsequent game get a LOT better. Bye Bioware, hello Bethesda and back into Skyrim on my pc.

Im a big fan of the ME series, sadly i only own a ps3 so i never got to experience the first game but i loved the second game and beat it mulitple times, the combat is amazing and the customization is amazing in mass effect 3 but wow bioware you completely dropped the ball on the endings, i can understand sad endings, but there needs to be a way to get a good ending, thats why the previous mass effect games were so good, you knew you could get a bad ending, but if you did everything correctly everything would turn out okay, playing commander shepard for years and developing in game relationships makes you feel like you are commander shepard, and giving him the endings avaiable was a complete fail and ruined this amazing game franchise for me.… Expand

The game was OK, There was some interesting story decisions to make and the action was pretty nice. multiplayer is pretty fun, all the classes are very different from eachother but adept can solo everything. all of the endings are terrible, i am no longer supporting, EA, Bioware, or origin.

I think if you fan of 1 mass effect this game for you will be a peace of s**t but if you are a fan of 2 mass effect you will enjoy this game a lot.Briliant story,cool characters,great action this are waiting for you

A 10 from me since it doesn't deserve the negative reviews its getting, I don't want this to turn out just like Modern Warfare 3 did an this is a game i actually like.

Bioware retrurns to the stage to provide a magnificent end to an epic series!

Mass Effect 3 provides beautiful scenery, invigorating combat, heart wrenching stories and an all around immersive experience. Bioware has once again proven that they are one of the greatest developers around!

Check out Mass Effect 3 available on EA Origin alongside other great hits such as: Battlefield 3, The Sims 3, annd Star Wars - The Old Republic!… Expand

Though somewhat saddened by the conclusion, I cannot in good conscience give this game a 0 or 1 score just to "get back" at BioWare. Mass Effect 3 was an amazing game. Once I started, it was hard to stop before hours of my life flew by. After playing Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 and all of the DLC I don't think I was ever more excited about playing a game as I was about Mass Effect 3. The story starts off quick and brutal. The tone set all the way to "OMG WE ARE IN TROUBLE" and it's up to Shepard to finish what he/she started. I will now review the various aspects of the game below, as well as my impressions of the PS3 version.

Combat is fun. If you enjoyed the combat experience from ME2, then you will feel right at home here. Though some of the jumping and hurtling obstacles can be trial and error, the cover based system does what it's supposed to. Like all Mass Effect titles, you can command squadmates to use powers or ammo in fights to bring down challenging enemies. The level designs are mostly good with a few questionable design choices towards the end. Though, this game offered me some of the most intense battles in the series since my first encounter with a Thresher Maw in ME1. Graphics and voice acting are on par with previous games. A few bad apples are in the bunch but overall the voice acting is solid and the animations not overtly stiff. What really grabs you is the score and sound, which BioWare seemed to go all out on. When you encounter a Reaper up close and hear it's "trumpet" growl, you'll know what I mean. The engine is starting to look dated, but overall it is a beautiful game.

Storywise, ME3 delivers for the most part. I will not spoil anything here. Some of the decisions from the previous titles could have been felt more but some resonate through the game. My only few gripes are the amount of dialogue choices seemed skimmed down to just your basic Paragon or Renegade options, not much middle ground here. And of course the conclusion, which I will not elaborate on because of spoilers.

Problems with the game are few, but some are more noticeable then others. The Journal from the Start menu tracks all of your quests, but unlike ME1 and ME2, where the Journal tracked everything on three different tabs (Priority Missions, Side Missions and Completed Missions) ME3 decided to condense all of those into one tab and throw the Codex in there in place of tabs 2 and 3. AND, to top it off, the quests do not track status as it did in previous games. No grayed out objectives that have been completed under your current status of a given mission. As a consequence to this, you have no idea what Side Missions you have the requires item to complete (they are all basically fetch "quests" more later), so you end up running around the Citadel to try and see what you have done or not. Your map is supposed to have a NavPoint (basically just says a person of interest is available in the area) to lead you to a completed side mission quest giver, but in my playthrough this was not always the case. And the way of picking up most side quests by basically eavesdropping as you rung by is also a little lackluster. Once you are used to it however, you adjust quickly and it does not ruin the overall experience.

Now, for those wondering about the silly planet scanning mechanic from ME2, it's still there but not even close to how much time you spent doing it in ME2. When you enter a system, you will scan the area for EDI to find something of interest. If a planet lights up, you select it and then scan a la ME2, but only to guide the scanner to the white dot, exactly like how you found "miscellaneous" missions in ME2. You then send a probe and collect the reward. Rewards are everything from War Assets, Credits to Side Mission items. Most side missions are completed by collecting various items this way. Oh, and no Mako or Hammerhead missions either, so if you were not a fan of vehicle based missions, you are in luck. If you were, well ... sorry.

War Assets, as mentioned above, are an important factor of ME3. To get ready for the final battle, Shepard is tasked with gathering as many forces, items and people possible for success. It adds a new element to the ME questing purpose and it sort of fun when you read about your progress on the War Asset Terminal. In short, the more you have, the better off you'll be in the last battle. Multiplayer. I only played a few hours of it and it is fun but not really my cup 'o tea. ME combat works well for the single-player campaign but in multiplayer, the sometimes clunky controls can be annoying. But the overall experience is fun. All I have on that since it was not the reason I bought the game anyway.

Lastly, the PS3 version of the game played fine in most respects. The beginning was a little choppy but evened out quickly. Though I had 3 freezes which caused me to manually reset, the game played great otherwise.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ultimately no matter what path was chosen, what actions where taken, who lived and who died, at the end of this journey, all that remains is your ship and your crew abandon you.

The first 95% of the game is amazing, its everything I hoped for and more. The last 5% is the biggest slap in the face imaginable. If you have invested 100's of hours from the first game until this one, you will be left stunned and appalled that none of the choices you made, none of the battles you fought, nothing you did in those 100's of hours ultimately pays off in any of the three endings you can pick from. With the three endings and the DLC on day 1, EA/Bioware show that fan support means nothing more than a dollar symbol to them. While most of the joy lays in the journey to the end of the game, there is no replay value at all in this game, because no matter what journey you take, the ends are all ultimately the same except for color variations and if synthetics live or die.… Expand

This game is an insult to all Mass Effect fans.
After to games the conclusion is now, that everything you did in the last 5 years was just a joke. Nothing you were doing had any real consequences in the game. Of course some things may happen differently, but after all, nothing you did, had any influence on the outcome of the Reaper conflict.
Bioware wanted to tell their story and you are not really welcome in this story. I never felt so stupid after paying full price for a game. This may be the biggest disappointment in the last 10 years of gaming.… Expand

This game is absolutely AMAZING right up until the final 15 minutes or so. The end of the game is really a slap in the face to anyone who has stayed with the series from the beginning.

I am not saying this because I did not get the end that I wanted. I would have been perfectly fine with an ending in which everyone died - because at the very least that would have been a clear and well defined end. This series has always been defined and advertised as character driven. The player is encouraged to get invested in and attached to the characters in the Mass Effect universe. And yet the way this game ends is simply unacceptable. The ending gives very little understanding of exactly what happened, and the player is given very little to go on in terms of the fates of the characters.

I have never been one to write reviews or have strong opinions on games. I am not even one who typically gets attached to series the way I got attached to Mass Effect. But the way the end of the game seems like Bioware came up with it in maybe 10 minutes is, in my opinion, a betrayal of the fans.… Expand

Mass effect is my favorite next gen console series. but mass effect 3 is a middle finger to the fans who have loved the series since day one. unless something is seriously done to fix this game i will never buy from bioware again. they were my favorite company and now they are my most hated

Ending is a joke. This is a great game that suffers from the most god awful endings I have ever seen. Plus Bioware does not do their Multiplayer events with PS3 users and mentions it in the fine print. Save yourself the trouble and the $60 and wait for it to drop in price in a couple months.

The game is absolutely top notch until the ending is reached and you're presented with 3 choices. 3 choices which completely dismiss any decisions you've made prior in any of the 3 games. There are 3 ending scenes with no closure and a convoluted, out of character plot which disregard the franchises key themes. This destroys any motivation you may have to replay this game-or any of the other ME games. I Hope Bioware learn from this. Ending DLC correction is desperately needed.… Expand

The game featured a promising start. It was exciting to finally see everything you did in the last 2 games make a difference in Mass Effect 3... Only that it didn't. Nothing you did in the game has a result or consequence in this game, not even the stuff you do in Mass Effect 3. You can't do any major choices during the game. The combat feels like a bad version of Gears of War. The ending is horrible and makes the whole story of Shepard from the first game to the third feel irrelevant.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A strong opening that loses steam during the halfway point, PS3 frame rate issues and weak endings for such a long, three game journey leaves something to be desired from the end of such a great trilogy. No doubt from the community backlash the "real ending" will be in some sort of disgusting DLC package. If you're emotionally invested in the game I suggest a purchase, but perhaps when the price has been cut.… Expand

An absolutely terrible game, and an insult to both Mass Effect fans and rpg gamers alike. Gameplay is boring and repetitive, rpg elements are minimal at best and the loot system is a joke, there is no inventory, linear level design, zero exploration, massive plot-craters and weak writing all around. The developers also lied about day one dlc and the fact choices mean anything. They don't. Save yourself money and avoid this game at all costs.… Expand

Its always nice when you buy the game and you don't even have an option to get the best ending possible. I have to either move to somewhere where I can get online, or buy an ipad or iphone. They didn't even think about the offline people, never will buy a game from bioware ever again. Huge disappointment

95% of the game is f**king epic. The last 5% (the end) sucked. Yes I know there are people out there who liked the ending and that's cool. I personally needed more closure and yeah I'll admit I'd like a chance o have a happier ending. Hopefully future dlc will be able to provide the last 5% lacked.

For some reason the guage didnt change when i submitted my last review so...dont play this game until the ending is fixed. The game was good but the end ruins not only this game but the entire franchise.

One of the most profoundly disappointing endings to any story in any medium. The writers removed the cornerstone in which the entire story was built upon - choice and consequence. So, the entire building comes crashing down at the end. In the end, none of the choices your character makes throughout three games matter. All the relationships you've built are meaningless. There is no closure in the relationships made, whether between LIs or squad mates. They never come to fruition, and there is no resolution. ME3 was advertised to have a multitude of outcomes based upon players' choices. That's what originally made the Mass Effect franchise such a great success. The finale should have raised the player to great heights or taken the player to despair... and everywhere between based upon the consequences of the player's decisions throughout the entirety of the series(Paragon, Renegade, or somewhere in between). BioWare should have finished their remarkable work on the strengths that it was built on. Choice and consequence. It seemed like a given, but... You leave the game feeling complete and utter disappointment. It is truly remarkable how an ending can be so profoundly and remarkably bad. It truly destroys the franchise entirely. This is not an easy thing to say, as I've loved the series from the start. There is no replay value at all. BioWare has ruined years of work in the last ten minutes on what should have been one of the greatest RPGs of all time. It will be a study in the future on how not to end a story franchise.… Expand

Taken as a stand-alone game I'd likely rate it as around five, and that's with a few points off for the horrible ending.

Having played the previous games, made all the choices that were supposed to affect the ending, and then being stuffed in to the "pick a horrible ending that's almost identical to your other two choices" funnel rather than receiving the promised multiple endings that reflected my choices along the way it not only ruins this game, but the previous two as well.

This is not the game I was promised, it offers no choices, and all of the work I put in to the series is rendered meaningless in the last few minutes of poorly written cop out where the ending of a truly epic series should be.… Expand

I had a great time while playing mass effect 3 the ending gave me mixed feeling but all in all i had a great time while playing. To those people who thing this game is a 0 you are wrong it is a great experience and should be played for the just the enjoyment. While I liked mass effect 2 more than 3 I still can have fun playing a game just for the journey alone not the ending.

A 0 for a buggy unplayable mess.If game worked a 8.Mass effect 2 was made on the ps3 because of the added stuff and it plays way better.i dont know why they dont even say they are going to patch the game.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I would agree with most people here. 99% of the game deserve 10/10. If I could be reasonable and objective I would, but this game means too much for me so I can't. It has really ruined the entire trilogy with the ending. Until the very end I was sure I would want to play the whole trilogy several times over, once I finish. But after I did, I know. I do not want to be playing this game anymore. For what? If nothing of what we did throughout all 3 games matters and we get this over-the-top mystically philosophical crap in the end anyway, then what's the point?… Expand

In short, I never believed that the ending was as bad as everyone said it could be, turns out I was wrong. When you're actually playing the end, it doesn't feel as awful as most would make it out to be. But in the moments after the game ends and you ponder what you've just finished, you will realize your true disappointment in the ending of the game. The elimination of any type of ending variation, lack of closure, and a short, lazy little cutscene filled with unanswered plotholes should answer your question as to why it's so awful without spoiling anything. In short, the ending was just bad, and it takes away from the exciting couple of hours that lead up to it.

I might give this a higher score, but honestly, I can't say the ending was the only problem. Never mind the dlc, who cares about that. My beef lies with the technical points of the game and the gunplay itself. Obviously most of you enjoy the gunplay and I know I'll get flak for this, but even in Mass Effect 2 I found it to be boring and unoriginal, it feels like a stiff cover shooter that seems like a dumbed down version of Uncharted except with those gimmicky biotic powers. Also, the game has a really poor framerate that will annoy you throughout much of the game, terrible lip-syncing, and to top it all off the game froze on me a few times and I had to reboot my PS3.

To be honest, I don't think was an abysmal game, but it will never live up to the second chapter in the series' greatness nor will it ever be considered one of the great video games of this generation. Although I think it deserves all this hate, I find it sad that Bioware was stubborn enough to butcher its greatest franchise, and what's even more sad is that it's probably EA's fault for making Bioware rush the ending so that they could get it out before the end of the fiscal quarter. That's just plain wrong. I don't care whether they're going to patch the ending or not, I'm selling this game before the price takes a nose dive when no one wants to buy this piece of garbage.… Expand

Gameplay, multiplayer, storyline, all get a 10/10. The ending, however, ruined the experience completely. Don't play this, leave it at ME2 and treat that as the final game in the series, that way you won't be terribly disappointed.

This game is absolutely amazing, it combines the things i loved about the first 2 games into a highly entertaining experience. Some hardcore RPG fans may be put off because of the higher emphasis on action but most of the things that made the first 2 great are here. The game doesn't deserve this user rating i dont get what people could possibly complain about, it is the conclusion to one of the greatest franchises of all time. Stop spamming and **** about this game cause it doesn't deserve it.… Expand

People are over-reacting about this game's ending. I would like to start by saying that the ending does not ruin the OVERALL game to such an extent that it gets a 0/10! It is ridiculous. This is a damn good game and deserves a much better score. The improvements in this game mainly go into combat. Combat is much easier compared to Mass Effect 1 and 2 and Shepard feels more agile. But the game feels much more like a shooter and sometimes while using the "soldier" class the skills i have become less apparent and i shoot at my enemies without ever using my biotics.

The Side quest system is pure and utter **** I dont even want to emphasize on this one.
I dont know how bioware would get such a simple Quest-Tracker system wrong.

The Story is great and lovable and was seriously good until the ending.
The Ending is so wrong. Just so very wrong.
Im not going to spoil anything but im just going to say one line about the ending

" The Shepard i know would NEVER do that "

Buy the game. It's a good game and should never ever ever ever ever. get a 0/10 because of the ending.
It's a damn good game if not for it's shortcomings such as the :
- Quest System
- Ending
- It's moving more towards a shooter than an RPG.… Expand

One of the better games I've played in the last decade; Mass Effect 3 improves on the other preceding titles in virtually all manners barring some subjective ways others may deem inaccurate or useless. To explain: The combat is much better and smoother, conversations are more realistic and just in general top-notch, the characters both new & old are vastly improved, voice acting (especially from Mark Meer) is vastly superior and the emotion runs high in the story throughout. Most importantly, the story is much better than Mass Effect 2's, although it falls short (barely) of Mass Effect 1. I strongly suggest buying it for these reasons alone, but there is more...

The multiplayer, which is unexpected to say the very least, had me underwhelmed when I first saw it disclosed, but when I played the demo, and now in the retail, I have grown to see it as an integral component to the game and like the rest of it is of massive quality. The supplementary "Galaxy at War" is also interesting, if underdeveloped, and I would like to see it improved in future DLC.

Lastly, I should mention what I found to be bad:

-Animations when taking cover can sometimes glitch and freeze characters or make them look lifeless (i.e. you have full control but while on the wall they don't breath etc)
-Some old friends in the textures popping up; this is rare, and happens almost universally after you finish an N7 mission.
-I would have liked if it was more difficult, it's easy (to an extent) for a gamer of my skill (Average, possibly slightly above-average).
-A few plot holes, easily forgivable given their minimal impact/enjoyable repercussions

Other than those small gripes, the game is outstanding, and is well worth the price of the retail and even the Collector's edition; if you own an Xbox or PC (I do not recommend for Playstation due to lack of Mass Effect 1) you owe it to yourself to play -experience- Mass Effect 3 for yourself. Don't listen to the 10's who blindly love the game, or the reds/0's who give their gripes with EA/Bioware/DLC as reasons for hate, carefully evaluate what the critics say and compare it with a rental or a purchase; I promise you will not regret it.… Expand

Macnificent game the other people just have no taste!!!! One of my top 3 best games ever played!Graphically superb! Great story line! Loved it!!!!:-) I hope the movie is close I as good as this!

Do yourself a favor and ignore the negative reviews that come from angry haters who have not played this game. The User score has more to do with anger about DLC and does not fairly reflect what this game has to offer. I picked up this game yesterday morning, put it in my system and spent the entire day with a giant smile on my face. The game is that good! It felt wonderful to be back in the Normandy, surrounded by old friends as well as new faces. If you enjoyed the first two games, you will have a hard time not enjoying this game... well... unless you are one of those gamers who can't handle change, and if that is the case enjoy your bitterness.

Things to know that might help you decide if you want this game: 1) A lot of the negativity comes from the Day1 DLC ($10 cost), fans feel the DLC was pulled from the full game and sold separately to unfairly make a profit. After playing the DLC mission I have to agree that the DLC should have been part of the game, or at the very least it should have been cheaper. This was one of the first missions I played, and although I suppose you can do without it, I really felt it was an important part of the story. On the other hand after getting the Prothean character I have yet to be able to bring him along on a mission, for some reason he is blacked out every time. Not sure why that is, but I suppose he will unlock later on in the game, like Sebastian did in DA2, but after paying $10 extra for a character I would kinda like the option to bring him along on every mission if I should so chose.

2) The game feels more combat focused with less focus on exploration. One of the great things about the first 2 ME games was the feeling that you were on an amazing adventure and the whole galaxy was yours to discover. So far ME3 seems very limited in exploration, but I am still early into the story, so perhaps that will change. I really hope that will change, but I am starting to wonder.

3) Weapon system... kinda confusing. They keep changing this, and I am never really sure why. I was lost the first few times that I tried to equip a new weapon, maybe it is just me, but I found it very confusing and ended up accidentally missing out on opportunities to equip new weapons during the first mission. Once you get control of the ship though you are able to play with this and figure out what you need to know, but I was somewhat put off by this.

4) No more hacking. ME 1 & 2 had you doing little puzzles to hack doors and safes, and ME3 has done away with that chore. I think this was a good move, since hacking got boring after a while, but if you are someone who likes the hacking this might be missed. 5) For those people who have not played the first two games, I would recommend playing them first. I suppose you can jump into the story with ME3, but I think much of the story will be lost on you. Plus the wow moments would probably be a lot less wow if I didn't know the back story.… Expand

I originally gave this game a 9, but now that the DLC is out that fixed the endings, I have to change my score!

In my opinion, this is the best game ever made. The characters are all well developed, the music helps immerse you in the game, the story's themes run deep, and the gameplay is fun and perfectly balanced between combat, side quests, and RPG-type talking and such.

The Mass Effect series is a crowning achievement of gaming. It lets the player choose how the main character acts, so they can fully put themselves in his or her shoes. All of this without sacrificing gameplay or story. This is the most immersive game I've ever played. I hope this game influences the gaming industry for years to come.… Expand