Its easily the Best Game of 2012 i really enjoyed and liked every minute, Yes even the ending was great i nearly cried and this is the only game what could make me cry.Finally not a dissapointment boring always fairy tale happy ending.

While the ending may leave you frustrated and looking for answers the majority of the game itself is brilliant. The gameplay is fun, skill based and action-packed. The single player mode is a lot of fun and is brilliant for the most part. The multiplayer is the best co-operative multiplayer I've ever played with some unique inventory based features. I would recommend this game to anyone, but don't be too surprised if the ending disappoints you.… Expand

You will enjoy the ride, right up till its finish the story is a master class in great writing and plot! well done Bioware. the ending is the fault of EA.

Good Multiplayer thats fun to player. A more mobile Shepard. And tons of free dlc!

This is the first mass effect game i have ever played. In short i like it. I have not officially beaten the game but i have played it enough to get the gist of how the game runs. One thing so far i do not like about the game is i just hit disc two and i have done two sections so far in the game where i actually get to shoot things, in between that time are two very long and drawn out parts where you talk to people on the citadel to recruit new members for the alliance and get resources for the war and get to know the characters, at first i didnt mind then i thought,, hmm i wanna shoot stuff. And the shooting and combat is something i really like about this game its fluid fast and fun and you have alot of options going into batlle. You have your standard stuff like guns and stuff but you also have powers and abilities as do your aliies which you can direct them to do at any given time after the cooldown. The story is good even to someone who hasnt been with the series for the whole ride it does a decent job of getting you up to speed of whats going on, since i havnt played the other mass effects(yet) its safe to say im not getting the whole experience because im pretty sure if had played one and two my decisions in those two games wouldve made the experience completeley different for me because thats how things work in mass effect, your desicions. Over all i like this game and i hate to see all these people knocking it because they didnt like the ending thats not a factor in a game that should determine whether or not it is good or not… Expand

Well, again a mixed bag. The game is quite amazing up until that dang ending man. MP is fun, even a year into it, and still rolling on. The one thing that holds this game down is that crap ending.

The game has been out for over a year, long enough for me to recover and think how do I rate this game. To be honest, I want to give this game a 10 before the ending, i still remembered how exciting when playing the last mission on earth and how emotional I got towards the final push. Then the original ending, which is total crap and I want to give the game a -10 after finished the game the first time, it deserved a negative score. the ending made me depressed and lost interesting in playing games for months, the reaction and PR bxx**** from bioware towards ending and fans was just disgusting and made me sick. For me, the ending was just rushed, no excuse, no deep meaning behind it. if a video game can give me so much negative feelings, i can only rate it with negative score, in this case, a zero.… Expand

All i see is: 'Bad ending, bad ending, waste of money, worst game ever' but no, it's not. Don't get me wrong, the ending was weak.
I am not the one that says that this one is better than ME2. It certainly isn't. but i had a lot of fun playing, And i do not think people should hate this series overall because of this lame ending. If you want to play this game, then first play ME1 and 2.

If the user score wasn't so low I'd give it a 9 or 8, but a 10 because it's so low... Why is it so low?! This game was absolutely incredible. It wasn't as good as the first or second, but this game is epic. Multiplayer was a worthy inclusion to it and everything else came together... An awesome game

Oh my dear gaming-god(Tex Murphy)!!
It's like Elvis would announce his greatest show ever, and then came out on stage naked, fat, drunk, balled, and then urinated on the first row people, slung feces on the rest, gave his finger to all, and then shot all the old people.
Where did all the talent go, that I trusted with my hopes and dreams for Shepard and his friends.
I mean how is this possible;
To write arguably the best story in gaming history(ME1), come up with two of the best bad guys in space(Saren and Sovereign)
Then go on to make ME2 witch fixed all the problems from the previous game, only lacking bad guys with character.
And then this.....
Did they have a stroke, are they smoking crack, did someone replace their head with G.W.B's?

Now it's all ruined. I cant even replay the first two. Shepard is dead to me now. Why you say??
BECAUSE YOU'VE KILLED HIM STUPID… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. MY BEST RPG EVER!
Good
Awesome Presentation Graphics,Textures,Art, The Best Gameplay in the series,Throwable Grenades, RPG Elements are back and there are a lot, Tons of Different Looking Guns, Mods add Actual Physical as well as performance enhancements, Intresting Characters, A Ton Of Content, Free Extended Cut DLC, Great Choices Now even more galaxy wide including one which can result in the destruction of an entire friendly alein race,So Much
Bad
Original Ending,… Expand

Mass Effect 3 has it's flaws and I am not sure how to judge those. The franchise really has identity issues.
The game has done things right: graphics, soundtrack, combat, multiplayer, these "touching moments"... yet it still fails to satisfy completely. Some important story-arcs are completely cut off, certain characters were simply dismissed, side-missions are almost non-existent, the writing is laughable at points and (this has already been discussed to death) the terrible ending happened.

I don't know if more time for the development would have helped, but this game seemed rushed and unfinished at every end. It was an enjoyable game up until the ending, but certainly not the outstanding quality fans are used to.… Expand

I don't know what the people who poorly rated this game were thinking but this is one legendary game. It immersed me in the first couple of hours and I can't leave ME3 for long hours once I start to play it. Despite a few flaws (especially the same button used for cover, running and jumping over obstacles), this game is pure FUN and it surely deserves my score of "9".

Another dumbed down game gone in the wrong direction just to please the masses, this is just unbelievable, I'm tired of companies just ruining great franchises just because they want money. This is just shameful.

My God, this game is so bad. I mean, WTF, is this even real??? Graphics suxxxx monkey balls, no killstreaks, no quick scopez, joke man. This game is garbage PS I didn't play it.

I absolutely LOVED this game, but the only problem I have, and this was a HUGE problem, is the ending. The ending was just SO terrible it's not even funny. I was so disappointed.

To start off, I've yet to reach the ending of mass effect 3. I assume I'm getting close, 24 hours in or so. I had an idea a month or so ago to play all three in a row, because I forgot what happened in the first two games. So I replayed through the first, loved it, damn fine game. Replayed the second, also sweet, got a bit bored of the planet scanning after awhile, but besides that highly enjoyed it. And then I started 3. I don't honestly understand how this game got such a high review. The entire system was dumbed down, all mini games removed, almost all exploration removed, no characters to gather, silly dream sequence scenes that always end exactly the same. Canned dialogue, removal of REAL side quests and a new, insanely annoying combat system where every single npc strafes at Mach speed. There's so much wrong with this it's hard for me to find anything fun, new or cool. I have no desire to finish the game, Ashley looks like a man, all of my companions are boring, oh, the one binary puzzle level was sort of neat albeit a tad frustrating. As I said I played each concurrently, the second I finished the first I started the second, same with second to third. My score relies on the fact to me, from my perspective, that this was and is a piss poor representation to an up to this point, awesome franchise, I think it's ea.. Btw, once bio signed with them most of their games just haven't been the same.… Expand

This is a very good game, and has been exposed to far too much negative publicity. It has been a brilliant series, and this is a very good continuation of the Mass Effect trilogy. The gameplay is better than any previous installment, with good graphics and some missions being very well executed and thought out: Tuchanka and Rannoch in particular. That said, the lack of more conversation decisions, and less squad members, as well as the now infamous ending might plague the game somewhat. The multiplayer in itself is very addictive, a fun Horde mode where the main problem is an infuriatingly unlikely random store, which seems to be an excuse for those dreaded microtransactions. All in all, Mass Effect 3 is a great game, all though it may be slightly plagued by some problems blown way out of proportion.… Expand

In an industry of the quick one-liner shooter and linear choice rpg I find it good to see some writing power being put behind a game to give it more of a endearing and drawing in quality. Mass effect's universe has always given players more in the way of choices, relationship development and Mass effect 3 has now promised to give us the fruits of our labor. I come to really enjoy every person I meet in the game and the inspired locations in it and It did make me feel as though what I did in the game's shaped the universe around me and most popular games just don't give you that, really doesn't. Now my thoughts on the linear endings is that for me I was playing for the in game experience and I knew that there would be more games and like past games in the series I never really see the "end" as a final game and I didnt expect developers to have the time to come up with hundreds of different endings for every choice we made, though they shouldn't of promised that but its a mistake people make them. I'm satisfied with how they rectified the problem people had and will be back.… Expand

I'll start right off the bat that Mass Effect 3 is a good game.It isn't as good as Mass Effect 1 & 2 and as a final part of Commander Shephard's story it doesn't fully deliver. The choices you made in the last games don't effect the story that much and the ending seems forced and not fitting at all. It is easily the weakest of the otherwise amazing trilogy.

I... What... This is... I can't... (adopting James Earl Jones voice) NOOOOOOOOO!!!! There simply aren't words that can adequately describe how incredibly disappointed I was with this title. The sheer dumbing and scaling down and utter contrived nonsense of this game simply defies belief. To summarize: The conversation wheel is reduced to mostly two choices, which most of the time are just verbal variations of the very same choice. The Citadel has been reduced to four very small "rooms" which make you feel like you're in a dorm rather than a huge construction floating in space. The story makes little to no sense what so ever (and that's well before one of the worst, most contrived, horribly written, and senseless endings in the history of writing). Side missions consists primarily of Shep playing UPS-guy. Here's how it works: Eavesdrop on total stranger, go to system, scan planet, find object, go back, deliver found object to total stranger, the end. And if you thought Bioware couldn't make scanning planets more absurdly boring than it was in ME2 (where it actually served some kind of purpose), then you're in for a surprise. Imagine playing Tetris with only square blocks which take up the entire grid. That's scanning planets in ME3. You don't really do anything. The shooting levels are extremely linear and makes the whole game feel more like an attempt at a Gears of War clone with longer cutscenes (and a still dysfunctional AI) than Mass Effect. Oh, and did I mention the sheer amount of auto dialogue? Then there's Tali's face... Oh God, how lazy can you get? Then there's the IGN chick. WHAT!? And then there's the ending... You know, the one where all the decisions you made throughout the three games come together and gives you a plethora of different endings? Well, no! No choices you ever made make even one iota of difference. Everybody gets the same three completely ridiculous, contrived, senseless, and grotesquely illogical choices of endings. Remember we were told that the Reapers were beyond human comprehension? Well, it turns out they were right. Noone can possibly comprehend the assenying, senseless stupidity which is the Reapers and the Catalyst (or smurfboy aka deux ex machina).
To sum up: Mass Effect 3 is a boring 3rd person shooter with long cutscenes and a completely senseless story and one of the worst conclusions ever in gaming history. The only reason I can swing my way up to a four, is the production value which is excellent and the fact that there is actually two missions in this game that has the old Mass Effect feel of choice and consequence. But twice simply isn't enough when we consider that was the whole premiss of the game.
The story of the Mass Effect franchise is the story of how game companies all now seem to aim for the lowest common denominator (aka "as long as I can shoot stuff and don't have to actually think or do anything, I'm happy") rather than aim for excellence.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Awesome game. i don´t get why so many people give this game so bad score, its excellent. Combat has been improved, more customization options, favorite characters make at least a cameo which is good, though i would have liked to have a krogan team member. Story might not be as good as ME2 or ME1 but, it doesnt deserve so bad score just because the ending, though they improved it with extended cut. People Shouldnt give this 6,5,4,3,2 or 1 because some ending, story and because it doesnt have so much RPG aspects as Mass Effect 1. But the game still kicks ass on story while it isnt as good as we wanted it be it still is awesome. There is more different weapons than before and the customization is better than ME 1 or ME 2. So overall the improves on combat, customization but is bit of letdown on story and ending.… Expand

Mass Effect 3 is both a testament to show how low EA has dragged Bioware. On the other hand, it IS a good game. Graphics look great, the RPG elements have been improved and the general gameplay is great. You can pretty much cut ME3 in three. Average/Amazing/Bad, for Opening/Majority of Game/Ending. Even with the Extended Cut, the ending is not satisfying for long time fans of the series, and it's really a shame. Other issues include tons of auto-dialogue, a focus on Cerberus instead of the Reapers and the fetch quests they replaced normal side quests with. Your ME2 squadmates are completely sidelined, but that is Mass Effect 2's Suicide Mission's fault. So why did I rate it 8/10? Because it is a good game. Just not a great Mass Effect game.… Expand

It is Mass Effect 2 but with a less interesting story and atmosphere. The dialogue is less intense in this "brighter" conclusion and the character development is simply chaotic. Gatherings forces ultimately doesn't effect the outcome, and your previous game choices that you have saved from two games now end up not mattering at all. The multiplayer is just a horde/zombie type grind with no real interesting mechanics. When I heard co-op where you played a new squad I figured there would be a short side story where your play parallel to the campaign story, but nope. The only good thing was that they added more rpg features when it comes to character skills and customization. All in all, it is a boring conclusion for a nearly perfect series.… Expand

I'm not here to rip on ME3 just for the sake of doing so or because its what's cool to do on the internet like so many others.

Basically ME3 is the worst of the series in every way possible compared to the other 2 games because it doesn't build or improve anything. It simply just tries to hurriedly finish the series for the sake of a cash in on the title.

1- There is no sense of exploration. The game as efficiently as possible holds your hand every step the way and has you actually being on the ground doing things the least amount possible. Side missions are carried out by quickly scanning a planet ala ME2 and then firing a probe. That's it. You don't explore, you don't get to check out uncharted worlds simply for the sake of curiosity or anything. Scan, shoot probe, side mission done all without even leaving the galaxy map. This tactic accounts for the majority of side missions. ME1 you could explore the galaxy drive around in that horribly handling buggy and had a sense of discovering things, ME2 you could land on planets and explore doing side missions with some not even firing a single shot like the crashed cruiser balanced on the mountain peak but all of those things are gone in 3. The game just holds your hand and ushers you from mission to mission.

2- You don't get to actually chose anything, everything is pre determined for you. Even if you chose the renegade or paragon path you get the exact same result and no one treats you differently and you get no alternative paths depending on your karma scale which makes it all incredibly pointless and just window dressing for the fact the story is entirely linear and so is your character.

3- The characters are all the same ones, only less compelling. There are a couple new characters but they are highly disposable and not even worth messing with. James for instance is basically just a guy who talks 90% of the time like a generic white guy, 10% of the time he throws out some Mexican phrases like saying "loco" a lot in his generic white guy trying to impersonate a Mexican guy and he looks like he was taken from the show jersey shore. When a old character returns you can see it coming a mile away. For instance you go into a area where the mission briefing talks about geth then you can see 45 minutes before which old character is going to come back. All the characters themselves seem hollow and rushed, they lack the personality that made them endearing in the other games and most are there only long enough to be overly obvious in a very specific mission or they simply show up for 3 minutes of camera time practically winking at the player with a nod and then are gone.

4- The story compared to the others sucks. The other games had side stories, character stories, side missions with their own short stories and so on. ME3 on the other is basically this "Everything is going to be destroyed". That's pretty much it because no matter where you go or what you do its always about the war specifically and nothing else. I also got sick of hearing phrases like "were here to save lives", "were doing this to save lives", "this weapon will save lives", "we need to stick together to save lives", "billions of lives are on the line and were here to save them", etc and after about 8 hours I was sick of hearing about the war and saving lives.

5- The game play was basically just one big shooting gallery and hiding behind chest high walls. Every single fight is basically you hiding behind chest high walls to peak out and fire a few rounds only to hide back behind said wall. It was incredibly boring and has been done to death in dozens of other games. The combat was mindless and mediocre. It felt like they put absolutely no effort into the combat at all and rushed you through it in order to get to the next scene of hearing Sheppard say "saving lives".

6- The ending was atrocious. This is a series that prides itself on story, characters and dialogue. We all spent over 100 bucks playing all 3 games and spent over 100 hours playing all 3 games but bioware seemed to say "This is the end of the trilogy so who cares about the ending". The ending is the most important part of any story of any kind because its the very last thing you leave the person with and its supposed to be a reward, the climax to everything leading up till then, basically the ending is the most important part of any story. But the ending of ME3 was over in just a minute or so despite the dozens of hours of dialogue, cut scenes and story in the rest of the series they got lazy at the end. It gives no satisfaction at all. I can honestly say it is the laziest segment of the series. I did like though they had the balls to do what they did with Sheppard, but the ending still sucks and doesn't make you glad to have finished the series.… Expand

Don't let the rumors of the terrible ending turn you away from this game.

If you played the first two Mass Effect games and want to enjoy more then don't be turned off my the rumors of the ending. While the ending is not anything you would expect, at it's core the gameplay is by far the best ever in Mass Effect 3.

The multi-player is also an added bonus. Originally everyone was skeptical about the mutli-player component, but with an assortment of free DLC associated with it you can't go wrong playing some Mass Effect co-op with friends.

Why not give it a 10? Well simple due to the narrow focused missions, and lack of true exploration in an RPG. Plus the ending could have been better.… Expand

The end to a Legend. Mass effect 3, the conclusion to the story of Commander (insert first name here) Shepard. Been a hell of a ride, from Eden Prime to Omega, and everywhere in-between. Mass Effect 3 beings after the events of the Arrival DLC for Mass Effect 2. Cmdr. Shepard having been arrested, and facing trial,on Earth, is interrupted with the Reaper's invasion. And Shepard is given one final mission: Unite the Galaxy to combat them. No easy task, but years have been spent for this very moment. Shepard is faster and stronger now. With combat rolls, cover vaults and devastating melee attacks. He/She is joined by a smaller (But more vocal) squad. All previous squad-mates, main characters from previous games return. Though some are placed in corners, and given little screen-time. The weapon crafting system is a fun little addition, even if you won't be using it much. The mining mini-game is gone, (Hurray!) and planet scanning is simplified. The game leads through many emotional moments, some of anger and hate. Others of happiness, and joy. But the leading is pressure, desperation and tragedy. Keep tissues near you for this game. A work of art for 99% of the game...and you've heard it a million times. The ending, while improved with the "Extended Cut" free DLC, is still...unsatisfying. A game everyone should try once, but sadly will be remembered for its ending.… Expand

Well the games 80% off in my local store, but due to the hype by the industry hacks and the real gaping plot holes and micro management payments to get a good ending pointed out by real gamers. First time I have review a game that I have not played, because I am too put off to even buy in the first place!? Oh well it is EA so what can you expect...

Boy, talk about a game developer living by the idea of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". This could easily be a Mass Effect 2 expansion pack as it plays, feels, and looks just like the previous game. And although this would seem like a good thing, the story is now bogged down by too many chance encounters and contrived story telling. I don't want to by chance run into everything character I ran with in the previous game in a massive universe unless it makes sense to and ME 3 forces me to see my fellow squad mates in the most random and coincidental ways that it makes it all feel icky.
The game has been replaced by all out action which will keep some people happy. It just lacks the heart of the first 2 games. Which is odd because its supposed to be a game the deals with the possible idea of extinction and instead of dealing with that, Im babbling politics with a krogan and turian? Boo… Expand