Mass Effect 3: A game that was almost phenomenal.

“Holy shit, they’re actually here,” was the first real thought I had after starting Mass Effect 3. Within minutes of starting the game, I was thrown into a desperate race to reach the Normandy and escape a dying Earth in order to unite a galaxy against a threat that has eradicated organic life time an time again in a cycle that has continued for millions of years. That desperate feeling is something that never truly lives you throughout the entirety of Mass Effect 3.

Despite that constantly looming shadow, the game manages not only to convey the dark heart of war, but also manages to throw in the lighter jests that we loved in Mass Effect 2. I found myself standing at a billboard advertising “Blasto 6: Partners in Crime” listening to every dialogue clip from it, the face Shepard made when EDI said that she only forgets to recycle the Normandy’s air supply when she discovers something truly interesting was priceless, and Joker is the same old guy we’ve loved since the first Mass Effect. However, as a game about galactic war should, it pushed the more lighthearted interactions aside for darker ones. The Citadel was a prime example of how the game showed that this war devastated everyone. Where in Mass Effect 2 most conversations you could eaves-drop on were lighthearted and funny, the ones in Mass Effect 3 referenced people loosing friends, a lover going to war, and even entire colonies being destroyed, and that’s not where the dark tones ended. Two locations in particular on the Citadel changed constantly: Huerta Memorial Hospital filled with patients to the point that you’d walk in to see the sick and injured being cared for in the lobby, and the refugee camp in the dock’s holding area continually expanded with people from worlds that had been overrun by the Reapers.

The Citadel is a mostly peaceful hub world that the war hasn’t truly reached yet, but the effects of the are still felt as you pass by all those effected. The Battlefield, on the other hand, understandably puts the war itself into sharp focus. Everywhere I fought Reapers, I could turn my camera to see decimation left behind by the Reapers, and forces facing off against Reapers themselves. One time that sticks firmly into my head was standing on a ledge while on a moon to see a burning planet in the sky, with ships locked in battle overhead, and down in a valley, a Reaper was laying waste to an entire army. The intensity of that moment underscored the desperate fight the galaxy found itself in, and the almost non-existent odds of success.

As far as gameplay is concerned, Mass Effect is no longer an RPG. Where in the first Mass Effect you personally had a hand in almost everything Shepard had to say, Mass Effect 3 takes it down to almost a decision of “what should the next cutscene be” rather than “what should Shepard say next?” Character customization and leveling is a definite improvement than 2, but still didn’t give you the variety found in games like Dragon Age: Origins and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The shooter mechanics improved it also, making parts of it’s gameplay reminiscent of Gears of War as you roll in and out of cover constantly vying for a better position to stop the hordes of Reaper, Cerberus, or Geth forces.

The shooter mechanics also make the multiplayer an enjoyable experience which understandably drops the weapon and power wheels in favor of the quicker “press RB to use shockwave” and “press X to switch weapons”. The formula of the multiplayer makes me think of what Horde 3.0 might be when Epic innevitably comes out with Gears 4. It takes that holding out against waves of opponents aspect and adds objectives every few waves such as shutting off Reaper indoctrination devices or killing high-value targets (I will never understand how a particular husk is a higher-value target than the husk next to him). The multiplayer also factors into the story by acting as a multiplyer for your war assets which factor into your odds of getting a “perfect” ending once you beat the game.

This is probably the most glitchy Mass Effect I’ve played. The predominant glitch being one that causes characters to sometimes disappear during dialogue. When I played through the game the character who disappeared was my DLC squad member, so I had thought it was simply a problem with the integration of the DLC into the game, but a friend of mine mentioned having the same problem with Ashley and Liara. The other big problem was dialogue fading out before it reached the end. It was a little irritating to be talking to a character to suddenly hear his dialogue fade out then cut to the next line. However, it isn’t the glitchiest game I’ve ever played, and I never ran into a Reaper flying backwards a la Skyrim’s infamous dragon, so that’s a plus.

As far as the DLC is concerned, we all know what it is, but in case someone has been living under a rock, I’m not going to say it. I’d hate to aid EA, Bioware, and Microsoft in it’s efforts of spoiling that DLC for everyone. It’s infamy is also well-known. It’s very hard to believe that this was not an intended part of the game sold separately for added profit, however I still enjoyed it none-the-less. The true beauty of the DLC isn’t the mission, but the character and perspective you get, which is ironically on the disc itself. It should have come with the game, but I can’t fault the DLC it’s self for shady marketing tactics employed by Bioware and EA.

All this considered, I’d give Mass Effect 3 a 9/10… though there is one thing that hasn’t been considered yet. The now infamous endings. I don’t want to spoil the ending for those who haven’t reached it, but as my best friend would say: It’d be disingenuous of me not to say anything about it. I walked away less of a fan of Mass Effect as a result of how this game ended. It damaged, irreparably, the overall feel of the Mass Effect universe by explaining far too much with an explanation completely out of left field. Don’t get me wrong, I still like the Mass Effect universe, it’s just that looking back on everything… it’s not the same. It’s almost like growing up in a way, the magic is gone, and it leaves me feeling empty.

Taking everything into consideration, I have to give Mass Effect 3 a 7.5/10. I still like it, and there is a lot  the game did 100% right. But the last 10 minutes managed to take that all and make it, and everything else in the universe, feel hollow.