Mass Effect 3
Mass Effect 3 So here it is finally. Last review of original Mass Effect triology and its story DLC-s. Entry to franchise that many seem to want to forget (mainly due to ending), but is it justified? Let's find out. Basic introduction Normandy SR2 is back- this time in Alliance colors Mass Effect 3 is last episode of Mass Effect triology, developed by Bioware (Straight Right for WiiU), published by EA released in 6th march 2012 for Windows, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 with WiiU release following in november 2012. It is action-adventure RPG, where you explore galaxy, kill some bad guys and do heroic deeds. Also, this is first in the series to include multiplayer, however i wont be reviewing that as i didnt get chance to play it to enough extent.System requirements (from EA help page): Minimum system requirements: OS – Windows XP SP3 / Vista SP1 / Windows 7 CPU – 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent AMD CPU RAM – 1 GB for Windows XP / 2 GB for Vista or Windows 7 Disc Drive – 1x speed Hard Drive: at least 15 GB of free space GPU – 256 MB with Pixel Shader 3.0 supportSupported chipsets: Nvidia 7900 or better; ATI X1800 or better. Please note that Nvidia GeForce 9300, 8500, and 8300 are below minimum system requirements, as are AMD/ATI Radeon HD3200, HD3300, and HD4350. Sound – DirectX 9.0c compatible DirectX – DirectX 9.0c Please note that if using an AMD Dual Core CPU, we recommend utilizng the AMD Dual Core Optimizer, available for free download by AMD. Recommended system requirements: OS – Windows XP SP3 / Vista SP1 / Windows 7 CPU – 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent AMD CPU RAM – 2 GB for Windows XP / 4 GB for Vista or Windows 7 Disc Drive – 1x speed Hard Drive: at least 15 GB of free space Video – AMD/ATI Radeon HD4850 512 MB or greater / Nvidia GeForce 9800GT 512 MB or greater Sound – DirectX 9.0c compatible Please note that if using an AMD Dual Core CPU, we recommend utilizng the AMD Dual Core Optimizer, available for free download by AMD. Beginning of story- reapers invade earth Story kicks off about 6 months after Shepard and his/her (using her from now on when referring to Shepard) team hit the Collectors home base and destroyed it. Normandy SR-2 is in Alliance posession and Shepard is being detained on Earth either for working with Cerberus (human black ops organisation gone rogue) in ME2 events or- if you have Arrival dlc for Mass Effect 2- blowing up batarian solar system. Either way, Shepard is being suddenly summoned by Alliance parliament (located in Vancouver), while on the way she meets up with either Kaidan or Ashley (depending who you saved back on Virmire) and Admiral Anderson, wheter or not you chose him to be earth's representative in council in first game. Earth has lost contact with extra-solar assets. Reapers have arrived. In matter of fact, when Shepard is telling parliament that, when first reapers land outside the windows and parliament and everyone in the room except for Shepard and Anderson are killed in initial blast from reapers weapon. I have to admit, the destruction wave still gave me chills and i played it like 3 years after release... After escaping the Vancouver (with Anderson remaining behind to coordinate resistance) with Normandy SR-2 (with dynamic duo of Jeff "Joker" Moreau as pilot and his AI sidekick EDI guiding the Normandy), you make a quick drop on Mars as of request of Admiral Hackett, where you pick up another old friend, dr. Liara T'Soni. You also discover that reapers are not the only enemy you have to face. Cerberus is also increasingly agressive, seriously harming appetempts of galaxy-wide front and fight against reapers and like that wasnt enough- it is suspected they are also indoctrinated. Mars is also last you see Sol system for very long time as you then slip out of Sol system to create united front against reapers. Story is overall rather good, it is definetly deeper than previous two entries of series, but it would be a stretch to say it is perfect. As in previous games, you can shape the story to some extent with correct lines and actions (paragon or renegade or mixture) and to be fair, it changes some parts quite drastically, though in the end it doesnt have much difference if you are paragon or renegade, but more of how much war assets you've gathered (effective combat strength needs to be over 4000, if you want best possible endings). Without multiplayer, it can be hard to achieve, as by default, effective combat strength is 50 percent of actual combat strength, which means if you are purely singleplayer person (like me), you'd need to get basically every sidequest and scan item possible. DLC-s actually help as well here. In any case, troughout story you meet (and lose) some old friends, as well as make new friends. It can get really emotional at times without becoming corny while doing so, which is definite plus. You can see reaper war taking huge toll on Shepard with its wins and losses (mainly losses, because you get to see it on earth already, how overwhelmingly powerful reapers really are). Either way, it is really something to see the magnitude of struggle, front forming, few reapers getting taken down amazingly (my favourite- tresher maw!) and you start to get rid of that feeling of inevitable loss you had at start during course of game, when you see strength of entire galaxy being pointed at reapers. You also have more missions and sidequests than in either game before, giving you lot more time to go trough game and lot more content. I mean it- game feels huge with multiple separate plotlines in overall arc. I honhestly felt like im playing game where entire franchise is slammed into one game. Also, eavesdropping on conversations unlocks assignments like it did in ME1. Quite happy about that. And humor, classic Mass Effect humor. There is a lot of it- really liked EDI and Joker going at it for example. But thats all good stuff up to this point. Now.. to the bad. When Shepard escapes Vancouver, she sees small boy who later gets killed when transport hes on gets shot down by reapers. That causes Shepard to see nightmares where she is in dark forest, seeing shadowy figures (who apparently are her friends who died as you can hear them speak) with exception of boy who you have to chase before he is burning.. Now, i aint against nightmare sequences, if they are done well, but these felt dragging and really forced on player with no actual point to the story. You run at moon-walking pace which takes it forever to complete and really, nightmare sequence overall could've been done lot better. I agree it would be great way of showing toll it takes on Shepard, but seriously, they did much better job without nightmare sequences. Maybe get teammates and friends you lost on the way to show there as there isnt few of them. There were some other stuff that disturbed me in story a bit, but really, that was biggest one and only thing seriously worth noting. As for its "legendary" ending, i try to discuss it spoiler-free, but read at your own risk: Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Endings were underwhelming, that much i agree, but truth be told, endings werent bad (though under the bar compared to rest of story). They fit the story of game enough to make sense and to be fair that is most important. Endings werent good, granted, but they did wrap things up nicely. Still, thing that bugs me about endings is that goddamn boy image it uses.. Also, while i dont think endings were bad, i also think that as far as Mass Effect franchise went up to that point, it didnt fit Mass Effect game- i mean previous games (and even in ME3) were all about you and your team facing unbeatable odds where you still won and walked away. So i see why people are upset. Extended cut helped a lot though.
Gameplay Like reapers werent enough.. now you have to deal with Cerberus and Illusive man as well Gameplay is very similar to one found in Mass Effect 2 with some significant improvements. You still can choose same classes to play as you did in previous games (preferred soldier myself), you can still select only 2 companions to accompany you in most missions, but more on that separately. Combat and movement- This is one area game saw significant upgrades- game took ME2 base and built on it. You can now climb ladders and jump small caps which do come in handy lot of the time. You can also leap obstacles without taking cover behind it first like back in ME2. Action rolling is also included, making combat way more mobile, as before it was find a cover with good enough area cover and start blasting. Problem is that you use same button for sprint, leap, roll and cover, which does take some getting used to and it can cause some problems in combat. Combat mobility is one thing that you do have to master, however, due to enemies being lot harder in this game, especially some types (im talking about you, Banshees. goddamn, i hate these things). If you get Citadel DLC, i definetly reccommend practising in arena there a bit as early as possible, but more on that in appropriate section. Of course you can use range in the Spectre section of Citadel (found in embassy floor), but i prefer arena. Teammates- you can have total of 6 permanent teammates with few mission-specific ones. Permanent ones are: Kaidan Alenko/Ashley Williams- depends who survived Virmire mission in first game. Tali'Zorah vas Normandy- young quarian. Only she and Garrus have been part of your squad all 3 games (if both survived ME2) dr. Liara T'Soni- Asari scientist and now Shadow Broker. Garrus Vakarian- Turian soldier, former C-sec officer and one-time rogue known as Archangel James Vega- Alliance soldier. Javik- only available when you have "From Ashes" dlc. Last surviving prothean (and not a collector) EDI- Normandy's AI. Yes, she can accompany you. Other notable characters in Normandy crew include but arent limited to: Jeff "Joker" Moreau- Normandy's pilot Diana Allers- reporter Samantha Traynor- Normandy's Comm specialist dr. Karin Chakwas- medic (although you can get different one this time) Overall, i am quite happy with selection as each teammember has its own abilities in combat and their own witty comments (really like reference to shadow broker dlc on certain mission if you have named dlc for ME2 and Garrus and Liara on squad for that mission). Correct squadmember can make mission lot easier, but you still have to mop up most yourself. Customisation- Customisation is very similar to ME2- you can combine pieces of armour (well, in most part), color them and also select casual outfit (which you will be now wearing in Citadel as well). All that in addition of customising characters face of course. Still, armour customisation has some benefits- it not makes difference what armour you wear, giving you extra protection- now i admit, i cant remember if it was in place in ME2, but in here you can feel difference. Also, weapon mods from ME1 return, being absent in 2nd game. You can have up to 2 mods per weapon and it really helps if you want different combat experience, but while it is better than it was in ME1, i have to admit, i still left mods untouched after first playtrough and didnt feel any worse for it. Cabin customisation is also back from previous game with new items and fish. If you wish to get stuff from previous game back, then you need to have bought it in ME2 and then you need to search for items around the ship (they only show up as red circle in middle of nowhere). Same goes with hamster- you need to catch it near where Jack used to be. Space hamster for life, yo! Exploration- Again, reworked system of ME2. You still can go to different star systems (first game with entire galaxy map opened up) and search planets for anomalies. Resource searching from ME2 has been lost and replaced with war assets search (which you can find randomly). Things are bit more difficult this time around, however- you need to use pulse in solar system map to find something. Now, while this eases finding anomalies as you dont have to enter orbit anymore to see if planet has anomaly, that pulse also attracts reapers if you use it enough. And you cant fight reapers, so you have to escape solar system before they catch you. Good thing about it though is that you can go to planet or any object without reapers getting closer and when you figure out where you enter solar system, you are good. But still, you will need fuel for non-mass relay travels like in ME2. While visit to the Citadel allows you to fill up for free, there are precious few intact fueling stations. In the most part, you need to seek out remains of fuel station or ships (with pulse) to get additional fuel. Economy hasnt changed much. You get jobs done, you earn credits, for what you buy armour, weapons, mods, pets. Welcome to the land of Geth Music is overall quite good with same theme as Mass Effect 2. But that said, i cant recall any other theme than classic galaxy map one. Voice acting has improved even more, though. You can feel how much better voice acting is now- most of it feels just so natural, not rushed. Even jokes dont feel forced anymore as they did at times back in 1 and 2. I do admit though, that there is occasional slip-up, but overall, very good voice acting. Graphics are just gorgeous. While for many hardcore graphic fans, this might seem out of date, well, i guess you would be right, but it still looks fantastic to me. Even the nightmare sequences- which i otherwise hate- look good due to good use of graphics. But truth be told, new default femshep look doesnt look right. DLC
As promised, i also take a look at DLC-s that add to story in some way. I am still not the fan how you have to buy them (bioware points) or the price (just divide point count with 100), but at least DLC-s are good. Story DLC list (excluding extended cut which is free) and price: From Ashes (included in N7 collectors edition, otherwise 800 bioware points) Leviathan (800 bioware points) Omega (1200 bioware points) Citadel (1200 bioware points) From Ashes Since i forgot to take picture of Javik, here's picture of Tresher maw about to own Reaper From Ashes doesnt give you as many missions or stuff as others, but they do give you permanent companion. Last prothean, Javik. 2 missions included are rather easy, but Javik is great ally to have and its fun to see him acclimate to new surroundings. Still, he is often rather.. rude. Leviathan Apartment you go to a lot in leviathan dlc Leviathan DLC adds about 10 missions and a war asset. Researcher on citadel has found something reapers seem to fear, called Leviathan. But.. researcher is murdered soon after revealing Shepard that he was on to something by his assistant, who then lacks any memory of it. This leads to discovering about origins of reapers.. I fully enjoyed this DLC as it got really exciting at times. Also it nicely reveals how someone can be highly intelligent, yet not understanding simple fact due to arrogance. Cant say more, but definetly worth to play it. Omega Cerberus, be afraid. Aria and Shepard heading your way Omega DLC has Shepard teaming up with Aria T'Loak, self-appointed ruler of asteroid named Omega. Between Mass Effect 2 and 3, she lost Omega to Cerberus. Now its time to take it back. Fun DLC with rather dark theme, but ton of playtime (though beware- you cannot explore galaxy before finishing it if you started) and content and not only 1 but 2 temporary squadmates, as in addition to Aria herself, you also get female turian Nyreen Kandros under your control. Also, this dlc features new enemy type called adjutant. Not the most annoying enemy, but not far behind from Banshee. Anderson has given you his apartment. Have fun Citadel DLC is last DLC for Mass Effect 3 and unlike other DLC-s, it takes place over the course of the game (though i reccommend highly to play it at end). It is also unconventional because while it does offer few action packed missions against mysterious figure, it is mainly just chilling dlc. Definetly best DLC Mass effect series has to offer. I mean lets start at that you get entire large apartment which you can customise. Whole lovely area of Citadel to explore, where you can partake in many minigames and like said at start of review- combat arena, where you can practise against all sorts of enemies and test out weapons. Arena also lets you have few squadmates who you cant have otherwise in ME3. Large part of the DLC is also built on humor, as for example you see Javik being lured to play in a Hollywood action-type movie or Wrex having issues with women (no, not bad kind. At least one wouldnt think it would be bad kind until in that situation i guess) or Grunt escaping from hospital. Coming back to apartment, you can invite people over and at end of DLC, you have a party where you can invite everyone. Overall, its really fun, but the end scene is simply so damn sad. Of all DLC-s, get this one first. Summary Crucible being built Despite its ending and smaller shortcomings, it is excellent game. It has fixed many shortcomings of Mass Effect 2, but it has created few of its own and do what you want, you cannot escape the fact that ending- while fitting- is still dragging score lower as ending shouldnt leave you underwhelmed. It is great game nonethless with lot of content and one of most fun DLC-s i've ever played (Citadel DLC). Score: 9/10 Meelis13
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