Mass Effect 3

Editor's Notes

This review assumes the reader has played or is familiar with the plots of the last two Mass Effect games.

Introduction

I have a secret shame: I hated Mass Effect. Coming off of Knights of the Old Republic, not only the best Star Wars game of all time but one of the best RPG's I'd ever played, Bioware's follow up was hyped as a bold breakthrough in video gaming. A new decision making and conversational system would change the way we played, so the preview features said. The game itself was less impressive, with disappointing combat and vehicular missions that made you want to tear your hair out. I wasn't even going to bother with the sequel, but the all around stellar reviews, plus the fact that I got a bonus for importing my save game, pushed me to try it. Luckily, Bioware fixed many of the problems with Mass Effect 2, creating a compelling game with a stellar cast of characters where your actions really did have consequences. Since then, gamers have been frothing at the mouth for the final game in the trilogy. Now that it's finally arrived, does it live up to expectations?

The Game Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

The short answer is yes...and no. Without a doubt, Mass Effect 3 takes the template set by its predecessor and cranks it to eleven. There are moments in this game that are among the most impressive I've ever seen in the entire medium. There were sequences that made me stand up off my seat and say "Wow" out loud. The game does not lack for show-stoppers.

As the game begins, you return as Commander Shepard, stripped of military rank after the events of Mass Effect 2. Within moments, Earth is attacked by Reapers, and all hell breaks loose. You barely manage to escape on your trusty ship the Normandy and go looking for a way to save not just humanity, but the entire galaxy. Many of your past acquaintances and comrades return, not just from the last game, but from the first entry as well. The attention to detail and continuity is sharp. Characters you won't even remember will reappear and make themselves a part of Shepard's world once again.

The gameplay will also be nothing new to long-time players. Shepard gets a call for help, and goes to answer it, aided by two teammates of her choice. You then have to shoot, punch, and biotically power your way through a host of enemies to get to your objective. Mass Effect 3 sticks to this formula far more rigidly than in Mass Effect 2, which had a greater variety of scenarios. In fact, by the end, slogging through endless waves of enemies feels like a chore instead of the epic battle it's intended to be. Gone are vehicle missions of any kind. The game's saving grace is in its characterizations, which build on the already deep emotions from the last game. Some of the conversations, such as with Mordin Solus or Garrus, were quite touching. Rarely can I find a game that affects me on an emotional level, but Mass Effect 3 did just that.

So, if it's that good, why the hesitations? Unfortunately, certain decisions that Bioware or EA (or both) made dilute the experience. Mass Effect 3 is the first game in the series to feature multiplayer, and amazingly, it's not that bad. You and three teammates have to survive ten waves of enemies, with a few secondary objectives thrown in every few rounds. The nice thing about it is that the only teamwork you need to engage in is staying close enough to your teammates that if one of you is felled, another can revive them. Other than that, there's no communication, which means you can play with random people without worrying about hearing racial and/or homophobic slurs. Each game lasts about twenty minutes, which feels about right for this sort of thing.

The problem is that the multiplayer is not a standalone element of the game. One of the goals of the single player game is to gather enough war assets to take on the Reapers. Your decisions throughout the game can increase or decrease these assets. In order to get the "best" endings, you have to have a minimum of 4,000 assets, which is possible to do just by playing the single player game. However, there is a wrinkle. In addition to the overall assets, there's a map called "Galaxy At War" that tracks how ready each section of the galaxy is. By default it's set to 50%, which means that all of your assets are reduced by half. The only way to raise the Galaxy At War percentage is to, you guessed it, play the multiplayer. And not just once, you'll have to play it over and over in order to get the percentage up to or close to 100%. This might seem like an odd requirement, but it makes a lot more sense when you take EA's business practices into account.

EA cannot stand people who buy used games. They get no profit from it, and thus want to stamp out used sales completely. In an attempt to convince people to buy games new, EA initiated "Project 10." Project 10 stipulates that all EA games must offer something worth $10 that people who buy the game new can get for free through a download code included in the box. For games with multiplayer, the $10 addition is access to said multiplayer. Since Mass Effect 2 had no multiplayer, that game included an extra character as its Project 10 addition. Mass Effect 3 does have multiplayer, and now you have to buy the game new (or pay an extra $10 for those who buy it used) to get access to it, and by extension, the "best" endings. In other words, EA has set it up so you can't get the best endings in the game unless you buy the game new or pony up an extra $10 to EA as a used tax. It's a despicable practice.

To make matters worse, the game features day one DLC, entitled "From The Ashes," that includes a brand new squad member. Without multiplayer, this would have been the Project 10 offering, but now it's $10 on its own. Purchasers of the Collector's Edition get the DLC for free, but neither EA nor Bioware mentioned this until long after the Collector's Editions were sold out in many places. To top it all off, there are achievements on the disc that relate specifically to "From The Ashes," meaning that the only way to get all the achievements is to pay an extra $10. This leaves a really sour taste in my mouth as a gamer, and makes me wonder whether or not any game is worth this sort of manipulation.