Mass Effect 3 Review
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BioWare were clearly working on all cylinders to provide fans of the series with a game that sees the concepts and universe fully realized in a way the first two Mass Effect games could never hope to match, all while fine-tuning the tried-and-true cover-based shooting action. However, the narrative side of the game simply cannot manage to live up to the expectations of both a series finale, much less the previous two titles. The end result is a game that is nearly ceremonial in its pomp and excess, and which plays faster and smoother than any previous BioWare title, but one that is also clumsy and strained, both on design and technical fronts.
For the record, this review assumes familiarity with the previous games. I have no intent on spoiling the game for players, but Mass Effect is just too big at this point to provide a synopsis for. Readers who aren't familiar with the series will be better served by checking out our reviews for Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 first.
Galaxy at War
War is the theme that permeates Mass Effect 3. Picking up from where Mass Effect 2 left off, the Reaper invasion of Earth begins with a bang, literally. Right from the get-go, the pace and tone of Mass Effect 3 is rapid and dire, with a sense of urgency that usually isn't seen in the "take your own time" style of story BioWare are known for. As the story continues, homeworlds are reduced to ashes, friends and companions die valiantly, and even the people of the Citadel are left fearing for their survival. Few franchises are quite so bold as to provide such sound resolutions to their events, and in this respect Mass Effect 3 is a success and a stand-out. Mass Effect 3 makes things very clear that the world as players know it is crumbling, and indeed, in the wake of the game's conclusion it's hard to see things going back to status quo.
However, this theme of war, the quick pace and commitment to providing a solid resolution to all the loose ends is as much a strength as it is a weakness. Mass Effect 3 is simultaneously frantic and plodding, and provides war without warfare, endings without closure. There is a fundamental dissonance in the sorts of ideas the game tries to communicate and the way that it actually plays out that will be jarring for some fans. Even as worlds burn, Shepard and the crew of the Normandy SR-2 (retrofitted once again) make time to perform side-quests to recover random trinkets from lost corners of the galaxy, and the biggest conflicts aren't resolved with diplomacy or with strategy and tactics, but by blasting the bad guys.
It really comes across as a missed opportunity. Mass Effect 3 could have been a departure for the series while also providing it with a sense of finality. Making hard decisions about how to allocate previous war resources and assets should have been at the forefront of the experience, and the sacrifice of both allies and friends should have been a necessity, not the result of failing a morality check. The closest the game ever gets is its "Galaxy at War" overlay, which at the end of the day is basically just a progress bar that indicates what ending you'll receive - the particular war assets you receive are basically meaningless. In failing to go beyond the usual cover-based action, Mass Effect 3 is unable to convey the scale or seriousness that its story demands.
And scale there is. Mass Effect's is a universe with a number of ongoing plotlines that are begging to be finished. The genophage, the rachni, the protheans, Cerberus and more all get wrapped up before the end, and while the game makes an admirable effort, the fact is that many of these ideas are forcibly injected to the narrative in a way that does not mesh with the overarching theme. Like Mass Effect 2, the individual pieces themselves work very well on their own, but the reasons for their inclusion are fairly weak, and the game isn't very convincing in portraying how Commander Shepard is able to solve all the galaxy's problems in the span of a week or two.
What's worse is that the main narrative that's propping up all of these neat little situations is just isn't up for the task. In fact, whenever the main story comes into play, the game generally takes a nosedive - both as far as the quality of writing and dialogue goes, and in terms of coherence and consistency plot-wise. Centering around an ancient prothean super-weapon, the Crucible, and its mysterious method of activation, the Catalyst, the story simply isn't convincing because none of its ideas were ever hinted at in the previous games, and in sitting it in the background rather than at the forefront of the narrative, it's hard to get too invested in it. Mass Effect 3 is full of fan service and tries its best to resolve all it can, but in doing so reduces the struggle against the Reapers to a footnote.
If there is one thing Mass Effect 3 does do well narratively, though, it's in establishing mood and atmosphere, whether that's through dialogue or visuals. Seeing refugees packed into the Citadel's docking bays, or hearing the stories of a PTSD soldier going through therapy, or witnessing the poignant end of a former companion, are all effective moments of storytelling. While Mass Effect 3's gameplay doesn't do much to convey any desperation, there are some genuinely touching scenes, whether they're bombastic and brutal or quiet and contemplative - the game isn't afraid to engage the many human dimensions and effects of war, and it's these moments more than any that make Mass Effect 3 worth playing.
Faster, Stronger, Better...
So, thematically and narratively, Mass Effect 3 is, and there's no nice way to put this, a bit of a mess. The fortunate part is that, for fans who are willing to overlook or tolerate the story's flaws, the third-person shooting that makes up the bulk of the game has been improved dramatically due to a number of smart gameplay additions both in terms of player customization and advancement, as well as better enemy intelligence, level layouts and encounter design.
Fans who felt Mass Effect 2 took away too much of the RPG character building will be happy to learn that this aspect of Mass Effect 3 has been improved, although with a few caveats. Although experience points, discrete hit points, shields, and even encumbrance have all been added back in (all the classes and most of the powers remain the same since the last game), their inclusion doesn't exactly turn Mass Effect 3 into a traditional role-playing game either, as many of these changes are aesthetic more than functional. The biggest improvement comes in the ability to choose special bonuses for powers as they level up, rather than simply as a final bonus once fully upgraded, and this is welcome (do you want, say, squad benefits or solo benefits? power effect radius or damage?), but at the end of the day Mass Effect 3 is still very accessible and streamlined even for players who have never touched an RPG-like game before.
The real difference, in my mind, comes in the changes to enemy behavior. No longer do foes simply duck behind walls and take pot-shots at Shepard and friends - they will constantly attempt to flank, use covering fire, and throw grenades to flush you out of hiding. Many enemies also have access to special abilities, from smoke grenades that make it hard to target them, to placing powerful sentry turrets, to even instantly lethal melee attacks if they catch you with your back turned. What's more, two powerful new enemies, the Brute and Banshee, require huge amounts of firepower to take down, and the presence of one or two is enough to completely change the tactics necessary for a fight, whether it's dodging the massive Brute's powerful charge attacks, or quickly ducking out of the way of the Banshee's biotic blasts. Simply put, combat is faster and more dynamic, and sticking to the old strategies will get you killed quickly.
While Mass Effect 3 won't win any awards for its amazing level design or its creative encounters, it still improves drastically over the endless corridors that made up much of the prior two games. Dramatic set-pieces are frequent, and while many of these are scripted, or more flash than substance, they do a tremendous job at breaking up the action. Little sequences, like having to dodge the shield-draining shockwaves of a dreadnaught's cannon fire, or chasing down a Cerberus operative, or using a flashlight and flamethrower to illuminate a dark cavern, do a lot to make each portion stand out from the last in a way that Mass Effect has never really managed. Granted, other third-person shooters like Gears of War have been doing this stuff for years, but it's impossible to deny the improvement this makes, even if it has little to do with the RPG mechanics underneath.
There are also quite a few new options for dealing with enemies added in. While heavy weapons have been largely relegated to a few stand-out moments rather than a permanent addition to one's arsenal, there are more guns than ever before. While most are variations on themes (burst fire vs. sustained, etc.), most of them feel distinct from one another and most players will develop a different set of favorites, but just about all guns are useful. In addition to flat upgrades that can be purchased for all guns, weapon modifications make a return, although unlike the first game's, these ones are pretty powerful and have major effects on how weapons work, from optical scopes to lighter materials that reduce power cooldowns. I wouldn't have thought to associate Mass Effect with "gun porn", but I'm actually pretty happy with the amount of variety and depth on display - it might not be quite RPG-like, but it's definitely enough to allow for a nice degree of customization that, importantly, gives credence to different play-styles.
... But Still Stumbles
Despite the fact that the combat sequences of Mass Effect 3 are far more interesting and enjoyable than those in the previous two games, there are still quite a few issues that creep into the rest of the gameplay. Quest design, the Reputation (Paragon/Renegade) mechanic, and general choice and consequence have all been pared back significantly, most likely to accommodate the sheer size and high production values of the rest of the game.
The most damaging of it, to me, is the way that exploration, once a staple of Mass Effect, has been almost entirely eliminated. While this makes some sense considering BioWare were never really able to figure out how to ideally use the Galaxy Map (mini-games, anyone?), the void left behind is noticeable to say the least. There are no side-missions to find out in the cosmos, planet-scanning has been simplified but also reduced in significance (with a new Reaper-dodging mini-game that's both tacked-on and very silly canon-wise), and there aren't any vehicles to pilot either.
The side-quests in Mass Effect 3 have also taken a big blow. Most of them take the FedEx format, and are often built to maximize the travel time between A and B. These are most commonly found on the Citadel, and despite offering little fun or variety, eat up several hours of game time and are generally necessary for players who want to get the best ending or who want to afford as many upgrades as possible. Because many of them can only be obtained after completing a certain number of other side-missions, this also leads to constantly re-treading the same areas of the Citadel over and over in order to find NPCs who have quests to offer, or to trade completed ones in. Those side-quests that feature actual gameplay are almost always given during the main plot at set intervals, and generally take the form of shooting galleries in the game's multiplayer maps, with little narrative content or context.
Players who were frustrated at Dragon Age 2's "find an item in a box and bring it back to someone" quests will find that these make up the vast majority of Mass Effect 3's optional content - not only is it obviously a way to pad out the game without providing any "real" content, it's also colossally disappointing to players who were drawn into Mass Effect by its promise of a near-infinite galaxy to explore, or even RPG fans who just want to have fun outside of the main plot. While creating meaningful optional content is difficult, BioWare didn't even try here. The main sequences of the game are more polished than ever, but all this does is draw attention to how anemic the rest of the experience is.
Finally, there are sacrifices that have been made to dialogue, most likely to accommodate the sheer number of possibilities that come with importing previous games' save files. Even the most minor characters from the first two games can and will show up, and feature varying lines based on prior actions. There are entire missions featuring companions from the first two games, like Grunt and Mordin Solus, and everything from whether they were made loyal in the previous games, to individual dialogue choices are reflected, although sometimes in some pretty inconsistent or illogical ways. Mass Effect 3 represents by far the most ambitious use of a save import feature ever, and BioWare put it to very good use. While some players will be disappointed to learn many decisions have little story impact, the general "feel" of having a personalized story is still well preserved.
This also means, however, that the amount of content for the game has drastically increased, and consequently dialogue options have been largely reduced to help balance the workload out. Whereas the previous two games typically provided a selection of choices for every line Shepard voiced, in Mass Effect 3, dialogue choices are the exception rather than the norm - sometimes cutscenes go on as long as five minutes without a single dialogue choice, and you'll occasionally witness your Shepard say things you yourself never would have selected. Even the ability to choose Paragon or Renegade tone has been reduced, interrupts and morality-restricted options are few and far between, and the ability to ask questions is often denied in order to keep the action moving. It's jarring, considering BioWare have traditionally been so intent on providing a sense of role-playing in their games.
More frustrating for me is the way in which gameplay and story have been so obviously segregated in places. There are many, many situations where Shepard will stand idly by while some character is brutalized by a random low-level enemy, or where a fleeing villain escapes because of a sudden onset case of cutscene incompetence, and they are as offensive as they ever are in RPGs, especially as so many of these situations are things players expect to easily deal with in actual gameplay. At the worst of times, it can feel like lazy writing that just couldn't figure out how to get the plot from A to B without forcing Shepard to behave like a moron. This was a big issue in Deus Ex: Human Revolution last year, and you can expect to see the same problems in Mass Effect 3.
Brothers (and Sisters) in Arms
I'd never thought I'd say it, but the multiplayer mode of Mass Effect 3 is actually quite good. BioWare, once the paragons of single-player RPGs, now giving in and making an online co-op shooter? It sounds like heresy, but as far as these sorts of things go, it's fun, well-constructed, well-balanced, features some quality level design, and the persistent progression system moves at a good pace while still making you earn the last few level-ups.
There's no competitive multiplayer mode in Mass Effect 3. Gameplay consists of co-operative hold-out missions against ten waves of enemy forces which gradually become more and more powerful - those who have played any recent shooter will recognize this as, more or less, a carbon copy of the "horde" mode from Gears of War (or Unreal Tournament's "invasion" mode for the older PC gamers). Throughout the match, players will also need to complete bonus objectives, like assassinating powerful enemies or claiming an area king-of-the-hill-style before a timer runs out, which helps add some variety to the proceedings.
What makes Mass Effect 3 different from "yet another horde mode" is the number of options available. The character classes from the single-player mode are all present, as well as some additional races. The roster of special powers is tweaked to give each race and class combination a distinct advantage and play-style. Krogans, for instance, can charge enemies and do huge amounts of melee damage, but are slow, while asari have a quick biotic "blink" dodge that's faster than any other. Not all race and class combinations are available, but there's more than enough to make building characters a rewarding experience - perhaps even more so than in the single-player mode, given the increased reliance on other players and the inability to max out your soldiers stat-wise.
If there's one thing that I'm not a fan of in the multiplayer mode, it's the general pacing of progression as far as equipment goes. By playing and completing matches, you'll receive credits, which can be spent on what are effectively random loot drops - different types and levels of weapons, instant-use bonuses like Medi-Gel, and even brand-new character types. These are all appreciated, except for one thing - the rate of character advancement far outpaces that of credit gain. This means you'll probably be using substandard gear, and summarily will have difficulty playing the higher difficulties. There are two alternatives - grind the low difficulty levels, or pay real money for one of these equipment packs.
Needless to say, the whole thing comes across as somewhat manipulative and seems heavily based on freemium-style games. While I can't say I ever felt compelled to spend my own cash on in-game items, I was also irritated by the fact that the multiplayer mode seemed engineered to tempt me this way. A few other annoyances, like a lack of text chat options, and matchmaking rather than any sort of game or server browser, also make the multiplayer experience less than it could be. It's a shame, because the core online play, despite being a bit limited, is actually very fun otherwise.
Presentation
If there's one thing that Mass Effect 3 gets right, for the most part, it's the visuals and audio. While on a technical level the game's console heritage means that blurry textures make themselves known with regularity, the artistic side of things has been improved by tangible leaps over Mass Effect 2. The "hallway full of boxes" approach to design has been almost entirely eliminated in favor of levels that look much more like real places, and while sometimes that realism takes a backseat, it's always in the name of good gameplay.
A lot of jokes have been made at the expense of the game's animations and occasional use of low-resolution sprites for background effects, but truth be told, these are the exception rather than the norm. The variety and, occasionally, beauty of the visuals is very hard to overlook, and there's a clear sense that the aesthetic goals of the series have really come to a peak with Mass Effect 3. Locations generally look lived-in, with lots of clutter detail compared to the sleek and empty environments of the previous titles, and some of the lighting is impressive thanks to improvements in the Unreal tech powering things. While it doesn't always stun, and there are some obvious rough edges from time to time, Mass Effect 3 is still a very good-looking game.
The audio is even better. Though there has been yet another roster change as far as composers and voice actors go, there's little arguing with the end result. Mass Effect 3 has some very solid voice-acting that's just as good as the previous games, although Mark Meer in the role of Shepard is perhaps even more wooden then ever, while the companion characters' actors do overtime to bring in some surprisingly adept performances. The soundtrack is even better, with a good mix of electronic and orchestral music that always manags to fit the situation. I'd go so far as to say that the soundtrack is actually what holds much of the game together - when the plot fails to engage, at least there's usually a moving song to keep things going. Sound effects, from explosions to weapons fire, are all fantastically powerful and distinct; the influence of DICE, who helped with those effects, is definitely heard and felt.
Thankfully, the PC version of Mass Effect 3 is also a good deal better to play than Mass Effect 2 was. Although there's no support for gamepads (rather curious, as Xbox 360 controllers are supported natively by Windows), the menus have been improved - no more issues with double-clicks not registering - and there are more options available as far as key bindings go... heck, you can even disable mouse smoothing, which I appreciate quite a bit. It's not all perfect, as there's no way to adjust the game's field of view (which made me a bit ill until I found a third-party mod to get the job done), and some graphics options have to be adjusted from the external configuration utility, but overall I was satisfied with the quality of the PC port. While I haven't played the console versions, I have heard that they do suffer from framerate issues, whereas the PC version ran at a constant 60 frames per second, maxed out, on my three-year-old system; if you have the option, the PC version is probably the one to go for.
Unfortunately, there are some caveats that relate mostly to interface, performance and bugs. While the Citadel has maps to aid navigation, it's the only place which has any, and this can make getting around some of the game's other areas a bit awkward, especially for those who want to search every nook and cranny without losing track. The Galaxy Map also does a poor job of highlighting quest locations, and as more areas unlock as the game goes on, it doesn't always update to let you know that a given sector has new content available, and I found myself constantly revisiting the same areas just to make sure I didn't miss a random fetch-quest object. The quest journal is also laughably bad, often failing to mention critical details on where to go or who to talk to to progress or finish a given quest, leading to more endless wandering around.
Most annoyingly, though, Mass Effect 3 is buggy, more so than I'd expect from a game of this caliber. For starters, there are lots of glitches during conversations, with really awkward-looking animation transitions, or characters' heads facing the wrong way, or the camera pointing at walls rather than speakers. There were also a few side-quests which didn't advance properly for me, forcing a reload, and others which required me to leave and return to an area before the quest giver would let me speak with them. In multiplayer, I also ran into enemies stuck floating in mid-air, as well as one bizarre situation where my character did no damage, couldn't use any powers, and couldn't interact with the environment, until I quit the game. None of these really ruin the experience, but they definitely contribute to the overall feeling that the game really could have used another month or two in development.
Last, I should bring up the standard DRM blurb. Mass Effect 3 requires EA's Origin service, and the review copy I played experienced absolutely no problems relating to Origin. Some of its features, like the ability to quick-join friends' multiplayer games, are actually quite handy to have available. Mass Effect 3 also uses the standard EA Online Pass, which means used copies are locked out of the multiplayer mode until users pay $10 USD. I am not a big fan of these sorts of policies, but they are here to stay, so buyer beware if you're thinking of picking the game up second-hand.
Conclusion
I've been pretty tough on Mass Effect 3 in this review, and the truth is, it's got a lot of problems no matter how forgiving I try to be. Whether it's little things like glitches, or a lack of gamepad support on PC, or the larger issues of an unsatisfying storyline, dissonance between the gameplay and themes, or just plain bad side-missions, it's hard not to be disappointed by Mass Effect 3 in any number of ways. It's both infuriating and engaging, and the worst part is that none of it needed to be like this. Smarter writing could have fixed up a lot of the plot holes. A month or two dedicated to polish could have fixed up the bugs. The time spent on FedEx filler quests could have been devoted to creating more substantial gameplay, even if it meant fewer quests in the end. And yes, everything negative you may have heard about the ending is true, as well.
However, that doesn't mean that Mass Effect 3 is, at its heart, a bad game. On the contrary - the things that Mass Effect has generally been good at, including likeable companion characters, visual direction, and, scenario-to-scenario, engaging storytelling, have all been preserved and are in many ways the best the series has ever offered. However, the lows are also lower than they have been before, and those who have been looking to a satisfying conclusion story-wise will at best find themselves scratching their heads. For those who have invested themselves in that galaxy and those stories and characters, Mass Effect 3 is still an essential purchase - but it's one that comes with a lot of strings attached.
What's not debatable, though, is that the Mass Effect we know is, for the most part, done and gone - the loose ends have all been wrapped up, the characters are finished their stories, and the galaxy BioWare built will be a very different place in the future. At the very least, it feels good to finally be able to put Shepard and the Normandy's crew to rest.
