Mass Effect 3 Review
10/03/2012
Mass Effect 3. The third instalment – and the final chapter of the main characters storyline – of one of the most acclaimed franchises of all time. To say this game has a lot to live up to is a massive understatement. It’s the closing of a story we’ve traversed the galaxy with for 5 years. The end of the line for characters we’ve grown to love, and love to hate. The end of heartache and awe. The end of an era of videogames that won’t soon be forgotten. Oh yes, Mass Effect 3 really does have a lot to live up to. But is it too much too handle, or have BioWare outdone themselves once again?
Gameplay
While an RPG at its heart, Mass Effect 3 is a true genre-bending title, even more so than its previous 2 instalments. The story continues on from the second game (with the very same Commander Shepard if you make use of the import feature), focusing on the invasion of the Reapers, the sentient machine race the entire series’ story has been built around. While the first 2 games had a dreaded sense of suspense due to the limited knowledge of the Reapers, a major difference in tone comes from Mass Effect 3’s direct combat with the machines.
While the limited knowledge and unknowingness was admittedly one of the finer points that created such a unique storyline in the last games, this new found confrontational chaos gives the game a much more serious feel – this is a true war story of galactic proportions. Your character really is fighting for the survival of the entire galaxy, and for the first time in the series, you really feel that way. It adds to all levels of character study and narrative.
Much of the gameplay in Mass Effect 3 comes in the form of combat, with the game staying true to its 3rd person shooter style, only receiving some major overhauls. Now, the quality of the combat gameplay is on par with the best of the best in the traditional TPS (third person shooter) genre. Now there are far better cover mechanics, even the ability to dive and roll too, allowing for the battles to flow with such a great pace and feel. Sadly, the squadmate AI still seems to have its issues, despite the opposition having a rather obvious boost, and this can make some of the firefights frustrating and tedious, mainly just when playing on the harder difficulties though.
Making the big choices, and general interaction with those around you, is still ever present in the game. There have been no real changes here in how conversations work, but with a significant amount more dialogue in the game as a whole, the entire story element of Mass Effect 3 is on an even biggest scale this time around. We’ll touch on that a bit further down, though.
A new attraction for Mass Effect however, is the Multiplayer. Yes that’s right, Mass Effect 3, the latest in the epic RPG franchise now has a multiplayer portion. Now, before you go throwing your chair through your window or wielding your keyboard like there’s no tomorrow, hear me out.
Multiplayer in Mass Effect 3 thankfully doesn’t jump on board with throwing in competitive multiplayer for the sake of it. This takes the form of 4-play co-op. Players can upgrade, customise, and personalise their characters in many different ways here. With various races and class combinations to choose from. These are locked to certain groups, but you get the chance to play as all of the biggest galactic races if you so choose. You level up each character individually in terms of spendable points and powers, so there is a ton of playability if you fancy maxing everyone out.
The gameplay here is delivered in missions. These have ever slightly differentiating objectives, but also the ability to be played as just wave-based levels. My biggest joy in co-op was seeing how well the main games combat mechanics translate to co-operative play. The key to success is having a diverse team of classes, with their own abilities and powers, as well as firepower. The amount of tactical gameplay possible here is what really makes it worth playing.
However, despite the games multiplayer actually working quite well, no matter what, I couldn’t help but shake the feeling it was completely unnecessary. Sure, the combat gameplay does hold a torch to the heavy hitting TPS games, but without the story element, Mass Effect itself would be nothing. Having combat overload leaves much to be desired when actually playing for extended periods of time – you yearn for something else and realise that no matter how quality the gameplay is, when taken out of context, is feels hollow and useless.
Graphics
When talking about the visuals of a Mass Effect game, there is a lot that must be noted. Importantly, one of the better aspects here is the general universe that the BioWare team has created. The different alien races and the vast visualization of their bodies and homeworlds is truly impressive. Seeing the architecture and culture of the various races as you explore the Milky Way really immerses the player in the world of Mass Effect. I for one think that immersion through imaging is an immense feat for a game developer, and one the guys from BioWare should be proud of.
Modelling and texture has taken another hike for the series this time around, again looking a lot sharper and believable than even. It’s sad then, to see that while there has been a ton of work put into making this game look amazing, it still plagued by a certain downfall that the previous titles suffered from; the animation. We are again gifted stiff and stale movements by most characters through the campaign, in gameplay and cutscenes. It’s hard to pinpoint what the exact issue with the animation is, but in when you see and hear characters interacting for extended periods of time in stunning detail, it hits home to see them moving and acting like something from long ago in our fine industry.
Still, I find that aesthetic qualities of the title are what matters most here. We get to travel to locations we’re been long familiar with, like The Citadel and Tuchanka. But this time around, Shepard also gets to grace new worlds and places, as well as taking the fight to Earth’s soil for the very first time. There is a lot more variation in scenery, and places like the Citadel and the Normandy give us their best layouts yet. There has been no corner left untouched in the scale of the games story.
Sound
Mass Effect 3 could easily have just set the new benchmark for storytelling in RPG’s. This is thanks to the quality of not just the script being read, but the work of the voice actors too. Every conversation in the game – from the smallest and most unnecessary to the heartfelt and narratively gaping speeches and deep & meaningful’s with Shepard’s squadmates – is completely thought out with solid writing and emotionally charged acting. Locking hand in hand with the visuals and the story itself, it’s the quality here that adds to the pure immersion, arguably the primary characteristic of the game.
The music in Mass Effect 3 is no longer helmed by the series’ original composer, instead being replaced by Clint Mansell. Mansell is perhaps best known for his compositions in films such as Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan and Moon. His best work is dark and dreary, and it really shines through in this game. As I mentioned earlier, Mass Effect 3 has as vastly different tone than the previous games, given the constant fleeting sense of destruction and possible Armageddon. This is where the score can be most appreciated; during the more cinematic moments, it is the pure embodiment of epic scale despair. It carries with it an unmatched weight and appropriate response to the scenarios. I believe Mass Effect 3’s musical score is one of the finest pieces of music ever composed for a video game.
Keep It?
- Epic conclusion to Commander Shepard’s storyline
- Polished gameplay mechanics in every aspect
- Amazing musical score
-
Unmatched levels of immersion
Ditch It?
- Some shoddy AI moments
-
Multiplayer feels Unnecessary
Anything Else?
There isn’t much I can say that would sway people’s thoughts. If you have played through the first two Mass Effect titles before, I would be willing to bet you are likely already planning to pick up this brilliant title. But for newcomers to the series, don’t be afraid to still dive in and give it a go, because Mass Effect 3 is the pinnacle of video game storytelling. Everything works in unison to create a living, breathing galaxy and tell a story of epic proportions – one that you have to experience. This my friends, is why I game.
Score: 9.5/10
Playing Mass Effect 3 on your Xbox 360? Make sure to find out if the game really is Better with Kinect!