Xbox 360

Mass Effect 3

For those willing to brave a conclusion that isn’t spoon fed to them by idiots, Mass Effect 3 is a breathtaking, gorgeous piece of software. Its few quibbles aren’t enough to detract from the monumental achievement in storytelling that Bioware has released. Let’s just hope they don’t cheapen it with an MMO.

I have never given a “5 out of 5″, and I probably never will, can anything ever be truly perfect? But I can promise you I gave it some very serious thought in this case. Very serious. I’ve ended up cheating and giving it a 4.75 out of 5, which I’m not technically allowed to do. (*Sorry Ed.!) What is Mass Effect 3 like overall? Put it this way; if you buy this and don’t like it I’ll personally refund you. If you own a system capable of playing this and do not buy it I actually feel bad for you. Seriously. Please do yourself a favour and spend your hard earned cash on this piece of gaming genius. Please.

Does Mass Effect 3 live up to the hype that came with it the months, weeks, days and hours before it was released? Yes in short, because it completes one of the best trilogies in videogames today. It ties up loose ends and concludes the story nicely. It builds upon what the previous games had and provides an experience that fans of the franchise can get behind as well as new people to the franchise. By having Role-play, Story, and Action for the differing modes you can play the Single Player Campaign on, you give something for every type of player. With the addition of multiplayer, which is necessary in any kind of game that has a shooting element to it this game, provides the player with many opportunities to keep playing well after the single player campaign has ended. Whether you are a fan of the franchise or someone new who heard about the game and all the hype, I am here to tell you it’s worthy of the hype and you should buy this game right away.

Bioware have pulled all of the tools out of the box to craft Mass Effect 3, the penultimate conclusion to an elaborate and ambitious trilogy. For me the success of Mass Effect is greater than the sum of its parts. I believe my satisfaction is somewhat coloured by my love for the Mass Effect Story. Is that a bad thing? For me no, but it is for the individual gamer to decide. Will the ‘first time’ Mass Effect player feel as drawn to the story, engaged by the characters, and satisfied by the gameplay? Yes they will, but in a less steadfast way than I, and many others who have played all three games, will. For me, as a player, I signed on to the Normandy and all its foibles back in 2007. I have not been disappointed and my commitment has been rewarded with an exceptional conclusion to what I feel is one of the best video game series I have ever played, and I think that many others will end up feeling the same way.

BioWare have pulled out all of the stops for Mass Effect 3. At its core it is the decision making, relationship building RPG story experience but wrapped inside a coating of tight combat mechanics, breathtaking cinematic pieces and highly emotional engaging content set in a universe that is struggling to survive. I’d love nothing more than to shower you with examples from the game but it wouldn’t be right - you need to experience Mass Effect 3 yourself.

Un mot pour résumer Mass Effect 3 ? Jouissif ! Plus immersif, plus dynamique mais également plus profond que ses prédécesseurs, celui-ci constitue la conclusion parfaite pour une série tout simplement exceptionnelle. Shepard s'offre donc un final en apothéose mêlant le meilleur des deux premiers opus et porté par un scénario extraordinaire. Le terme épique prendra alors tout son sens et on ne peut désormais que prier pour que la licence perdure.

Mass Effect est une série qui a viré de RPG mâtiné TPS à TPS saupoudré d’un zeste de RPG. Alors certes on se retrouve devant un flot d’incohérences, la montée dramaturgique du scénario est aux abonnés absents mais même avec ça, les dialogues sont tellement bien écrits et les retrouvailles avec les personnages emblématiques de la saga tellement bien amenés que l’on tombe sous le charme de Mass Effect 3 en faisant fi des aléas et de ses errances scénaristiques. Le multi met les deux pieds dans la faiblesse de Mass Effect 3 en ce qui concerne sa partie TPS à proprement parler. Cela restera un TPS assez moyen et très redondant dans ses approches, mais lorsque l’on y ajoute la garniture, une garniture savamment préparée depuis deux épisodes, le jeu prend une toute autre tournure. Un plaisir immense qui ne trouvera sa quintessence que si on y a goutté dès le premier épisode..

I’ve played thousands of games in my lifetime, and I’ll play thousands more. Mass Effect 2 will undoubtedly continue to put the large majority of them to shame, while Mass Effect 3 will be remembered as an exceptional experience marred by no small amount of issues, both technical and by design. Make no mistake — what BioWare does well, it does better than the vast majority of other developers. I was equally exhilarated and disappointed by Mass Effect 3, and though I mostly enjoyed Commander Shepard’s final chapter at the time, I’m now left pondering everything that it could have been, yet sadly never will be.

Unterhaltsam, actionreich, ernüchternd - das ist der konsequente Abschluss einer Saga, deren Qualität mit jedem Teil sank. BioWare gelingt es wieder einmal nicht, so zu begeistern wie in alten Zeiten. Es macht Laune, die Kräfte seines Teams zu bündeln und auf die Feinde loszulassen. [...] Man trifft alte Bekannte und fühlt sich auf der Normandy fast wie Zuhause. Für all das schätze ich diese Saga. Aber das ist der inhaltlich schwächste, weil eintönigste Teil eines futuristischen Abenteuers, das sich in die falsche Richtung entwickelt hat. Irgendwann geht einem das primitive Geballer einfach auf den Keks: Nicht weil es Geballer ist, sondern weil es zu eintönig ist und zu selten die situative Spannung erstklassiger Shooter wie Killzone oder Gears of War erreicht. Anstatt die Taktik der Kräfte weiter über Konter zu vertiefen oder mal die schrecklich dumme KI zu verbessern, setzt man auf brachialen Nahkampf und einen Koop-Multiplayer mit blöder Wellenaction!