So who's ready for Mass Effect 3?

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

Reviews are very subjective. Usually best thing is to look at the reviewers history on metacritic or whatever and see if their previous reviews are in line with your tastes and then you can weight his score higher than someone else who has different tastes. Or if he's obviously [Im 12] then you can ignore his review.

 

[thespyder]

Reviews are very subjective. Usually best thing is to look at the reviewers history on metacritic or whatever and see if their previous reviews are in line with your tastes and then you can weight his score higher than someone else who has different tastes. Or if he's obviously [Im 12] then you can ignore his review.

Absolutely. Reviews are highly subjective. and the numbers even more so. Best to read the whole review itself and see what they say about individual features. Compare the comments to other reviews and then ask yourself if what is being said is a plus or a minus.

With that having been said, you are still going to get a fair amount of fanbois/haters. It is difficult to navigate the minefield. But at least if the review starts off with "This game is frggin awesome!" or "Bah, worst excrement ever" you have some ideas that what follows is not worth repeating.

 

[Powermoloch]

is it true that ME2 saved character can transfer lvl and class bonus to ME3?

 

[dighn]

is it true that ME2 saved character can transfer lvl and class bonus to ME3?

yep I imported a level 28 infiltrator and started the game that way. kicking ass right from the start! not overpowered though, I still died a couple of times (no i don't suck ...)

the game seems to be great. a lot more depth than I expected.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

The same one I've knocked out 2 games in a row?

Spoiler

I just Krogan headbutted her and she went down again like a sack of potatoes against the display behind her. She do something different for you?

Spoiler

She said "Not this time you milatary brute." Then proceeded to sidestep my punch and take me down like I was nothing."

Maybe my renegade score wasn't high enough to get the outcome you did.

 

[Glitchny]

Spoiler

She said "Not this time you milatary brute." Then proceeded to sidestep my punch and take me down like I was nothing."

Maybe my renegade score wasn't high enough to get the outcome you did.

There is a second prompt to take a renegade action that you have to hit.


Just finished the game, it was pretty great, prob the best of the series IMO.

 

[Powermoloch]

yep I imported a level 28 infiltrator and started the game that way. kicking ass right from the start! not overpowered though, I still died a couple of times (no i don't suck ...)

the game seems to be great. a lot more depth than I expected.

Sweet....I have a lvl 50 shocktrooper ready to KICK SOME butt

 

[irishScott]

Sweet....I have a lvl 50 shocktrooper ready to KICK SOME butt

Lol, I imported a soldier but switched to Engineer. Had my sentry turret maxed out from the get-go, meaning I basically throw a grenade that turns into a turret wherever it lands. Oh and maxed out, said turret fires rockets. So much fun. That and between a turret and a combat drone I can easily protect my flanks and otherwise fuck with at least half of a given enemy group.

 

[CottonRabbit]

Anyone else hate that roll/cover/sprint is mapped to one key? Most my deaths are from getting stuck dodge rolling into a wall while trying to fall back or avoid a nade. It was absolutely infuriating in one particularly tough fight on Grissom where boxes and protruding walls are everywhere at odd angles.

Everything else has been great so far, just wish there was a dedicated sprint key.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Anyone else hate that roll/cover/sprint is mapped to one key? Most my deaths are from getting stuck dodge rolling into a wall while trying to fall back or avoid a nade. It was absolutely infuriating in one particularly tough fight on Grissom where boxes and protruding walls are everywhere at odd angles.

Everything else has been great so far, just wish there was a dedicated sprint key.

Exactly how I felt coming from ME1 to ME2.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

It's like bioware read A Song of Fire and Ice before writing this game. That seems to be the new trendy thing to do with stories. Forget the happy ending and just dash hopes and dreams left and right. I really prefer this type of story to some good vs. evil. Good gets the girl, evil perishes, and no one dies stories that we usually get.

 

[Zenoth]

Well, there I am.

Almost 4 days after purchase I finally completed it (I thought it wouldn't end). If I look at my current saved game I got 41 hours in, that's of course a first playthrough without a single skipped dialog scene, thorough search for missions and resources (although not everything and each star systems were completed at 100%, but overall I'd say around 60% or so). I think I missed around 4 or 5 side missions I believe some of which had to be found, turned in or completed at the Citadel and somehow I just missed them, but no biggie.

Anyway, no spoiler at all here. I want to say this though. The game overall I believe is the best of the series, yes, better than the first in many aspects... but not all of them. I'd still rate ME3 the highest one of the series though, and it blows up ME2 out of the water like no body's business, it's not even funny. The start of the game does feel rushed a bit, nothing seriously bad though, it was still a great start, to-the-point (perhaps just too fast though, and not seeing enough where maybe you'd like to see things happen as you progress in a mission, but it's ok nothing major).

The real meat of the game though isn't the start, there's definitely a specific point from which things start to feel very fleshed out and you really feel and know that you're in for a long game, it really is the lengthiest of the series I'm sure of it, although still comparable to a first playthrough of the first, or perhaps a first playthrough of ME2 if you combine all major DLCs as well (all missions including the side quests). From "that point" (subjective I guess, but I won't mention anything to avoid any form of spoilers) I speak of when things kick in very nicely and well paced then I'd say that, overall (with some exceptions, as always, nothing is perfect and that's alright, happens to all games) it really is one of the very best games I've ever played (I remember saying the same thing about ME1 and I still believe it to this day), definitely on my top ten.

As for... well, "the rest", I guess. Well I won't spoil. But, let's just say that from a certain point things do start to feel rushed again. I'm not sure what happened exactly during the development, strange decisions (by the devs I mean) were made. But anyway, superb video gaming experience and I'll not forget about it for a very long time.

I'm not sure if I'm going to play again, because... well it's not like we'll have ME4 will we?

Maybe in the next cycle.

 

[SLU Aequitas]

Finished the game with as near to 100% completion as possible, max Paragon, missed turning in two war assets but meh. I'm completely torn about the endings...on the one hand, I *love* that they require sacrifice and aren't your typical happy endings (but really, they *are* happy endings), but on the other hand,

Spoiler

I hate that they're nearly identical (obvious budget constraints), that ALL of your previous choices amount to spreadsheet data, and in turn your ending is picked entirely by you with no consequences for your previous actions. The lack of closure is a mixed bag, although the N7 "secret" ending is quite excellent and really helped turn the overall experience into a positive for me. Also, side note, but my Shepard was hellbent on bucking the trend and ending the system, but to do so would be to end the Geth, whom my Shepard (and myself, actually) had grown attached to.

In terms of gameplay, ME3 was *by far* the best in the series, from putting back RPG aspects to its greatly improved AI and gunplay, to the story missions. Characters were well fleshed out, and I will honestly say I choked up over a certain Turian who I consistently played with through all three games--more moving to me than the ending, actually.

Spoiler

Also, Legion's storyline was fracking awesome...and who else got the reference that Legion was actually one of the original geth? Poor guy, second most moving moment for me.

Overall, a truly amazing experience, and a worthwhile conclusion to an excellent series.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Finished the game with as near to 100% completion as possible, max Paragon, missed turning in two war assets but meh. I'm completely torn about the endings...on the one hand, I *love* that they require sacrifice and aren't your typical happy endings (but really, they *are* happy endings), but on the other hand,

Spoiler

I hate that they're nearly identical (obvious budget constraints), that ALL of your previous choices amount to spreadsheet data, and in turn your ending is picked entirely by you with no consequences for your previous actions. The lack of closure is a mixed bag, although the N7 "secret" ending is quite excellent and really helped turn the overall experience into a positive for me. Also, side note, but my Shepard was hellbent on bucking the trend and ending the system, but to do so would be to end the Geth, whom my Shepard (and myself, actually) had grown attached to.

In terms of gameplay, ME3 was *by far* the best in the series, from putting back RPG aspects to its greatly improved AI and gunplay, to the story missions. Characters were well fleshed out, and I will honestly say I choked up over a certain Turian who I consistently played with through all three games--more moving to me than the ending, actually.

Spoiler

Also, Legion's storyline was fracking awesome...and who else got the reference that Legion was actually one of the original geth? Poor guy, second most moving moment for me.

Overall, a truly amazing experience, and a worthwhile conclusion to an excellent series.

Did you play multiplayer at all? Because multiplayer also factors into what ending you get. Perhaps you didn't get the best possible scenario.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

Multiplayer doesn't exactly factor into what ending you get. Not in the way it's being proposed, anyway - multiplayer can make war assets more valuable, letting you do fewer sidequests, but you can achieve the 'best' ending without touching multiplayer at all if you do enough sidequests to fill the bar in the war room.

At any rate, what he's describing sounds like the 'best' outcome.

 

[SLU Aequitas]

Did you play multiplayer at all? Because multiplayer also factors into what ending you get. Perhaps you didn't get the best possible scenario.

I got the best possible ending based on my war score, which was maxed out. It's easy enough to get maxed war assets if you're a paragon and do a decent chunk of the side quests/scan for stuff, multiplayer just provides a bonus multiplier. I have played the multiplayer as well for a galactic readiness of 84%, but it wasn't necessary (I just liked having a bigger number...and I had a little fun as a human vanguard online ).

 

[Glitchny]

Multiplayer doesn't exactly factor into what ending you get. Not in the way it's being proposed, anyway - multiplayer can make war assets more valuable, letting you do fewer sidequests, but you can achieve the 'best' ending without touching multiplayer at all if you do enough sidequests to fill the bar in the war room.

At any rate, what he's describing sounds like the 'best' outcome.

Yea you do not have to play multiplayer to get the best ending. You just need to do enough side missions to have a high enough "war assets" rating, which isn't that hard to do. Hell depending on how you played the other games you end up with a bunch.

Also it's not like you have to play a ton of multiplayer. I played one quick match and got an extra 4% on my war assets, not hard to get up, the multiplayer was pretty fun.

I'm also not sure why people think the ending is "bleak" etc. If you have enough war assets it isn't really that bad of an ending at all.

Spoiler

Sure it is somewhat cliche, and the annoying decision to have Shep bleeding and half dead when he gets on the citadel is dumb, I was hoping for one last epic fight and instead we got stupid slow-mo half dead with the supa-pistol.

Also what is the N7 ending.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

I'm also not sure why people think the ending is "bleak" etc. If you have enough war assets it isn't really that bad of an ending at all.

I haven't beaten it personally, only seen the spoilers, but from what I understand

Spoiler

The phrase is fridge horror. So Shepard lives. His LI was on the Normandy, which is now in another star system, and the catalyst has destroyed all technology. So, now Shep will never see his lover again. The colony will survive - but if Tali or Garrus is still alive, they're going to die very quickly. Their amino acids aren't compatible with the local biosphere, so they'll starve to death.

Repeat that a thousand times over for anyone on a non-life world, or on a space station, or in a spaceship, or anyone on a world with the wrong amino acids. Still seem so pleasant?

 

[Glitchny]

I haven't beaten it personally, only seen the spoilers, but from what I understand

Spoiler

The phrase is fridge horror. So Shepard lives. His LI was on the Normandy, which is now in another star system, and the catalyst has destroyed all technology. So, now Shep will never see his lover again. The colony will survive - but if Tali or Garrus is still alive, they're going to die very quickly. Their amino acids aren't compatible with the local biosphere, so they'll starve to death.

Repeat that a thousand times over for anyone on a non-life world, or on a space station, or in a spaceship, or anyone on a world with the wrong amino acids. Still seem so pleasant?

Spoiler

Um I didn't destroy all technology? Tali died last game as she was useless, this game I killed her entire race off. Garrus died on Earth fighting to save the Galaxy. I chose to die as Shepard and take control of the reapers, which caused the ME Relays to explode but unless I missed something all the other tech is still around. Since that ending specifically said that the Geth wouldn't die if I went that way. Joker, Javik (protheon) and Ashley all crashed together so he will have some company. Also my love interest was Miranda, and I have no idea where she was during the last fight, for all I know she's dead.

With all that tech and no threat to deal with I'm not really sure all those people on those planets would die. It's also within reason to think new Relays or things like them could be rebuilt. The after credits scene teases of humans going out to the stars again, which would require something like the relays.

My Shep's story was to sacrifice himself and most of his team to save the Galaxy from the reapers. Pretty standard sci-fi tale really.

Also saying everyone would die at the end because of being on the wrong planets etc is a tad anal. Hundreds of games, movies, books, stories in general, fall apart when you think about what would happen after the last scene.

 

[SLU Aequitas]

Spoiler

Um I didn't destroy all technology? Tali died last game as she was useless, this game I killed her entire race off. Garrus died on Earth fighting to save the Galaxy. I chose to die as Shepard and take control of the reapers, which caused the ME Relays to explode but unless I missed something all the other tech is still around. Since that ending specifically said that the Geth wouldn't die if I went that way. Joker, Javik (protheon) and Ashley all crashed together so he will have some company. Also my love interest was Miranda, and I have no idea where she was during the last fight, for all I know she's dead.

With all that tech and no threat to deal with I'm not really sure all those people on those planets would die. It's also within reason to think new Relays or things like them could be rebuilt. The after credits scene teases of humans going out to the stars again, which would require something like the relays.

My Shep's story was to sacrifice himself and most of his team to save the Galaxy from the reapers. Pretty standard sci-fi tale really.

Also saying everyone would die at the end because of being on the wrong planets etc is a tad anal. Hundreds of games, movies, books, stories in general, fall apart when you think about what would happen after the last scene.

Spoiler

Except in this case the entire galaxy revolves around the mass relays, without them at BEST you're looking at a galaxy-wide super recession. Add into the equation that most species are completely incompatible with others' environments, and you're looking at further death tolls in the billions. Better than galaxy-wide extinction? Absolutely, but you're still looking at a huge amount of Death and Destruction.

There's also the personal matter with Shepard, where even if you pull off the best ending with you living [Destroy Reaper Option], it's incredibly bittersweet as (most likely) your LI is stranded, you've (most likely) killed an entire race of sentient beings, EDI, etc. I do agree that likely the best option for universe continuity is "Assuming Control" of the Reapers, although it's not explained how fool-proof the control is.

As for Miranda, there is a mission against Cerberus where she sacrifices herself to kill her father, unavoidable from everything I can tell.

As for the "N7 Ending"

Spoiler

If you complete a NG+ or imported save, after the credits there is the scene with a child and an elder looking out over a winter landscape, talking about "The Shepard", set far in the future and from all indications seems likely that the colony is pre-(interstellar?)spaceflight (or on the verge of achieving it).

 

[Glitchny]

Spoiler

Except in this case the entire galaxy revolves around the mass relays, without them at BEST you're looking at a galaxy-wide super recession. Add into the equation that most species are completely incompatible with others' environments, and you're looking at further death tolls in the billions. Better than galaxy-wide extinction? Absolutely, but you're still looking at a huge amount of Death and Destruction.

There's also the personal matter with Shepard, where even if you pull off the best ending with you living [Destroy Reaper Option], it's incredibly bittersweet as (most likely) your LI is stranded, you've (most likely) killed an entire race of sentient beings, EDI, etc. I do agree that likely the best option for universe continuity is "Assuming Control" of the Reapers, although it's not explained how fool-proof the control is.

As for Miranda, there is a mission against Cerberus where she sacrifices herself to kill her father, unavoidable from everything I can tell.

As for the "N7 Ending"

Spoiler

If you complete a NG+ or imported save, after the credits there is the scene with a child and an elder looking out over a winter landscape, talking about "The Shepard", set far in the future and from all indications seems likely that the colony is pre-(interstellar?)spaceflight (or on the verge of achieving it).

Spoiler

The stuff involving other species dying etc doesn't really bother me as that is all stuff that would/could happen after the end of the game. Considering I left technology intact the other races could survive like the quarians did. The combined fleets around earth could then work on new Mass Effect Relays or some form of travel. They would have a lot of reaper tech to research so it could happen. I mean they built the Crucible... I prefer my outlook to yours, and since neither will ever be confirmed it's a moot point.

It's not like shep had a long time to deliberate about the consequences either. It's the middle of a battle, which humanity seems to be losing, and shep is half dead, deal with the consequences later.

How would you have liked it to end? with different options at the end? or a completely different ending with an allied victory over the reapers?

My goal is to stop the Reapers from destroying earth and life as we know it, at all costs. Sure it's sad that I don't meet up with my love interest since I have no idea where Miranda went, but that was part of the sacrifice. Who knows maybe she was carrying the Shep baby!

Miranda didn't sacrifice herself in mine. I killed her father, saved her sister, she tells shep to be careful and embraces shep, then she joins the alliance as a war asset.

regarding the N7 ending

Spoiler

The old man after the credits happens regardless of the new game plus ending, I got that on my original play through.

 

[AdamK47]

http://www.gamespot.com/features/why-do-you-hate-mass-effect-3-6365175/

 

[dmoney1980]

I have no idea how far I am (I just got Ashley on the team), but so far this game rocks!

 

[blackened23]

Whats up with all the homo erotic nonsense in the game? I don't have a problem with social issues like this but I don't like it being force fed down my throat in a video game. So i'm supposed to save the world but apparently my male cohort is constantly saying stuff like "are you flirting with me commander"? And then the side quest involving some dude whose husband dies.

If you're going to put this stuff in a game make it transparent, I don't want homo erotic nonsense being thrown in my face constantly. I feel like i'm being trolled by bioware, pretty sure this is the last bioware game I ever buy.

Game is also way more linear than any other ME game, apparently dumbed down for the console kids. Fool me once bioware shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. First DA2 and now this. Never again. This was also enough to make me go out and cancel my SWTOR sub. Thanks bioware. Thanks for making me realize how bioware is a shadow of its former self and a parody, you will never make a quality game like the baldurs gate titles EVER again.

 

[SLU Aequitas]

Spoiler

The stuff involving other species dying etc doesn't really bother me as that is all stuff that would/could happen after the end of the game. Considering I left technology intact the other races could survive like the quarians did. The combined fleets around earth could then work on new Mass Effect Relays or some form of travel. They would have a lot of reaper tech to research so it could happen. I mean they built the Crucible... I prefer my outlook to yours, and since neither will ever be confirmed it's a moot point.

It's not like shep had a long time to deliberate about the consequences either. It's the middle of a battle, which humanity seems to be losing, and shep is half dead, deal with the consequences later.

How would you have liked it to end? with different options at the end? or a completely different ending with an allied victory over the reapers?

My goal is to stop the Reapers from destroying earth and life as we know it, at all costs. Sure it's sad that I don't meet up with my love interest since I have no idea where Miranda went, but that was part of the sacrifice. Who knows maybe she was carrying the Shep baby!

Miranda didn't sacrifice herself in mine. I killed her father, saved her sister, she tells shep to be careful and embraces shep, then she joins the alliance as a war asset.

regarding the N7 ending

Spoiler

The old man after the credits happens regardless of the new game plus ending, I got that on my original play through.

Spoiler

Really? Cool about Miranda, didn't even have the option as pure paragon.

Don't get me wrong, I overall liked the endings--I've replayed the final mission three times to see the optimal version of all three. However, there are quite a few things that leave the endings bittersweet, which is why I liked them. I didn't expect to come out of ME3 unscathed, and it works for me.

All species, even Asarii, are many centuries away from replicating mass relay tech. The crucible had its blueprint given to them and was meant to be easily built, the product of many, many, many cycles of work. That doesn't equate to being able to solve and rebuild mass relay tech. Mankind and the other species will rejoin the stars--there are multiple codex entries on mankind's FTL research--but nothing on the scale enabled by mass relays. In the meantime, you're still looking at huge recessions and multi-billion death tolls due to reliance upon out-of-system trade and basic environmental incompatibility. Makes things more interesting, and makes the post-credits ending more interesting.

As for getting the N7 ending, you ONLY get that if you:
1.) Had a NG+
2.) Imported a save.

Everything I've read says that starting a new game non-imported wont show that scene.