ME3 has shown great promise, but its otherwise simplified RPG components and storyline leaves much to be desired
Mass Effect 3 strives to become more action oriented and in a way the developers have tried to make it more appealing to the general masses, hence the simplified RPG component whereby the only point of worth is the massive number of weapons you can buy or customize in the game. The armor customization option is not as good as promised; with the addition of color customization of your armor, the developers have done little to improve depth. (There is even an option to change the color of the armor LED, not that it really mattered)
You still upgrade your armor as in ME2 ( i.e. adding various pieces of gauntlets, helmets, chest piece to make up your own) and though they have added more sets of armor available for purchase, most gamers will not even bother to buy it from the stores since the stats for each of the armor sets are weak( for example the blood dragon armor, terminus armor or even Cerberus armor which only offers increase in one or two attributes, compared to your custom armor which offers more attribute increase)
As for weapons though: no complaints regarding the amount of weapons available for purchase in the game. It easily sums up to nearly 20 different kinds of weapons, including a handful of "premium" items such as the Spectre requisitions, but these weapons cost a lot of credits and it is unlikely that the player will be able to purchase It early in the game.
A number of features from the previous game are still maintained in this conclusion to the ME trilogy. You still access your armor sets from the captain's cabin, the CIC is still functioning as your galaxy map. There is now a hangar area where you can purchase items and upgrade weapons/armor. Worth noting is the addition of a cool workbench, where you can view your weapons up close and add pieces to customize it. Each weapon is limited to 2 pieces of additional custom parts and these parts either increase the damage, or add on other damaging effects such as armor piercing etc.
Players interact with NPC and companions via the conversation wheel, the difference here is that the usual chat and banters of the crew pops up automatically when you walk past them, sometimes it can be missed if you so happen to walk past them. The journal system has a poor way of keeping track of your side mission progress. The numerous side missions make it hard to keep track of which ones are still pending and as a result if you accidentally started a main mission, certain game plots/NPC can be missed altogether. A majority of the side missions are stereo-typed explore and recover artifact missions, which again gives a very shallow RPG experience.
Exploration has been changed from the previous mineral mining quests to the job of constantly locating different artifacts then returning them to NPCs on the citadel. Whenever you are scanning the galaxy map, the reapers will jump on you very quickly and its game over if you are caught. This adds tension to the otherwise mundane task of exploration, but it can get down to your nerves when you are trying really hard to complete the task at hand so that you can proceed to a main quest. (There is no backtracking allowed, should you miss a particular side quest) The codex for main characters/story elements is still fully voiced by a narrator.
A casual gamer like me easily beat the game in less than 50 hours. (This is without reading the codex, but includes almost all the side missions) At the start menu you can choose to import your ME2 character with all the decisions and item upgrades you had for the previous game. This will undoubtedly affect some of the NPC relations in the game or determine how successful your battle is against the Reapers. You can choose to start with a new character from scratch at level 0. There is also the usual option to select different character class and the main game can be played in 3 ways: RPG/Story oriented or Action based. Once you have beaten the game you can play a second time with your leveled up Shepard or start anew, you can also import certain powers that you have acquired during the 1st run through.
Addition of combat sequences such as the melee attack makes the game more stylish. Shepard can also take down an enemy instantly with his/her omniblade or biotic power. There is also an option to sneak behind cover and takedown an enemy by lunging forward and slamming it onto the ground, followed by a quick stab. Shepard now moves around cover and can also roll from cover to cover. This is by far the most exciting improvement over the combat mechanics. Shepard also moves over cover more stylishly by gliding or jumping above it. You command your teammates as in previous games by using the D pad on PS3 controller. The R2 button brings up the command wheel and the L2 button brings up your weapons wheel. These aspects of the game remain more or less the same compared to the previous, and users will find it right at home.
Romance options are still available with multiple possibilities, depending on your choices and actions from previous games. At least this time the developers have listened by removing the silly bra during intimate scenes. (If the game character wears a bra during these scenes, the developers are just assuming gamers are idiots/kids)
The renegade/Paragon points are still present, depending on your dialog options you gain either one of the points, but there is little effect translated into the main game. It is basically just a differentiation of how your hero behaves and there is no real consequence whatsoever no matter what dialog options you choose. The cause and effect element is still there but holds very little changes to the main ending or story. You level up by means of XP points and these points are used to upgrade different character powers.
Most players will agree that the ending of this game feels a little "rushed" as if the developers are trying to beat the deadline. Multiple plot loop holes, inconsistencies and also questions begged for more answers. As for the ending, it all boils down to almost the same conclusion. Regardless of how you play the game. After all the hype and culmination to this epic trilogy's conclusion, one can't help but feel disappointed. Most companion characters from the ME2 play very little role in this game, with exception to a few familiar faces. Favorite characters from previous games only serve as side quest characters which offer minimal closure to the main story.
The multiplayer component serves to stray from the single player content compared to previous ME games. You gain military strength and "galactic readiness" ratings by participating in MP and a lot of people have mentioned that the MP affects your character's ending. This is in part not true since there is no "best ending" despite of how many times you played MP. Your MP points only mattered if you did not gather enough effective military strength in the main single player game. Depending on how you play the game, it determines how "ready" you are in the final battle against the Reapers. You can gather near 6000-7000 military strength which translates into half the Effective military strength and with this the player can get the "complete" choices in the ending. In order to gather enough points in the single player campaign without playing the MP component, you will need to complete almost all the side quests and some choices you made in ME2 will play a role as well. In the MP game, players will play as different classes of soldiers/biotics in a shoot-out to kill off enemies such as Cerberus/geth/reapers. You get to level up your MP character and promote them to N7 rank which will add some points to your overall galactic readiness rating. Since the MP component is basically a standard clone of other 3rd person shooters, those who are familiar to the genre will have no problem playing it. After the ending, the game publisher again attempts to put off the consumer by certain marketing advertisement/gimmicks and one wonders where all these will stop.
Graphics in this game is improved with better resolution and more consistent frame rates. Character faces are more detailed, environmental appearances are more realistic as well. The sound track is great with face paced techno music to keep up the mood, and certain emotional scenes are played well by a score of well orchestrated instrumental tracks. The sound effects are very well engineered, with the sounds of guns blazing in a very realistic manner.
Conclusion:
This game brings mixed reactions once you have completed it. All the marketing gimmicks employed by the publisher served to make the gaming experience worse, including some serious consumer setbacks with regards to a day one DLC. The DLC is crucial to the main story arc and players are at the losing end should this kind of practice continue. There is also a concern with over-priced Collector's edition (which I have bought, out of love for the game). The game itself does not live up to the expectations, not after all the various TV ads, online trailers etc which showed better promise. The final battle between Shepard and the Reapers also concluded with some simple choices instead of the epic battle everyone was hoping for. If you have watched the trailers and played this game, you would be expecting more out of it. The final battle is not memorable at all, with your hero and 2 other squad mates shooting in a few skirmishes instead of a major galactic scale assault together with your allies. This is one where you love it and hate it at the same time.
Pros:
Improved graphics, sound effects, choices from ME2 plays a certain role in ME3. Good voice acting as in all Bioware games. Multiplayer offers some additional replay value but not a welcome addition to a single player series. Better combat mechanics which will appeal to action gamers. Good loading time for the MP games.
Cons:
Day one DLC which has the consumers up in arms, overpriced collector's edition for some cheapskate comic book/art book and in game items which really doesn't matter at all. Bugs and poor side quest tracking system. Companions from ME2 play much diminished roles. Loopholes and inconsistencies in story beg for more closure. MP component which strays from the single player campaign. Bugs in the game are often encountered, though not hampering progress. Game does not live up to the hype and expectations