I've had this review typed out for a little while, just never got around to posting it. Need to do it now before I forget about the game:

MASS EFFECT 3

NOTE: This is a review includes the free Extended Cut DLC for the ending.

Mass Effect 3 concludes one of the most ambitious gaming endeavors yet. The premise was that your decisions/actions in ME1 would carry over to ME2, and again from ME2 over to ME3. While this is all true to an extent, this vision was not fully realized.

Still, ME3 is an enjoyable experience, made even better if you played both ME1 and ME2. Story/companion arcs, inter-species conflicts, and even romantic relationships come to a head in this game. ME3 is the payoff for all the work youve done in the previous 2 games.

BioWare even introduced a new co-op mode in Galaxy at War, which is fantastic if youre a co-op fan. A group of 4 players take on 10 waves of enemies. Theres a good selection of character classes, weapons, and biotic powers to choose from. Matches dont take long (about 30 minutes at max), and this mode is a good training ground for the campaign.

LOVED

The Shepard Chronicles: Space Jesus returns for one final outing. If youre invested in your Shepard, then ME3 gives you the closure youve been looking for, but you need to download the Extended Cut DLC first (shame it had to be that way). I was disappointed with some decisions the writer(s) made, but ultimately, I was satisfied with the ending. It was, however, awesome to see how your decisions in ME1 & ME2 affected the outcome of ME3. I hope more devs do this next gen.

War, Everywhere: The new Galaxy at War co-op mode is just a blast. Being a huge co-op fan, I put in over 30hrs into GaW before even starting the campaign. The mode is a great way to experiment with the various character classes you may not have otherwise.

Its Unreal: Like EPIC Games and Gears 3, this is the third round BioWare has had with UE3 and Mass Effect, and its a noticeable improvement. The game looks and performs better than ever. This is also evident by how fluid the combat is compared to the prequel. ME3 does not shy away from being an Action RPG.

HATED

Wheres My Crew?: In ME2, you spent nearly the entire game gathering a loyal crew if you wanted the best ending (I did). All of that is thrown away at the beginning of ME3. Your loyal crew is now scattered across the galaxy, doing their own thing. I really like the crew in ME2, and was disappointed BioWare went this route.

A Proper Ending: While the Extended Cut DLC was sorely needed, its a damn shame BioWare had to do it in the first place. The whole scenario just screams laziness. But to be fair, the DLC really does give the game a proper ending with the more detailed explanations.

Whos That?: While the issue was correct later with a patch, if you played ME3 at/near launch, then you had to recreate your Shepard if you had a custom guy/gal. For a series that trumpeted importing your save files from each game, this issue was inexcusable.

CONCLUSION

The Mass Effect trilogy began with so much promise that it was a bit heartbreaking to find out how much of a mess the campaign was at launch. Upon boot-up, you couldnt import your custom Shepard, your loyal crew from ME2 was nowhere to be found, and the ending reeked of laziness with how open-ended it was. Thankfully, BioWare corrected these issue, but for some, it was too little, too late.

The best surprise for me was the new Galaxy at War co-op mode. I got to play with character classed I wouldve never tried if not for this mode. The matches dont take long, and BioWare supported this mode with free DLC for a while.

ME3 was a bit difficult for me to score. I was (very) disappointed is some decisions BioWare made, but in the end I still played the game for over 50hrs, and Ill probably do the DLC later on.

SCORE: 9.0 / 10.0

TIME PLAYED: Over 50hrs

ACHIEVEMENT DETAIL: 850 / 1250

GAMING UPDATE

I'll have my Bayonetta reveiw up soon...