Daily Juice: Thoughts on Gaming

MASS EFFECT 3: BioWare's Greatest... Misstep?

When an educated gamer of the last decade thinks of one video game series that has defined the pinnacle of an entire genre of the industry, one would think of Mass Effect. It's a series that, throughout several years of games, has not only created a story so incredibly immersive and alive which has captivated the hearts of tens of thousands of gamers, but has been considered to be the greatest science fiction story of this generation. No other has made you care so much about seeing a companion die, watching your character develop in personality, or seeing the triumphant victory of humanity over a civilization of machines programmed for mass genocide. (Yes, even more than the Terminator series) 

These elements all come together for one final ride in Mass Effect 3, the conclusion of the trilogy and the completion of the story of Commander Shepard. While this is the last chapter in the long running series, many gamers worried they would have to play the first 2 in order to understand the complex story that is all wrapped up in 3. However, this is not an issue, as BioWare has conveniently allowed the story to fill you in on the past 2 games if you do not import a save from Mass Effect 2. But if you truly want the immersive experience of a nearly decade long franchise, you would do justice to yourself to complete the first 2.

In Mass Effect 3, you again star as Commander Shepard, an elite soldier of the Alliance Navy, the galactic military of the human race. The plot begins with you on Earth, with the sudden attack of the Reapers, a race of advanced sentinel war machines created for the genocide of most of the galaxy's species every 50,000 years. Your objective is to serve as an ambassador of the galaxy and unite all major races to your cause in an attempt to secure the future of the universe from utter destruction. A sci-fi plot about saving the entire galaxy from destruction by insane robots?! Oh let me hear no more. You might think it's just another epic story, but that's because it kind of is. Only this time, the epic story DELIVERS (sort of). As in the past, you'll be traveling to several planets, primarily those of each major species, as well as returning to old ones, such as the giant space station that is the Citadel, the official seat of government for the galaxy. While voyaging to all these civilizations, obstacles roll down your path, and you must make incredibly challenging choices in order to resolve, or instigate, the age-long conflicts from between the different species. Paragon and Renegade, your character's morality meters, return in Mass Effect 3. The story this time around is better than ever, as BioWare continues to push the limit with ingenious storytelling and an emotional connection to a game one can't find anywhere else. 

During your downtime between missions, you'll get a chance to once again explore the Normandy SR-2, Commander Shepard's personal ship from Mass Effect 2--but this time, it's been completely rebuilt from the ground up, using Alliance Navy systems rather than Cerberus. All the characters you've made best friends with, treated like family, had romantic relationships with, betrayed, or just plain hated are back, with even more depth and character development than ever before, complete with masterful voice acting. And due to increased character development, your crew is notably smaller than the excessive gang of badasses in Mass Effect 2. Your companions have a lot more to say to you this time, and there's even more opportunities throughout the game to spend time with them and get to know who they really are as people. In Mass Effect 1 & 2, you created and evolved relationships with people from all around the galaxy, and from within your crew; in Mass Effect 3, you confront the consequences of these relationships.

More guns, explosives, biotics, and sexy aliens. Yeah.

None of this amazing story with it's 3 dimensional characters would be worth most gamer's time without a fantastic combat system, and this game delivers yet again. It's not as quite of a leap in control as the first to second game, but rather, refines the foundations of it even more. Commander Shepard has never been easier to control. Moving from cover to cover is a breeze, and sending your enemies to oblivion with blazing guns or biotic fields of energy has never been more fun. In combat, you have up to 2 of your companions with you, each with their own unique abilities and weapon specializations. Your choice of who to bring with on the battlefield is especially important this time around, as the improved artificial intelligence provides a much stronger challenge, especially in the later parts of the game. As you level up you gain skill points to level abilities, as in the previous titles, but this time, it's presented in a cleaner, simpler, and more organized format that doesn't constantly try to get in your way. If you want to play with others, Mass Effect 3 offers a multiplayer co-op mode called "Galaxy at War". In the mode, players are able to play alongside up to three other players in unique missions that can impact the outcome of the single player campaign. Each mission was designed specifically for multiplayer, and involves taking over enemy strongholds. After playing through for several hours, I've found it to be very well designed, very fun, and very addictive. For Gear's of War fans, it's a bit similar to Horde Mode.

Mass Effect 3 is not as visually impressive as it's predecessor. Textures seem to have been downgraded a bit in cutscenes, especially for Commander Shepard, and there's plenty more to nitpick. However, it's still a gorgeous game.

While the story is as rich as ever, that's not to say it's completely amazing throughout. The ending scenes in the game are most disappointing and poorly designed, that even have the ability to ruin the entire franchise for long-term players. Not only must you be forced to pick a renegade decision in order to survive to the last part of the game, but when you finally arrive at the ending, it's an illogical chain of events that leave the player confused and annoyed. The worst part about the ending, is that BioWare does not follow through with their promise on having your decisions throughout the franchise have a strong impact on how you conclude the story. In fact, your previous decisions control nothing of what happens in the end. The controversial conclusion to the franchise has left many players so upset that they DEMANDED that it be changed. It just goes to show how such an enthralling story motivates the gaming community to change something that isn't even real. Luckily, with the free Extended Cut DLC, BioWare has managed to deliver at the very least a decently satisfying ending that actually has closure.

The game also disappoints with a severe lack of dialogue choices you get to make, and this is apparent right from the beginning. You'll end up thinking you've got the game's options set to less choices, but in fact, it's as much as you get period. This is a MAJOR step back from the two predecessors. While most of these choices don't really matter, the fact that you have them for flavor as some put it, is essential to the immersion of the gameplay.

Mass Effect 3, a game that while very disappointing in many respects, still provides enough entertainment that you'll be hungry for more. For both the original game and Extended Cut DLC, I'd give it a 9/10.