By Patrick Reilly –
The premise of Mass Effect 3 is simple. The Earth has been invaded by a robotic alien race and as Commander Shepard you must rally your allies to defeat the enemy force. What sounds like a simple and straight forward mission becomes a web of political bureaucracy forcing the player on an odyssey across the galaxy for alien support.
The first major difference that distinguishes Mass Effect 3 from its previous games is the combat. While the “Gears of War” style combat remains, additions such as the ability to use combat rolls and powerful melee strikes are quite useful. However, I found the combat roll to be somewhat annoying as you sometimes unintentionally stick to cover leading to an annoying death or two. Squad and Enemy AI have also improved leading to sustained firefights which effectively force the player to think tactically. The main problem is the combat. The enemy variety is extremely limited and leads to repetitive confrontations and the roster of squad mates is trimmed down to six with only one new character.
The role playing elements and content are also a disappointment. The only real change is the return of customizable weapons and the inclusion of the galactic assets which, quite frankly, are just a giant tease that has a minor affect in the game’s finale. So don’t expect to coordinate your forces like in suicide mission of Mass Effect 2. Sandbox exploration is also limited to the Normandy and Citadel between missions, which lead to a feeling of Déjà Vu.
Multiplayer is your standard horde mode with a bit of Mass Effect flavor, its passable yet not impressive enough to play consistently.
The story which is in as many ways the strength and failure of Mass Effect 3, is an emotional and jarring tale highlighted by an amazing voice cast, and stirring score. Overall all the actions Shepard has made through the years carries weight here, in the resolution of all the conflicts of the trilogy except one, the ending. The ending is the worst thing about this game. It is so ridiculously out of character and so insultingly full of plot holes it ruins the otherwise adequate sendoff of Shepard and the crew of the Normandy.