Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 3 felt a whole lot like Mass Effect 2, and given my reception of that game, this is definitely a good thing. The all-out war between organic and synthetic life has begun, and as Commander Shepard and his crew have found out, all previous battles have been won easily by the Reapers- machines that periodically eradicate nearly all forms of life in the universe for unknown reasons. Going in to Mass Effect 3 I knew that most players loved the entire game aside from the last 5 minutes- I on the other hand had nearly the opposite reaction. It took about 2 hours for the game to really draw me in, but once it did it didn't let go until the credits rolled. The gameplay feels virtually unchanged from ME2- apparently the cover system was improved, but I hardly noticed. Either way, it's hard to call the series' third installment an improvement on the second, but that's no knock- Mass Effect 2 is already firmly entrenched in the 'greatest games of all time' discussion, as it should be. Mass Effect 3 gives us a worthy successor that doesn't quite hit those same highs, but retains a lack of lows. When the series transitioned from Mass Effect to Mass Effect 2, it became a more character-based story to the point where the bulk of the game is spent getting your friends to trust you. You still have the trust of whoever remains in your crew for the third installment, but Mass Effect 3 is still very character-driven, while each mission now seems to have greater importance than whatever vendetta your individual crew members have. There's noticably fewer options for party members here, but if anything ME2's nine party members was a bit too crowded- ME3 didn't suffer for its smaller crew. Finally, I have to mention the outcry of disappointment about the ending. I mean, this ending was universally reviled, causing fans to protest BioWare, forcing a post-game cinematic to be released a month later, and eventually leading to some employees at BioWare stepping down out of shame. Wow! I could understand if that was due to some just terrible ending, but I thought the ending to Mass Effect 3 made sense and was appropriate! As I mentioned in my Catherine review, I've been inundated with 'moral choice' video games- Mass Effect 3 I played however I felt, not pushing too far to either side of the good/evil duality, so when I got to the big choice that ends the game I picked the one that felt appropriate for my character, and the game ended how it should. Just because a different choice produces similar results doesn't make the ending terrible, or somehow negate the countless hours of user-created story! I swear, some people will never be satisfied. Anyway, I know Stan's got some interest and I believe Trev partially played Mass Effect, so let me give the whole trilogy a hearty recommendation.