Multiplat Mass Effect 3

[Chezzalenko Reborn]

13 Hour session for me on Friday. Finished the main story today.

Not the ending I was expecting

Spoiler

I did shed a tear upon the Sheperd having to sacrifice his life. The flashback moments to Joker, Asley and Anderson made me choke up a bit.

Guys on PC who wants to play in some squads, add me TheSpaceBlanket, character RedWazz

 

[Drummer_19]

I'm just trying to limit myself to around 2 hours a session to keep it lasting for a while. Learnt my lesson burning myself out with long skyrim sessions.

 

[kaysee]

Ok just finished it!

About 35 hours worth. The ending was superb in context of storyline and graphics... but F'ck Me... they seemed to have made a VERY simple F'ck up with the final bit of game play.

Without giving things away; like everything else in ME you're presented with a choice... they are explained to you, however it isn't clear what choice you're making.

Ps... watch til the end if the credits!

Edit: just found an 'Autosave' that allows me to replay the final part of the story... thank God.

 

[sacka]

Even Hitler has something to say about the ending lol

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

DO NOT WATCH UNLESS YOU HAVE FINISHED THE GAME.

[youtube]b33tJx8iy0A[/youtube]

 

[Valentino Dmitri]

Couple of thoughts.

Ending suited my character (goodie, occasional bad person when pressed) so no complaints in that regard. my girl's face didn't import, but I was able to make a pretty close approximation of what she looked like in me2, but with pink ulala spaceman hair, nice change from the monstrosity she used to sport. Looked like dead black fern had grown out of her noggin.

Pleased that it is wrapped up. Thouroughly enjoyed all three games in the series. Will be happy to replay them all in a few years time back to back. Assuming the universe will be spun off, would like to see an elite style spaceship game, could get behind that.

Probably won't stick around for multiplayer. Not that it is bad or anything, just not really into that side of gaming culture. Also, I am shit and always come last.

I like the implication that in the future hoodie jackets become a satus symbol of military excellence.

Gay people are to mass effect as black people are to star wars; for a while they don't exist then all of a sudden they pop up and nobody acts like it is a big deal.

Thought the art was especially good this game, worked within the limitations of the engine. Humans still look slightly frightening when they are emoting and move freakily, but the aliens, ships and locations look ace. Some of the baddies especially. Great job.

Will be interesting to see what kind of legacy this series has on gaming, and what bio ware take on next.

 

[kaysee]

My review overall 9.5/10

The following doesn't contain any real spoilers, but I will put it in spoiler tags just in case people don't want know anything just yet:

Spoiler

Gameplay 9/10
- 1st, the set pieces in ME3 are absolutely amazing and epic. My jaw was picked up several times. Several scenes would have been the climax for other games, but are mere missions in ME3. The combat is smooth, easy at times, but challenging at others and controls are now almost second nature for experienced ME fans. Some of the action that takes place around you is surreal, as your controller shakes, sound and vision distort... all while you attempt to achieve your goal whilst keep your head on. That said, there are a few minor complaints: run/cover/roll actions all off a single button can cause issues, another "boss" fight (and mechanic) would have been nice, and the game ending decision could have been done better.

- SPECIAL MENTION: Bioware deserve a special mention for delivering varying play game-play experiences within a title. Something they've done since Jade Empire has been the ability to shift from one game-play environment to another and make it fit really well into the game. In JE you go from life to afterlife. In DragonAge you went into the "Fade" (or dreams). In ME2 you had the Overlord "Matrix" area... and again in ME3 you're presented with a few different game-play zones to great effect.


Storyline 10/10
- It was a brave attempt by Bioware: trilogy with connected storylines/decisions. They succeed in nearly every area with many elements from ME1 and ME2 coming back to play a part in ME3. There is one glaring exception to this in that the enemy in ME3 has no real voice/interaction which we received in ME1 and ME2. The storyline conclusion also might not sit well with some (although apparently there is a different ending available on your 2nd play through), but I liked it (storyline-wise).

Graphics 9.5/10
- There might be more realistic game graphics out there, but it is difficult to get too realistic for a universe that doesn't exist. ME3 environments and graphics range from atmospheric to shear beauty. Whether you're shining a torchlight in a cave, on a space walk, zipping through chaotic space fight or simply looking out from a balcony at a vista... but even the most basic effects such as relfections, air particles and dust gathered on windows is impressive.

Presentation 9.5/10
- Everything is completed so well here there is ittle to complain about. To be nit-picky, whilst I really liked the new "ambient quests" (overhear a NPC talking about something and you automatically get the quest) I found the quest information and log lacking from previous ME games. Quest notes seem light on and the quest log needed options to hide/seperate completed quests (gets quite annoying towards the end). There's still a stack of loading screens but there placed better in the game.

I will post a more "spoiler" filled review/experience later today.
GG

 

[kaysee]

My in game experience/thoughts/review

Contains major spoilers about my entire play through. NOTE: even if you've completed the game, your decisions and play through might have been different and thus the following still might contain spoilers.

Spoiler

Straight off the bat I found it EPIC on many levels, so it is hard deciding where to start. At around 33 hours to complete the game (being fairly thorough... would say 90% completion) it isn't as long as ME1 or ME2... again guessing Bioware have shifted more content to DLC due to piracy/2nd-hand lost income. The Normandy is the best thus far, sections more streamlined, but it did feel a little repetative towards the end: complete mission, video debrief, war room check, walk through rooms/doors check and back to command centre. A lot of under utilised areas though (and not many squad members... 5/6 IIRC including Prothean guy). Again, I'm guessing there might be more DLC later.

Highlights
- loved almost all the missions, especially main missions.
- Pavalen Moon... space battle, amazing scenes here from their moon.
- Tuchanka... pimped up krogan convoy, exploring the ruins via torchlight, and KALROS v Reaper (ftw).
- Quarian fleet... moon walking in broken docking bridge (reminded me of 2001: a space odessey).
- Geth Server... plugging into the Geth server and changing game modes.
- Rannoch... Reaper boss, tough SOB, but afterwards the only interaction with the Reapers in ME3.
- Thessia... Reaper against the skyline was beautiful, temple fight with KL was one of the few "boss"/mechanic type fights in ME3.
- Cerberus HQ... background about Shepard and EDI, final fight with KL, again about the only "boss" fight in the game.
- Earth... Space battle, fighting on Earth, fighting in heavy noise/impacted vision etc (ala D-day landing), rushing the beam.
- Citadel Finale... looked good, didn't mind ending so much.
- Ambient quests... good easy way to pick up quests.
- Miranda's arse... best arse in the Galaxy.
- Trying to hit on Samantha Traynor.
- General humour throughout... Mordin comments (or humming G&S), a drunk Tali's "emergency induction port", or walking in on some un-expected romance.
- Normandy Honour Wall


Lowlights
- Citadel Finale... needed clearer method of identifying the finale decision.
- most final battles were "wave" type battles... needed more "boss", mechanic or even puzzle type elements.
- Illusive Man... disappointed in his ending... pittered out into just another dellusional, power hunger inndividual who became indoctrinated.

- <EDIT>: the other main disappointment is that the Reapers are your main enemies, but you barely fight them. Most of the game is fighting Cerberus... and when you are fighting "Reapers" they're not really Reapers but their minions which are basically mutated races (Batarians, Turians, Rachni, Asari etc). They didn't even include any "Reaper" units from ME2 like Scions or Praetorians. In the end I came away feeling like ME3 was more a battle against Cerberus for control of the Reapers... rather then a battle against the Reapers themselves. /rant

- Quest log... light on the details in order to complete (found I missed completing some side quests due to this), needed a way to hide completed quests.
- Upgrading/buying weapons... liked the flexability, but needed a better way to do it (perhaps via the individual weapon). Frustrating scrolling through the weapon upgrade list and buying individually.
- Gay Cortez... yeah, unless I'm hitting on you, I don't really care to know.
- Gayden Alenko... seemed a bit emo to me.
- heart broken by Sam Traynor :-( ... lucky my next Shepard import is female :-D

Running through some MP now. Apparently the MP effects your War Assets and Effectiveness: basically on SP only the maximum effectiveness is 50%, but with MP that increases, so you can gather less galaxy fleets but make them more effective. So you can focus mainly more on SP, or focus less on SP but do some MP and have enough to complete the game.

 

[Chezzalenko Reborn]

My in game experience/thoughts/review

Contains major spoilers about my entire play through. NOTE: even if you've completed the game, your decisions and play through might have been different and thus the following still might contain spoilers.

Running through some MP now. Apparently the MP effects your War Assets and Effectiveness: basically on SP only the maximum effectiveness is 50%, but with MP that increases, so you can gather less galaxy fleets but make them more effective. So you can focus mainly more on SP, or focus less on SP but do some MP and have enough to complete the game.

Love the MP bit effecting the game. Didn't realize it during my first playthrough so as much as I enjoyed my ending, I realize I could of done a lot of difference.

Question with Spoilers for those who have finished

Spoiler

those who have been able to save Shepard, obviously destroyed the Reapers. What side of the platform did you guys go through to do so. I obviously don't want to go in thinking I'm going to destroy the Reapers and then chose something else entirely

 

[RequiemBlade]

This game was a 9.5/10 for me leading up to the last 10 or so minutes.

Spoiler

And then it sort of fell apart. Introducing a Guardian in the form of a kid? The ending seemed a bit rushed. I've been reading up on some theories on the Bioware forums and some people are saying that theres evidence in the last 10 minutes that Shepard is hallucinating/indoctrinated; the pistol with infinite ammo, Shepard experiencing similar sensations as when he was dreaming, how 2 of his crew members suddenly appeared on another planet with Joker, shooting TIM/making him commit suicide and there being no blood, and the grandfather talking to his grandchild after the credits "tell me more stories about Shepard" "Ok, one more" etc etc. There was also a twitter post by one of the producers saying that Bioware had big plans and that we should all hold onto our copies of ME3. Whether this means that they will be introducing some DLC that will really finish the story or just some map packs, who knows. The evidence that I find that really supports this theory is the secret ending; Shepard is alive and is surrounded by rubble. If he was on the Citadel he wouldn't have survived a fall to Earth or he would've got blown up.

re: Roaring Lions

Spoiler

I took the right (red) option and ended up dying to destroy all synthetics. There are 3 options if you get a 'perfect' game; destroy synthetics, control reapers, and combine them (or something along those lines).

 

[kaysee]

This game was a 9.5/10 for me...

Spoiler

And then it sort of fell apart. Introducing a Guardian in the form of a kid? The ending seemed a bit rushed...

There was also a twitter post by one of the producers saying that Bioware had big plans and that we should all hold onto our copies of ME3. Whether this means that they will be introducing some DLC that will really finish the story or just some map packs, who knows.

Spoiler

Apparently, there is another ending that opens up if you play through it twice... but no doubt there is more DLC coming.

Interesting to notice how after watching finishing, watching the credits and final cut scene... the game returns you to the Normandy before your Earth mission. I'm guessing future DLC will have an impact on the finale.

I definitely think Bioware went for a too "clever" ending instead of "happy". A bit like what they did with The Matrix movie trilogy.

 

[pantskyle]

Damn you TAPATALKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

 

[Freakie]

Decided to start the trilogy but finding a copy of ME is near impossible

 

[pantskyle]

eBay buddy cheap as chips as well.

 

[kaysee]

Decided to start the trilogy but finding a copy of ME is near impossible

Some advice on ME1... many people (inc myself) found it slow to get going and hard to get in to.

My advice for 1st players... just keep pushing through!

Things start to speed up about 1/3 to 1/2 the way through (about 15 hours in)... and from then on it just gets better and better.

 

[Confuscius]

Like others, i was fully prepared to give this a 10 until the ending happened.

Finished it last night, and I had never before been so immersed in a video game, I was taking care with everything in order to get it just how I wanted it, knowing fully well I'd be playing a few times more with my character saves from ME2. (Being a PS3 user I haven't played the original, but I really want to, and may buy it if I see it and try to borrow an xbox from someone, unless it'd run on my laptop? But I'd doubt that). But now, I'm just completely let down, I don't know whether I'll be playing through it again with my other characters (which is depressing it itself, knowing how much time I spent making sure they were perfect).

SPOILERS

Spoiler

From the Illusive man's appearance onwards, it made no sense and didn't belong it what i had perceived to be the Mass Effect universe. He was under control? I'd rather him just be a maniac determined to bring humanity to the top of the food chain in the galaxy. The kid as the catalyst? He told Shepard he was the first to get there? Well how did Shepard get there? It just lifted him up for apparrently no reason?

Also, being ME2 as my first experience, Miranda was my interest. She barely showed up! Got like 5 interactions with her, what's the point of even having her?

I don't even mind if Shepard died at the end, sacrificing himself for the good of the galaxy is right up his alley, but those options seemed to do nothing to me, if they're all destroying the mass relay, doesn't that pretty much wipe everthing out?

I also expected to have some control over the war assets you search for! Nothing, no influence on the races you've aligned and what they do in the final battle. Felt for sure that would happen when Samara (I think) told me to research the species and use their strengths etc. Actually fully expected it to go down like the final battle in 2, that is, if you use them wrong, they get wiped out.

Not to say the last battle with the reapers closing in on you position isn't epic, cos it was. But it needed more repercussions for decisions made.

Amazing game, and I'd have no worry recommending it to anyone, but the ending just wasn't up to standard.

 

[100action]

unfortunately the Bioware's clarification that you do not need to play multiplayer to get the most flexible ending scenario is completely wrong.

You need IIRC 5000+ EMS and to get that you need a readiness factor far greater than 0.5 which you need to obtain from the multiplayer. If you scan all planets, do all quests and play the expansion you only get about 6000-7000 TMS, with a 50% readiness you end up with 3500 EMS at best and that wont give you the optimal ending.

 

[Spudregus_87]

Finished it over the weekend. Just starting my second playthough tonight.

Loving the spoiler comments from you guys - I find myself agreeing with most of what you're all saying.

Will post some more thoughts after my second attempt.

What an epic game. I thought there were still some minor hiccups with some of the later dialogue options, but overall, easily one of the best games I've played.

 

[Knife Wrench]

Spoiler

Sigh.. Easily my favourite game series ever. Then the last 10 minutes comes along and gives a very hollow feeling to what should have been an amazing finish. The whole series is based on your choices and what you decide to do, then the ending/s (any of them) take all that away. Would have benefited greatly from a more closure-providing way of ending things. Also would have liked more than a couple of small cameos by the previous squad members, especially if they were your romance choice. Still a brilliant game though. 9/10.

 

[kaysee]

I played a bit of MP yesterday and got my 1st character up to level 12 within about 5-10 games (I played the MP demo a fair bit).

Anyway that increases my Readiness Rating to about 73%. I think it remains there for about a week without playing MP and after that it starts to drop.

 

[FGMPR]

Finished it over the weekend. Just starting my second playthough tonight.

Loving the spoiler comments from you guys - I find myself agreeing with most of what you're all saying.

Will post some more thoughts after my second attempt.

What an epic game. I thought there were still some minor hiccups with some of the later dialogue options, but overall, easily one of the best games I've played.

It's a terrible idea, imo. What about in a few years time when I want to play the trilogy and the co op is deserted? Not being able to access the proper ending due to that is absurd.

I get the feeling that its all a part of the plan to fight second hand sales on console and piracy on PC. By merging it all together you really do lose out if you don't buy a new copy. The only problem is that it produces a negative effect on the consumer.

That's never stopped EA or Bioware though, with the latter in particular turning themselves into a scumbag developer over the past few years. I just wish I didn't enjoy their games as much as I do.

 

[Ant_]

I find the MP to be full of jerks. Maybe it's because it picks randoms from around the world? I've got a low rating so get booted straight away when I do quick match one out of 3 joins. Even though I know the ME controls well from playing the series since the first.

 

[kaysee]

I find the MP to be full of jerks. Maybe it's because it picks randoms from around the world? I've got a low rating so get booted straight away when I do quick match one out of 3 joins. Even though I know the ME controls well from playing the series since the first.

I've been kicked from 1 lobby thus far (my rating isnt great IIRC due to years of COD raging and bagging Americans).

I wish MP had some sort of local server matching like COD. US hosted games are laggy as, but it's very smooth on Aus hosts.

Got you on my friends list though Ant, so can send you invites I you wish (or feel free to send me an invite). A number of friends are doing the SP and once they're done well be teaming up.

 

[100action]

I find the MP to be full of jerks. Maybe it's because it picks randoms from around the world? I've got a low rating so get booted straight away when I do quick match one out of 3 joins. Even though I know the ME controls well from playing the series since the first.

if you do quick match you and you dont change the challenge setting you can get allocated to gold teams which wouldnt want a player that isnt decked out. Bad luck if you got booted from a silver/bronze game though.

 

[Ant_]

I've been kicked from 1 lobby thus far (my rating isnt great IIRC due to years of COD raging and bagging Americans).

I wish MP had some sort of local server matching like COD. US hosted games are laggy as, but it's very smooth on Aus hosts.

Got you on my friends list though Ant, so can send you invites I you wish (or feel free to send me an invite). A number of friends are doing the SP and once they're done well be teaming up.

Yeah no worries, ended playing some campaign after you send the invite.

 

[Ant_]

Found the voice commands work well, you feel a bit of a dick issuing squad commands but it helps keep the action flowing not going to the power/weapon wheel.