In 2007, gaming company Bioware released the original Mass Effect. After gaining universal acclaim the game was launched as one of the company’s biggest franchises. Now, five years later, the company has released the final installment in the Mass Effect trilogy. So does this new videogame achieve justice for its epic predecessors, or does it fall flat of its high expectations?
First off, for presumably the majority of readers who have not played the first two games or have never even heard of the series this is a quick (non-spoiler) summary of the plot. You play Commander Shepard, a human soldier who is trying to save the universe from god-like alien/robot monsters known as Reapers. And the giant war for the entire galaxy gives a lot of options for amazing action. With each in installment, the combat has improved drastically.
In Mass Effect 3 the combat is of epic proportions.
It never felt stale or like filler thrown in until the next scene appears. The creators put incredible effort and time into making this accessible to action fans.
The game’s strongest point is its story. The Mass Effect series has been epic storytelling and dynamic character development since day one. This skill with storytelling continues into this series finale. The characters that you encounter throughout the game are some of the most intriguing and compelling I have ever seen. Many characters from the first two games return continuing character development that started five years ago. Decisions you made in the previous games come back to haunt you, the player in this finale.
This brings amazing connectivity with previous installments. However for anyone who has not played the previous two will be at the least a little bit confused. The game spends more time wrapping up decisions and plots from previous games that it doesn’t give any time for a person just being introduced to the series. Another thing is the addition of online play. While it is extremely fun, it just the bare minimum for multiplayer.
And now for the worst part of the game: the ending. A horrible ending that makes every choice made in the game seem worthless in the end. It’s actually a beautiful scene, but it leaves so many plot holes and unanswered questions.
It’s infuriating.
It was as if Electronic Arts wanted to leave such an aggravating ending they will have an excuse to make a fourth game, or charge you money for downloads to find out a real ending. They are releasing free downloads for more closure, but the problem is they aren’t changing what fans hated about the ending
So I give the game two distinct scores, separating the overwhelming bad from the good. For 98% percent of the game: 9/10. For the “finale” and last ten minutes in general: 3/10.
Bioware should create a new ending, give the fans what they want, because that’s not how a trilogy should end. Until then, when you reach a scene where your character is looking at Earth after a battle with one of main villains, turn off your Xbox, PS3, or computer and happily assume that was the end of this amazing franchise.