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This review contains spoilers
It's been a while since I played this. I played it as soon as it came out and probably beat it in a week. After that, I played the multiplayer for a month before finally stopping. When the extended cut ending was released, I watched it on Youtube.
I had probably three or four Shepards I'd taken from Mass Effect through Mass Effect 2. I was ready to see all their stories to the end, then I saw the end.
An ending is only a small part of a game, but it's important. When the game itself is an ending to one of my favorite trilogies, there's so much more pressure on it. If you know anything about Mass Effect 3, you know it had a bad ending.
But the ending wasn't the sole thing that kept me from coming back. The lovable characters are still there, but different. Many characters I liked only get small parts and others are changed rather drastically. Garrus is still great though. Absolutely no qualms with Garrus, he excels at every moment.
But then there's The Illusive Man. He's evil. That's it, Cerberus and him are just evil. The Reapers are barely present with Harbinger getting no lines. Wrex loses his weariness and wit to become a bro. Thane shows up to die fighting a ninja. And yeah that ninja is horrible. People forget about him, but he's the worst.
There are good moments here! The ending of Conrad Verner's saga made me laugh hysterically and seeing Tali planning to build a house with Shepard was genuinely touching. But throughout that is so much nonsense with Cerberus.
Without the dark 80s action-inspired tone of the second game or the tragic eldritch story of the first game, what's left is a series of setpieces that feel incidental building up to a finding the new super-maguffin. And when you're ready to finally defeat the Reapers, the game stops you. It asks you which universe would you like to create.
That's what I hate about the ending. It shouldn't be a choice. Shepard has always fought to defeat the Reapers. Shepard and I don't want to revolutionize the universe with synthetic hybrids. We just want to save the day at last.
I had probably three or four Shepards I'd taken from Mass Effect through Mass Effect 2. I was ready to see all their stories to the end, then I saw the end.
An ending is only a small part of a game, but it's important. When the game itself is an ending to one of my favorite trilogies, there's so much more pressure on it. If you know anything about Mass Effect 3, you know it had a bad ending.
But the ending wasn't the sole thing that kept me from coming back. The lovable characters are still there, but different. Many characters I liked only get small parts and others are changed rather drastically. Garrus is still great though. Absolutely no qualms with Garrus, he excels at every moment.
But then there's The Illusive Man. He's evil. That's it, Cerberus and him are just evil. The Reapers are barely present with Harbinger getting no lines. Wrex loses his weariness and wit to become a bro. Thane shows up to die fighting a ninja. And yeah that ninja is horrible. People forget about him, but he's the worst.
There are good moments here! The ending of Conrad Verner's saga made me laugh hysterically and seeing Tali planning to build a house with Shepard was genuinely touching. But throughout that is so much nonsense with Cerberus.
Without the dark 80s action-inspired tone of the second game or the tragic eldritch story of the first game, what's left is a series of setpieces that feel incidental building up to a finding the new super-maguffin. And when you're ready to finally defeat the Reapers, the game stops you. It asks you which universe would you like to create.
That's what I hate about the ending. It shouldn't be a choice. Shepard has always fought to defeat the Reapers. Shepard and I don't want to revolutionize the universe with synthetic hybrids. We just want to save the day at last.
In many ways, this game is the inverse of Mass Effect 1. Its story is its weakest point and it wrests the Mako's potential to explore dozens of worlds away from you. Instead, this game is a tight character-focused thriller about broken people teaming up to do the shit that no one else is willing to do.
What works? The gameplay is fully improved over the previous game and is actually fun. No it's not great, but charging into a pack of Vorcha as a Vanguard and filling their prone bodies with a full heatsink of shotgun ammo is thrilling. Abilities still chain together and make any level with OSHA-violating bridges and rails thrilling.
The companions have matured from drab "let me tell you about my people" vessels repeating the same animation in their dark corner of the ship to people. They have their own desires, pasts they'd rather not get into right now, and conflicts with each other that you have to settle. Beyond your companions, the supporting cast of characters have tons of standouts who excel in this dark pulpy sci-fi world.
Before this game, I had never seen characters this realistic in appearance, animation, and performance whom I could interact with. Even when the story revealed itself as a filler story between games, I was still enthralled because I was fighting with my friends in dark neon alleys against aliens with four testicles.
What works? The gameplay is fully improved over the previous game and is actually fun. No it's not great, but charging into a pack of Vorcha as a Vanguard and filling their prone bodies with a full heatsink of shotgun ammo is thrilling. Abilities still chain together and make any level with OSHA-violating bridges and rails thrilling.
The companions have matured from drab "let me tell you about my people" vessels repeating the same animation in their dark corner of the ship to people. They have their own desires, pasts they'd rather not get into right now, and conflicts with each other that you have to settle. Beyond your companions, the supporting cast of characters have tons of standouts who excel in this dark pulpy sci-fi world.
Before this game, I had never seen characters this realistic in appearance, animation, and performance whom I could interact with. Even when the story revealed itself as a filler story between games, I was still enthralled because I was fighting with my friends in dark neon alleys against aliens with four testicles.
Absolutely iconic setting that the game establishes through great alien design, excellent music, and a cool eldritch threat from beyond the stars. This game's story and setting are excellent and they provide an incredible foundation for the rest of the series. Even while its characters are mostly shallow tools to provide exposition, their potential is there to be explored in future games.
Yes the Mako sucks.
Yes the Mako sucks.