DSMatticus wrote:name_here wrote:So, overall, is ME3 shit or not shit?
Metacritic
PC: 92/100 critic, 3.5/10 user
360: 94/100 critic, 5.0/10 user
PS3: 91/100 critic, 3.5/10 user
Critic ratings are a joke, and user scores are only slightly better with such irritable fans, but I would say fuck it, it sucks. Does anyone play bioware games for anything other than the story? And ME3 is a butchered story, no doubt there.
I don't know if I would go that far.
(Disclaimer: Prior to ME3, I would totally call myself a Mass Effect fan. I found ME2 to be completely brilliant, albeit flawed in many ways.)
Up until the last 15 or so minutes, I probably enjoyed ME3 at least as much if not more so than ME1 (for drastically different reasons, though). The atmosphere and ambiance are really tight: the game really does communicate the feeling of being in a galaxy that is slowly being destroyed.
The combat is still coverbased shooting. It's not all that difference from ME2, except that it's harder, and there seems to be more of it. As far as I could tell, ME2's little pattern of "fire, snipers, shotguns beat armor, smgs, biotics, and electronics beat barriers and shields" seem to have been noticeably decreased in importance. And most difficulty just comes from bigger numbers, as the AI is still more or less nonexistent. However, many of the battlefields are larger and less linear than ME2, which makes flanking and such more viable.
The main plot is honestly pretty compelling. I found it fairly engaging to fly zip about the galaxy trying to recruit a hardcore army. It's a bit like Origins, which I also liked. And, as far as inspiring pathos and having to make difficult decisions, this might actually be Bioware's best game yet.
However, the game does suffer from some noticeable flaws, even before the headdesk ending. To wit:
Squadmates: ME2 had a large, complex, multispecial, and generally compelling cast of companions. ME3 does not. Ashley/Kaidan and Liara are just as boring and generic as they were in the first game. And new guy James is even worse. I'd almost suspect him to be a Gears of War parody, he's that onedimensional.
Sidequests: ME3 uses an incredibly pointless sidequest structure, where you just wander around the Citadel and overhear conversations. Then you go to a planet and scan it for the relevant item to return it. They're incredibly mindless.
Fetishization of Shepard: The game constantly goes on and on about how you, Cmdr Shepard, are the one and only hero who can save the galaxy from certain destruction. This was also noticeable in ME2, but it really comes to a forefront here. Presumably this ego gratification is intended to draw in the consolebox crowd, but I found it really grating. It legitimately detracts from the space opera Bioware has going on.
In general, the game often seemed somewhat tired to me. ME3 is much less of a reinvention than ME2 was, almost to the point that it seemed more like a really long expansion than a legitimate sequel.
tl;dr: If you care about the series, ME3 is probably worth picking up. I didn't even touch the multiplayer because I dislike Origin, so I can't tell you about that. But 95% of the game is at least mildly above average Bioware. (The remaining 5% is more or less fucking shite, of course.)
Out beyond the hull, mucoid strings of non-baryonic matter streamed past like Christ's blood in the firmament.