Mass Effect 3 Review

[gphjr14]

If you played the game and didn't like it it's really your loss since EA already has your money. Otherwise it's kind of pathetic to go out if your way to trash a game you have know intention of playing just because you don't like the developer. So far I'm loving this game and my only real complaint is the dlc rifle is a recoiling piece of shit.

 

[Freechoice]

I am annoyed... not at your post in particular but by the stupid assumption by many people (not just on this site) that a game they don't like getting a good review means someone was bought off.

This seems especially stupid when you remember it's the final chapter of one of the most critically acclaimed series of all time. OF COURSE it was going to get good reviews. It's an incredible experience for most people who play it, despite its flaws.

Well if the reviewers fail to catch the fuck-ups or just outright ignore them, it's logical to conclude that either the reviewer was bought off or is just incompetent. Can we expect perfect analysis? No, but from what I've seen and read, (I won't get ME3 because I refuse to have Origin on my system) Susan was wrong about the game being the "ending the series deserved" because of the actual endings. Her opinion? Sure, but it seems to be one of a very small minority that praised the endings.

When people are willing to pay to see the game unfucked, you know the developer did something wrong.

I completely understand.

But the problem is people don't seem to be taking Susan's word for it when she explains her side, which annoys the shit out of me. If people want to throw snide insinuations around they should be prepared to give benefit of the doubt.

And any argument about advertising 'influencing' the staff and all that jazz is rendered utterly void in my mind by the fact that every week the site's most popular show takes the absolute piss out of the same developers and games advertised here, sometimes viciously so.

Yes, but that's Yahtzee. Yahtzee's a special case not necessarily because he's a acerbic, but because he actually critiques a game and occasionally provides solvency to its problems. If you don't believe that, I fall back on him being motherfucking Yahtzee. Influencing the Escapist is far simpler than influencing Yahtzee because the body of the Escapist has less notoriety than he does. If he gave praise to a game that was panned, people would pick up on this and Yahtzee isn't stupid enough to compromise his journalistic integrity for a few extra bucks or some publisher threatening to pull funding. Everyone else (save for Bob) on the Escapist? I'd have never heard of any of the Escapist staff if it wasn't for Yahtzee. Much easier to assume direct control with.

 

[satsugaikaze]

Except that your details aren't anonymous (only information passed on is anonymised, they make no other promises with their snooping and storing), and the dictatorship wasn't genocidal when it asking for info. I don't care if you find the analogy distasteful or whatever, it's the same assumption that everyone is by default benevolent when really there are no safeguards, no protection, no oversight.

I imagine facebook could do some absolutely horrendous blackmail if it so wished, and one day its ceo might decide that the long-term damage that would do to the company is out-weighed by the short-term gain. It's unlikely, but there's very little anyone can do to stop it. We expect Steam to keep allowing us access to our games, but they can decide at the drop of a hat to delete our collections. They don't (generally) because of good business sense, but again, there's no higher power watching out for us. So yeah, welcome spy-ware with open arms if you wish, and cross your fingers that it never becomes more profitable for the company to sell your info than to merely collect and anonymise it, but please never assume that some mysterious caped crusader is going to swoop in and save you if they do decide to take liberties with the fig-leaf of pseudo-security you so desperately cling to.

I find that when my name isn't on any of the information being collected by Origin, it sounds like anonymity to me.

I also don't make the "assumption that everyone is by default benevolent". I like to think that as an adult I'm not so naive as to believe that EA can only do good things with the information taken from my computer. But at the same time, I'm not so cynical to believe right off the bat that the beaurocracy is going to ruin me by selling my entire private life to the highest-bidding megacorporation that wants to see the manila folder containing my deepest, darkest secretsm just so they can flood my interwebs with advertising. See, exaggeration, metaphors, and heavy prose! Two can play at that game.

People have gotten enraged over the 'what it could be doing' as opposed to 'what it's doing now'. I'm still hopeful that there are people out there who realise that the eventuality is quite unlikely, like you said.
Oh, and that "mysterious caped crusader"? I do appreciate good visual analogy, but again. Thanks for the hyperbole.

 

[Site Ser]

The ending essentially takes a sh*t on the entire ME story.

This is the one game I allowed myself to get my hopes up for (at least in regards to the story), and it ended up being one of the biggest disappointments I've ever experienced.

I seriously felt my heart sink when the credits started to roll, and the first thing I thought to myself was "Seriously? That's it?".

 

[Aisaku]

The ending the series - and its fans - deserve.

So, if that's the ending fans deserve, you hate Mass Effect series' fans? ;P

 

[Tsun Tzu]

The ending the series - and its fans - deserve.

So, if that's the ending fans deserve, you hate Mass Effect series' fans? ;P

I was thinking this exact thing.

I'm reminded of the KotOR 2 ending (Obsidian, not bioware, but eh). Such disappointment.

 

[Aisaku]

Well the fans definitely aren't silent: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/category/355/index

Here's to hoping for DLC that will change the options presented at the end so we can have some sort of closure.

Just to point one annoying sticking point here: All the budget spent on trailers, and publicity stunts could've been put to use into actual video sequences to show the effects of your actions on the galaxy, you know, like proper endings.

 

[satsugaikaze]

Also, for better or worse, I think it's important for everyone to remember that Mass Effect 3's initial release date was postponed for more development time - so to me it's more logical to assume that the writing involved in the game wasn't a product of laziness or whatever skeptics seem to be projecting onto the writers. Bioware supposedly had a hell of a lot of time to work on this game, so in the end the majority of things people take issue with are probably purposeful, calculated design choices.

 

[GreyJedi]

OT - Like Daystar, I'm going to just play the game and enjoy the hell out of it, regardless of any faults. I'm sure I'll be called a corporate tool by some whiny little tossers but I really don't care.

I cannot tell you how happy reading that made me. Good for you, man.

I love all the implications in this thread that anyone who didn't enjoy the game is what, doing it on purpose so they can look cool?

Sorry, nope. The game is, not subjectively but objectively, a let-down.

Technically, that's not what they said. Blunderboy complains about the fact that everybody who indicates that they like the game are being discredited as being "bioware fanboys", "corporate tools", etc. The ones you quote did not imply that people who dislike the game are doing it to be cool. And seriously, can you blame them for calling you guys "whiny little tossers"? Some people've been constantly trying to force their opinion of the game on other people. (As proven by the last phrase I quoted.)
Please accept that some people like the game the way it is, because opinions are, quite frankly, subjective. So is yours.

On another note: no, I will not read your spoilers. I liked ME2, despite it's flaws, and I enjoyed DA II (though some parts of it made me cringe, because I really preferred DA:O), so I'll most likely enjoy ME3 as well. I haven't played the game yet, so it's quite possible that I'll be disappointed, but I'd rather give the game a try myself than read your spoilers.

EDIT: Minor change in wording, to make it less general.

 

[Susan Arendt]

I am annoyed... not at your post in particular but by the stupid assumption by many people (not just on this site) that a game they don't like getting a good review means someone was bought off.

This seems especially stupid when you remember it's the final chapter of one of the most critically acclaimed series of all time. OF COURSE it was going to get good reviews. It's an incredible experience for most people who play it, despite its flaws.

Well if the reviewers fail to catch the fuck-ups or just outright ignore them, it's logical to conclude that either the reviewer was bought off or is just incompetent. Can we expect perfect analysis? No, but from what I've seen and read, (I won't get ME3 because I refuse to have Origin on my system) Susan was wrong about the game being the "ending the series deserved" because of the actual endings. Her opinion? Sure, but it seems to be one of a very small minority that praised the endings.

When people are willing to pay to see the game unfucked, you know the developer did something wrong.

I didn't like the actual ending of the game, but think that what leads up to it is so satisfying that I can forgive the last ten minutes. If you can't, fine. That's a difference of opinion, not evidence I'm dishonest or incompetent. I think the journey is more important than the destination. I'm not going to trash 35 hours of excellent entertainment because the last ten minutes are a letdown.

 

[Kennian]

indeed, and this is the very reason i'll never preorder a bioware game again...twice i've been screwed by my own fanboyisum, never again

 

[Freechoice]

I am annoyed... not at your post in particular but by the stupid assumption by many people (not just on this site) that a game they don't like getting a good review means someone was bought off.

This seems especially stupid when you remember it's the final chapter of one of the most critically acclaimed series of all time. OF COURSE it was going to get good reviews. It's an incredible experience for most people who play it, despite its flaws.

Well if the reviewers fail to catch the fuck-ups or just outright ignore them, it's logical to conclude that either the reviewer was bought off or is just incompetent. Can we expect perfect analysis? No, but from what I've seen and read, (I won't get ME3 because I refuse to have Origin on my system) Susan was wrong about the game being the "ending the series deserved" because of the actual endings. Her opinion? Sure, but it seems to be one of a very small minority that praised the endings.

When people are willing to pay to see the game unfucked, you know the developer did something wrong.

I didn't like the actual ending of the game, but think that what leads up to it is so satisfying that I can forgive the last ten minutes. If you can't, fine. That's a difference of opinion, not evidence I'm dishonest or incompetent. I think the journey is more important than the destination. I'm not going to trash 35 hours of excellent entertainment because the last ten minutes are a letdown.

I've seen some genuinely tragic posts about how people loved the bejesus out of the series up till now, played the third and loved it. Then at the end, they feel dead and betrayed as their Shepard is invalidated by some bullshit choose your own deus ex. I read someone saying that the journey is irrelevant if the destination you end up at isn't where you wanted to be.

 

[Nelson Goodrich]

It`s the gameplay similar to the first game or the second game?

 

[Acton Hank]

I am annoyed... not at your post in particular but by the stupid assumption by many people (not just on this site) that a game they don't like getting a good review means someone was bought off.

This seems especially stupid when you remember it's the final chapter of one of the most critically acclaimed series of all time. OF COURSE it was going to get good reviews. It's an incredible experience for most people who play it, despite its flaws.

Well if the reviewers fail to catch the fuck-ups or just outright ignore them, it's logical to conclude that either the reviewer was bought off or is just incompetent. Can we expect perfect analysis? No, but from what I've seen and read, (I won't get ME3 because I refuse to have Origin on my system) Susan was wrong about the game being the "ending the series deserved" because of the actual endings. Her opinion? Sure, but it seems to be one of a very small minority that praised the endings.

When people are willing to pay to see the game unfucked, you know the developer did something wrong.

I didn't like the actual ending of the game, but think that what leads up to it is so satisfying that I can forgive the last ten minutes. If you can't, fine. That's a difference of opinion, not evidence I'm dishonest or incompetent. I think the journey is more important than the destination. I'm not going to trash 35 hours of excellent entertainment because the last ten minutes are a letdown.

I've seen some genuinely tragic posts about how people loved the bejesus out of the series up till now, played the third and loved it. Then at the end, they feel dead and betrayed as their Shepard is invalidated by some bullshit choose your own deus ex. I read someone saying that the journey is irrelevant if the destination you end up at isn't where you wanted to be.

"Life is a journey, not a destination..." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson


Seriously, sure, the last 10 minutes are pretty bad, but there's 30+ hours of great game ahead of it. That's 1800+ good minutes, and 10 bad ones.

The gameplay is great, the dialog is great, the side quests are..there..but people missed them in ME2 so they're there, the weapon customization is great, the set pieces are great, the build up is great, the characters are great.


Saying that ME3 should get a low score just because of the ending is like saying you should fail a test because you got the very last question wrong.

Mmmm... Part of me agrees with what you're saying, but GODDAMMN if the ending didn't make me walk out of there angry!! Everything that's great about Mass Effect 3 should be praised; but I'm surprised that not one of the reviewers on metacritic are calling out the bullshit in the last 10 minutes.

I mean I've been going through a million other endings in my head that are more satisfying than this.

Most trilogies are messed up in the last chapter, not the last 10 minutes.

Seriously, I know I've been saying this a lot but WTF happened?!

 

[Catchy Slogan]

At the end there with Liara saying 'This is it, isn't it?'

Actual chills went down my spine.

So looking forward to this.

 

[Freechoice]

Mmmm... Part of me agrees with what you're saying, but GODDAMMN if the ending didn't make me walk out of there angry!! Everything that's great about Mass Effect 3 should be praised; but I'm surprised that not one of the reviewers on metacritic are calling out the bullshit in the last 10 minutes.

I mean I've been going through a million other endings in my head that are more satisfying than this.

Most trilogies are messed up in the last chapter, not the last 10 minutes.

Seriously, I know I've been saying this a lot but WTF happened?!

That's what I'm saying.

"Life is a journey, not a destination..." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson


Seriously, sure, the last 10 minutes are pretty bad, but there's 30+ hours of great game ahead of it. That's 1800+ good minutes, and 10 bad ones.

The gameplay is great, the dialog is great, the side quests are..there..but people missed them in ME2 so they're there, the weapon customization is great, the set pieces are great, the build up is great, the characters are great.


Saying that ME3 should get a low score just because of the ending is like saying you should fail a test because you got the very last question wrong.

"Quotation confesses inferiority."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

When the destination invalidates the journey, you're going to basically regret everything you've done. That's not just me talking, that's the testimony of a thousand posts on the Bioware forums.

Your analogy is rather poor. Mass Effect is more like sex than a test. The first was good foreplay, the second was good... fuck it, thrust, and at the last second before climax, you get a cramp, stop moving and the whole experience gets eaten by your muscles painfully tensing.

And I didn't say it should get a low score, you did. The glowing praise it's getting from the "professionals" is just as bad as the vote bombing because the reviews declare it perfect/near-perfect and there's an absolute shitstorm going on over the endings, Tali's face and the wallpaper thing. Edge, Giantbomb and Destructoid gave the best reviews because they better quantified the problems.

Even the fucking biodrones are pissed off at this shit.

 

[Susan Arendt]

"Quotation confesses inferiority."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

When the destination invalidates the journey, you're going to basically regret everything you've done. That's not just me talking, that's the testimony of a thousand posts on the Bioware forums.

Your analogy is rather poor. Mass Effect is more like sex than a test. The first was good foreplay, the second was good... fuck it, thrust, and at the last second before climax, you get a cramp, stop moving and the whole experience gets eaten by your muscles painfully tensing.

And I didn't say it should get a low score, you did. The glowing praise it's getting from the "professionals" is just as bad as the vote bombing because the reviews declare it perfect/near-perfect and there's an absolute shitstorm going on over the endings, Tali's face and the wallpaper thing. Edge, Giantbomb and Destructoid gave the best reviews because they better quantified the problems.

Even the fucking biodrones are pissed off at this shit.

But I don't feel like the ending does invalidate the journey. The ending I chose may not have been ideal, but I certainly didn't feel like it negated my efforts up until that point.

 

[Freechoice]

"Quotation confesses inferiority."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

When the destination invalidates the journey, you're going to basically regret everything you've done. That's not just me talking, that's the testimony of a thousand posts on the Bioware forums.

Your analogy is rather poor. Mass Effect is more like sex than a test. The first was good foreplay, the second was good... fuck it, thrust, and at the last second before climax, you get a cramp, stop moving and the whole experience gets eaten by your muscles painfully tensing.

And I didn't say it should get a low score, you did. The glowing praise it's getting from the "professionals" is just as bad as the vote bombing because the reviews declare it perfect/near-perfect and there's an absolute shitstorm going on over the endings, Tali's face and the wallpaper thing. Edge, Giantbomb and Destructoid gave the best reviews because they better quantified the problems.

Even the fucking biodrones are pissed off at this shit.

But I don't feel like the ending does invalidate the journey. The ending I chose may not have been ideal, but I certainly didn't feel like it negated my efforts up until that point.

That makes you like one of five people though. Everyone else is over here [http://social.bioware.com/forum/Mass-Effect-3/Mass-Effect-3-Gameplay-Discussion-Spoilers-allowed/So-we-can039t-get-the-ending-we-want-after-all-9512916-1.html].

Lemme ask something. Did you restart from the save point or cross-reference with someone else that got a different ending?