Mass Effect 3 Review

[mikev7.0]

I will never forgive them, unless they release a new DLC ending that is used as the proper canon for the storyline and lore.

Which I'll bet has been their plan since the beginning. EA should write a book: "How to double to triple the price of your games without the consumer really complaining about it." If somebody tried to release a version of ME3 that was all you had dreamed but wanted 150 bucks for it, all but the most stalwart fans (who would ask where there CE was with the who gives a funk action figure, Tali love pillow, and of course the obligitory art book or CD.) would tell EA to take a hike.

Yet by "subtly" changing the model, now they can do just that and actually have people and institutions that say they honestly care about games defend their flat out greed with a straight face. All for a product that it says right there in the EULA, you don't actually own.

 

[mikev7.0]

Come on. You're not stupid, don't just dismiss any skepticism as "conspiracy theory".

But that's exactly what it is. How dare you accuse someone of being corrupt without even a shred of evidence?

I know for a fact from private conversations that Susan loved ME3, as do I. Not because it suits us, but because it's fantastic fucking game. We're both huge fans of the series. NO one wopuld be more disappointed if it were shit.

I wonder what you lot will say if Yahtzee tears ME3 apart like he's done other Bioware games?

You'll probably say Activision paid him to shit on it.

Posts like this make me kinda wish the Escapist had upvotes, cuz I'd give em to ya. Preach it, brother!

You realize there's no way for me to answer that question that will "disprove" your theory, right? If I say we don't get ad money from EA, you can say we're bumping up scores to try to persuade them to spend some. If I say we do, then clearly we're bumping up scores to keep the money flowing. If you're determined to believe that we're dishonest - which, frankly, many people are - then there's really nothing we can do about it.

[snip]

Either someone chooses to give us the benefit of the doubt, or they don't.

It's not even worth your time, Susan. If the internet is still in this big of a hateful denial that ME3 isn't the sucky Bioware-destroying game they've been praying it would be for the last two years, your logic will do nothing but evaporate like tears off of their raging red cheeks.

I doubt anything but the end of the world or extreme boredom will get them to accept that some people are capable of loving the game without being paid off. And I mean, seriously, your video review exudes excitement. You're gushing over it! I watched it at work and immediately wanted to break my own leg so I could go home and play more of it. How anyone could mistake that genuine excitement for a payoff is so far beyond me, my brain hurts contemplating it.

What I'd like to know is if Nintendo Power ever took this kind of heat. I used their reviews heavily in my decision making process back in the day. And Nintendo owned them.

It's astounding to me how ignorant this community as a whole can be. It seems no internet community is immune to some sort of 'Hive Mind' effect, and hating Bioware is the Escapist's hive mentality of choice recently. People hate their games because Bioware have the balls to try to improve on the formula and modernize the RPG, so obviously the only people who LIKE Bioware games are being paid off. It's the only reasonable explanation. And then they dump on people like Susan for liking the game they're 'supposed' to hate for no other reason than that she liked it. It's fucking disgraceful, and it's nothing more than bullying on their part. Shit like this is why I don't post more on the forums; I just can't stand the blatant flaming and pettiness of most of the community.

Yeah well we can't stand nauseating kiss asses who throw around words like "ignorant" as if it meant something purely bad and if anyone disagrees with the professional anus your oralfactory senses have currently claimed practically as their ancestral home (and god FORBID they use logic in their arguments) why they deserve a sound thrashing!! (to use your amazingly labored yet still boring um, lingo?) Then again why break with long-standing Escapist tradition. Such as rabid defensiveness that on it's face causes me to raise more eyebrows than I have. (Takes practice.) Yeah, that's the real reason I left, I ran out of eyebrows....and there just wasn't enough facepalm in the universe at points....

You know what I find "disgraceful"? Something that literally shows a stunning lack of actual grace. Using profanity and name calling in a public space as part of a defensive rant, about a freaking GAME, for example.

Also let's not forget that the best outcome would have been a Mass Effect conclusion that was worthy of the overall work.

So don't feel bad, it doesn't look like a great day for anyone on that front.

Also your wrong about "everybody" (god I hate absolutist terms, problem is guys like you who bravely defend um, corporations? love em'.) hating on this game. They aren't. The truth is most real people DON'T CARE about this game. Don't inflate it's importance

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

You sound angry from reading your post, which I certainly hope your not.

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.

I'm just trying to make sure people understand WHY people are skeptical and reinforce this isn't some "nasty reddit troll" personal attack.
It's a legitimate concern. There is a huge discrepancy between critics and a large chunk normal customers as of late.

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.

"OF COURSE it was going to get good reviews." In my book, good games get good reviews and rubbish games get rubbish reviews.

I've been alive over 40 years, been a gamer since 1979. Now I accepted Susan's answer to my own question, and I accept her opinion of the game and reasons for giving it a high score. I read the review - it reads like a hate out of ten review imo not the score it got, but a good review nontheless. In all my years gaming I've never accepted "OF COURSE it was going to get good reviews" for any game though, I doubt I ever will.

As far as I'm concerned, we've had a lot of lacklustre games over the last couple of years just because of the "OF COURSE it was going to get good reviews" attitude a lot of gaming media have. Yes, we've had some good games but they haven't been as good as they could have been, and most haven't lived up to the promise the hype would have us believe. The likes of Jim and Yahtzee have made careers commenting on how stagnant the AAA games have become, and I can't imagine either ever saying "OF COURSE it was going to get good reviews" without a certain amount of cynicism. Meanwhile, publishers will keep pushing out the same old crap while "OF COURSE it was going to get good reviews" actually gives them decent reviews that fool enough gamers into buying the product.

I played ME3 for a bit today and my opinion was that it's nothing special - very average. If I had Kinect I'd have liked a voice command for "don't roll there" too. Mind, I don't like intense games, and I was finding ME3 much more intense than I expected and therefore not much fun.

A very sober opinion. Mmm, whether Arendt has been bought-off is not exactly the point though. As dred notes above, there have been many very average games with gigantic flaws and weaknesses that have been given great praise by reviewers, and stunning marks. Check me3 on metacritic, I can't recall such a divergence in opinion between professional reviewers and the public since Dragon Age 2. It is great they told us, it is wonderful they told us, it is exciting fantasy they told us.

Simply, the reviewers of magazines are as a class, rating hyped games very highly. Which makes judging whether a game is really worth our time and money difficult. This calls the reviewing profession into question (and why it actually exists) and it seems they are indeed being brought off or pressured to rate hyped and big games of the industry very highly. I've read of a lot of glitches and annoyances from me3, and I'm not sure such a glitchy game should be given high marks.

Perhaps though, the scores should more factor in depth, longevity and originality (or L.O.D). That way, what is not original and a quick action-fest rates poorly. If you are done in a few days, the score drops again (Dark Souls and Shogun 2 would be examples of games with a high depth and longevity). Another space marine shooter would never score highly in originality.

 

[5ilver]

I don't think I got the ending I deserved.

Other faults include:
Horrible forced morale system (

Spoiler

Oh, you haven't chosen the paragon option in every single quest so far? Enjoy watching the quarians die. Yes, that includes Tali. No, killing my favorite character in the entire game and making it out to be my fault is not okay.

Overhyped and mediocre combat system with awful controls (oh you want to duck behind cover? Nah, that's boring, let's roll into the hungry hordes instead. You want to pick that item up? Nope, roll. Sprint? Guess what, you get to roll.).
Awful, awful, awful ending.
Too much autodialog. I felt like I was reading a somewhat dull book the majority of the time. Isn't interactivity the whole point of games?
Have I mentioned how bad the ending was?
Day 1 DLC (though this sort of **** is pretty much the norm these days).

The rest of the game was excellent but these problems dragged the whole thing from a 9 or a 10 to a 5 for me.

 

[Leoofmoon]

They didn't get rid of the planet scanning mechanic? Jesus Christ.

If you took time to READ and WATCH the video youll know they dumb it down to ridiculess levels.

 

[Leoofmoon]

I still cant beleave people just want to hate on this game. ITS A GOOD GAME! We finely have a game thats not only action packed but SMART! has a interactive story and being just really awesome! The only lagitmet reason i see for hating this game is "From ashes" But its useless! and yet people keep acting like it changes the entier game when in realty it had SO little to do with the main plot. I don't agree with the DLC but its nothing that should hold people back from just buying the game.

Really if your worried about day 1 DLC don't buy anything from Capcom or Ubisoft I'd give Bioware a free pass on this JUST for having a nice neat wrap up to sheperds story. Heres hoping for Mass effect 4!

 

[Leoofmoon]

I pretty much agree with her review but i get the feeling she hadnt finished the game. the ending is really something people need to be warned about

why?

 

[Susan Arendt]

I pretty much agree with her review but i get the feeling she hadnt finished the game. the ending is really something people need to be warned about

As I've already said, several times, I finished the game. I didn't like the ending, but didn't think it invalidated the 35 hours of enjoyment that came before it.

 

[blackrave]

Ok, I know nobody cares, but I might buy ME3
It was heavy 2 days of thinking
Yes ME2, was worse than ME1, but it was still good
It wasn't bad
Especially when thinking about alternatives
It was similar situation as with DeusEx and DeusEx:IW
Invisible War was good game, but it was not good DE game (and I liked both)
Same here, ME1 was excellent, ME2 was only good, but it was still good
I know that ME3 is good, but I will not be as invested as with ME1
So yeah, my previous comment was more emotional and less rational

P.S. I still feel fishy about Origin though...

 

[TheProfessor234]

Origin is just EA's Steam, per say. I'm actually surprised it took this long for another company to emulate it, or at least I didn't hear anything about other Steam-ish services.

On topic, I agree with this;

As I've already said, several times, I finished the game. I didn't like the ending, but didn't think it invalidated the 35 hours of enjoyment that came before it.

The game is good and fun. The main story is great and flows well with the other two games if you played them. If you hate the ending, then get over it. Don't let a five minute cinematic ruin a great game for you. (Yes I know it's more than that but I'm not getting into it.)

 

[Mariena]

I pretty much agree with her review but i get the feeling she hadnt finished the game. the ending is really something people need to be warned about

As I've already said, several times, I finished the game. I didn't like the ending, but didn't think it invalidated the 35 hours of enjoyment that came before it.

What Susan said..

I thoroughly enjoyed ME3, was amazed by the little character encounters across the ship. Really made things interesting. A really nice amount of weapons, armour and upgrades.

Yet I still just can't help myself but feel.. cheated. This whole build up across three games, this massive epic story.. and then THIS ending. It resolves absolutely nothing, it makes no sense, and my shep I invested in so heavily is.. is *gone*.

It really did make me sad.

 

[Kingsnake661]

Oh, you will be sad when it's all over that's for damn sure... but not in a good way.

 

[Kingsnake661]

I have this sneaking suspicion that when the reviewer wrote the phrase "the ending the series deserves" (s)he didn't actually see the ending.

Yes, I did. I was referring to the game as a whole, not the literal ending.

You saw the endings and still gave it a 4.5 star review? I'm not sure i can take your reviews seriously anymore. We obviously are not on the same page. But then, alot of reviewers and me don't see eye to eye, and I hardly think you'd care how i feel. And realistily you shouldn't, but really? 4.5 with that ending? NEAR PERFECT with that ending? To each his own i suppose.

 

[Choffers]

a lot of the quests on the citadel are bugged, but that can be fixed with a patch. honestly i absolutely loved this game... until the final 15 minutes. i can't agree with the statement that every loose end is tied up because far from... this reviewer clearly didn't get to the ending of the game when she wrote it.

 

[chronobreak]

a lot of the quests on the citadel are bugged, but that can be fixed with a patch. honestly i absolutely loved this game... until the final 15 minutes. i can't agree with the statement that every loose end is tied up because far from... this reviewer clearly didn't get to the ending of the game when she wrote it.

Don't be dense. She finished the game and also didn't like the ending. This has been said many times over.

 

[Celynn]

I'm a little hesitant. There's been a lot of complaints publicized, not just from fans but from my friends too, about the ending being awful and the story feeling like there was a lack of choice. I also looked in to the matter and discovered that they reduced the amount of companions you could have and that your romances got brushed off to the side unless you were getting busy with Tali (a fan favourite for some reason?) or Liara.

I don't know that I'll buy this at all until 1) it comes down in prince (soooo not paying 70 dollars) and 2) it can be run without Origin. Origin bugs out on me a *lot* and I've decided it'll go nowhere near my computer in the future; I'll not have my games held hostage by EA.