Gamer Notes: Mass Effect 3 (Campaign)

In many ways, the best of the series. If only it was given more time to cook.

Let's get one thing out of the way: Yes, at one point we will be talking about the ending. But everything before that, storywise at least, is absolutely brilliant. Mass Effect 3 is a poignant, emotional conclusion to the trilogy, even if it has a few flaws. 

DLC: From Ashes, Extended Cut, Citadel

As with the last game, we'll start with the combat. The first game's combat was only fun under the right circumstances, due in no small part to conflicting RPG and shooter mechanics. The second game corrected this by polishing the shooting and streamlining the skill tree, and the third game takes this a step further by introducing some more complexity to the skill tree and adding considerable variety to the fights. Mass Effect 3 has three immediate additions to combat: Rolling,  heavy melee, and weapon mods. Rolling adds extra strategic capabilities to movement, allowing you to move quickly out of the way of approaching enemies or incoming fire, making combat much more versatile than the first two games. This added versatility adds more strategy to combat. Rolling can allow you to get away from many of the game's harder enemies as you fire away at them, which is useful, as enemies are now much more interested in getting to you and flanking you than in the previous game. Getting out of the way quickly can allow you to take cover elsewhere, or get behind a large enemy's back for long enough to fire your shotgun at it. 

Heavy melee is a smaller addition, simply allowing for physical attacks to cause more damage. The attack has a cinematic flair that can make killing an enemy with it very enjoyable at first, but that becomes harder and less interesting (though perhaps more satisfying) as the game goes on. The third addition, weapon mods, is a returning feature from Mass Effect 1, only this time each mod can be used for each squad member without using up anything in the inventory. The weapon mod screen itself goes by much faster, not being cluttered with obsolete junk and other options. Sure, there's no ammo types (for example, the fan-favourite polonium rounds), but the increased usability is worth it. As a side note, cover is also improved, allowing you to move between adjacent pieces of cover or surge around a corner. 

There aren't many forces you're fighting against, but there's a huge variety of enemies. Each opposing group (Cerberus, Reapers, Geth) has various different enemy types which each play a different role in combat. Reapers have the zerg rushing Husks, the infantry Cannibals, the more powerful Marauders, etc. while Cerberus has the infantry, the sniping Nemeses, combat engineers, etc. This is in addition to extremely powerful units used by both of the main forces, which may require some serious manoeuvring and usage of skills to beat. All of the above combines to make Mass Effect 3's combat genuinely great and the best of the series, enough to warrant the game having an added multiplayer mode, which I'll give my impressions of at a later time. 

However, Mass Effect didn't become famous for its combat. Mass Effect has always been known for its story, and Mass Effect 3 lives up to the series in that regard. It's the darkest and bleakest instalment of the series, featuring the deaths of beloved characters, some difficult decisions, and incredibly high stakes. Mass Effect 3 packs the most emotional punch of the three games, repeatedly hitting all the right notes to break any fan's heart. The setpieces are bigger than ever, with the game split into three equally gripping parts. For the vast majority of the game, the story is intense, elicits a wide range of emotions, and overall is a fitting finale to the series. 

However, from a gameplay perspective, the dialogue wheel has been simplified. Whereas the first two games had a wide variety of responses in almost every situation, Mass Effect 3 usually distils it to just two: "Good" and "Mostly evil". While these decisions can still be reasonably satisfying, they undeniably have much fewer variables than the previous two games. In addition, where the first two games had several major moments decided by options that only appeared with high enough "Paragon" or "Renegade" scores, those dialogue options are very few in the third game, as are the interruptions associated with the Paragon and Renegade paths. This makes dialogue feel stripped down from the previous title, which is a bit of a disappointment. It's to the credit of the writing that the story is still satisfying despite the decrease in player agency, as the simplified dialogue wheel is easily ignored in favour of the bigger story. 

In addition, the game is incredibly buggy. It's rarely anything game breaking, excepting the occasional freeze, but in cutscenes the game are often technical messes. When it's not showing the wrong camera angle, character models will jitter around and jump from place to place. Were it not for the incredibly strong writing, these bugs would be seriously immersion breaking. This gives the strong impression that the game was rushed out for release, and needed more time to develop. 

You can still check on your squadmates, though there are far fewer major conversations with them and many more simple exchanges of dialogue. This is likely due to the game's greater emphasis on the overarching plot than on the characters, which makes it not unlike the first game. However, many conversations can also be overheard from crew members, which is something that was missing from the previous instalment. For the first time, the Normandy's crew doesn't just sit in the same places all the time. They talk to each other, wander the ship, hang out in the new lounge, and simply act like they have their own lives. The interactions between characters, often acknowledging the previous two games, will make any Mass Effect fan happy. 

On that note, more of your choices carry over than even the previous game, and much of the narrative's shape is based on your actions in Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. With my "super duper good guy" playing style, the galaxy was filled with familiar faces, and everywhere I went someone else respectfully joined my side. So many choices in the previous game have their full extent shown here, always in extremely satisfying fashion. Unfortunately, you don't get a squad consisting of everyone you've ever fought beside, which is a bit of a missed opportunity. 

As said, though, we do need to talk about the ending. Having only ever played with the Extended Cut DLC, the ending isn't particularly messy, and the vast majority of it is good enough. I feel the proper closure of the story happens before the ending proper, as he says goodbye to his crew, though the final act against the Reapers is left to come. However, the choices given are ultimately unsatisfying. To sum it up, the game doesn't let you simply put an end to the Reapers, and all three choices (even BioWare's "perfect" one) add some serious baggage that undermines the satisfaction of ending the war. I personally think that the endings should have only varied in how your previous choices are represented, with the Reapers always being stopped in the same way. There isn't an obvious impact of the various forces you've gotten to work together, making the War Assets just a bar measuring how good your ending will be. Personally, I side with the Control ending every time. 

The From Ashes DLC provides a new squad member who fits very comfortably into the story. The sheer extent to which the DLC blends into the game gives the impression that it's simply content that was cut off from the main game at the last minute, and that makes having to pay for it fairly upsetting. At the same time, the new character adds a lot of lore to the game and has a lot to offer, making the DLC a reluctant must-buy for any Mass Effect fan. 

On the other hand, the Citadel DLC is perhaps a bit expensive, but at the same time it's simply wonderful. More closure is added, including notes from Admiral Anderson's biography and a last party with every major crew member to serve on the Normandy that's still alive (especially if you play the DLC near the end of the game). It also adds a new Citadel location with a fair amount of content and a huge amount of fan service, though to get to most of the DLC's content you have to complete an incredibly silly bonus mission. The story would be incredibly dumb if it took itself even the slightest bit seriously, but instead it (and the rest of the DLC) is filled with gags and in-jokes, having an overall humorous tone. The in-jokes especially are hilarious, at least to a huge fan like myself, and I adored the DLC. 

Mass Effect 3 is not the worst game in the trilogy. That dubious honour still goes to the first game, with all of its serious design flaws. It's also not the best game in the trilogy, which is still the near-flawless Mass Effect 2. However, like both of those games, it's an excellent experience from start to finish (okay, maybe to near-finish) and merits being played, especially in conjunction with the whole trilogy and the best DLC installed. It's one of the best games of the generation in spite of its faults, an honour it shares with the whole trilogy.

Next I'll look at the multiplayer. 

P.S. Okay, maybe not "in spite of its faults" with 2. That game is basically flawless.