Mass Effect 3 has officially been available in North America for about 24 hours now, so I figured it was as good of a time as any to round up a second batch of online reviews.
Ars Technica gives it a “Buy It” verdict:
Overall, Mass Effect 3 feels much more streamlined than its predecessor thanks to a few important interface tweaks. The frequent hacking minigames that many complained about have been removed and the annoying bits of planetary scanning have been made more straightforward and less time-consuming. That allows the game to focus more on the core tasks of shooting stuff and talking about shooting stuff. Other common tasks, from upgrading weapons to changing which weapon loadout you’ll be using, have been cleaned up through simpler menus that are easier to access than in the last game.
Joystiq gives it a 4.5/5:
In a similar way, the concluding catharsis of Mass Effect 3 won’t make it the obvious favorite for everyone. It’s the most refined and it’s one of BioWare’s best, but it trades in some of Mass Effect 2’s mystery and unrepeatable brilliance for a big-bang finish. Rather than hurling yourself into the unknown, you’re saying goodbye to what you’ve come to love over the last four years.
Official PlayStation Magazine UK gives it a 10/10:
Because this is a masterpiece. Arguing otherwise would be like pointing out the dust sitting on the Mona Lisa’s frame. The combat? Sure, it’s great. Really great. But a lot of games manage that. The score? Subtle, moving. The voice acting? Impeccable. Again, we’ve seen those things in great games before.
But not a lot of games almost no games, in fact manage to establish the kind of white-hot emotional connection between player, cast and setting that Mass Effect 3 somehow conjures. That’s the reason this story of Earth, the galaxy and Shepard’s last stand is so harrowing, and why people will be talking about it for years to come.
PC Gamer gives it a 93/100:
Shepard is the best game character I’ve ever played. She’s been an ongoing improv collaboration between me and BioWare to build a hero that works for their plot, but suits my tastes. Since we composed her first inspiring speech to the crew when she took charge of the Normandy, a commanding, brutally effective woman has emerged through 60 hours of tough decisions. She’s killed thousands who got in her way, hung up on the interstellar Council four times, punched the same reporter in three different interviews and shot people mid-sentence. But she has also formed conflicted, quiet, sometimes touching relationships with some of the alien weirdos dragged along on her mission. Relationships that gave her character a gentler side I didn’t expect, but which made sense of the person I had in my head.
CBS doesn’t score it:
BioWare has managed to tie all the threads together to create a game that feels like the best parts of Mass Effect 1 and 2. All of the weight of the galaxy is on your shoulders and the fate of hundreds of billions will be decided by your actions. Mass Effect 3 will bring Shepard’s tale to an end, but you’ll decide how to get there.
Planet Xbox 360 gives it a 10/10:
Very few gamers will be coming into Mass Effect 3 without having played both, or at least one of the two previous Mass Effect titles. Because of this the developers take little time to teach you how to play, outside of the basic control tutorial (which is actually the first level). Your character can be imported into ME3 (abilities, decisions, and everything), or you can choose to create an entirely new character from scratch. Make sure to choose the character class (there are six available) that you enjoy the most (we played as Vanguard because it offers a nice mix of firepower and biotic abilities), as this choice will have a major impact on your abilities in combat. The battle system has remained nearly identical to Mass Effect 2 with one major enhancement, Kinect integration (on the Xbox 360 version). The Kinect hardware allows you to interact with your teammates, switch weapons, call out attacks, and even make dialogue choices without every touching your controller. It works insanely well and is quite possibly the best use of Kinect since it’s release nearly two years ago. Rather than just marketing mumbo jumbo Bioware took the Kinect and created something that actually changes how you play the game, in a positive way. Time and time again we found ourselves yelling out commands, or using a health pack with our voice, and honestly the Kinect is the best way to get into the Mass Effect 3 dialogue; there is something awesome about yelling out Bioware’s fantastic text with any tone you decide is right at the time.
IncGamers gives it a 9/10:
Despite the release of three 30-hour plus games, it feels as though there’s still so much room for growth within the Mass Effect universe – be that in RPG form or elsewhere. Here’s hoping there’s more to come because, odd as it may sound, it feels as though things are only just getting started.
G4 gives it a 5/5:
Mass Effect 3 and the entire series stand alongside Uncharted and Skyrim in exemplifying what games can do that cannot be replicated in other creative forms. What is so unique in this game is how the presence of its conclusion feels like the existential dread that infuses the characters that make up its universe. The paradox of the game becomes painfully prescient as it draws inexorably towards its conclusion. Here, Shepard is trying to determining the fate of everything but the inevitability of the final is inescapable. All the decisions you continue to make in Mass Effect may be less consequential but they feel all the more grave as if the game is becoming a testament to who you are, or who you want to be.
VideoGamer gives it an 8/10:
There is, in short, a hell of a lot of game here, and at a time when free social and smartphone games have analysts wondering aloud whether full-priced retail games can cut the mustard, here is a package that represents exceptional value. There’s little here to convert non-believers, but then this game is not for them. This is one for the fans, and few who buy it will be left unsatisfied by how the story – their story – ends.
GamerZines gives it a 98%:
But as a form of interactive entertainment, it’s an unequivocally colossal achievement. Even after sinking hours upon hours into Mass Effect 3, it isn’t the action or gameplay that’ll stick, but the characters, their destinies, and the excellent overarching story. BioWare truly has excelled itself. Like its hero, Mass Effect 3 is a thing of legend and, simply put, one of the greatest games ever made.
CNN goes scoreless:
“Mass Effect 3” does a great job of answering all the lingering questions in the ME universe and gives players the best chance to determine not just their own fate, but the fate of the galaxy. It is a fitting end to a wonderful trilogy that put the players in the driver’s seat from the very beginning.
OXM gives it a 9.5/10:
n the end, though, about the only thing that hasn’t aged well in Mass Effect are its facial animations. What was mind-blowing in 2007 has been noticeably usurped by the likes of L.A. Noire, leaving ME3’s character visages seeming a bit wooden. Everything else borders on perfection. From the visceral combat to the excitement of finishing Shepard’s 100-hour fight, Mass Effect 3 is a rare, magnetically engaging treat that’ll compel you to stay up well past your bedtime to do (just one more quest.) Safe travels, fellow Shepards. See you starside.
And then Rock, Paper, Shotgun gives us a second go at just the From Ashes DLC:
In terms of what it does for ME lore, I do feel it’s more disruptive than it is revelatory, but I can see the appeal for those who positively feed on documenting every last corner of space opera backstories. But as an extra source of what ME does best, smartly-written conversations with nuanced characters nursing hidden hurts and who act as catalyst for you to enact your own morality towards and through, he’s a substantial addition that does feel suitably interconnected with the main game rather than being a pustule awkwardly stuck onto the side. As extra content, From Ashes is more towards integral than throwaway, but that only endorses the concern that it should have been in the game all along.
