Back in 2007, I purchased my first 360 on a whim. I was a freshman in college, and needed something to do in my off time. When I did buy it, I needed a few starter games, so I grabbed Halo 3 (of course) and, on a whim, I grabbed Mass Effect. I had seen a few commercials for it and was intrigued, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I didn't fully play it until that winter break, but once I did, I was hooked.
For those who may not know, Mass Effect follows the story of Commander Shepard, the first human Spectre. He uncovers a plot by Saren Arterius to destroy human colonies. However, it turns out it's not just a plot to destroy colonies. You come to find out that he's actually under the influence of a being known as a Reaper, who is named Sovereign. The Reapers are responsible for wiping out all space-faring life in the galaxy every 50,000 - 100,000 years. At the end of the first game, the Alliance (human) fleet just manages to bring down Sovereign.
Fast forward to ME2. Human colonies are disappearing and no one knows who is responsible. Commander Shepard teams up with Cerberus, a group not well liked from the first game. You discover a group of beings known as the Collectors are harvesting humans. Over the course of the game, you build a team to go take them out. During the suicide mission, you discover that they are using the humans to make a Reaper. In fact, you realized that all the Reapers are actually the amalgamation of the previous cycles "head" species. ME2 ends with the destruction of the "proto"-Reaper and the destruction of the base, leaving you with the feeling of "I'm ready for the Reapers."
Now, before talking about ME3, let's examine the lead-up to the release a little bit. Mass Effect 3 was hyped up with a massive PR campaign. ME1 and ME2 combined didn't receive as much advertising as Mass Effect 3 did. The creators were talking about how epic the game was going to be, and reviews were singing its praises. So coming into the game, all the fans had pretty high expectations. At the start, we weren't disappointed. As expected, the Reapers arrive at Earth, bringing instant death and destruction with them. Knowing the fight can't be won on your own, Commander Shepard leaves Earth to rally the species of the galaxy to help Earth.
The game moves fast, with little of the side exploration we've come to expect from the ME series. A lot of people had a problem with this. However, a Reddit user, Thesreyn, had this to say on the subject.
"In ME1, you were uncovering the conspiracy that was Saren, but you weren't under a lot of pressure. Things were still being discovered, time was still (in your perception) on your side and you had the time to go down onto the surface and explore. To "discover the galaxy", as it were.
In ME2, you know the Reapers are coming and it's been 2 years since that period of laidback-space-adventure. Now, you have a serious mission to undertake and not a huge amount of time to do it in. You're under far more pressure than you were in ME1, but you still have SOME time to complete other tasks. Instead of exploring the planets though (which you don't really have time for anymore), you're scanning them for resources as you travel, giving yourself the best chance to fight the collectors.
In ME3, you're out of time. The Reapers are here. But you still need things from the planets of the galaxy. You're under a tremendous amount of pressure and the time you have to spend exploring is far less than ME2, let alone ME1, with everything you have to do for the galactic war. So now, you have tips on what planets you need to visit, you have a means of scanning for useful items (a means you've always had but was never really necessary because of the lessened pressure) that allows you to narrow down anything you might desperately need. Then with your old scanning tools you can find it very quickly."
To me, this makes perfect sense. There isn't time to be driving around for "hours" on the surface of a planet trying to find something useful. The Reapers are here and are actively interdicting your efforts to get valuable resources. In that respect, the "planet scanner" gets a pass in my book.
Like I said, the game moves fast. There are fewer side missions than the first two games, and the "Priority" missions usher the story along, making for a linear-seeming game. Again, this is understandable given the fact that the point of ME3 is not only to show the story of the Reaper invasion, but to tie up the loose ends of the story. The game does an amazing job of this, tying up the Quarian/Geth and Genophage storylines in a poetic manner. As the game comes to it's end, you're left with the sense that all the stories you've been affecting for years are finally coming to a close. By the time you see the mission, "Priority: Earth", you feel you're ready for it. All the stories are done, and all that's left is to destroy the Reapers...at least, that's what should happen.
Up until this point, I could give ME3 at least a 9 out of 10. It was the culmination of an epic sci-fi trilogy in every way. But somehow, this last mission goes downhill. It starts off well enough and continues its climb towards the climax of the story. And as you make that final push, you feel completely invested, ready to do what needs to be done to destroy the Reapers. But suddenly, the whole story falls apart.
The last 10 minutes of ME3 are at complete odds with the series as a whole. I won't spoil anything, but I will say this. The entire point of the series is choice. My game is completely different from someone else's game because we probably made a few different choices along the way. Maybe they saved Wrex and I didn't. Or maybe I punched the reporter while they talked her down. The point was that we had the ability to choose our path. The ending of ME3 took that away from you. Sure, there were choices to be made. But the choices had no baring on what you had been doing in the entirety of the series.
You saved the council while I let them die. Doesn't matter. You saved the Collector Base and I destroyed it. Doesn't change a thing. The ending calls into question the entire premise of the series. Worse, no matter what you choose, all of the ending cut-scenes are the same. Yes, there are a few cosmetic differences, but besides that, you see the exact same thing no matter what. And worse, it opens up plot holes so big at the last few moments that you could fly the Destiny Ascension through them. I won't go into them, but after 5 years of the physics of the world being beaten into our heads through cut-scenes and codex entries, it's a little disheartening to see them discarded to carelessly.
Because of this massive change in quality, I will split my final scores into three parts, the game without the ending, the ending, and the game as a whole. Without the ending, ME3 easily deserves at 9 out of 10. It improved the series and tied up the story excellently. I'd have to give the ending a 2 out of 10. By itself, it could be an okay ending. But taking into account the entirety of the series, it can't be given a passing grade. Putting the two together, ME3 gets a 6/10. Regardless of what people say, the ending does matter. It has the power to make or break a game. And in this case, it definitely broke it.
