‘Year’s most anticipated game’ falls short
By JOHN CUNNINGHAM
Intern
Ever since 2007, the story of BioWare’s hottest game franchise, the Mass Effect series, has captured the imaginations of billions. As the messianic lead character Commander Shepherd, gamers were able to interact with an extremely detailed and layered sci-fi setting, where each decision they made promised to alter the storyline in many significant ways.
After surviving the suicide mission of the second game’s climax, Commander Shepherd must unite the various alien races of the galaxy to combat an imminent invasion of mysterious machines known only as “Reapers.”
Much like how Mass Effect 2 made some slight alterations to the game play mechanics of its predecessor, Mass Effect 3 has made further advancements. While the game is mostly a shooter-style RPG, close range combat has been established as well for those pesky enemies who sneak up behind you.
However, it almost goes without saying that the main draw of Mass Effect is the enormous levels of detail in its world building, characters and storytelling rather than its merits as a video game. And it is here that BioWare has met the most disappointment.
First up is your squad mates, the cast of characters who you can bring along with you in your missions, and whose very lives depend solely on your decisions. In the previous game, you had up to 12 squad members, and if you didn’t make your decisions wisely, most or even all of them could have died by the end of the game.
With that in mind, many players worked their tails off to ensure that their favorite characters survived in order to be able to use them in the final installment. And it is here that ME3 has met with some criticism: most of the squad mates from the second game only appear in what are basically glorified cameos.
Instead, we are given only six characters to use in his installment.
This was done to keep the story and character interactions focused, but most of the squad mates don’t have many dialogue options when you speak to them in between missions. In comparison, many players of ME2 spent hours simply talking to the 12 squad mates and learning what makes them tick.
Lastly, there are the promised 16 endings, which were somehow reduced to three at some point during the production process.
This is where BioWare has the most criticism, as these endings are forced upon players. All of their previous decisions are basically rendered pointless.
Aside from that, however, the game is a fun continuation. The graphics and game play are improved, and the world is further explored in a satisfying manner.
Just don’t get your hopes up for a satisfying ending.
