Mass Effect 3 Review
Originality: This game was the Color Splash to ME2’s Sticker Star in the sense that they perfected the formula of the last game, despite the fact that they should have returned to the ORIGINAL formula. The playstyle feels like a direct sequel to ME2, except for the fact that they took some things out of the second game that made it feels more unique and interesting at different points (hacking was fun in the first two games, and driving was entertaining too). There just wasn’t really anything “new” added to the series with the third game, and it felt more limited in what you could do to be honest.
10/20
Graphics: As usual, wonderful looking game. I’m curious what the trailer for Andromeda will look like after playing this game, as ME3 was beautiful.
10/10
Art Style: Same as the first two, the one thing I’ll say is they really focused on showing light in this game, whether through weapons or stars, and those cinematic scenes were breathtaking (especially that star behind the Illusive Man just like the 2nd game).
10/15
Story: Wow. This game hit right in the feels. Granted, I played it years after it came out and after they patched it to have a better ending. SPOILER*** I chose the control ending and I BECAME the reapers, which I thought was a wonderful ending that was equally as sacrificial as it was cool to see my characters ascension to being a superior being. Aside from the ending, the rest of the game had some touching moments, but really I could just feel the weight of this game, of all the past characters that had died, of those weird dream scenes with the boy, the moments in the game where it let you pause in the middle of a really important fight to listen to past audio/video/prothean/end game recordings or AI’s which explained the whole point of the cycle. I mean, they really wrapped things up nicely in this game in my opinion, especially with the route my character chose to do. Loved the story of this game and I’m curious where it goes in Andromeda.
30/30
Game Interface: Annoying or not? Same as the 2nd game.
4/5
Controls easy and fluid or difficult and rigid? From the second game - “They took out like all of the quality of life hotkeys from the first game. I tried looking to see if I could set them up and even looked up this problem online and it looks like they just didn’t bother with the pc version. Super disappointing because I shouldn’t have to hit escape and click a bunch of things to pull something specific up. There should be a designated button!”
2/5
Is it fun? I enjoyed this game, but I more enjoyed it for how serious it was and feeling the weight and ramifications of past and present actions. Don’t get me wrong, the first two games had some heavier moments (took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with that Krogan guy in the first game), but this game just got plain serious at certain points, and the strange thing is I enjoyed that for a change.
11/15
Total –
77 / 100
Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition – 100 + 5 = 105
Shovel Knight – 95 + 10 = 105
Paper Mario – 90 +10 = 100
Shadow of Mordor = 95 + 5 = 100
Zelda Skyward Sword-98
Hyrule Warriors – 93 + 5 = 98
Overwatch – 90 + 5 = 95
Batman: Arkham Asylum - 93
Zelda Minish Cap – 92
Portal 2 – 87 + 5 = 92
Portal – 87 + 5 = 92
Assassin’s Creed 4 Wii U – 86 +5 = 91
Zelda Windwaker HD – 86 + 5 = 91
Bayonetta 2 = 91 NR
Bayonetta (Wii U) – 91 NR
Zelda Oracle of Ages – 91
Metroid Fusion – 91
Mario and Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story – 86 + 5 = 91
Zelda Twilight Princess – 90
Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon - 90
Guildwars 2 – 89
Mario and Luigi: Dream Team – 89
Animal Crossing New Leaf – 84 + 5 = 89
Pokemon X – 88
Zelda: A Link to the Past – 78 + 10 = 88
Kid Icarus Uprising – 88
Darksiders 2 - 88
Fire Emblem Awakening – 88
Mass Effect - 84
Super Mario Maker = 84*
Dishonored - 84
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark - 84
Paper Mario Sticker Star – 83
Rome 2: Total War - 83
Zelda: A Link Between Worlds-83
Mario and Luigi Paper Jam - 82
Super Mario 3d land – 72 + 10 = 82
Diablo 3 – 72 + 10 = 82
Batman Arkham Knight - 81
Batman: Arkham Origins – 81
Mario and Luigi: Super Star Saga – 80
Trine – 80
Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze* - 68 + 10 = 78
Mass Effect 3 - 77
Mass Effect 2 - 76
Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – 74
Black Ops 2 - 74
Rome: Total War-74
Yoshie’s Wolly World – 73*
Just Cause - 71
Paper Monster Uncut (Wii U) - 70
Red Alert 3 - 70
New Super Mario Bros. U – 66
New Super Mario Bros.Wii – 57 *
Assassins Creed 3 – 57 NR
Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition – 53*
Puzzles and Dragons Z: Mario Edition - 46
Kirby Squeak Squad – 43
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3d – 42
Project X Zone - 18
* Means it was more fun than the score indicates. Scores judge the overall quality of the game (how fun it is only counts for 15% in my reviews)
NR means Not Recommended based on inappropriateness.
^Charm is rewarded to games that have an undefinable quality to them that makes them amazing and have high replayability value.
