Real Talk By: Ms. Throwback
Mass Effect, a name in video games that has the possibility to go down in history as one of the greatest series of all time has its third installment. It hasn’t just been a game, it’s been a highly involved journey into character dynamics and universal warfare. It may be a little embarrassing to admit but, previous installments of the game had me laughing uncontrollably and crying in tears as I made and lost friends along my path, can’t say many other games have ever done this. This is why I knew when starting up and reviewing it, that this one would have to hit the pure gold standard. An idea that I wasn’t alone on. From the beginning even before it’s launch, it was already being considered Game of the Year material. How would it ever live up to this standard?
Mass Effect 3 has a much bigger focus on the storyline of Shepard, the main character, than the previous games. It starts off showing whole worlds being absolutely annihilated, and one of those planets happens to be earth. It is up to Shepard to stop it. The character dynamics of the game are almost untouchable, even by previous games in the series. When you’re backed up by characters in your squad that you have come to know well, over literal years of real time, you gain a certain amount of personal attachment to them, other games can’t even come close to that kind of depth. Knowing my squad well, and due to losing a couple of characters in the second game, I knew this time i didn’t want to make the same mistakes and have to watch my friends die. It was a constant effort during the game to try to do what was morally right even though morally right wasn’t always the easiest thing to figure out. Sometimes a single event in the game could be as important as any gun fight taking place, and people who may have been enemies before are turned into friends. It is a constant battle for not only the main character, but the player of the game to figure out where they fit into the universe of Mass Effect and where this will leave all the races of the universe by the fights end.
Another cool feature of the plot design is the return of old faces to this third installment. Shipmates that didn’t die in the second game come back, some with very involved storylines. decisions made in the previous game can be as subtle as the loss of a love interest to a violent and extreme shift of power. In fact it can be so significant at times that highlights of what happens in your version of the game may never happen to another person that has played the game and vise versa. This creates a meaningful amount of replay value as going back and enjoying Mass Effect 2 over again could mean a totally different player experience in Mass Effect 3. It is almost mind-blowing that the plot could be this involved, characters, storylines, decisions, personal involvement, it really has never been any better than this when it comes to decision-making in a game, and with this comes the human drama of saving a planet. From moment to moment Shepard is more desperate to save not only his/her planet but the entire universe, and her character shows it in her outreach and dark nature.
The visuals are undoubtedly some of the best in the industry. Mass Effect 3 keeps with the dark luminescence we’ve come to expect from previous installments. deep purples, reds, and blues of ships, characters skin, and outfits create an array of colors that become hard to look away from. The camera pans over an involved environment full of these colors and attention to detail becomes obvious. unfortunately however, this seems to turn against the game at a point as the full power of the system is being used creating some glitches in the game that could make you have to start from a previous save. The camera may create an unnecessary close up or just decide to look at a wall instead of the person talking. These glitches can be thrown to the side however, as starting from a previous save doesn’t seem all that bad when the rest of the experience is almost perfect.
Besides the plot of the game, battle action has always been another strong point. The technique for cover in this game has changed for the better as you can take cover from one object to another in a single fell swoop without coming out and recovering from a standard position. This makes things not only much easier but much more efficient as you don’t have to take bullets while you recover. Of course you always have the problem of a squad member being in your way every now and then, and it is a learning experience in the beginning, but once you have it down it is a refreshing and necessary add-on to the game. In the second installment of Mass Effect most of the time enemies were in front of you. It was shoot, move up, shoot, move up. Not in this game however, where I find enemies to be not only much more aggressive but will approach you from all sides. The environments are much more open, leaving enemies to be able to involve themselves in true gun and melee battles. I find it to be insanely more challenging and involved, something I didn’t find in ME2.
customization is also a plus in this game. More outfits, gun, and ship add-ons are available now. There are tons of choices one how to customize your weaponry which I find to be one of the most important elements. In a particular mission if you didn’t have the right weaponry it could be the end of you, and for good reason. It’s a focus of the game that I became really involved in and it’s a lot of fun to boot. guns that seem insignificant in the beginning can level up to become insane works of art. Melee attachments are one of the finer things of the game, broadening your ability to take down enemies at close range when they come up behind you without notice.
Without a doubt I would say this is one of the best games I’ve ever played. While it does have its flaws they cannot be taken into much account as the game is huge and every attention to detail was taken in creating such an involved atmosphere. Mass Effect 3 is innovative, imaginative, enthralling, and emotional. My attachment to a game has never been so vivid due to my love of the characters, the friends and enemies that I make, and the choices that make up my last moments. While I do belive the ending of the game itself could have come with some more excitement it is barely an issue when compared with the overall enjoyment I took away from the game. Mass Effect is a groundbreaking series that will never be forgotten, and Mass Effect 3 is a beautiful game that takes the amazing nature of the series to the very last moments.
Mass Effect 3 gets
Out of five
What’s Legit?
+Voice acting, character dynamics, art and graphical design, impact of choices made in ME2 and the present game on total game experience, improved level design, improved modifications, amazing plot and storyline, good controls.
What’s Perpetrating?
-Slight glitches due to the size of the game, Xbox 360 version requires that you switch two discs on a constant basis, scanning can get old.
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Didn’t have enough bubbles to reply on N4G, so I’ll reply here. I don’t think you actually read my reply or at least didn’t understand it.
I said the game always relied on story to succeed. Mass Effect 3 did not. It relied on above average game play and gave a very average story for it. Seriously the story was weak. Before the ending. I said that in my reply and you ignored it, or didn’t pick up on it. Much more I said even if you ignore the ending the game is still average. I never said give the game a bad rating only because the ending was bad. Once again, you either ignored what I said or simply didn’t understand.
What I did say was that the game offers very few superficial differences no matter what character you choose. Your review states that all the choices you make in the previous games play out in significant detail in Mass Effect 3. It clearly does not. This isn’t opinion. This is fact. Rachni Queen? Wrex? Council? It all plays out the same.
Tell me the significant differences. Tell me the character dynamics you speak of.
As far as masterpieces go, Oldboy is the greatest movie of all time. As far as video games go, Skyrim was indeed the best game of the year. It delivered exactly what it should have. It was a game that always relied on the game play to lean on. The story isn’t revolutionary but it is solid. Especially for the amazing game play it brought to the table.
Mass Effect the series again are games that always relied on story to make up for their average to above average game play. Mass Effect 3 however, abandoned that. Seriously what are your favorite movies of all time if you think that story was anything but average? Much more what do you think is the meaning of the word superficial if you think the few changes offered when importing different characters were significant?
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This seems strange. Replying to a post that isn’t even on this site and this continuing a debate no one has a clue where it came from. Since you seem to think movies and video games are one in the same here is a list of my favorite movies:
Ju rei
El toko
Oldboy
Death proof
Canable holocaust
Audition
Pans laberenth
The orphanage (El Orfanado)
Johnny got his gun
Hard candy
I am legend
The laberenth
The neverending story
Super bad
Evil dead
Poltergiest
Death becomes her
Nightmare on elm street
The fly
Planet earth (series)
Walking with cavemen (series)
LOST (series)
Face (series)
Kill bill 1&2
Kung fu hustle
The mist
The decent
Let the right one in
Moon
I spit on your grave
Incideous
Excorsism of Emily rose
Machete
Martyrs
Drive
Stoning of soraya m
Red state
How this relates to anything is beyond me. But there ya go. Also SKYRIM was a masterpiece. None of this has anything to do with mass effect being an amazing game. Also games are programmed meaning that certain events always repeat themselves no matter what. SKYRIM is scripted too it just focuses more on missions as apposed to specific character dynamics. They are both intelleligently designed and neither of them can be even somewhat closely compared to each other so I have no idea where you’re coming from at this point. Mass effect 3 and the entire trilogy are on my top games of all time as is SKYRIM and fallout. Btw I don’t suggest comparing movies to games. It’s like comparing books to movies. Not even close.
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In short…thank you for your opinion. I disagree. I hope in the future you and I can have opinions that are parallel in nature.
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Wait when did I say they were one in the same? From a story stand point you can compare any story, firstly. However that’ll get too complicated in an argument that has nothing to do with it. However I never said once to compare movies and games. Just that if you judge Mass Effect as a story and think Mass Effect 3 had an amazing story. Well a lot of Avatar fans seem to be okay with it. Let’s leave it at that.
Much more I specifically said why Mass Effect and Elder Scrolls are different games and how you can compare them differently. Different games and different movies set out to accomplish different things. Therefore we should judge them as such.
Much more we should expect a top notch effort and quality in anything we decide to give our time to for entertainment. Anything less deserves to be called out on it. Who knows, maybe when the hype both negative and positive for Mass Effect 3 dies down(not any time soon with the cinematic dlc coming out) we’ll both change our opinions on the matter. Though at most I see myself enjoying the game as fluff. Though the inability to skip cut scenes even makes that a chore.
To sum up, I think even you can admit Mass Effect 3 doesn’t bring much significant changes to the table when importing characters. Which was my big problem with your review and other people’s reviews(I do apologize on somewhat questioning your integrity however. It had more to do with all critics giving the game blind praise and blind pass on everything). I understand if the game can make it seem like things are happening on a much larger scale than they actually are. If you were to say that even, I’d have no problem with it. However I am tired of people telling me how amazing the game was up until the ending because of all the choices you see play out from the previous games and how the story and dialogue before it was revolutionary. Should I let it slide because games shouldn’t have strong dialogue to rival movies/books? No. Especially when the first two games were on a great track to do just that. Then again in the immortal words of Mike Scully, “”Lower your quality standards. Once you’ve done that you can go on forever.””
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Yo…wusup goog ? I was scared you weren’t coming back to the site. Happy to see you troll us too. We will gladly let you troll here without you having to worry about losing any pesky bubbles, so speak you mind brotha. What would we do without you?
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Ms. Throwback you did a great job BTW. But the only bone i have to pick with you is that you didn’t put Inception in your movie list but i will let that slide just this one time. Next time i will be forced to spend some of that money we get paid to lie in our reviews to have you delt with by midgets who will beat you senseless.
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I will obey them and them alone vex.
Also goog. Listen dude I did this review after one play through of the game. It is possible that events only seem significantly changed but on the other hand I wouldn’t discount the whole game because of that anyway. That’s only a single one of the many point in my review. The story line is solid regardless.
Also when you find the pile of money I made for this review let me know. I like rolling in it. Lol. Come on man no reviews perfect. And honestly it’s a matter of opinion. I wouldn’t agree with every single review you put out eaither I’m sure.
Also I like the movie inception. The list is not cumulative.
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Sigh, so basically you two have no reading comprehension? I didn’t come out and say, clearly you all were paid. I said it seems like and I have repeatedly said it has more to do with the entire fan fare the game receives from all critics. I even apologized for that comment on this site. You all are still focusing on that one thing though? Even though you read it wrong, you both are still focusing on that? Alright. Though if I am trolling, how come I bring up why the game isn’t amazing and average(and even apologize for the comment you read wrong). Then in reply don’t get one thing to refute it? But alright, “it’s good because it’s good” is a decent argument I guess. Though really “solid” is pretty synonymous with “average”. Never the less, it seems you all don’t really read what I say and just read every other word that jumps out at you and decide to believe that is what I actually said. So….”bleepidy bloo”.
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How about this. Would you rather me change the review according to your opinion or since I’m the reviewer and this is how I felt about the game that should be good enough. I played the game, I reviewed it, I felt that significant changes occur depending on player choices. The same an also be said for you. You have focused on one paragraph in my whole review which is just one peice of why I feel like this is a masterpiece. Nevermind weapon modification, overall story line even without player choices, amazing visuals, improved and more challenging maps, improved controls and tactics on the battlefield, and superb voice acting. Throw all that out the window. At the very worst one more half a MF would be taken off of I took your opinion into consideration which still makes it top of its class.
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Googergieger I have spent a moment to read your complaints and honestly, this is a personal attack on the Staff Of The Legit Review. Though we appreciate having people comment on our stuff with opinions and ideas, you crossed a fine line when you claimed that Ms Throwback and Vex have no reading comprehension. To be fair having to keep track of your many posts on this site and N4g is a trying experience for people who have lives to live. Honestly you are trolling the basic definition of it In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory,[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[3] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. You have done that sir. Ms. Throwback was assigned this task to review this game. You might ask what is a review its a opinion based off the material she was give I.E the game. We at legit review do not receive monetary compensation from developers or other sources. We do not get payed off as vex pointed out in his funny imagery he posed on N4g. Which brings me to the point what purpose do you serve? Prepare yourself for insults , You expect us to even respect your opinion when you troll around the forms looking for trouble making claims “tlreview.com is now blocked” Other than i know you don’t boast such power and honestly it just shows how the internet has given you voice and its annoying. Looking at your N4g record someone of such skill in the art of trolling could not have joined n4g 14 days ago it leads me to the assumption you have been removed one before for such an act. I think i would give you the benefit of a good record and try to chock this to a learning experience for you, Please refrain from commenting on our stuff sense we don’t have what it takes to meet your approval. Or possibly grow enough as amateur reviewer send a comment that could honestly add to the material as a good second opinion. We thank your for your viewing but take those comments and put them under the bridge with all the other trolls.
Thanks for your time
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I disagree with some of the review but would never make an ass out of my self like that guy. Overall it is a good review buy I wish she mentioned how lame the game ending takes away from everything else.
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the game ending is truly lame…thank you for your credible input, lol.
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PoopBear earned my approval ….. See useful input
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