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| Mass Effect 3 concludes the series in fantastic fashion. |
We’ve almost reached the half-way mark in this year’s list of the very
best games, but what title narrowly missed the top 5? The critically acclaimed
Mass Effect trilogy concluded in March and certainly provided plenty of action
and at times, discontent amongst fans.
Whatever you thought about Mass Effect 3, it was undeniably one of the best
role-play games of not only this year, but of this generation of gaming.
Critics showered Bioware’s futuristic adventure stating that it possessed one
of the most impressive stories in the history of the medium and coupled with
extensive gameplay and customization features; it was truly a force to be
reckoned with.
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| Now that's a serious invasion. |
Unfortunately Mass Effect 3 lacked accessibility and failed to stand up
as its own game. Indeed players were expected to at minimum have played Mass
Effect 2 and this was further pushed as an incentive by allowing players to
download and incorporate their save from the previous game to Mass Effect 3.
For fans of the series this was an absolute delight, all the moral decisions
that they made from the previous games were re-created in Mass Effect 3, making
the world believable and visibly changing place completely dictated by your
actions. Those who wanted to give Mass Effect 3 a go and didn’t fancy spending
around 100 hours catching up with the previous games were left confused by Mass
Effect’s complicated world, story and ideals while at the same time having
little emotional investment in the main character because at this point, he /
she was nothing more than a blank canvas.
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| A wonderful assortment of races comprise Mass Effect's world. |
Normally you would assume that a game ending in the number 3 would be
tailored for fans of the series and the aforementioned were truly treated to a
spectacle. With the galaxy on the verge of war, it was up to Shepherd to
establish effective military strength (EMS) by completing missions and allying
with other races and planets to fend off the Reapers. The story was emotional,
dramatic and full of interesting twists, of which you have control over.
Then comes Mass Effect’s fantastic gameplay mechanics, which emphasized
third-person shooting and cover based shooting for modernized gaming. Despite
leaning towards a conventional style of play, the different classes, weapon
customization and power-ups gave players the opportunity to create a varied and
unique character and partnering them with a group of engaging and powerful
comrades. There weren’t as many allies in the third instalment as the others,
but this was designed to further your emotional connection with the group,
creating once again, some very difficult decisions throughout your time with
Mass Effect 3.
I personally don’t see how the third instalment in the Mass Effect
series could have simultaneously appeased it’s fan base and became an
entry-level title, so for me, this wasn’t a justified criticism. People who
bought Mass Effect 3 knew exactly what they were getting themselves into, a
completely engrossing world full of life and character. It’s the series’
remarkable progression from an average role-play game, to a great role-play
game and now a pinnacle benchmark for the genre that is so incredibly
impressive. Mass Effect 3 was a technical masterpiece and it’s games like these
that the video game industry should be known for.
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| Say what you will, the variety of endings made for thrilling playthroughs of an already exciting game. |
