WeView Verdict: Mass Effect 3

I was surprised when going through your comments on Mass Effect 3. Mass Effect has the kind of impact and following that makes it look, to me at least, like a lock to get a lot of love. However, at first at least, it looked like the third of Sheppard’s adventures hadn’t been all that well loved by those in our community. That’s what happens when you forget to click past the first page of comments.

To draw one example from that first page, TSBonyman felt that the Mass Effect 3 wasn’t “really a continuation of the gameplay that I loved in ME2,” leading them to trade it in before they’d even finished it. LTG Davey was another from the first page who wasn’t all that keen on the game, calling it “the biggest letdown in the world of gaming (for me at least),” putting it above games like Resident Evil 5 and even Haze in terms of disappointment factor. More disappointing than Haze? That’s really got to sting.

[drop2]There were a few positive comments on that first page, but it was once I dug a little deeper that I started to see some appreciation for the game. “While the ending may not be to everyone’s taste (I personally didn’t mind it), the story and gameplay preceding it was brilliant in my opinion,” said charliec.95, although even that appreciation came with the caveat that “Mass Effect 2 is the better game.”

uncleniccius was another who had some love for the game, saying they felt it had the “sense of emotion, scale and everything that goes with it near perfect,” although wondered why you were still carrying out menial tasks in the middle of a galactic war. On the controversial topic of the game’s ending, they said it “isn’t fantastic, but was not worthy of the criticism it had.”

There was a general feeling in the comments that whilst Mass Effect 3 wasn’t actually bad, it just didn’t live up to what Mass Effect 2 had promised. The second game seems to have reached such a high level of appreciation and reverence that whatever BioWare did it was going to be tough to reach those heights again. Mickey2010 was amongst those who felt this way, saying that the game is “good but it does not compare to the previous 2 games.” In particular he was disappointed by the way it “steered away from the RPG elements and went more into just all out action”.

With the game appearing troublesome to pin down, I think it’s about time to turn over to the comment which I feel best sums up everything. This week it comes from Lymmusic and here’s what they had to say:

Tough one. In some respects its better than mass effect 2, so buy it. In others it is far worse. A lot less side missions and exploring, forgettable multiplayer, and such a divisive ending, so rent it.

In summary, is your typical difficult 3rd album, not as good as the second.

Whilst some of your opinions may have been split, the overall verdict wasn’t. Avoid It came in with just one of your votes, and Rent It was just ahead with three. Whilst Bargain Bin It looked like it might challenge for the title with seven of you selecting it, ultimately the decision is one of Buy It, with twelve of you recommending people go pick it up at full price.