If you have not played Mass Effect 1 + 2 then ignore this. If you have played them both, and are going to buy the game anyway, then also ignore this, as the following highlights a problem that I and others have with ME3 that you are better off not knowing about until you encounter it for yourself. It's not a game play problem, just a plot / story / choice problem, so it may not even be a problem for you. If however, you have played the first two games, but are sitting on the fence about buying ME3, then read on, as this may effect your buying decision. There are no spoilers.
Well I'm in two minds. On the one hand the game is great fun. It's the same rollercoaster ride / big budget / block buster that ME2 was, and you do invest in the story, characters, choices, etc. On the other hand, I'm really pissed off with the ending. Having packed three games full with minor and major choices, and built the entire thing around allowing you to choose and create your own story, that impacts entire worlds and civilizations in different ways depending upon what you do, the developer then pull off a Fallout 3 ending. Yes, there is some choice in the ending but not the choices I wanted, and they are so limited and unsatisfactory that I'm venting steam out of my ears. In fact the majority of the ME fan base is in danger of melting down and going critical, so it's not just me. Perhaps DLC will add in the missing choices at some future date, perhaps they won't.
So is it worth buying, despite the ending? Yes.
If you enjoyed ME 1 + 2 then you will love this as 99.9% of it is the same sort of fun. Whilst there was quite a large change between ME 1 and 2 in terms of the game mechanics, the RPG/FPS mix, etc, there is very little change between ME2 and 3. The largest change is porobably the annoying time wasting planet surveys of ME2, which have been simplified and replaced with a more tense type of activity, but that's about it.
They have also made an effort not to telegraph the combat as much, and the levels are a bit more interesting and varied, with far less of a linear feel to them, even though they are still linear in reality. They have also made much more of an effort with the huge backdrops that frame the action, and you get a much better feel for the location or world you are on. Yes, the cover system is still annoying as you adhere to it like a magnet or glue, and the fact your character can't jump is still annoying, but as we know from 1 and 2 the RPG elements of the game more than make up for the fact that it's not a proper FPS.
The combat on insane or hardcore difficulty levels spiked all over the place for me, but that was because I did not import my character from the two previous games. I assume that if I had imported a character with perks, equipment and weapons, etc, already established, that the difficulty spikes would have been a lot easier. Given that ME1, 2, 3, are all best enjoyed when played as fast as possible like a roller coaster ride, (think fast food rather than a three course meal), I just changed difficulty level whenever I hit a spike. My single largest problem was enemy melee characters, as my class / perk / build and companions were all extremely weak to them, and built around dealing huge amounts of DPS, so I was toast or running like a rabbit as soon as the enemy closed with me. I think I'm going to play another game of ME3 back to back, as I want to try a different class/build/perks/companions, etc, and I want to make some different choices to see what happens.
Probably worthy of 90% just for the roller coaster ride, but the ending for me at least, was as bad as Fallout 3, so in terms of satisfaction with the end to the plot / story at the very moment that you read the end credits, then the game is deeply, deeply flawed.
Regards - Mr P
