Game Spotlight: Mass Effect 3

Warning: This entry contains spoilers for the Mass Effect trilogy.

Two games down with the third and final instalment of the trilogy to go, this is arguably the most controversial of the three, but there’s no stopping now. While I had my expectations challenged during the ending of Mass Effect 3, I know exactly what to expect during my second playthrough and it’s the entire reason I chose to embark on this marathon run through the Mass Effect trilogy. Just before I saved for the last time in Mass Effect 2, I made sure to park the Normandy in Earth’s orbit, it was time to face the Alliance for my actions, it was time to face Mass Effect 3 once more…

In my previous entry I had mentioned that I hadn’t bothered to pre-order the Mass Effect 2: Collector’s Edition box but had managed to grab a copy by sheer luck. I wasn’t going to take the chance this time around and put down a pre-order for the Mass Effect 3: N7 Collector’s Edition (I agree with Philosoraptor, it should have been called “Reaper’s Edition” lol) as soon as it was listed at my local EB Games store. It was finally coming, the last chapter of the Mass Effect trilogy and I was so excited to see how it would all end, how all our progression would fit into the last instalment of the trilogy, how everything we had been through over the course of these years would finally come to some sort of conclusion. I was so excited that I completely ignore the people whining about EA ruining BioWare throughout the wait.

The story of Lynk Shepard concludes

I didn’t learn about this until a couple of months after my very first playthrough of Mass Effect 3, but apparently BioWare had changed the way the faces were modelled in the development of ME3 compared to the models they used for the first two games. This caused several people to notice that their custom-made Shepard looked noticeably different from the way they appeared in the first two games. Apparently I didn’t end up noticing any difference back during my first playthrough and comparing the models now, there’s not all that much of a noticeable change, maybe a very slight difference, but nothing too drastic.

I did, however, end up having to make one small change in the character customisation screen due to the changes BioWare implemented… the eyes. When I created my custom-made Shepard in the first Mass Effect, I chose the darkest variation of brown eyes out of the choices presented to me. In Mass Effect 3, the same selection option yields a set of light brown eyes which look totally out-of-place on a character that is meant to look exactly like me. I had to go in and change the eyes to black, but other than that one small thing, I’m thankful that the transition between games worked out well for my Shepard. In fact, the improvements BioWare made to the models ends up making my Shepard look even better.

On a side note, I recently bought one of those unofficial replica N7 leather jackets (real cowhide leather, good stuff) off of a random web site and took a photo of myself standing at almost the same angle as the profile picture above. I had stated in the first Mass Effect entry that the custom-made Shepard model I created wasn’t perfect, but damn, I got REALLY close to what I actually look like in real life. It was a real shock and the people I showed the photo to agreed with me. The only difference is that I don’t have a really long neck like Shepard… seriously, that is one long neck.

I still find it interesting that they allow you to change your character class during the import process, Shepard must have gone through a particularly strict training regimen while he was being held in Alliance custody. As always, I stuck with the Soldier class.

Story

When I bought the Xbox 360 Elite bundle which included Mass Effect, I went into that game blind with no real expectations of the game I was about to play. When going into Mass Effect 2, the expectation I had, before Shepard met his untimely end, was of a journey to unite the galaxy and prepare them for the upcoming fight against the Reapers. As it turns out, Mass Effect 3 would turn out to be the game I expected to play in ME2, however, instead of uniting the galaxy in preparation, we find ourselves trying to forge these alliances and achieve galactic unity while the Reapers are already busy wiping us all out.

It’s been about six months since Shepard turned himself into the Alliance, six months he’s been sitting comfortably on Earth, under guard at Alliance Headquarters for the entire time. I can just imagine him answering pointless questions from his superiors and being driven stir crazy while the galaxy around him is wasting its time and not preparing for the Reaper invasion. It’s no wonder he sounds pretty damn annoyed during the first moments of the game, he’s even a little crabby toward Admiral Anderson. It’s amazing, even when you take in all that bullshit political asshattery into account, that the Alliance has sat on its hands for all this time when one of their finest officers is telling them that there’s a threat out there they need to be preparing for. Six months bought with three hundred thousand Batarian lives to delay the Reapers from coming through the Alpha Relay, all wasted.

Sadly, I don’t find the entire scenario unbelievable despite actually being there for all the events leading up for the first Reaper strike against Earth. Politics, man, it’s a hell of a drug and it can cause people to do some crazy things like not preparing for the incoming annihilation of your entire species as well as all the other advanced species of the galaxy. Yet, as we end up seeing during the course of the game, Shepard is forced to play politics between several species in his ongoing effort to rally the galaxy into action and unite them in their efforts against the Reapers.

In a game where the only thing on your mind is taking the fight to the Reapers, the most important thing the game is trying to stress to us is the importance of forming political alliances between each faction. I like it, though of course, she’s still plenty of shoot-bangs, etc to go along with that, but in some small way, talk is still seen as a powerful tool, even if BioWare has given us less conversation options in ME3 when compared to previous games.

I know I keep saying it, but during the first playthrough, I saved Kaiden instead of Ashley, so during the opening scene of ME3 I ended up having an all male cast appear on-screen. All I could think was “Man, it’s getting pretty dudebro around here…” as these muscle-bound guys passed awkwardly by each other and the camera. I guess saving Ashley this time around helped that scene feel a little less dudebro, but I still regret saving her over Kaiden during this second playthrough. I’m sorry, I just don’t like Ashley, I tried, I tried really hard to let her grow on me but it’s never happened.

It has a slightly different meaning now that I know the significance of the boy (you know the one I’m talking about) killed during the invasion of Earth, but the sequence leading up to the title card really hit the mark and is done so damn well. I have to admit that during the first playthrough, as the camera moved up through the atmosphere and into space through the debris raining down on the planet, I got a little misty eyed. When I think about it now, I’m reminded of something George Lucas once said during one of the special features for one of the Star Wars movies, while all the awesome visuals are happening on-screen, the audience is focused on the music, and damn does that soundtrack do so much for that scene.

Each of the three games in the Mass Effect trilogy have their own defining tones when compared to each other. For example, the first Mass Effect was, in many ways, a traditional space science fiction adventure and took you on a journey across the galaxy, chasing after Saren and his operatives. Mass Effect 2 changed the tone to focus more on personal relationships, trust and loyalty and showed this through Shepard’s mission to recruit a team for a suicidal mission against the Collector’s. In Mass Effect 3, the entire galaxy is now engulfed in war against a superior enemy, we’re totally outmatched and are on the losing end of a war of attrition. ME3 has a very grim tone but it’s the subtle touches that really drove it home for me.

Take the Normandy SR-2 from ME3 and compare it to how it use to be in ME2. It’s the same ship even though it’s flying Alliance colours now, but on the inside, it’s not the fully stocked and ready to go ship it was during the mission against the Collectors. In Mass Effect 3, the SR-2 was in the middle of an extensive refit when the Reapers attacked and was forced to scramble with a skeleton crew consisted of engineers who were working on the refit and half of its secondary systems still needed to be patched up on the way.

When you’re walking around the ship, you’re constantly surrounded by crates lying around, cabling at your feet and diagnostic equipment everywhere. The lighting has been dimmed considerably and there’s one particular area in the CIC, off to the left side of the galaxy map, where you can see a huge bundle of cables plugged into what looks like a rushed bypass to try to get enough of the more important systems up and running in a hurry. Everything is in disarray, the ship isn’t quite ready for battle and there are key personnel missing, but it’s forced into service anyway. The entire state of the Normandy really told me everything I needed to know, tonally, about this game.

Then you get to the Citadel and you’re hit with the toll the war has taken on the civilian population, especially when you visit the refugee area. The war has just begun, but already so many people have been affected. In contrast, there are others on the Citadel, particularly in the Presidium areas, who are perfectly unaware that there’s even a war ravaging the galaxy or simply refuse to accept it and proceed with their lives as if tomorrow is just another day. I really liked spending time on the Citadel throughout the game, it no longer felt like a passive area in previous games. I particularly enjoyed listening to all the different conversations that you can overhear as well as the moments when you’re able to weigh in on a particular conversation.

Eventually, through the course of the game, the people on the Citadel begin to feel weighed down by the effects of the war, there is a sense of futility that many of the characters express and through certain actions, you can help the various people you meet. As far as setting the tone of a war-torn galaxy under what appears to be a hopeless situation, Mass Effect 3 was able to portray that beautifully. Because of the grim overtones, you really do feel a great sense of accomplishment once you start forging alliances, gathering the necessary fleets together and taking the hard steps required to unite the galaxy.

“It had to be me, someone else might have gotten it wrong…”

There’s clearly a downward spiral happening through the opening part of the game, but things really start to pick up once you get to the end of Priority: Tuchanka and score your first real victory. As I witnessed Mordin Solus in his sacrifice to cure the Krogan of the genophage, I began to feel a sense of finality with this game. It was a victory, a huge victory, but it came at a price and all the characters who saw it knew it as well as I did sitting in my comfortable chair, controller in hand. Not only was it a bitter-sweet moment, but it managed to be an exciting and climactic moment with the battle between Kalros, the mother of all thresher maws and the Reaper Destroyer happening at the same time. This was the first time in the game where I felt that victorious high despite the price we paid to attain it.

During all of this great progress Shepard is making to unite the Krogan and Turian forces against the Reapers, Cerberus is still lurking in the background, being the dicks that they are. I remember when it was revealed that Cerberus was working against Shepard and were now indoctrinated, the stir among fans was quite big. The pro-human organisation suddenly working against their supposed ideals made no sense to a lot of people. Of course, later on, when you finally raid Cronos Station and discover that they’ve had the remains of the proto-Reaper sitting right under the Illusive Man’s chair a few decks below, it’s no wonder they all ended up indoctrinated.

Still, it’s hilarious to think that the people at Cerberus would be stupid enough to allow themselves to be so easily taken in by indoctrination, especially since they know very well that a dead Reaper still has the power to indoctrinate people. Even if the team that recovered the remains were affected by the indoctrination signal, you’d expect the Illusive Man to be a little more careful with the proto-Reaper remains than to string it up right under his feet. At the very least he could have ordered the scientists to set up a facility in another location away from him for safety purposes. I get that BioWare is going for the whole power corrupts angle on this, but the character of the Illusive Man didn’t seem as moronic in Mass Effect 2 as he becomes in the third and final game.

Either way, it was satisfying to take down Udina during the Cerberus coup attempt considering he’s always been a pain in the ass for everyone involved. It’s a good thing I bothered to visit Ashley (Kaiden in the first playthrough) during her stay at the hospital, otherwise she wouldn’t have been as willing to trust me during the confrontation. They’re not my favourite characters in the game, but I do hate losing potential resources. Plus, when you’re playing a game like this, you naturally want to experience as much of the content as possible, so having to kill Ashley isn’t something I wanted to risk.

It’s interesting when I think about it now, there are certain characters who I love, namely Tali and Garrus, who I would go through hell and back for in the game, then there are characters, such as Liara, who I find interesting to talk to, who add a sense of depth to the canon being formed during our interactions and decisions relating to those characters… and then there’s Ashley/Kaiden. While I don’t have strong feelings against them, I don’t want to be put in the position of killing them off either, but only because I simply want to experience the content they provide to the game. Sorry, Ashley, it’s nothing personal, I don’t really care about you, I just want to hear your content.

Around this part of the game is where I start to make my first mistakes during my first playthrough, and again, it relates back to Tali. Just as with Mass Effect 2, I chose to bypass as many of the side missions as I could so that I could experience them with Tali and Garrus by my side. That decision ended up costing me when I realised I had missed the opportunity to complete the Grissom Academy mission, which would eventually force me to kill an indoctrinated Jack further down the line. However, just like with the previous games, I chose to live with my mistake through to the end of ME3. I was really happy when I was finally able to correct my blunder and save Jack and the students of the academy. I’m not sure what other mistakes I may have made during the first playthrough when the game was originally launched, but I made sure to stay vigilant during this second playthrough.

Mistakes weren’t an option in the next part of the game since it involved Tali and the quarians stupid war against the geth. When I found the quarian fleet during my first playthrough and learned that they were taking an offensive against the geth, I just shook my head in disappointment. As I’ve said before, I have an invested interest in trying to get the quarians and geth to find peace. To come all this way and find that they’re back at each others throats was exasperating. However, for whatever I felt about the situation, it was great to see Tali again for the final game in the trilogy, and it was nice to see her again during this second playthrough without having to sacrifice Jack to my impatience. From this point on, unless I was forced to otherwise, it was Tali and Garrus by my side yet again. Naturally, I chose to pick up where we left off with our romantic relationship, of course.

I hadn’t actually read up on any guides or information about the quarian/geth story arc, so I wasn’t aware of the way the following series of events could have potentially played out. Luckily, I did end up doing all the right things for my first playthrough of the game without the need to look at any information beforehand. By the way, before I go on, I absolutely adore the flirting scene between Tali and Shepard on the Dreadnought. It’s moments like those that convince me that Tali is the best romance option in the game.

Anyway, I didn’t know it at the time, but I was fully prepared to save both the quarian and geth during the final moments on Rannoch. It was an extremely tense moment when I allowed Legion to upload the code that would allow the geth to achieve true intelligence and I managed to have a high enough Paragon score to allow me to convince the quarian fleet to back down. At the time, I didn’t realise what a huge bullet I had just dodged until some time later when I became curious about the other possibilities my decisions could have taken me down. What I discovered were quite a lot of horror stories from people who were forced to choose between the quarians or the geth. Then there were the stories of people who allowed the geth to exterminate the quarian fleet, causing Tali to commit suicide. I was extremely thankful that it all turned out well for me, I don’t know what I would have done if I had somehow gotten myself into that situation. I think I would have just turned the game off and never finished it, I don’t think I could’ve handled my favourite character committing suicide or having to choose between the quarians and geth, I was way too invested in the unification of those two species for that to be an acceptable option.

A second major victory was achieved and Mass Effect 3 achieved its second high, an even greater one than the first, and it felt so damn good. Departing Rannoch, we now had the combined forces of the quarian and the geth fleets to take on the Reapers, and more importantly, Tali was back at my side. Things were looking up for the war effort, however, back in the real world, I started to notice the stirrings of the Internet as negative criticisms of the ending for Mass Effect 3 began to surface. I tried very hard not to spoil myself with any specific information and dodged all the spoilers, but it was clear that there were A LOT of people who were VERY upset by the ending of ME3. I remember wondering if it was just because certain people hadn’t made the right decisions in their playthrough of the trilogy that led them to a bad end.

Over the course of this second playthrough, I had played through the game, finishing each mission including all the downloadable content missions in the appropriate order all the way to the end of the game. However, during my first playthrough I only made it as far as the completion of Priority: Horizon was I was advised by practically everyone on the Internet to STOP. I had played Mass Effect 3 slowly over the course of a month, during that first playthrough, and I had just finished the mission on Horizon when BioWare announced the Extended Cut DLC for the game being released in the following month. Normally, I would’ve pressed on, however the entire Internet was completely adamant that players who hadn’t started the final phase of the game should wait for the Extended Cut DLC to come out before completing the game… so, I took the advice and waited. When the DLC finally hit, I downloaded it immediately and stormed Cronos Station.

I honestly didn’t know what I was going to see with this ending, I had put a lot of effort into dodging all of those spoilers, but the whole controversy had me extremely interested. I went through the Cerberus Headquarters, discovered the remains of the proto-Reaper that had so obviously indoctrinated the Illusive Man, defeated Kai Leng and was glad that such a cheaply made character was finally out of the picture, recovered the Prothean VI and made my way to Earth for the finale.

Before landing on Earth, I made sure to equip myself and two squad mates I would be taking down with the best weapons and modifications, making to spend all of my money to upgrade everything we were using. Naturally, I chose to go through the entire mission on Earth with my two trusted companions, Tali and Garrus. I was prepared, but during that first playthrough, even with all the hate being thrown at the ending, I still didn’t really know what to expect.

Now, before I go on, there’s one thing I’d like to talk about that bothered me during the final push toward the conduit… and no, it’s not the fact that Harbinger conveniently waited for the Normandy to pick up your two injured squad mates during the Extended Cut version of that entire scene, it’s the bit before that when we were riding inside a Mako… Why the hell didn’t BioWare make that part playable? I’m not talking about it as being an addition to the Extended Cut, I’m talking generally when the game was being developed. We were all riding inside a M35 Mako toward our objective in a war zone and no one had the idea to make that a triumphant return of the Mako as a playable segment, speeding toward the conduit, rolling over debris, shooting down Reaper forces coming your way until we’re finally critically hit and have to abandon the Mako, making the rest of the way on foot. I’m really surprised no one has even thought of this.

The final goodbye with Tali had me getting all misty eyed once again, it was touching and sweet. We were finally coming to the end, everything was going to hell, Shepard was injured and inching his way toward the beam, a husk runs toward me and I take it down with my pistol. Now a Marauder appears, weakened by the Extended Cut DLC but still determined to put me out of my misery… I shoot down Marauder Shields…

Downloadable content

What, you wanted me to talk about the ending now? No, that comes later, right now we talk about the story DLC packs that were released for Mass Effect 3.

Omega

Carrie Ann Moss’ performance as Aria is great, it’s all in her delivery as the “Pirate Queen” that really gets me and it’s always a pleasure to talk to Aria for that reason. However, the Omega DLC suffers for the same reason the Overlord DLC suffered in ME2, there’s really nothing all that special about it. I do, however, like the way you can subtly influence Aria along the way, the influence is subtle enough that it doesn’t go against her character, even when you persuade her to take the less renegade route at the end. I also enjoyed her interactions with Nyreen, though it sucks that the first female Turian you actually meet in the game ends up getting herself killed. I do have to say, after encountering my first female Turian in the game, I really wish there had been more of them throughout the trilogy now, they’re have a really cool design.

Leviathan

To say that this DLC pack adds a lot to the game is an understatement considering the magnitude of what we discover by the end of this story arc. That’s not to say that the revelations we have at the end of this DLC is the only interesting part of Leviathan, no, it’s full of great content from start to finish. Right from the very first shot, the one that kills Dr. Bryson right in front of you, you’re put into “crime scene investigation mode” and presented with a number of mysteries. I really loved this approach to the story in this DLC and every part of it brought a smile to my face. It’s a welcome change from what we usually get with the standard Mass Effect 3 content and it was also nice to share the moment with EDI and James Vega tagging along too. Due to EDI’s involvement in the first part of the story, I took her along with Tali to the first mission to find Dr. Garneau and the mission to find Ann Bryson. Later, I would take Vega along with Tali on the final mission to locate the Leviathans. Since they were part of the process to move the story forward, I felt as though they should take a more active role in the missions and not my usual choice of Tali and Garrus.

I realise that BioWare most likely intended the Leviathan DLC to simply add more background story to the Mass Effect universe in an interesting but relatively passive form, however, what I learned from the end of this DLC caused quite a revelation, at least for me. It seemed to me that the information that Shepard learned from this encounter should have played a more active role at the end of Mass Effect 3. The information was so huge that, in my mind, it should have added an extra choice at the end of the game rather than just another conversation topic with the Catalyst. What was probably supposed to be a piece of content that was trying to explain the ending of Mass Effect 3 a little better actually made it a little worse for me. With that said, I still enjoyed the hell out of it and am glad I finally got to play it.

Citadel

I’ll state it now, right from the start. Mass Effect 3: Citadel is the best DLC content pack released for the entire trilogy… scratch that, it’s the best DLC content pack released for every game ever made. Not only is it a love letter to the fans, it also features one hell of a fun story, a combat arena, and to top it all off you also get to have a party featuring the squad mates you’ve had on your team throughout the trilogy and so much more. It is hands down, the best value DLC pack ever created and I have absolutely no regrets in spending the extra money to buy it. For whatever criticisms I have for BioWare in regard to any other subject, I can’t find anything to criticise with Citadel. I love it and I don’t see how it’s possible for anyone to not love this DLC.

I made sure to begin the Citadel DLC right after the Priority: Horizon mission for two reasons. The first reason was because I knew this DLC featured all the squad mates from past games and that they’d only be available once their stories had been resolved during the course of the game and the second reason is more for my own headcanon purposes. In my mind, the tracker Miranda planted on Kai Leng would take time to pinpoint the exact location of the Cerberus Headquarters, so in the meantime Admiral Hackett ordered the Normandy into drydock and arranged some much-needed shore leave for the crew. Of course, after playing the DLC, I kind of wish I had visited the apartment earlier in the game to unlock the Silversun Strip area of the Citadel. I only got to see most, but not all, of the interactions you got to have with certain characters who want to meet with you back at your apartment or in the Silversun Strip area.

It all starts at a French Sushi restaurant with a floor that doubles as an aquarium and a quiet chat with Joker. Little did I know that I would encounter the bumbling Maya Brooks and that tonight’s entertainment would be brought to you by random acts of violence. As soon as I was thrown into the action, I almost couldn’t contain myself, it was so much fun right from the start, the lack of armour and the silenced pistol, hiding behind cover, the constant stream of comedy relief from Maya and other characters. It was all scripted and presented extremely well and there was never a dull moment through any of it. For a moment, I forgot about the war with the Reapers and the ending of ME3 and was focused on trying to figure out just what the hell was going on, who were these people trying to kill Shepard?

From there, things just got better and never stumbled once. From the casino to the chase through the archives, the confrontation and retaking the Normandy, the entire DLC never wavered in its quality in presentation and its sense of fun. It also, once again, put forward the most important aspect of the entire Mass Effect trilogy, the camaraderie and loyalty between Shepard and all of his squad mates as well as the rich history they share between them. We’ve all known these characters over so many years, and a lot of the events, the in-jokes, the familiarity they have with each other all pays off on so many levels during your interactions with them over the course of this mission and through the events that occur afterward.

Which brings us to the party… this was such a brilliant idea to include in the game, a last chance to relax with all the wonderful characters you’ve met throughout the course of the three games, at least the ones that survived through your playthrough of the game. Luckily for me, all the characters that you could be invited to the party did survive my playthrough, I made sure of that. And for those of you wondering, I chose to start with an energetic theme to my party and then chose to get things louder during the second part. Of course, I did remember to make a new save file before the start of the party so that I could go back through the quiet version later on. I’m glad I chose to have it loud and proud the first time, Tali dancing up a storm instead of laying on the bathroom floor is so much better.

Speaking of Tali, wow, just wow… she’s got some damn good dance moves. I mean, she can REALLY dance, I swear I spent a few minutes just watching her dance in total amazement. While there were plenty of people at the party who knew how to dance, Tali… wow, she has all the moves. Also, I did watch her dance for quite some time at the Casino too… *shakes head* those hips, man.

Waking up at the start of a new day, shore leave was over and we were back on duty. We all headed back to Docking Bay D24 and looked out toward the Normandy. It was a bitter-sweet moment, I was getting all misty eyed because this was the most fun I’ve had during the entirety of Mass Effect 3 and I knew what was coming after this. On the other side of the screen, Shepard knew this may be the last time he’d see all of his friends together and that the coming fight to take back Earth would most likely be a costly one. It was a beautiful scene, and I have to give props to Mark Meer who made that final moment all that much better with his delivery of the line “…the best” right at the end. Almost a whisper, but not quite, it was a simple line that carried a lot of weight in his delivery and really hit home for me.

Characters

I appreciate that BioWare gave us a final opportunity to roll with the original squad mates from the first Mass Effect, though it’s still sad (but understandable) that Wrex isn’t a part of the team. At least we got to see more of him during the Citadel DLC pack, though, I admit, I didn’t choose him to come along with me to retake the Normandy, again, I chose to take Tali and Garrus… I can’t help myself.

Ashley Williams and Kaidan Alenko

It’s too bad BioWare didn’t put more of an effort to distinguish Ashley and Kaidan from each other, they end up playing pretty much the same roll during Mass Effect 2 and 3 and aside from their personal histories which they rarely go into, they’re just the same character. After playing through the game twice now, once with each of them, I find that I prefer Kaidan over Ashley, though I admit, most of my bias against her comes from my initial interactions with her during the first game.

I tried to give her a chance and perhaps I’m still not being fair to her, but I felt that Kaiden was being more reasonable with his criticisms of Shepard than Ashley. After much thought on the matter, perhaps it’s the difference between Raphael Sbarge’s and Kimberly Brooks’ acting that makes Kaiden seem the more reasonable person of the two. Either way, I never took either of these characters anywhere with me during ME3, they were just there for the content, as I’ve already pointed out before.

EDI

During my first playthrough, I did end up using EDI once or twice out of curiosity but never again until I played the Leviathan DLC during my second playthrough. I already had my two tech specialists of choice and I found my conversations with EDI aboard the Normandy a lot more interesting than the ones in the field. Plus, as far as artificial intelligence squad mates go, I choose Legion over EDI without question.

Garrus Vakarian

Ah, Garrus… how long has it been, three whole games? Three whole games and you’re always there ready to become a squad mate right from the early stages of each of those three games. You are a constant in an otherwise turbulent and chaotic universe, you are the man everyone wishes they could be, a bro all the way to the end. Without you I couldn’t have achieved all the things I’ve achieved over the years, truly, there is no Shepard without Vakarian.

While femSheps across the world squealed with delight at the news that Garrus was finally a romance option for them, I have to say, while you may have your romance with Garrus, you can never truly experience the true bromance that burns with the passion of a thousands suns between Garrus and broShep. It is truly a beautiful thing that can’t be expressed so easily with words… it’s just too much.

Also, while I still have the chance, I have a confession to make… and no, before anyone says it after that rant I had about the whole bromance thing, I’m not coming out of the closet to a video game character, Tali has my heart… so, no. The confession I’m talking about is during the scene… the bromance scene, on the Citadel, the sniping contest to see which of the two is a better shot. I didn’t miss… I couldn’t miss, not because I didn’t want Garrus to have his moment in the sun, but because I respect the guy too damned much to purposefully lose to him in a contest, that would be the worst.

James Vega

Who knew that it wouldn’t suck to have Freddie Prinze Jr. in your video game. I wasn’t so thrilled when I first heard the news and remember saying that it would add an unwanted dudebro element to the game… I was wrong, it added a dudebro element to the game which I grew to like. I did finally find an excuse to use Vega voluntarily once during the Leviathan DLC. I’m glad BioWare took the risk of adding his type of character to the team, as under-utilised as he was he was still interesting to talk to between missions.

Javik

Primitives, primitives everywhere, and Javik in the middle. As crazy stupid as it seemed to have a Prothean suddenly join the crew during ME3, Javik turned out to be a source of so much great material, with and without the comedic overtones. Again, I never used him for anything, but he was always great to talk to aboard the Normandy as well as the Citadel.

Liara T’Soni

By now, Liara and Shepard have quite a history together, once as lovers, now as close friends. She ends up being one of the few people Shepard can confide in and does a lot to help him in his mission. During the first playthrough, the relationship felt a bit disconnected, however, because I had played through the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC on my second playthrough, everything about the relationship as friends fit together and made perfect sense.

While Shepard still valued her as a friend, she was obviously still in love with him but didn’t want to interfere with the relationship Shepard had with Tali. For those of you who know me, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of Macross, a series that is famous for its portrayal of love triangles as much as it is famous for jets that transform into robot mechs. I love it when there’s a good love triangle story woven into the larger story happening around the main characters, and the love triangle between Liara, Shepard and Tali added so much for me throughout all three games.

It all made so much sense, even all the way to the end,, during the moment before the final pushed toward the conduit on Earth where you’re able to talk to each of your squad mates. The moment when Liara shared her mind with Shepard for the last time, revealing that she still had feelings for him was wonderful. Everything fell into place beautifully.

Tali’Zorah vas Normandy

Finally, we come to my favourite squad mate in the entire Mass Effect trilogy, even more so than Garrus despite the fact that I was dripping sweet honey glazed bromantic words all over the place earlier. Going all the way back to when we first met Tali in Mass Effect, she has always been one of the more interesting characters in the series and right from the start she’s always been there, willing to help Shepard with his cause. I love how she even gets nostalgic about the time you first met during some conversations you have with her. I also love the way she has grown as a person throughout all three games.

BioWare did a really great job with Tali, at least for the most part. To me, her growth as a person as well as her likeable personality and her involvement with the story make her one of the most fleshed out characters in the entire trilogy. I enjoyed every single moment I had with her throughout the series and count her among my most favourite characters in any video game. I’m also extremely glad that she was included as part of your team in Mass Effect 3. I’m aware that there was a time during development where Tali wasn’t considered as a squad mate.

It’s just too bad BioWare cheapened out on the face reveal with that badly edited stock photo. Personally, I would have preferred if we hadn’t seen her face in any form at all throughout the game and just left it all to the imagination. I don’t care whether there’s a pretty face underneath that helmet, it was her winning personality that got me and her willingness to stick by my side through all we had been through that kept me coming for more. Tali and Shepard have been through so much together and have helped each other in so many ways that it’s the only romantic relationship in Mass Effect that makes any sense to me, at least for a male paragon Shepard. There really is no other quite like Tali’Zorah vas Normandy… and again, still totally worth it.

Gameplay

BioWare did a good job of cutting off some of the unwanted fat from ME2 (hacking mini-games) and reintroduced a little more customisation back into the game as some other gameplay changes that made the game better, however, there were other parts of the gameplay that didn’t sit well with me.

Combat

It’s clear that BioWare was forced to rework the combat gameplay for ME3 to fit more in line with the multiplayer aspect of the game and there are a lot of people who value that added multiplayer aspect. Because of the changes made to the gameplay in ME3, it doesn’t feel as tight as the gameplay found in ME2. It was close, but it felt off and I felt it from the very first second I started playing ME3. I’m also not crazy about the changes made to the character animations, they all felt a little off, but none close to being as bad as the running animation. Please, no, I can’t, it’s just looks like a cartoon run animation that has no weight to it.

With that said, the introduction of the heavy melee strike is pretty cool and did actually look very cool in practice and felt good to use. I also like the tweaks made to the cover system to allow you to jump between cover spots and go around corners. The combat roll is also a nice addition, though I’m not sure if I agree with the decision to allow Shepard to run without any penalty from a stamina system. It doesn’t feel natural and is clearly like that because of the multiplayer element.

I realise that a lot of this is just nitpicking and that a few hours into the game you end up getting use to it all, however, I still firmly believe that the overall gameplay feel of ME2 is superior to ME3.

Search and rescue

Again, BioWare has created something different for us to have fun with through the galaxy map and it’s a welcome change from planet scanning found in ME2. It’s a small thing, but it is really fun to try to find all the assets you can in a system before the Reapers catch up to you. The whole cat and mouse game you play with them is done in such a way that it’s its own fun little mini-game you can amuse yourself with to acquire more war assets along the way and breaks up the game with something different once in a while.

Multiplayer

I never played it, not even once. I don’t care about it. Moving on…

The Ending

At last, we’re on the last stretch of this entry, finally, I get to talk about the ending itself. But before I go on, if this is really a game trilogy about the importance of the choices we make, let’s go over the choices I have made going through Mass Effect 3.

If my choices really do matter, here they are…

My choices

• I chose to appeal to the Illusive Man on Mars to help fight against the Reapers
• I chose to allow Diana Allers aboard the Normandy for her Alliance News Network show, “Battlespace”
• I chose to bring Dr. Chakwas aboard the Normandy as the Chief Medical Officer
• I chose to ask Khalisah al-Jilani for her assistance in helping remind the Council about helping Earth
• I chose to explore the entire galaxy looking for items that would help various people I met on the Citadel
• I chose to encourage Sayn to take control of the Eclipse mercenaries and work for Aria
• I chose to use my Spectre status to give a full military pardon to Gabriella Daniels and Kenneth Donnelly and allowed them back aboard the Normandy
• I chose to use my Spectre status for various other activities to help the war effort
• I chose to keep touching the console that Salarian told me to stop touching
• I chose to spare the rachni queen and allowed her to help build the Crucible
• I chose to help Mordin Solus cure the Krogan genophage
• I chose to visit Thane Krios during his final moments with his son at Huerta Memorial Hospital
• I chose to warn Miranda Lawson about Kai Leng
• I chose to allow Ashley Williams to join my team aboard the Normandy
• I chose to help Aria T’Loak retake Omega
• I chose to reroute reactor power to take down the force fields without risking the lives of the civilians on Omega
• I chose to influence Aria T’Loak for the better, convincing her to spare General Petrovsky
• I chose to ask Balak for his help in the fight against the Reapers
• I chose to persuade Captain Sommers to call off the hit a C-Sec officer who aided Cerberus during the coup attempt
• I chose to fulfill Ghorek’s request and took him off the life support machine
• I chose to continue my romantic relationship with Tali’Zorah vas Normandy
• I chose to complete the missions “Rannoch: Admiral Koris” and “Rannoch: Geth Fighter Squadrons” before completing “Priority: Rannoch”
• I chose to rescue Admiral Koris
• I chose to allow Legion to upload the Reaper code to allow the geth to achieve true intelligence
• I chose to convince the quarians to back down from attacking the geth and securing the support of both fleets against the Reapers
• I chose to allow Miranda Lawson access to Alliance resources to help her on her mission
• I chose to prevent Samara from committing suicide. Falere chooses to stay and rebuild the monastery.
• I chose to send Garrus Vakarian to help Captain Lee Riley during the attack by Reaper forces
• I chose to have Dr. Bryson’s husk head experiment delivered to the Normandy
• I chose to stop the signal before it could endanger Ann Bryson
• I chose to convince the Leviathan’s to join in the fight against the Reapers
• I chose to plead with whatever humanity the Illusive Man has left on Thessia
• I chose to take the Normandy into drydock for retrofits and give the crew shore leave
• I chose to take Tali to the Silver Coast Casino
• I chose to take Tali and Garrus with me to board the Normandy
• I chose to try to save the clone from falling to his death
• I chose to talk Maya Brooks out of escaping from custody
• I chose to invite EVERYONE to a party at the apartment
• I chose to start the party with an energetic theme
• I chose to kick up the energetic theme of the party
• I chose to take one more attempt to convince the Illusive Man to change his ways
• I chose to take Tali and Garrus with me on my squad during the entirety of Priority: Earth
• I chose to defeat Marauder Shields and proceed through the conduit up to the Citadel

I’m sure I’ve missed a few, but I tried to get as many of them in there as I could. There are some big choices and some small choices, some that affect the wider galaxy and some that are more personal. But do they matter, rather SHOULD they matter in the context of this video game trilogy BioWare has spent years developing and we’ve spent years of our lives playing?

For me, this is a question about what the Mass Effect trilogy is to us as a video game and what it means to present this story using an interactive medium.

The entire Mass Effect trilogy is an extremely ambitious project, the problem is that it was far too ambitious for BioWare to handle with the way they ended up planning the trilogy. It’s clear that they spent a hell of a lot of time working out the save data so that it recorded all of your decisions over the course of the games. All of the variables they had to go through must have been enormous, especially when going from Mass Effect 2 into Mass Effect 3. All of those choices recorded by the game had to make big and small changes to the player’s story, some had to be obvious, others needed to be subtle. Did Tali survive the suicide mission? Did you have a conversation with Garrus about having a shoot-out in an antique store? It didn’t matter if they were significant or not, they went through all of your choices and created the variations in Mass Effect 2 and 3. This is an enormous undertaking and in many respects, BioWare did a hell of a job with it which is why I’m giving them the credit they deserve.

However, as much as I praise them for spending the time on one aspect of the game design, the problem is that not enough time was spent planning the overall story for the trilogy and nailing down the ending of the final game. I understand that the original Mass Effect was a created with a mostly self-contained story aside from the promise that “the Reapers are coming” at the end of the game, just in case it failed to generate enough interest. However, when we hit Mass Effect 2 and then Mass Effect 3, there’s a clear disconnect that occurs between the story progression of these two games. I am aware of the development difficulties BioWare had during this time and that Drew Karpyshyn had left the studio, but seriously, despite all of these difficulties there’s still no excuse for not planning ahead and nailing down an ending early in the process instead of during the creation of the final game.

Worse still, for all of their ambition, they ended up playing it safe in regard to the ending we received, as crazy as that sounds. The reason why so many people were unhappy with BioWare over what became of the ME3 ending is because BioWare was trying to please its fans by leading everyone single person down the same path and then giving them a choice to make right at the very end. No, you read correctly, the act if giving the player a choice at the end is the criticism here.

What BioWare SHOULD have done is spend some time in creating alternate paths the player is forced down due to the choices they made over the course of the trilogy. If all of our choices are meant to make some sort of difference, it should actually work out that way, our choices should lead us down significantly different paths that end at a natural conclusion based on our actions throughout the trilogy.

Instead, what we got was a selection based on how many war assets you manage to acquire. Everything that happens, no matter what you do, all leads down the same path, the same path funnelling straight into that bottleneck where we all have the same three (four, thanks to the Extended Cut) choices. And yes, I totally acknowledge that creating a story that leads players down drastically different paths at the end would be a huge undertaking and much more difficult a task to achieve. However, if they actually had planned ahead in their development process, it could have been achievable… if BioWare truly wanted to make a game where our choices mattered, that’s the way it should have played out.

Think about it, if you had made certain choices over the course of the trilogy and your friend made different choices that led them down a different set of events during the final parts of Mass Effect 3, wouldn’t that get you excited to know that you and your friend ended up in two different places based on the choices you made over the course of the three games? Wouldn’t that encourage you to go back and replay the entire trilogy to see where alternate choices may lead you at the conclusion of the entire trilogy?

When I played the ending of Mass Effect 3 for the first time, I had NO motivation to go and play through the entire trilogy again. Sure, I may end up killing Wrex in ME1 to eventually meet Wreav sitting on the throne where Wrex should have been, playing Wrex’s part. I could have killed the Rachni Queen instead of releasing it and then encountered the Breeder in its place in ME3, but what real change does that make aside from creating an alternate version of what ends up being essentially the same set of events and a difference in war asset values?

BioWare does come close to “growing a pair” during certain parts of Mass Effect 3 though, I’ll give them that. The best example of this is with the quarian/geth story arc and the conditions that must be met to save both fleets from destroying each other. This is a really good example of BioWare showing that they have a certain amount of resolve that they could ruin someone’s day by not allowing them the option of saving both fleets because of the choices they made leading up to that moment. Off the top of my head, I believe you need to have both Tali and Legion survive the suicide mission, both of them had to remain loyal to you by the end of ME2 by completing their loyalty missions and settling the argument they had afterward. You also needed to complete the two Rannoch side missions before the priority mission and finally, you had to have a high enough charm/intimidate score to open up the paragon/renegade selection options on the dialogue wheel to save both fleets… ballsy stuff. I applaud BioWare for going through with it.

And yes, I am aware that I said I would have turned off the console then and there and not play the rest of the game had I gotten the outcome where Tali committed suicide, I was kidding. I would have turned off the console right then and there, put the game back on the shelf and pouted for quite a while, possibly even crying like a little girl at the thought of losing my fake video game girlfriend… but I would have started Mass Effect 1 again after I had finished feeling sorry for myself and played through the trilogy all over, making the RIGHT decisions from the start to lead up to those events to save both fleets.

Okay, I’m getting sidetracked here, time to bring it back to the point… the point is, BioWare handled the planning of the story poorly and didn’t nail down the ending far enough ahead of time, worse still, for the ending we did get, they played it safe during the very moment where they needed to take a risk.

The final decision

For the record, on my first and second playthroughs, I chose Synthesis. It’s not the choice I wanted to make, but considering all the alternatives were much worse, it was the choice I was forced to make.

I didn’t choose to shoot the Catalyst in its bitch-face, an option presented to players in the Extended Cut version of the game, because I didn’t come all this way just to have the Reapers continue the harvest and start the cycle anew. If we are to believe what the result of this choice showed us, the civilisations of the cycle that succeeded us were finally able to stop the Reapers thanks to the information Liara created in her time capsule. Good for them, it’s still not a choice my Shepard would have made. After all he’s been through, he’s not suddenly going to become an idiot.

I didn’t choose to take the Destroy option because, if we are to believe the Catalyst, it would have destroyed the Reapers, sure, but it would have also destroyed all other synthetic life in the galaxy. Life that I fought to protect along with all the organic life in the galaxy. I wasn’t about to choose the option that would destroy the geth, especially after I had spent so much time and effort trying to get them to cooperate with the quarians and find peace. I also wasn’t about to ruin Joker’s day by killing off EDI, another synthetic life-form who looked to me for advise about humanity.

I didn’t choose to take the Control option because, wow, no, just no. This option goes against everything I believe in as a person and is the last thing my Shepard would choose. Imposing my will on the galaxy and wielding such power over them is the worst thing I could possibly do to the entire population of the galaxy. I don’t even need to say any more than that, just no.

And then we have the final option that we are capable of choosing, provided we have a high enough Effective Military Strength to unlock it… Synthesis. I realised that this “best” option was a lot harder to achieve before the Extended Cut DLC, though the fact that BioWare was trying to encourage players to play the multiplayer game to increase their EMS disturbing in this regard since it takes away from the weight of the choices we made throughout the single player games that came before.

Anyway, as I said before, out of the options available to me at the end of Mass Effect 3, this one was the least objectionable. It would stop the Reapers from continuing their harvest and make the entire cycle of harvesting species obsolete… if we are to believe that Catalyst. It would modify life around the galaxy to become an organic/synthetic hybrid and it would magically give the already existing synthetic life-forms the ability to understand organic life-forms… even as I’m typing this I can’t help but think that all of this sounds so stupid. I don’t know why the hell I chose synthesis, to be perfectly honest, aside from the fact that it seemed like the least objectionable choice. I don’t even really know why I was there listening to this child made of light rattle on about a bunch of crap to begin with.

Through all the practical decisions I made throughout the game, I ended up coming to an end that decided the best way to conclude the trilogy was to get all “the Matrix” in my face. I was honestly confused about what was happening during my first playthrough of the game because I couldn’t quite connect the dots of how my actions led to this moment and why I’m being presented with three choices that make absolutely no sense for my Commander Shepard to make. I shouldn’t be feeling confused about the ending, I should be strong in my resolve that whatever happens, I came to this outcome because of the choices I had made over the course of the three games. I came away from the choice feeling like the journey I had taken was hollow despite all the great moments I experienced through the game before this point… and yes, I stand by all the praise I have given the game in this entry before I started to speak of the ending, I know exactly what I said.

By the end of my first playthrough, as I’ve said before, I had no motivation to go back and play through the trilogy over again. The only reason I did this time around was because I wanted so desperately to pinpoint exactly why the ending of Mass Effect 3 failed so hard. With this second playthrough, with all the downloadable content included, with my extra knowledge of the Mass Effect universe and the new things I learned through the course of the DLC as well as the highs and bitter-sweet moment I experienced at the end of the Citadel DLC added into the mix… I felt totally emotionally exhausted by the end of my marathon. I felt really depressed, it took me a few days to shake it off before I could bring myself to start writing these three entries, it really wasn’t a good feeling at all. I didn’t get any closure from the storyline, however, I did get closure in figuring out why the ending bothered me so much, so I guess, despite the emotional exhaustion and mild depression I felt at the end, it was worth it… just not totally worth it (unless we’re talking about Tali, she’s still totally worth it, you all know that).

Indoctrination theory

People became so distressed by the ending of Mass Effect 3 that, in order to try to make some sense out of the ending they got, any sense at all, the Indoctrination Theory was created. I commend all the fans who got together and collaborated in the creation of this theory out of sheer desperation to find closure. However, despite all the really well made connections that this theory presents, and yes, I do acknowledge that there’s a lot of really compelling evidence that has been presented thanks to this theory, but I still can’t accept it.

Firstly, I’m aware that the majority of this theory was created before the release of the Extended Cut and that BioWare has flatly denied that the Indoctrination Theory was anywhere near close to what they intended… not that they seemed to really know what they were doing with the ending to begin with. Anyway, let’s assume for the moment that the Indoctrination Theory is completely 100% correct and that everything after Marauder Shields never happened. Shepard never walked into the beam and he never went up to the Citadel, etc, etc. He just ended up, on his back on the ground, exhausted and hallucinating, getting ever closer to becoming indoctrinated.

Now, no matter what is going on in Shepard’s mind at this point, he is now completely out of the picture from the real life events that are occurring around him. The only choices he has now is to give in to indoctrination or not. He can either choose the Control option or the Synthesis option, which are both paths to indoctrination, or choose the correct Destroy option which is the path to setting himself free from indoctrination. And let me be clear, Shepard becoming indoctrinated doesn’t mean he’ll automatically turn into a Husk, it’s already been established that a certain process that is used by the Reapers to turn deceased individuals into a Husk, the quickest being the use of the Dragon’s Teeth we see the heretic geth use on several occasions.

So, whatever is happening in Shepard’s head is happening and in the outside world, the Crucible has docked with the Citadel. From here, one of two things can happen…

1. With no one there to “press the button” to activate the Crucible + Catalyst device, nothing happens. The entire collective fleet sits there looking like idiots, the Reapers win and no matter which way Shepard ends up choosing in his mind, the united galaxy of this cycle have lost and the Reapers keep on reaping.
2. The Crucible + Catalyst device fires on its own, destroying the Reapers through the use of space magic and the galaxy wins.

The first scenario makes absolutely no difference what goes on in Shepard’s mind because even if Shepard is able to stop himself from becoming indoctrinated in the struggle within his own mind, the war is lost. End of story.

In the second scenario, no matter what Shepard ends up choosing in his mind, the Crucible + Catalyst device fires, destroying the Reapers, thus ending the cycle of destruction as well as the indoctrination influence the Reapers have over those who are indoctrinated. Perhaps the difference is that if Shepard chooses to destroy the Reapers in his mind, he ends up living instead of dying, though I don’t see how the EMS rating factors into that. Thinking on it further, I suppose it’s just a reward for getting a high enough score. However, whether Shepard lives or dies isn’t the point, the galaxy won, the Reapers have been defeated and it all happened thanks to Shepard while he lay on the ground back on Earth.

What we get from the Indoctrination Theory is a scenario that makes better connections with the dots we were provided, but then ends up making less sense in other areas, especially after the Extended Cut DLC is released. So I don’t really understand why am I going to swap one shitty ending with no sense of choice and no closure out for an alternate shitty ending with even less of a sense of choice and no closure? No offence to the fans who created it, but what you had to work with wasn’t smelling like roses to begin with.

The Indoctrination Theory is great, let me reiterate that, the fans created something compelling out of a really bad situation, but it only really works if Mass Effect was a movie. Mass Effect is not a movie and it shouldn’t be held up to the same standards of a movie, it should be held up to the standards of a video game. Whatever sense of comfort people may take from the Indoctrination Theory, it doesn’t take away from the fact that the ending we were given with Mass Effect, no matter the interpretation, was a terrible ending for a video game.

Final thoughts

It’s been a long road, but we’re finally here at the end of this entry. Mass Effect 3 is a game that I both praise and criticize heavily, somehow BioWare has managed to create a game where I have such extreme opposing views of the same game and that in itself is a great achievement. For whatever mistakes were made, whatever challenges they faced in the development process, whether it was their fault, whether it was EA, it doesn’t matter. The game that was released, with or without the Extended Cut is a game that will go down in video game history as a lesson to be learned from.

Perhaps one day, a video game trilogy will be created that does take us down different paths depending on the choices we make. I hope so, I really want to play that game or games in the future, if they’re ever made.

Wow, that ended up being almost three times as long as the first Mass Effect entry. Stay turned for my last article in this series where I talk more about what the Mass Effect trilogy has meant to me. I promise I won’t make it anywhere near as long as this entry.