So how are people here enjoying this year's first "blockbuster"?

It is good, but as with almost all AAA releases, not worthy of all the 10s and 9.5s that get thrown around in mainstream press.

It seems to split the people at the Watch, more or less. Those who prefer rather "old school" RPGs, don' like it that much, but everyone agrees that it is a good action game. And that it is more movie than RPG, and more shooter than RPG.

The ending (about which I know nothing substancial yet) has provoked a lot of reactions, even on web sites. Same goes for the multiplayer part.

Metacritic appears to get a lot of anti-ME-hate or anti-Bioware-hate because of ... whatever. People post 0-1 points there just to beat them, and as the "review text" they sometimes write even utter gibberish (yes, someone quoted even an "Lorem Ipsum" entry ...).

What I'm hearing from people who have finished it is 'great game, lousy ending(s)' and no-one is thrilled with the day one DLC incident.

Overall, though, my impression (As someone who hasn't played it!) is that as long as you don't mind the ending(s), you'll probably enjoy the game.

EDIT: As an addendum to Alrik's comment on the problem with metacritic trolls, I'd like to add that most of the people adding very HIGH scores also appear to be trolls. For some reason ME3 has become the epicentre of a metacritic troll war. Genuine reviews seem to be in the minority, sadly.

I simply totally don't love shooter games, so I leave it for what it is, I leave it alone

I played & enjoyed the first two games so Ill be buying this. I hate games with lousy endings though but it won't put me off.

It's a good game so far, though it doesn't touch the first game's role-playing mechanics.

This is definitely more shooter and less RPG.

I finished it last week, and all the furour about the ending is indeed warranted. It is absolutely terrible, and pretty mind-boggling that BioWare thought to end a trilogy this way.

Still a good game, though, I rate it 8/10 without ending and 7/10 with the ending as it is now.

I'd hold off if I were you the whole choice thing with ME has been made null & void by the ending(s?)

Bioware promised us a game with 16 different endings but instead they gave us a game with 1 ending with 16 different tweeks.

Bioware promised us that are choices would effect the game & the outcome but instead they gave us a game that says it doesn't matter what you did or how you did it the ending is the ending so **** you

Yeah, interesting point. Ill still buy ME3 but I might wait till it's sold at a discount then I won't feel so cheated when I get the crap ending. I have other games to play first anyway.

well from the looks of things unless they fix the ending I doubt many people will be buying any DLC for ME3 I know I won't be.

The indoctrination theory is vary hard to argue with if you watch this video it does actually make sense.

YouTube Indoctrination Theory

Indoctrination Theory on BSN

Mass Effect 1 ... Mass Effect 2 .... Maff Essect 3 ...

LMFAO Forbes just Sucker Punched IGN's Colin Moriarty

Forbes Sucker Punch's IGN

So which ending did you all like, green, blue or red?

option no 4 = none of the above

Even more serious RPG sites are now chiming in that what Bioware delivered seems to be a bad ending/writing of the whole story no matter hat ou do.
They all point towards plot holes and inconsistencies.
People will remember this series for its "endings discussion" alone.

I said it already ... Maff Essect 3,
not Mass Effect 3, o no, o no !

I prefer Mess Affect, personally...

A good one Elliot

I'm more of a Dragon Age fan than a Mass Effect fan. I played the demo of ME3 and have concluded that it's hardly an RPG. I've seen Bioware taking notes from fans on Dragon Age 3 now on the official forum. I hope they don't ruin Dragon Age 3 and take out dialogue options completely (Mass Effect 3 has two dialogue options if at all).

Thanks, Joram

***

Demonic,

As someone who adores DA:O myself, I'm currently more interested in the player made mods for that than I am in DA3. Sadly, I do not believe that Bioware have the faintest idea of why DA:O was so popular, nor do I think DA3 will be anywhere close to as good. DA2 proved pretty conclusively that Bioware are looking for a different audience to the people who loved DA:O.

Of course if you loved DA2, you're probably right to be excited...

I adored DA:O and DA2 not so much. I'm actually confused as to why they tried to change the formula for DA2 when DA:O had it perfect. Dragon Age 3 is confirmed to have the dialogue wheel back in along with a voice protagonist but if it introduces origins again (which it could do but just without the races), includes more tactical combat like the original, has the customization and companion interaction of the original and has a more realistic artstyle again with no fetch quests, then it could be as great as the original.

Unfortunately - as Mass Effect 3 proves - it seems that Bioware aren't going to listen to the fans.

But I can wait and hope. If DA3 doesn't resemble Origins or even an RPG anymore, it's not like I'll be disappointed since I'm not hyped for DA3.

I think Bioware only 'listen to the fans' these days so that they can say 'the fans are all wrong because...'

It's pretty sad. They used to be the best creators of RPGs on planet Earth. Now... not so much...

@Elliot

That's because EA got there greedy hands on Bioware

On that not I'd like to add some news on the situation with the ME3 ending

Stck in EA Drops

It's safe to say from reading this that EA has been delt a major blow to there favourite thing & that's money. I'm not so stupid as to think the ME3 ending outrage is the only factor here but it is certainly the icing on the cake.

I suspect you are right that that's what went wrong with Bioware, DA, yes.

As to the EA stock drop, I'm going to guess that Origin took a lot of money to set up, but that sales have dropped off on EA titles, with the combination leading to a huge drop in profits.

Whether or not that's just a temporary blip is something else, of course...

from what i've seen things have been up in the air with EA since before Christmas last year. With the row between EA & GAME & EA not allowing GAME to stock any of there March release's as well as SWTOR not doing as well as they thought it would. Add on the outrage over DA, now ME3 ending outrage has just gone & added the icing on the cake. I would think it would be in there best interests to listen to the fans & give us what we were promised, multipal endings.

EA? Listen to their customers? It would be a more than welcome first!

yeah true EA doesn't do listen very well lol, but you would think they would listen given how much they love there money.

All I can really say is I hope they never get there hands on Larian that would make me cry.

EA,
brrrr ... they give me a horrible nightmare !
they better do what they love most :
count goldcoints

and stop irritating game developers

LMFAO EA voted WORST company in America

Evil EA

But these video's are pretty cool

Commander Shepard's Song

Take It Back

I already uninstalled the game and that Origin crap. I don't care anymore what crap DLC BioWare will come up with to "fix" their mess.

I moved on to other, better games.

Well me as far as Mass Effect is concerned as you can no doubt tell from the sig lol. I will fight EA all the way to hell, I bought the collecters edition of ME3 & I'll be damd if I'll let them het away with this. I paid for an epic ending & I'll bloddy well get one even if it's the last thing I do I will HOLD THE LINE AGAINST EA.

The only thing I'm interested of EA right now is their "Medieval SIMs".

I'm wondering though, do you think this stunt with the Mass Effect 3 endings could be Biowares attempt to reclaim there company from EA while keeping the rights to Mass Effect.

Bioware Pulling a fast one?

I can't help but wonder if this is what they were attempting because the way Bioware has been acting since EA got there claws on them is majorly out of character for them.

What do you mean you paid for an epic ending? That's not on the box. I'll hold the wine though.

I'm more concerned about the DLC scams, dumbing down of the genre and games being rushed out by Bioware. I doubt EA had anything to do with the ending. Do you think EA told Bioware to make the endings ****? You think they told Bioware to dumb down the dialogue options? I don't think they told Bioware to change Dragon Age's formula either.

Bioware have clearly expressed that all the changes to both series have been their decisions and theirs own. It was their decision to implement Mass Effect's dialogue wheel into Dragon Age 2 just as it was their decision to dumb it down for Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3.

It's funny seeing all these "theories" popping up on YouTube though. Here's a video trying to debunk that Indoctrination theory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plg0zWh_hGM

Judging by the dislikes not many have accepted it. It's almost like watching a religious debate though with all these theories and videos popping up.

I can almost imagine Bioware watching all the chaos unfold from some tower high up while their faces slowly morph into the troll face as they sip wine from exquisite glasses.

News : http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/newsbit?newsbit=19395

No but considering they've said today that they are releasing epiloge & editional DLC for the ending in the summer suggests that EA made them remove part of the ending to sell as DLC. I would not put that passed EA for a second taking the day 1 DLC into account as well & it says to me I smell something rotten.

I meen come on everyone knows how much EA love's it's DLC & considering that the ending DLC is anounced for this summer. Well I'm sorry but DLC of that kind takes awhile to make so they were already planning on it so it boils down to this.

A, they ran out of time & put the sh**y ending in there because EA refused to delay the launch for it to be finished. Jeniffer Hale (fem shep) addmitted to still be doing her role in november last yer.

B, It was left out on perpose so that it could be sold as DLC later on down the line.

knowing how EA works I'm almost certain it's B

Larian PLEASE whatever you do I Beg you NEVER sell out to EA

Well you're getting an expansion on the endings now with new cinematics and epilogue scenes to explain what happens after the endings for free. Check Alrik's link. I read it from here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17626125

Here's Bioware on the matter:

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/324/index/11028404

It's called the Extended Cut. I wonder if it'll add new gameplay content though. Whether this makes the endings any better though is unknown to me. I haven't even played the full game and experienced the endings to say what could make them better.

I know about the extended cut I've been part of the retake Mass Effect movement since it started. The DLC they are offering won't explain everything away we need a change not "clarification" as Bioware call it.

The biggest problem with the ending is the so called twist they add at the end.

WARNING: if you haven't finished Mass Effect 3 yet then do not click this link.

The Biggest Plothole Of The Game

Wow, DA! That's a heck of a well argued post! My hat is off to you!

I love Mass Effect & that is the reason I feel so strongly about this bu***hit ending they've lumbered us with. If they think this "clarification" DLC will make any difference to the problems I mentioned in my rant then they are more than likely wrong. The only way starchilds existance in the game can be "clarified" is by way on the indoctrination theory. Then again they've already debunked that theory if you read Mike Gambles Twiter so the "clarification" DLC as they call it is just going to end up being a time bomb waiting to go off. Starchild is the biggest plot hole of the whole ending & I don't get how they think they'll be able to "clarify" him.

The impression I get from everything I've read (The situation interesting me far more than the abusively DRMed games! :D) is that Bioware wanted to create a unique and unexpected ending to the series, but unfortunately they didn't really know how to do it, so went about it the wrong ways.

There are so many obvious missteps, from the sudden inclusion of multi-player in the third game of a single player series to promising 16 endings and delivering three. Worse, those three don't seem to have any relationship with anything the player has ever done throughout the rest of the series.

To me, the three most obvious endings in anything like ME would be 'win', 'stalemate' and 'lose', as it is basically about a war. But there's none of that. For more endings, you could graduate from 'total win' to 'total loss' with many shades between. Those are things that would make sense.

But to end a three game series where everything till the end was predicated on player choice, then take that choice away at the point of climax is... An unusual decision, shall we say! Everything you've done through all three games up to that point is rendered completely meaningless. I can't think I'd be happy with that, either...

never mind

it would'nt be so bad Elliot if the 3 ending were 3 different endings but there not there all near enough identical.

For the curious, my forum's discussion on ME3

From the announcement until people actually played it... And what everyone thought. There's a bit of a tonal shift you guys may find amusing

wow that's an interesting read Eliott, I read all 8 pages although I did'nt click all the links as I've already seen most on the BSN forums. The last guy that posted though should have also added that they not only punished you for not playing ME2 but they also punished you for not playing ME2's DLC. The Arrival DLC being the main one because if you played ME2 & imported to 3 but didn't download Arrival it punish's you by decreasing your war assets. It add's a note to your war assets saying that an elite group of alliane marines sacrificed themselfs to complete the mission you get on that DLC. It also go's so far as to rubb your nose in it by making a comment stating how you could have really used there expertise in the current situation.

Oh, that's REALLY bad! Do you mind if I quote that in the thread over there, DA?

No go ahead, people need to be aware of the fact that Mass Effect 3 is out to get you if you haven't played all the games & DLC

Thanks

Didn't really want to pinch your entire post without crediting you!

you might want to correct the bad spelling & typos first though lol

Well, I COULD have, but it seemed rather disrespectful to quote someone then correct everything...

I wouldn't have minded, I'm the first to admit my spelling is sh** lol. besides I'm well aware my skills lay more in my observations rather than my explanations so I'm not bothered if people want to correct my spelling

It would annoy the flip out of me if someone went through correcting any of MY errors, so I extend others the same courtesy I would hope for myself

I always figure the content of a post is far more important than the grammar & spelling, anyway

thats a really good attitude to have it's a shame more people don't share your point of veiw. The world would be a much better place if people were a little more excepting of the fact that everyone has different strengths & weakness'.

As for my post on the ME3 Arrival DLC I noticed it when I imported my save from ME2. I loaded up an early save file from 2 where i had'nt done the Shadow Broker or Arrival. I saw the message in my war assets & was more than a little annoyed so I imported a different save & started again. Lucky for me that I'd only just done the 1st mission so I was still at the start of the game.

People are people, I figure

On the ME3 thing - yeah, I have to say it does sound like Bioware are dead set on screwing as much money as possible out of their poor long suffering customers. It's a shame. Since DA:O they seem to have been blinded by little dollar signs in their eyes.

I'd say not they have been blinded - but rather EA or at least Bioware's superiors have (I mean the middle charge between EA & Bioware, those who are trying to connect both).


Edit : accidentally wrote : "Bioweare"

I think many gamers are becoming 'Bioweary' Alrik, so you may be on to something, there!

I'd have to agree with you on that one Elliot Bioweary sounds spot on lol

lol all that needs to be said about the ending