Game Reviews

But there's more here. My investment goes well beyond that of a book or a movie. I've logged well over a hundred hours in the three games over the past five years. In that time I became my Shepard. Now, in Mass Effect 3, this is completely my story, my conclusion to the fight, with all the ramifications of my actions and decisions come home to roost. Yet the immediacy of the action and the well-directed rhythm of its story make Mass Effect 3 not only the best of the three, but a game anyone could enjoy completely on its own.

I see it, though, through the battle-hardened eyes of my Shepard. I cannot separate my perception of Mass Effect 3 from that of my Shepard because so much of it reflects the choices we've made together. She--yes, I play a fem-Shep--is complex. When I struck out on this adventure in the first game I made a conscious decision to develop her personality as more of a survivor, a loner who valued self-preservation, as opposed to the archetypal do-gooder I typically play.

In Mass Effect terms, this makes her a 'renegade' as opposed to the altruistic 'paragon.' I felt okay with this decision because the difference between the two promised to be more than simply good versus evil. While this proved true over the first two games, the relationship between the two sides remained polar, requiring unwavering commitment to my chosen renegade path to maximize the development of Shepard.

Mass Effect 3 squelches this all-or-nothing dynamic by making Shepard's reputation a combined function of both sides of her personality. This opens up the door to the more real world shades of gray that color tough decisions. Free of the need to automatically select the renegade option to maximize Shepard's development, I found myself examining each situation with much great scrutiny. "What would this Shepard I've imagined do in this situation?" I kept asking myself.

While stimulating such provocative thinking sets Mass Effect 3 apart, it also exposes the limitations in current game design. In real situations there become nearly infinite permutations to the outcome as decisions shift. The game lacks such fidelity. Instead of shades of gray, it's more like a shade or two. Complicating matters, the "pure" renegade (and likewise paragon I presume) choices tend to the more extreme expression of the personality, perhaps to better expand the spectrum to make room for the compromise positions.

This put my Shepard in a jam. Some of these radical renegade actions fell well outside her acceptable boundaries. But while backing off and taking the paragon approach wouldn't hurt her development in the game, it didn't feel right either. This brought about a crisis of conscience for me and my Shepard. I began to question every decision we'd made over the course of our journey. Part of me admires Mass Effect 3 for evoking such a strong response, but another recognizes that it comes as much from promising me more than a black-and-white relationship between paragon and renegade and never quite living up to that.

Either way, we made peace with the past as the tempo of the game stepped up, leaving no time for indecision. Mass Effect 3 starts off with a bang and then hits a strong stride that ebbs and flows to allow tension to build and releases, but at an ever increasing level of intensity. The central storyline can be followed without distraction, but the side missions that are worked in naturally provide just the right pacing and all add meaningful development to the plot. Even the exploration element of the game better contributes to the core game this time out, though it still becomes tedious at times.