Mass Effect 3 a glorious final chapter

Commander Shepard warned them. Did the council listen? No. They remained buried in their own narrow-minded ethnocentrism. Now humanity and the entire galaxy faces the Reapers and turn to the once ostracized Shepard to draw together the various species and factions spread across the galaxy, uniting them under one calling: Survival.

While the same premise is followed excessively in sci-fi RPGs, its execution is the beauty behind Mass Effect 3, the thrilling conclusion to a trilogy that launched Edmonton-based developer Bioware into superstardom back in 2007.

Tragically, the game’s first impression isn’t quite as earth-shattering as fans might hope, especially in the visuals department. I never thought we’d see the day when Mass Effect graphics looked dated. Lip synching isn’t as pristine as in other games and facial expressions often look stiff. Gameplay too isn’t as immediately gripping as it is in the last two games. All these shortcomings are short-lived however.

Within an hour, the character development, emotional undertones and gripping plot all take over. The result is an immediately personal exploration of galactic humanity. Interestingly enough, it’s around this time that the visuals begin to get better, with some of the alien races and locales looking better than ever.

In this version, instead of simply gathering allies, your progress is measured by a readiness rating linked to the war assets you gather from across the galaxy.

Side quests become just as essential as the main quest as you build alliances, increasing your readiness to go to war with the Reapers. This system serves to connect you personally to every quest. Unlike other games where side quests simply give you more experience or better weapons, here everything you do binds you to your calling as the galaxy’s saviour.

Through it all is an undertone of desperation, so no alliance is too big or too small to ensure the survival of one and all. Darker in tone than either of the previous two games, the threat of annihilation has never felt so real as it does in this game. Your quests will force you to cross galactic, racial and personal boundaries to bring the full union of all your resources to best the reapers.

As immense as the game is in its scope and scale, like all Bioware games the main focus is on character. Seeing good ole’ friends return like Garrus, Liara and Jack is like coming home. Sure there are some new characters, but anyone who’s played either of the first two games will likely keep their original squad members (importing a previous character has its own rewards).

A much more personalized experience awaits players this time around. At the initial setup, you can choose the style of game that will unfold, focusing more on action or story. Branching skill trees have been added creating a more streamlined, customizable upgrading system to your biotic and skill-based powers.

Gameplay has also been tightened. The tedium of scanning entire planets for resources that slowed ME2 to a crawl is gone. Now you send out a pulse across a section of a solar system to find resources, money, and artifacts. Instead of scads of weapons and equipment jumbling up your inventory, upgrades purchased and found are applied automatically. Not only has more action been added, but tweaked gunplay mechanics and cover systems lend a newfound fluidity and intensity to the combat.

Mass Effect 3 is the breathtaking conclusion to a sci-fi opera that has been a blessing to gamers of a certain generation. Few will ever forget the name Commander Shepard, brought to life in the first, pushed to extreme in the second and rising to final glory in this final chapter. And he will be missed.

When he’s not teaching junior high school, St. Albert Catholic High School alumnus Derek Mitchell can be found attached to a video game console.