Critics fall in love with Mass Effect 3

The US release Mass Effect 3 in the US overnight has been met with universal and gushing praise from video game critics.

It’s a fitting end to the trilogy, although it’s not the leap that Mass Effect 2 was from the original,” CVG concluded in its 9.4/10 review.

There’s a lot of new content, and the combat is superior, but it still has the same rhythm and general feel of the last game. That’s an incredibly minor gripe, though. Mass Effect 2 is one of this generation’s best games, so the similarity is no bad thing. It’s iteration rather than repetition.

We’re not sure where BioWare will take Mass Effect next, but we’re glad that Shepard’s story has been given the closure it deserves. Closure that, depending on the choices you make and how strong your army is, will either leave you teary-eyed with joy, or tinged with melancholy. Few endings are so powerful.”

Eurogamer awarded the RPG a reasonably rare 10/10, adding: As with any game that dares to be ambitious, deconstruct Mass Effect 3 into its constituent parts and of course there are flaws, but taken as a whole this is arguably the first truly modern blockbuster, a game that transcends the genre boundaries of old and takes what it needs from across the gaming spectrum in order to finish its story in the most compelling, thrilling, heartbreaking way possible.

Few gaming sagas come to a definitive close, but this one signs off in breathtaking style.”

IGN awarded it a 9.5/10, heaping praise on the game. All told, Mass Effect 3 is an absolutely amazing game, one that successfully puts a bow on the Mass Effect trilogy while still leaving us hungry for even more.

It looks and plays great, but Mass Effect 3’s true strength lies in its ability to tell a deeply-woven story. Better yet, the sheer ambition shown by BioWare in announcing an intersecting trilogy complete with save importation becomes fully realized in Mass Effect 3. BioWare deserves applause for not only having the courage to attempt something like the Mass Effect trilogy, but for pulling it off with such exceptional poise and skill.

Mass Effect 3 isn’t the best game ever made. But it’ll certainly be in the conversation for a very long time to come.”

Mass Effect 3 also becomes the first 10/10 rated title on GameInformer this year. For two full games, we heard about the Reapers. Mass Effect 3 shows us how great this threat is both to the inhabitants of this fictional universe and to the players who must face off against it.

I guided Shepard across three massive games spanning over 100 hours, and feel BioWare has delivered one of the most intricately crafted stories in the history of the medium. After getting to know these characters so well, it’ll be hard to leave this universe behind, but it’s been one hell of a ride.”