Mass Effect 3 Review and Interview

Our German friends at GameStar managed to get their hands on an early copy of Mass Effect 3, and have published a favorable review in the latest issue of the magazine that concludes with an overall score of 9/10. The content found within has been summarized over at the BioWare Social Network, in case you’re wondering why it scored higher than ME1 and ME2:

-15-20 hour-long main quest
-Around 40 hours playtime in total- side missions are vital to amass enough opposition to the Reaper threat
-90 minutes of cutscenes
-No loose ends or cliffhangers, the game is truly an appropriate end to the trilogy with a very intense and touching finale
-More than 100 scenes, conversations and/or events change depending on our choices- from something small like someone thanking us for completing a mission to bigger repercussions which would be to spoilerous to write down- you are definitely going to feel the consequences, and not always like them
-SPOILER: In order to rally allies, we search for a cure for the Genophage, build a Prothean weapon, disarm a Cerberus bomb before it destroys half of a moon, and are even inserted virtually in a computer program
-If and how many of these quests we complete influences how the game ends, and who- individually and globally- survives
-While the game can be enjoyable for newcomers as well, because the game is strong on its own mechanically and story-wise, it is recommended to play the first two entries to make more sense out of the wealth of information that the game builds on
-There’s an interesting sequence after the end credits
-The ‘žRole-Play( mode of the game (In contrast to ‘žAction( and ‘žStory() feels very much like ME1
-The game gives you more opportunity to customize your Shepard. Each class has 8 talents with 6 levels each, and up from Level 4 there are two branches to choose from to level up each individual talent differently. Weapon customization is also a factor and noticeable, but the effects (which have both pros and cons) are only marginal
-Balancing isn’t optimal
-The game is noticeably more difficult up from ‘žMedium(, which makes using the correct weapon mods and talents integral to survive. Shepard also shoots more accurately in cover.
-The AI, on the other hand, is still not very advanced
-SPOILER: You are going to visit Krogan ruins, a Geth ship and the Turian moon Palaven, among others
-There are multiple turret sections which aren’t very well directed
-Despite the shortcomings in level design, which are similar to ME2, the game is constantly thrilling, spectacular and dramatic- largely thanks to the well-presented story and dialogue- and there are lot of small and large choices again to ponder on
-Scanning isn’t nearly as repetitive as before, because it works a lot quicker now and incorporates a new mini-game where you have to navigate your ship away from Reaper threat
-The new melee option is fun, but a little overpowered
-Graphically, the low polycount, lack of detail and low texture resolution disappoints- the characters are well animated and modeled however, and the overall look, despite its age, is quite moody
-Great dynamic soundtrack and sound-effects
-Our progress in the war effort is constantly trackable on a terminal on the Normandy

Additionally, they’ve put an interview with Casey Hudson online, which I’ll have to run through Google Translate to make heads or tails out of:

“It’s about to hatch a plan by searching across the galaxy to help knowledge-rich and war material,” said Casey Hudson. And of course for allies: Shepard must unite the peoples of the galaxy, which is pretty tricky.

“There are disagreements and conflicts between species”, explains Hudson. “Shepard is it so hard pressed to find enough friends to carry the fight to the Reapers can.” For completeness: The hero commanded no fleets and no moving troops, not Mass Effect 3 to the mutated strategy game.

The question remains as Shepard recruited his buddies. Casey Hudson says. “He draws people to his side, as he understands their problems and helping them to solve the” one Grast so easy like in Mass Effect 2 from planet to fulfill orders and crew members to hire? Including, but not only.