First Mass Effect 3 review – new details and info

Mass Effect 3 is being released on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on 9 March in South Africa. It’s easily one of the year’s most anticipated games, and will mark the final chapter in the Mass Effect trilogy, completing Commander Shepard’s story.

So far preview feedback has been positive, and now the first review has gone live via German Magazine GameStar.

Mass Effect 3

New details

The main quest will take 15-20 hours to complete.
Around 40 hours of playtime in side missions will be required to amass enough opposition to the Reaper threat.
There is a total of around 90 minutes of cutscenes.
The game doesn’t leave an “loose ends” or cliffhangers. It has been described as an “appropriate end” with a “very intense and touching finale.”
The number of side-quests players complete will affect the ending, determining who survives, both individually and globally.
There’s an “interesting” sequence after the credits.
The character customization options are broader, with each class having 8 talents, each with 6 levels. From level 4 each splits into two branches from which players can choose.
Weapon customization is also more important than in previous games, but the affects are still only marginal.
Playing the game above the “medium” difficulty setting is noticeably more difficult than in previous games, and appropriate weapon mods and talent use is key to surviving.
“Progress in the war effort is constantly trackable on a terminal on the Normandy.

Review impressions

“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 modelled however, and the overall look, despite its age, is quite moody.”
“Great dynamic soundtrack and sound-effects.”
“The AI is still not very advanced.”
“In summary, the game builds on the strengths of ME2 and takes some notes from ME1 to create the most compelling experience in the franchise yet.”