Originally Posted by
Flextt
I just finished my playthrough of ME 3 as Vanguard on Normal. I purposefully started a savegame and went the whole paragon route from ME 1 through ME 2 to set up for ME 3. Yes, in all plot relevant decisions, I would take the paragon choice / make a paragon interrupt. I did it, because I find the display of Shepard as someone with deep humanist views extremely well done and because it simply fits better to me. So I wanted to deliver a small, personal review and exchange views!
Combat
- What I liked was the more dynamic combat. Biotic & tech scale much better than before compared to weapon damage, though I still expect it to be a problem on Hardcore or Insanity. Shepard moves smoother, though the cover system is worse than in comparable games, albeit less so than in ME2. The game still does not like it, if you run on a sharp angle towards cover, causing you to glitch along cover and maybe die trying, which is both frustrating and unnecessary.
- The weapon customization was a nice re-addition, since I had a lot of fun building a nuclear-rocket-launcher-sniper-rifle in ME 1. Though not as in-depth, it offers possibilities to give your weapons adjustments to your playstyle.
- The lack of enemy diversity was clearly a let-down. Although they increased the number of husk forms significantly, it still feels cheap to exclusively fight Cerberus and Reapers. Especially when considering that their combatants are pretty interchangeable. (Assault Trooper – Cannibal, Marauder – Centurion, …)
- What bugged me was that I couldn't control my squad mates sometimes. They would idle at choke points instead of going to their designated positions, forcing me to fight segments alone and ignoring my commands.
My class: Vanguard
Vanguard was still a let-down. Heavy melee has a high miss quota (or I simply suck, but at times I had problems even taking a husk out because they would strafe around me) you cannot really afford and Biotic Charge's damage and utility are heavily situation-dependent at best. The only moments I really liked playing Vanguard was when I was able to charge to an enemy to get a closer to my mission checkpoint and trigger some sort of cutscene. I also felt, that for using Shotguns you would need to be truly committed. Often high weight, low range, long downtimes and bad synergies make it feel like the worst choice possible. Biotic Charge presents itself as a gap closer, while it is basically a support tool for your squad members or a finisher for fights, because you often end up way too exposed. The fact that you encounter melee-adept enemies very often doesn't help the cause of the Vanguard for your CC possibilities will be limited as long as any kind of extra protection is up. Don't really have a lot of good to say about being a Vanguard^^<
Story
The main missions felt pretty epic. The way you are able to secure the required alliances, build up your force and then finally unleash it provided a great frame for the story. As a bit of a lore nut, seeing most major issues in ME's universe resolved was even more satisfactory. To force me into a buggy coop whose games never start at least for me feels very constructed to get a perfect game. It may have been left better to leave it out entirely. Cerberus' growth from a small, but well-organized terrorist group into a full-fledged army with cruisers and the capabilities to take on Alliance and Citadel military within 6 months felt a bit off, but I don't want to complain. I just get to kill more of them that way. Even though I let Anderson become the Human Councilor, I was sad to see that they greatly exaggerated their “1000 variables” players get to import, because Udina was in power. What's worse, they would show minor characters from DLCs simply as tokens to their customers instead of focus on such important stuff, e.g. David Archer in the biotic academy from the ME 2 DLC Overlord. Then there is the small issue with the ending. I failed the last Paragon check with the Illusive Man, so I had to drop him through the renegade check, though I doubt I could have achieved a higher paragon rating, because I did every assignment except 3 small ones on the Citadel, which I could not trigger. I played the Paragon route, because I liked Shepard's humanist ideals and belief in faith and individualism. The only choice remotely enabling me to keep that kind of style would be to turn into a reaper and control them, which still feels cheap because I expected to be able to work for a “perfect” ending given enough effort similar to the suicide mission in ME2. To make use of a deus ex machina was generally a bad move and devalued the whole series which had brilliant lore. Even though the Reapers were unfathomable before, I was content with the explanation ME 2 hinted at: That they simply reap us to build new reapers and to dominate inferior organic life. What's even more depressing: The Paragon resolution of the Quarian-Geth conflict hints at the possibility of a peaceful coexistence between organics and synthetics, which the Guardian dismisses without even mentioning or considering, seemingly putting the decisions at the end out of the context and hence, deprives Mass Effect of one of its greatest strength: Continuity of your decisions.
Technical stuff
Graphics seemed worse than in ME 2 actually. Faces were improved, but most clothing and textures overall looked very low-resolution.
Squad members
Though some people complain they were Zaeed'ed, they still talk frequently with you with more random triggers. Given the shift of focus from managing an elite team to gathering a massive armada, I am perfectly fine with the state given in ME3. The amount of promotion made for the survivor of Virmire turned out to be pitiful in both ME 2 and ME 3 however. Ashley rarely talked and did not gain any depth, except a bit of stage time as a new Spectre. In fact, a lot of reunions from previous encounters have high amounts of repetition instead of new development, like with Miranda who recounts her whole ME 2 dialogue again. Funnily enough Thane got more attention than others though he remained one of the more boring characters lore-wise. But in any case, the Mordin arc should have brought quite a number to tears.