Chronicle of a Death Foretold - Mass Effect 3 Verdict Part I: Hype

Oh boy. How to tackle this? Yes, after a month of waiting I’ve finally broken down and ordered Mass Effect 3, the game I officially vowed to never buy or play. But let’s be honest, we all know that being a principled gamer like that is nigh impossible. Why did I buckle and buy? Simple. I need to write about this game with firsthand opinion. Also it’s already gotten a lot cheaper since release, so there you go.

What do I expect from Mass Effect 3 based on previews? I cannot approach this game the same way I approached any other game I’ve reviewed here. I know almost everything about Mass Effect 3 already. I know the beginning is crap, I know the ending to be a ridiculous letdown. Being a snarkass, I even knew the latter part before the game was out and everyone was surprised by it. I have a good grasp of what stories there will be as I play. And I know I will collapse on the floor laughing when James Vega enters because seriously, who put him in that game and expects anyone not to treat it - or rather that single character - as a poor attempt at parody of videogame cliché in general?

I know characters will die. There will be Reapers, combat, conclusions and some mechs will fall from the sky. They won’t have neat locational damage indicators like Binary Domain’s robot armadas but rather just a simple red bar of health that will diminish with damage dealt. Basically, I know a lot about the shortcomings, and as I said, I’m a snarkass. I don’t like BioWare much. So obviously, I soak up all the information about where they screwed up this time, dismissing what they got right instantly. I have a very selective memory in this respect.

So, knowing this much about Mass Effect 3’s shortcomings and having ignored all its achievements (as in gameplay, as opposed to, you know, ‘cheevos’ as some people call those pesky useless popups), I sure hope that I will be indeed pleasantly surprised when I play it. It’s the boon of pessimism, ‘if something bad happens, I’m proven right, if not I’m pleasantly surprised’.

Essentially, the best I think I can expect of Mass Effect 3 is an enjoyable game that I will play and like while playing, but pick apart and dismiss as overrated when I'm done with it. Similar things happened to me with Mass Effect 2. It was good while it lasted (except for the damn mining minigame), but after it was over, things fell apart under scrutiny. This doesn’t mean that it’s a horrible, horrible game per se, just that I think it’s not quite as good as many people claim it to be.

But as a person writing about videogames, I can’t just ignore a Mass Effect title. Not least of all because my god damn Twitter feed was filled with nothing but endless ranting about ‘that ending’ for weeks on end. I say bring it, Mass Effect 3. Entertain me, but and be be ready to be picked to pieces when we’re done. Oh god, no pun or allusion intended there. Quick, think of Liara making her best Eva Green impression to wipe your mind of that mental image.

I will, of course, import my ME2 Shepard. I don’t even remember who lived and who died on the suicide mission. I know a few died. Even though I still was stocked on MediGel. Ah well. The good old ludonarrative dissonance of ‘Aerith dies even though player has still phoenix downs’. Can’t be helped. Weirdest thing is, I’m actually looking forward to this game, despite the deluge of vitriol I’ve fired its way.

It’ll be an interesting ride seeing where this’ll take me.