Mass Effect 3 review

Mass Effect 3 brings the Commander Shepard trilogy to a close, but the end of BioWare's epic tale continues to evolve the boundaries of story-telling and moral choice to maddening heights.

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I sit mentally slack jawed considering the completion of Mass Effect 3. The word epic gets bandied about a lot in describing video games. That's a shame. Never has it been more applicable and I want to convey just how momentous this event is. Mass Effect 3 concludes this classic sci-fi saga in truly epic fashion. The heroic Commander Shepard leads the universe in its final desperate fight to survive against the overwhelming might of the alien Reapers in a scenario that would be equally at home on the pages of a New York Times bestseller or a blockbuster Hollywood production. But there's more here. My investment goes well beyond that of a book or a movie. I've logged well over a hundred hours in the three games over the past five years. In that time I became my Shepard. Now, in Mass Effect 3, this is completely my story, my conclusion to the fight, with all the ramifications of my actions and decisions come home to roost. Yet the immediacy of the action and the well-directed rhythm of its story make Mass Effect 3 not only the best of the three, but a game anyone could enjoy completely on its own. I see it, though, through the battle-hardened eyes of my Shepard. I cannot separate my perception of Mass Effect 3 from that of my Shepard because so much of it reflects the choices we've made together. She--yes, I play a fem-Shep--is complex. When I struck out on this adventure in the first game I made a conscious decision to develop her personality as more of a survivor, a loner who valued self-preservation, as opposed to the archetypal do-gooder I typically play. In Mass Effect terms, this makes her a 'renegade' as opposed to the altruistic 'paragon.' I felt okay with this decision because the difference between the two promised to be more than simply good versus evil. While this proved true over the first two games, the relationship between the two sides remained polar, requiring unwavering commitment to my chosen renegade path to maximize the development of Shepard.

Squad up!

Mass Effect 3 squelches this all-or-nothing dynamic by making Shepard's reputation a combined function of both sides of her personality. This opens up the door to the more real world shades of gray that color tough decisions. Free of the need to automatically select the renegade option to maximize Shepard's development, I found myself examining each situation with much great scrutiny. "What would this Shepard I've imagined do in this situation?" I kept asking myself. While stimulating such provocative thinking sets Mass Effect 3 apart, it also exposes the limitations in current game design. In real situations there become nearly infinite permutations to the outcome as decisions shift. The game lacks such fidelity. Instead of shades of gray, it's more like a shade or two. Complicating matters, the "pure" renegade (and likewise paragon I presume) choices tend to the more extreme expression of the personality, perhaps to better expand the spectrum to make room for the compromise positions. This put my Shepard in a jam. Some of these radical renegade actions fell well outside her acceptable boundaries. But while backing off and taking the paragon approach wouldn't hurt her development in the game, it didn't feel right either. This brought about a crisis of conscience for me and my Shepard. I began to question every decision we'd made over the course of our journey. Part of me admires Mass Effect 3 for evoking such a strong response, but another recognizes that it comes as much from promising me more than a black-and-white relationship between paragon and renegade and never quite living up to that. Either way, we made peace with the past as the tempo of the game stepped up, leaving no time for indecision. Mass Effect 3 starts off with a bang and then hits a strong stride that ebbs and flows to allow tension to build and releases, but at an ever increasing level of intensity. The central storyline can be followed without distraction, but the side missions that are worked in naturally provide just the right pacing and all add meaningful development to the plot. Even the exploration element of the game better contributes to the core game this time out, though it still becomes tedious at times. Mass Effect 3 also completes the evolution of the game into a sophisticated hybrid of role-playing and action. Combat lives up to top-tier third-person-shooter standards every bit as well as the character and narrative systems reflect the best of RPGs. The blend of ballistic weapons, tech skills, and magic-like biotic powers has become seamless. They are all balanced near perfectly to one another, making it a tactical pleasure developing squadmates to fulfill combat roles and then executing with them in game. The new co-op multiplayer mode reflects the strength of the combat system. It's the big surprise of Mass Effect 3. The "horde mode" concept of teaming up with others to hold off waves of enemies brings out the best in the overlapping support capabilities of the different classes in the game. The extra kicker comes from the connection that factors playing co-op missions into the campaign giving it that extra addictive quality from a sense of accomplishing something every time I play a match. From start to finish, Mass Effect 3 achieves at its peak by invisibly meshing all its parts to allow me to fluidly experience the adventure alongside my Shepard. It melds the story progression of the first game with an even yet improved combat engine of the second to create a game that achieves more than just the sum of those two parts. I genuinely felt I controlled the destiny of my Shepard. I reveled in those moments when being a renegade so perfectly meshed with her character more than once eliciting a "hell, yeah" from me as she told the galaxy to get its act together to fight the Reapers. Maybe the very strength of that bond with the game made my questioning its conclusion an inevitability. One thing I do know for certain, though; I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.
[This Mass Effect 3 review is based on the retail Xbox 360 version of the game, provided by publisher Electronic Arts.]
From The Chatty
  • reply
    March 6, 2012 8:15 AM

    Garnett Lee posted a new article, Mass Effect 3 review.

    Mass Effect 3 brings the Commander Shepard trilogy to a close, but the end of BioWare's epic tale continues to evolve the boundaries of story-telling and moral choice to maddening heights.

    • reply
      March 6, 2012 9:03 AM

      May I ask a favour? If you don't mind, could you please list your relative order of preference between 1, 2 and 3?

      I ask because I preferred 1 over 2 by a significant margin.

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      March 6, 2012 9:04 AM

      Nothing bad at all to day about this game? It's all good? No buds or flaws out things yo didn't enjoy?

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        March 6, 2012 9:07 AM

        Nope, it's a AAA game. Wait for the post-mortem to get how reviewers really felt, when their early access and ad dollars aren't on the line.

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          March 6, 2012 9:37 AM

          lol, is that really what its come to? Triple AAA titles unless obviously flawed ALWAYS get a great review.

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            March 6, 2012 12:25 PM

            Imagine a world where Halo 2 received bad reviews because the cut-scenes had terrible pop-in, and the xbox platform became irrelevant. Some-times a game just cannot fail.

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      March 6, 2012 9:04 AM

      "Combat lives up to top-tier third-person-shooter standards every bit as well as the character and narrative systems reflect the best of RPGs. "

      Said plainly, no it doesn't. It's a boring grind of corridor arenas with big hit point bags for enemies. This hyperbole is completely ridiculous.

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        March 6, 2012 9:06 AM

        If it's anything like the second, or a further degeneration in terms of gameplay, I agree completely.

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        March 6, 2012 9:09 AM

        I bet Garnett unlocked some DLC for this review. Put in enough buzzwords and EA sends you a code to redeem for ME3 DLC.

      • reply
        March 6, 2012 9:17 AM

        Hm, that's an interesting sentence depending on how one parses it.

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        March 6, 2012 12:28 PM

        It's a review by Garnett Lee, what did you expect?

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        March 12, 2012 6:40 AM

        I disagree with you. There's not a better third person shooter out there. I've always felt gears didn't offer enough variability in the ways you could attack its horde mode. Having all the different classes and powers makes for a better experience here in ME3.

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      March 6, 2012 9:10 AM

      i see you talking all about "MY" Shepard, how about new people, someone who never played MF 1 nor 2... I tried demo and i was totally lost of who i who and why i was doing what i was told to do...

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        March 6, 2012 9:13 AM

        This is like jumping in to Lord of the Rings at book 3 and wondering what the hell everyone is on about. Play the first 2, they're cheap and pretty entertaining.

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          March 6, 2012 10:47 AM

          that's the problem, i don't find them fun... its very repetitive... i was hoping the 3rd one will get me in, but without story you cant play it...

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        March 6, 2012 10:50 AM

        Other reviews I've read have said the game is very accessible to people who haven't played the first two. There are dialogue options for more backstory for events you missed out on, the option to make a lot of decisions up front that you would have made in previous games, or the option to just jump right in and play and let the game make those choices for you.

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      March 6, 2012 9:14 AM

      You actually like that you're almost required to play the multiplayer to get the best ending?

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        March 6, 2012 9:16 AM

        The most irritating feature about this game is the damn multi-player. You should be able to get the same content/endings with singplayer. If people don't want to play with anyone and keep their world their owns, they should be allowed to do so.

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          March 6, 2012 9:20 AM

          I believe the devs said you can get all the endings through SP/MP or a combo of the two... so you don't have to play multiplayer at all. You would just have to do all the side missions during your SP run through to get enough galactic readiness points or whatever.

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            March 6, 2012 9:22 AM

            That's what they said but it sounds like it's near impossible without the multiplayer
            http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/03/06/mass-effect-3-war-assets-and-readiness-how-multiplayer-affects-your-ending/

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              March 6, 2012 9:31 AM

              That just makes it seem like it you didn't do things "correctly" in past games then it makes it harder to get the good ending in 3. I'd be a lot more pissed at the co-op stuff if the co-op was

              a. behind an online code
              b. sucked
              c. was traditional mutliplayer deathmatch

              thankfully non of the above things are true so I look forward to playing the co-op with shackers, because co-op is fun and if it helps me in the SP then great.

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              March 6, 2012 12:22 PM

              HELLO. "It’s all rather… dirty. Presumably they’re trying to encourage you to try the multiplayer because to do well in it, you have to buy or earn unlockable items, and you can get these for real money."
              DIng. Ding. Ding. (and I don't mean Chavez)

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          March 6, 2012 9:23 AM

          You can get the best ending by just playing SP, you just have to do everything in the SP game and play very very thoroughly.

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          March 6, 2012 9:32 AM

          While that was everyone's reaction, I haven't read anything negative about it. It's supposed to be purely optional, no detriment to your campaign if you don't do it, and it's fun.

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            March 6, 2012 9:42 AM

            It might just be me, but Mass Effect world has always been my own private story. It's one of the few games I can really get sucked into. I don't really want to share my choices with someone until I've beaten the game a few times on single player.

            After that, I would be more than willing to share the experience of the game with another person.

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              March 6, 2012 10:02 AM

              And it still is. Only now if you want you can make a new character to try abilities and builds that aren't your character. Fighting a different front. It makes sense and doesn't break the reality. Plus you can skip it and still 100% the game.

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        March 6, 2012 9:26 AM

        Don't they just use a points system to determine the ending?

        Best ending is achievable just by playing the single player. Multiplayer and all of the facebook/ios/whatever games just give you additional points, making it easier to achieve it.

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        March 6, 2012 9:35 AM

        [deleted]

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          March 6, 2012 9:46 AM

          I have no complaints here for doing everything to get the best ending. That sounds reasonable -- my only complaint was (I thought) you had to do multi-player to get the best ending vs just playing it on single-player.

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        March 6, 2012 9:37 AM

        "If you aren't interested in performing the optional tasks required to fill up the "Effective Military Strength" bar and get the game's best (or, at least, most prepared) ending, you can fill it up halfway and then raise your readiness rating via the game's multiplayer. By default, the rating starts at 50 percent, so for every bit of help you're getting by completing tasks, you're only getting half of its true value. Again, it's pretty trivial to get twice the amount you need and fill the bar completely before embarking on the game's final missions, so the multiplayer isn't a vital component to the campaign. But it still has some interesting ideas that almost make me wish it played a heavier role."

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        March 6, 2012 9:43 AM

        Worse is that the multi-player doesn't scale by design. If you only have on friend online that wants to play it's the same difficulty as playing with three other people. They didn't want to put in a scaling difficulty system.

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          March 6, 2012 9:50 AM

          Is the default set to easy and more players make it even easier, or is it hard for one player and more players make it easier?

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          March 6, 2012 9:53 AM

          [deleted]

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            March 6, 2012 9:56 AM

            Same. It was like hitting yourself in the head with a bat repeatedly. I got the chance to ask the lead MP designer about it and he said they made it for 4 players. Not sure why they couldn't have done some dynamic balancing. I assume they ran out of time, he wouldn't say.

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          March 6, 2012 10:53 AM

          how does the multiplayer interact given 3 different SP modes? the gameplay matrix of ME3 is so confusing

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        March 6, 2012 2:40 PM

        Is there a time limit for you to gather resources? Or can I delay it until I can manage to schedule enough 4 player coop sessions?

    • reply
      March 6, 2012 9:14 AM

      It still looks like another Halo....more action, less story, easy to beat. *sigh* I have low expectations for this game, but I need an ending to the story.

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        March 6, 2012 10:19 AM

        The lower your expectations the better chance you have at enjoying a game. So I would say lower them either further "game probably won't start, will have 16 bit graphics, only 2 people in a squad at a time, game story is only 4 hours long, ect"

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      March 6, 2012 9:47 AM

      If EA hasn't explained this, you can absolutely complete the game to its full extent without ever doing a thing online. It requires spending more time on the collection stuff but if you're like me and can't see that stuff without needing to go get it, that's a moot point.

    • reply
      March 6, 2012 9:48 AM

      Free DLC:

      You can get a free M-90 Indra Sniper Rifle DLC if you sign up on Alienware arena
      www.alienwarearena.com/giveaway/mass-effect-3-giveaway

      Reverse-engineered from the Cerberus Arc Projector, the Indra is a prototype sniper-rifle that fires a path of ionized air, then electrifies targets with a lightning bolt of electricity. By first piercing a target with a high-powered shot, the Indra weakens kinetic shields and maximizes damage to electrical systems.

      **Please note this M-90 Indra Sniper Rifle key will only work on the PC version of the game.

      • reply
        March 6, 2012 1:33 PM

        No one is interested?

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          March 6, 2012 1:36 PM

          That was posted last night. I also reposted to a couple of Twitch streams. I'm surprised there're any left.

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            March 6, 2012 1:36 PM

            Dag. Still 1950 left of the 6500 I saw last night.

    • reply
      March 6, 2012 10:08 AM

      Some people have nothing better to do. Guess there's a campaign to try and give ME3 the lowest user score possible on metacritic.

      http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/mass-effect-3

      Then Jarret lee the marketing manager at bioware responded with this on their forums. "It's disturbing and probably will be quite damaging. "

    • reply
      March 6, 2012 12:17 PM

      I got to play for a few hours last night and I like it. The new features of inv mgmt threw me off but they have a tutorial for this.

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      March 6, 2012 1:36 PM

      used games.

      i know i'm the devil, but when my brother is done i'm just going to play his copy. will i have to pay for cerebus network or whatever the fuck or have they just totally found a way to negate playing used copies?

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        March 6, 2012 1:42 PM

        Only the multiplayer will be locked out if you use a used copy. The other day 1 DLC is only for CE owners or people who wanna pay for the optional content

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          March 6, 2012 1:44 PM

          oh ok cool i dgaf about mp. i just want to finished the sp.

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        March 6, 2012 2:37 PM

        You're going to borrow your brother's game?!? You just killed a Bioware employee's entire family

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          March 6, 2012 2:56 PM

          probably just one of the 400 dlc rifle model art guys. no big loss.

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      March 6, 2012 2:19 PM

      Yep, going to have to pick this up. No sign of it on Steam, - guessing it's not hitting Valve's platform then.

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        March 6, 2012 2:28 PM

        This is not news. It had been established weeks/months ago that ME3 would not be on Steam "at launch" (perhaps in the future)

        In any event, I won't be buying it until it is.

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        March 7, 2012 9:06 PM

        ME3 = Bioware = EA = Origin (competitive download service to Steam).

        You'll never see this game on Steam.

    • reply
      March 10, 2012 2:47 PM

      I had some major problems with the first two, but they grew on me over the years. When I started playing this one, I was excited to be back in that world though. I even started to enjoy the armor and weapon systems, which was something I've always held a grudge against the others for.

      When I did the final mission though, my jaw hit the floor. Why did they have to end it that way?

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        March 10, 2012 5:38 PM

        The ending to this game was genuinely the biggest disappointment I've ever experienced as a gamer. Ever. What a let-down.

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          March 10, 2012 7:24 PM

          Here's the problem. not only was jason killed and the argo destroyed, but all the seas were dried too. Effectively ending adventure.

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            March 12, 2012 7:11 AM

            Do you even know how the story of Jason ends? I'm gonna just put it loose in here cause its got zero to do with the ME3 ending. As a result of breaking his vow to love Medea forever, Jason lost his favor with Hera and died lonely and unhappy. He was asleep under the stern of the rotting Argo when it fell on him, killing him instantly. Of course that was after Medea killed their three children. Not exactly a happy ending, or full of adventure. Maybe the Greeks aren't where you should go to look for great endings...

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              March 12, 2012 11:04 AM

              I didn't say he lived in that story, or or that shepard should either I said the way they did it made sure there would be no more adventures. "Not only did those things happend, but also ... etc."

              I didn't say it needed to be any kind of ending, other than not one that ended all beginings too

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                March 12, 2012 3:42 PM

                I think you are underestimating the strength of the simple premise of the Mass Effect Universe. Also
                I'm nervous about this tag since I've never used it before....anyway I would think that if you pick what people are calling the "best" ending that it does nothing but open up the universe to even more diverse story avenues. It just won't involve anyone who was lost in the end of the game. Hope that was guarded enough in case I don't do these spoiler tags right./

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                  March 12, 2012 3:42 PM

                  yay I did it.

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                  March 12, 2012 7:09 PM

                  which one is ''the best'', and what exactly is the simple premise I am missing? I guess I'm assuming that the premise of the game is the mass effect relays, seeing as how they allow the different races to even get out of their respective systems, let alone reach each other.

                  The FLT drives only go a few times faster than light, if I remember right. Not nearly fast enough for any kind of commerce to happen. Also, quantum entanglement communication is extremely rare, I think, if it even was used more than once. (I'm not sure)

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                    March 12, 2012 8:30 PM

                    no Mass Effect relays are Mcguffins. the premise of Mass Effect is that machine people and squishy people can't get along. The only Theme to run the course of all three plots. well scifi theme anyway. Plenty of your normal dramatic themes also in there.

                    I guess it's split on the best ending between the one where the singularity happens and everyone(or at least Joker though it's implied the whole of the Galalxy is changed this way) gets all glow eyes, or if you kill the reapers with max galactic readiness, it's implied that Shephard survives the destruction of the crucible. I prefer the singularity ending since it provides the idea that Caprica 6 and Oz from Buffy make techno-organic space babies.

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                      March 13, 2012 12:17 AM

                      Well, okay. I would pin that as THIS story's theme. The premise, though, is that because the mass effect was discovered, humans have created (or recreated) faster than light travel, and have found massive more advanced FLT drives at the edge of the system linking other species. ADVENTURE! SCIENCEY ADVENTURE!

                      Take that new movie, or old book, John Carter of Mars. What the fuck does it matter if he's NOT ON MARS?!

      • reply
        March 12, 2012 7:00 AM

        The ending is pretty classic scifi. It's got a mix of the matrix, wrath of khan, the Zahadoom episode of B5, the conclusion of the David Tenet run of Dr. who, and all the best classic scifi. They explain the mysteries and offer a real exploration of character while exploring the fragility of the human psyche when compared with immensity of history. I liked the ending. I don't know if you could tell a story like ME and have a more "happy" ending.

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          March 12, 2012 11:19 AM

          Again, happy is not what I said should be. In fact, I explicitly said I thought it could be just as ''dark'' *rolls eyes*. It just didnt' HAVE to end that way. I even said that everyone should still die, even ALL current life be destroyed, just not the fucking mass relays. That ends that universe.

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            March 12, 2012 3:44 PM

            They are machines. They can be rebuilt. Its just mean Mass Effect 4 or whatever takes place 10K years in the future future. That's the right. Now we are in God King of Dune Terrority of lore. Exciting.

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              March 12, 2012 7:14 PM

              nobody knows how to make those, I think. They were built by the reapers. They didn't even know what the crucible did, or how it worked.

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                March 12, 2012 7:17 PM

                or maybe they were made by the freakin' ghost of Reapers past. I don't know. Seriously though, what the hell was that supposed to be?

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                March 12, 2012 8:06 PM

                Please...it's a mcguffin. You just say a space wizard did it and get on with the story.

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      March 11, 2012 12:18 PM

      I just read about the campaign to rewrite the ending to be more positive. That's just as stupid as the people who are saying it's good the way it is, because they were always ''dark'' stories. The stories were always about the hope that they would prevail, by my understanding.

      Let me run this by you. here's a ''dark'' ending that is more in keeping with the overarching story. The crucible destoys (or controls) the reapers and kills all organic life, but leaves the mass relays intact. Slowly decend back to the surface of earth and do a time laps until a plant sprouts (or amino acids form a cell) and then cut to black. There, the cycle starts over, but without the looming threat of the reapers this time.

      That took me five minutes. What they did was simply unintelligent.

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        March 12, 2012 8:21 PM

        Well if we are going to start wildly speculating please let me take a crack at the sequel. the son of Shephard and Liara, the first male Asari, creates a suit of purified ezzo giving him the power to become a living Mass Effect Relay. He travels the galaxy in his living ship called Joker, the techno-organic son of EDI and Joker. Of course he's the villain of the story. The hero is some human, let's assume a slave of some kind, possibly a child prostitute. He's trained by the last of the space wizards to fight the evil son of the Shephard, whose name is probably something to with sheep or farming. The slave/child prostitute becomes the greatest of space wizards with the help of tiny friend a miniature Krogan who grew up funny because of Earth's gravity. Also Mordin is there because he rules. I'm a genius.

        That's stolen from, God Emperor of Dune, Farscape, Sword of truth, Arthurian Legend, and a little B5 for flavor. The best scifi is the kind you rip off.

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          March 13, 2012 12:08 AM

          Haha. I am not literally saying that should have, or should be an ending. Just that it took me five minutes to come up with that, and if it were the ending, would you have really picked that as five minute creation? Think about it, if it shipped with that ending, as stupid as it is?

          If you were giving an honest answer, I don't think so.

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            March 13, 2012 8:05 AM

            I'm just saying there are stupider endings. I know. I've read all the Dune prequels and Hunters of Dune which is like a son recounting his dying father's drug induced fever dream. We should feel blessed it didn't all turn into an episode of lost in space, or worse yet the movie version of Lost in Space.

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