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[Lyn Farel]

What happens in that particular destroy variation ?

[Louella Dougans]

it's the one in which someone in N7 armour is seen under some rubble, taking a gasping breath.

[Lyn Farel]

Then I got it, even without playing multi.... oO

[Z.Sinraali]

I don't expect anyone to read an egregious necro like this, but I wanted to process this shit in writing, since I only just got back to the states and was finally able to play this...game. (Of course that also means I've only seen the extended version, which probably colors my perception relative to those who saw the original, shortened ending scenes.) I can't say that I hated it, as much as it ripped my heart out seeing Ashley put Shepard's name up on the memorial wall. (Headcanon: After that last night they spent together, there's going to be a little Shepard running around shortly.)

However, there was one thing that bugged me. It's not that your choices don't matter, which is an open question, but that it's only your choice that matters (or doesn't.) I don't know how many other people cared what they had to say, but for me Shepard's teammates had been the sanity check, the clarifying voice, the sounding board across three games. Hell, you spent the majority of the time in the series gathering allies, because one of the biggest themes of the entire setting is that you cannot do it alone.

But there Shepard is, at the end of it all, alone. (Except for a shithead AI that's basically an insane troll logic generation algorithm run amok.) Even granting the faintly contrived circumstances of being forced to evacuate your comrades, the radio is fully functional! You're talking to Hackett just a few moments before having to decide the fate of the galaxy, and yet no one thinks to put him or her in contact with the Normandy. No chance to ask advice from the people he or she's been to hell and back with, or tell them the truth about what's happening, or even time for an actual goodbye to the love interest. (That evac chat was weaksauce and an afterthought anyways, so it doesn't count.)

And thus was the end rendered significantly less interesting.

[Bacchanalian]

Seems I need to replay it.  You seem distinctly less ragey than anyone who played the original ending. 

[Z.Sinraali]

Well, I heard all the rage beforehand (though managed to avoid spoilers, praise FSM), so I went in with very low expectations.

[Laerise [PIE]]

You cannot be put into contact with the Normandy because Shep's been indoctrinated, is it really that hard to understand? 

[Matoko]

This article more or less sums up my feelings on the endings as written.

Even with the extended cut, it's just... Yes, I'm glad they actually fleshed out what happened (because the original endings were vague as fuck). But the fact they had to create a DLC pack just to explain their ending in the hopes that the customer base won't storm their HQ building with torches and pitchforks? That's not a good sign. That's not a good sign at all.

Now, all that being said, I had (and continue to have) a ton of fun with the multiplayer aspect. Kudos for them on getting that right (mostly; I've lost a couple of packs to crappy net code since release, although they seem to have finally cleared that up). I just wish I could say the same for the campaign. You know, what the game was supposed to be designed around.

[Morwen Lagann]

I play the multiplayer most evenings with Karm, his roommate and Inara, and occasionally with a couple of the guys from Veto.

This weekend's challenge is gonna be hilaaaaaaaaaarious.

In other news, Citadel, the last single-player DLC was released yesterday.

Storyline is kinda short - took me maybe... 3-4* hours to finish, compared to maybe 6-7 for Leviathan and Omega, the other single-player DLCs - but there's LOTS of stuff to do after that in the new area of the Citadel that's opened up to you. I haven't done it all yet, and I didn't do anything else last night.

Leviathan and Omega are also worth picking up, and I highly recommend them if you haven't already.

* I tend to play things as a completionist the first time through, so my playtime estimates may be high compared to someone who doesn't go exploring every single nook and cranny on every level for goodies and easter eggs.

[Vieve]

I should pick up the DLCs and try the game again.


I never finished the first time through, thanks to stupid, stupid BSOs.

[Bacchanalian]

The DLC was, as much as I hate to advocate giving EA more money for this game, great. I haven't played the new one obviously, but Omega and Leviathan were fun.

[Karmilla Strife]

I think I've spent more time playing ME3 multiplayer than playing all three games' campaigns put together. It also helps that the multiplayer expanded content is free.

[Morwen Lagann]

The most recent one contains a LOT of funny references to other games and series, as well as a lot of jokes at the expense of the Mass Effect series itself. There are also a lot of references to the multiplayer too, but those are few and far between until after the main story of the DLC.

Not going to provide spoilers for the main storyline just yet, but you learn a lot of interesting little things about the history of the Mass Effect universe, and the stuff available in the Silversun Strip (the new area of the Citadel) after the storyline is a bunch of fun.

Quasar and some other casino games reappear, and there's an arcade with some other minigames to play with.

The best part, IMO, is the Armax Arena - which is basically a combat sim where you can pick enemy types, maps and difficulty - then add penalties to increase your score. You can then purchase upgrades for the arena with the points earned through matches.

There are three tiers of upgrades: Bronze, Silver and Gold, which correspond to award levels for your score in the combat sim. Each win will give you a 'token' for that tier, which can then be used to redeem a prize from that tier, converted into credits, or converted to 3 tokens for a lower tier (1 Gold = 3 Silver = 9 Bronze). You can pick up additional handicaps, ally options, maps and more through this, and the matches are fairly short (I played for an hour or two after finishing the main part of the story last night and have most things unlocked already).

NPCs will also give you challenges to complete certain enemy/map/handicap/ally combinations for goodies.

Also confirming what Karm just said. We've racked up a LOT of hours in multiplayer together.

[Bacchanalian]

Is there more to the multiplayer than sitting on a map shooting wave after wave of [insert mob type here]? That was my impression playing it for the hour or so I spent on it when the game first came out.

[Morwen Lagann]

No, but that doesn't mean it isn't fun to play with friends.

Getting to play with other races (and powers) that aren't available to be played with in the singleplayer game makes it worth it to me, anyway.

Also, to be perfectly honest - the multiplayer is harder than the singleplayer, even with an additional person available for a total of 4 per squad. It's a nice challenge. If you've got the PC version, give a poke sometime and we'll drag you on board for a couple matches.