Space Opera RPG provides landmark in storytelling

Every so often in your life, you come across impactful moments that hold so much sentimental value for you that you wish that you spend the next few days wishing that you could experience it again for the first time. For nearly five years, I have anticipated just how the "Mass Effect" trilogy would play out. My expectations were high, but the experience that I have ultimately received has far surpassed anything that I could have possibly imagined.

"Mass Effect 3" picks up six months after "Mass Effect 2" and follows the player-created Commander Shepard, as he/she makes their escape from Earth in the chaos of the invasion of the Reapers, sentient machines that have been hiding in the space between galaxies bent on purging the galaxy of all sentient life.

Shepard has failed, after numerous attempts, to warn and prepare the galaxy for the worst over the course of three years. Planets and star systems galaxy-wide are falling to the machines, and all resistance has thus far been futile. Hope is discovered in the form of blue prints for an ancient weapon that may be able to stop them but will require the coordination of the every race in the galaxy. As Shepard, the player must coordinate the construction of the weapon, dubbed "Crucible," while pushing back Reaper forces and rallying the governments of the galaxy in one final stand against total galactic extinction.

"Mass Effect 3" essentially opens up with annihilation of Earth and only escalates and darkens from there. The galaxy is at total war and for the first time, optimism is lost. Much of the first half of the game feels like a futile effort against odds that are impossible to defend. The bleak and, at several points, depressing outlook of the game can be heart wrenching and even overbearing, as it has you making many hard choices, gaining potential advantages at the cost of lives and territory, some of which have been a part of the franchise since the first game. However, this only serves to make every victory that much more meaningful. The revelation of any possible strategy to save the galaxy comes, no matter how much of a stretch it is, as a shining light at the end of the tunnel.

The story deals greatly with themes of war both on and off of the battlefield. When the combat and main story isn't employing battle tactics, all of the settings that were once bright and peaceful in previous games are constantly dealing with the fallout of the threat that they face. Background characters comfort their loved ones as they must break the news of their deployment to the front lines, seek solace in one another to forget that they escaped the decimation of their homes, even try to come to terms with the fact that they are now homeless refugees. All of these take place in background conversations that are completely disconnected from main or side quests and create a thick and bleak atmosphere that quite honestly had me choked up at points.

The main story itself packs just as much of a punch and may be one of the few perfect endings to any trilogy of stories. Standing alone, it is fantastic, but knowing that almost five years of gameplay have culminated in this provides a feeling of indescribable awe, especially if you have been porting over your saves from the previous installments. All of these elements would otherwise however, be squandered if the game play itself wasn't up to snuff.

"Mass Effect 3" accomplishes a feat that I believed to be previously impossible and somehow manages to best its predecessor. The Combat has been tightened even more from the already solid "Mass Effect 2." However, the edition of vastly improved squad mate and enemy AI emphasizes the team work element in such a way that neither of the other games has ever come close to executing. No longer can you leave your teammates' passed out bodies lying on the battlefield while you deal with the threat as a one-man army. Each teammate has a unique set of skills that are frequently useful in a variety of scenarios, integrating team and resource management into the game as full elements rather than afterthoughts.

Customization options have also been weaved into the core design, allowing for each player to customize their own Shepard, party, and equipment in unique ways. Weapon, armor, and ability customization are simple and varied, yet never clunky. They're easy to utilize but never feel like a waste of time.

Even the multiplayer, an element that I had been dreading for quite some time, impresses greatly. The multiplayer campaign, titled "Galaxy at War" places the player in control of a player-created elite forces operative of any species. The player is placed with four other players, and all are put on the frontlines as they work together to defend their outposts from enemy attack, in exchange for resources that can actually be used against the Reapers in the final showdown of the single player campaign. Although it basically boils down to be standard survival mode fare, the customization options and objectives are still fun, and its integration into the main campaign should be both commended and looked at by developers for future multiplayer projects.

To simply say whether or not "Mass Effect 3" is great would be an underselling its accomplishments. On its own merit, the game is wonderfully written, phenomenally crafted, and arguably one of the greatest war stories ever told regardless of medium. However, its resolution of the "Mass Effect" series in general is a landmark in storytelling that needs to be experienced to be believed. I am immensely happy and satisfied to see such hard work amount to such an unforgettable experience, but I am also saddened by the fact that I will never relive the shock of the first time I ever inserted the disk into my console.