hypertension

While I enjoyed playing the first two Mass Effect games this one left me with a disappointing experience. It just wasn't fun anymore. The most this game has to offer is the voice acting but it feels like I've heard it all before. I believe that to get a slightly "richer" experience you'll need all Mass Effect games which I have but also all the downloadable content which is something i'm not willing to pay for.

For most of the Settlers series these games gave you the freedom and the time to build whatever you wanted but the annoying new "take and hold" victory points system causes you to build rush an economy to win which in turn shortens the game. Also maps feel a lot more restrictive as they are made up of small sectors with all fortifications ready built and army unit choice is limited. There are still a couple of bugs around one of which meant rolling back graphics drivers to prevent crashing and while I barely experienced any DRM issues the fact remains that it relies too much on both a stable server and a stable connection.

Having played to the end I can definitely say this is a step backward from the first game. While the original might have needed slight improvement many of the role-playing elements here are overly streamlined and are now lacking depth. The main problem for me though is the agonising repetition of locations which has held back any thought of going through the game a second time. I might have given this a 5 if I had a better graphics card but then graphics in these types of games aren't that important.