Mass Effect 3 by Electronic Arts - Xbox 360

Mass Effect 3 by Electronic Arts on Xbox 360 is excellent!  A game that sticks to the respected convention of the franchise while trying some new things;  Including a foray into multiplayer.  Mass Effect 3 connects intimately and brilliantly to the games that came before it and acts as a worthy end to the most epic gaming trilogy ever created.

If you are unfamiliar with Mass Effect games, let's get  you caught up.  The game revolves around a character named Commander Shepard.  A human who throughout the series has risen as a prominent galactic hero.  Mass Effect 3 prides itself on character customization, so you can make Shepard a male or female and cater him or her to your liking.  In the past, Shepard had faced off against threats to the galaxy but everything has been leading up to this point.  The Reapers, a mysterious race once thought to be a myth has returned to the Milky Way Galaxy as it does every  50,000 years in order to wipe out all organic life.   

Mass Effect's strength rests not with its game play, but with its story, characters, and setting.  Veteran's of Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 will find a fluid continuity with Mass Effect 3.  Without spoiling too much in Mass Effect 3, you will be revisiting places that you have already been while venturing forth into parts of the galaxy you never fully explored.  As with the other two Mass Effect games, the more you put into Mass Effect 3 the more you get out of it.

Sonically, Mass Effect 3 boasts extremely impressive voice acting and a solid soundtrack.  Both go long way towards making Mass Effect 3 the amazing experience it is.  You will find the quality of the voice acting is far more important than the soundtrack. 

In short, Mass Effect 3 is a fun 3rd person shooter, though it doesn't necessarily hold its own against some of its rivals in the game play department such as Gears of War and Vanquish, but it doesn't keep Mass Effect 3 from becoming a fine example of a cover base shooter in its own right.  New additions to combat in mass Effect 3 includes a great emphasis on a pseudo plat forming and verticality.  For instance, Shepard can now jump when prompted.  In addition, a far greater emphasis on augmenting your weapons can be found in Mass Effect 3.  Allowing you to cater your weapons to your liking.  Despite these new additions, the game play is very similar to Mass Effect 2.  Players will have options to choose character classes that cater best to their play style.

But as Mass Effect fans know, the series is known for more than just choices in combat.  Mass Effect 3, like the previous two titles in the series, rely almost entirely on making choices constantly.  These choices branch out into seemingly endless routes that players can take.  Therefore, game play is not only about combat, it is also about conversation and exploration. 

How you treat other people, who you decide to help or not, and how thoroughly or scarcely you explore will have major ramifications throughout the game.  Though Mass Effect 3 introduces multiplayer to the franchise, Mass Effect 3 is still very much a single player experience, but it's multiplayer component will keep players engaged for much longer.  In turn, giving you more value for your money.