The Mass Effect series became a hit almost from day one.

Creating a sci-fi adventure series destined to become the gaming equivalent of Star Wars can’t have been an easy task (especially in the face of actual Star Wars games, most of which are pretty good if you’re geeky enough to know the story and the characters properly). But BioWare, no stranger to creating games with ridiculous amounts of depth, took the idea of an outer-space adventure and squeezed every last inch out of the concept.

Not only do you have a solid main plot but you have characters that live or die based on your decisions (which makes your story of the game different from someone else’s), and there’s a universe to explore that offers so many hidden adventures if you look.

Mass Effect 2 threw more content into the mix, and Mass Effect 3 – which you would imagine is the last in the series, at least for the time being – does the same, as well as bringing some great graphics along with it. The big feature of the sequels is the ability to import all of your choices from the game before it – so you carry your own unique story with you throughout your intergalactic journey.

Mass Effect 3 features a good, if bland, multiplayer mode for the first time. But the main talking point has been the game’s ending. Now, without trying to spoil anything, the situation is this; all possible endings to the game are in essence the same outcome. This has led to thousands upon thousands of complaints, after gamers have pieced together their own customised journey starting back in 2007.

I don’t agree with this furore at all. It’s what the writers have come up with, and the game is their work of art – their masterpiece.

Where they take us is up to them. I wasn’t left discouraged. I was left looking forward to the DLC (including the day one of release DLC).

This is one of the best games I’ve ever had the pleasure of completing. Just make sure you play, and complete, the original games first. It’s a journey worth taking.

My rating: 10/10 Details: Mass Effect 3, Developer BioWare, Publisher EA, Out now on PC / PS3 / Xbox 360, Reviewed on Xbox 360.