Mass Effect 3: N7 Collector's Edition (Xbox 360)

I'm gonna start by saying I absolutely loved the previous two games (Mass Effect 2 in particular) but this game did nothing but build me up for disappointment in the run up to its release, from the crisis with GAME to the awful rumours surrounding the story. As a huge fan I tried to ignore these rumours but unfortunately they all ended up being true. *SPOILERS* The ending is awful, just plain flat out awful. The three choices are all dissatisfying and all lead to the same situation with the Normandy which crash lands on a planet with no way of getting off. Combine this with the shot of Shepard taking a breath in the wreckage of the Citadel and the whole ending starts stinking of cliffhanger. Which is odd cos this is the last game involving Shepard right? Of course, if this is a cliffhanger then its for downloadable content. Another slap to the face after the Prothean DLC issue. Now if none of this seems to bad too you then chances are you'll still love this game because to be fair I really enjoyed everything else up until the ending but for me this kind of ending just pissed over my entire Mass Effect experience. My only other complaint is Tali and the whole stock pic image of her face, that seems incredibly lazy and disrespectful to the fans. Firstly, don't use a pic we've waited long enough to see a Quarian so let us see one for real and secondly if you are going to use a pic at least make one from scratch and put some effort into it. I'm gonna end this section on a high note cos part of me still thinks Mass Effect deserves it, the gay romance option with Kaidan was done perfectly in my opinion, it was exactly what I hoped for and made me very happy after two games of discrimination. That might be the one and only thing that makes me purchase another Bioware game at this point. *END OF SPOILERS*
Now onto the Collectors Edition itself. Personally, again as someone who was dying to get there hands on the N7 CE, this Collector's Edition isn't worth the extra money. As soon as I saw the box in comparison to my friend's PS3 copy I felt ripped off, the PS3 CE is a lovely looking wide box that is really quite nice, my xbox CE is an already falling apart piece of crap similar to what most dvd boxsets come in. The contents were even worse for me. While the tin case is rather nice I had major issues with everything else. Firstly I was expecting the artbook to be larger, While its got a nice cover its too small to actually be an item of fan pride for me and the paper quality seems below par. Now the Mass Effect Invasion comic is just awful, its like a pamphlet and a far cry from the full unique cover comic I was expecting as its only the FIRST issue, as far as I can tell that was never mentioned. The fabric patch is actually velcro, which makes it impossible to use in the way I wanted, I expected "fabric" to mean a soft, flexible easy to sew on patch. Clearly not it seems. The DLC is practically useless in comparison to all the other guns on offer in game and the alternate costumes are mostly boring. The From Ashes DLC adds a nice touch with the Prothean and the costumes are fairly nice for some characters, the mission was a little dull though. The in game N7 Hoodie casual outfit is very awesome, I wore it all the time. On the other hand the one thing I was pretty excited about, the robotic dog, is a complete joke! It does nothing! Considering the fun to be had with the Marbari hound in Dragon Age 2 this is incredibly disappointing.
All in all I'm gonna say if you played the first two games then there is no way you're not going to play this one, simple as. The series as a whole is amazing and deserves high praise. I personally feel the ending stopped this game from being the best game I've ever played, unfortunately for me Mass Effect 2 still holds that title in my game collection. The only way this will change is if a FREE download of the DLC that will essentially fix the ending and give the fans what they deserve comes our way.

I love Mass Effect from the first game, whole universe, memorable characters from your squad to minor NPC. The first two games was of "feel good" sort beating the odds saving the day and all that, great entertaiment. ME 3 ruined it all with the endings. Its's not a game for the fans of the series, you will be left heartbroken

Pretty amazing journey, absolutely ruined by a poorly done ending just leaves you empty once completed. Parts of the game are well written and planned out, they can fill you with emotion but the ending just ditches all that.
There are other problems besides the ending, short side quests that have little story, the journal is a mess, alot of the missions can be pretty repetitive and don't feel as varied as the previous games, just boiling down to nothing but cover based shooting.
Still it can be fun, but Bioware can and have done much better in the past.