Collecting War Assets makes you feel like you're achieving something measurable with almost every action you take, as you watch your score slowly stack up.

If you choose to import your saved data from Mass Effect 2, the choices you made will impact the game in many different ways, including the choice of potential endings you'll get. You'll also get to make several tough choices during the game, which usually result in characters you care about dying -- it's quite a bleak game. It's hard to see the true impact that your decisions have -- sometimes it feels like they've genuinely changing the game -- like when a character I saved in Mass Effect 2 steps in front of a bullet to save a doctor. Sometimes it seems like there is simply the illusion of choice -- for example, when I decided I didn't want a particular character to die, I played through all the different combinations of choices, but whatever I did, he still ended up dead, just by a different method. Clearly someone had it in for him, poor bastard.

BioWare intends to sell multiple pieces of downloadable content for Mass Effect 3 that include new features, characters and missions, but the game does not feel 'incomplete' without the DLC. Mass Effect 3 is probably the longest game I have ever played, although it is disappointing that EA (and many other publishers) choose to release downloadable content for sale the same day a game hits store shelves to try and wring more money out of us rather than just include that extra content with the game. It's worth noting that the Mass Effect 3 DLC will help you increase your War Assets and Effective Military Strength, so keep that in mind when making your purchasing decision.

Since Mass Effect 3 is a sort of action-RPG hybrid game you'll spend most of your missions in third-person mode, shooting enemies while exploring creepy deserted bases and ruined alien worlds. The control system leaves a bit to be desired -- using the A button on the Xbox 360 (spacebar on PC) for several different commands, including interacting with items, running and diving for cover, can be troublesome and cause Shepard to execute headache-inducing maneuvers like crouching down in the middle of enemy fire rather than running for cover. There are also some graphical glitches that really should have been ironed out, including a headless squad mate and cutscenes that place your camera facing directly into a wall. Hopefully patches will soon be released that fix these technical problems.

Although Mass Effect 3 is still a role-playing game, the character-building mechanics have been streamlined and simplified. As you level up you earn and spend points to improve your characters' skills, but it's difficult to really feel the difference the next time Shepard enters the battlefield. All of your skills are unlocked at the start, so you just spend points to build them up as the game goes on. You can also collect or buy mods for your guns and armour to improve them between missions, and there's a very nice assortment of firearms (assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles etc.) to choose from.