The Mass Effect trilogy has proven to be one of the most massive undertakings in gaming history. Starting with the first entry in 2007, developer Bioware promised to have a game where your decisions would not only shape the outcome of the game, but carry over all the way to panned third game. With Mass Effect 3, Bioware has not only delivered on this promise, but honed every mechanic the game has to offer while addressing the issues that plagued the first two games. While it is not perfect, it is a game worth experiencing.

I will tell you now that I would not advise making Mass Effect 3 your first Mass Effect game. Given that your character and decisions carry over from previous entries, I would highly advise playing the first two games to not only make key decisions, but to get a full grasp on the story. Bioware does make an effort to bring newcomers up to speed, but everything that happens in the game will feel far less impactful without the foundation that the first two games set up.

For those that have been with Mass Effect from the beginning, though, the game will not disappoint on the story telling front. All the characters that you have kept alive from the first two games will make, at the very least, cameo appearances while some will play important roles. The weight of the decisions you have been making over the last two games is, for the most part, made very clear. Seeing things you did two games ago come back to benefit or haunt you is a very gratifying experience. Not to mention that the decisions you make now are even bigger and may have you choosing to save an entire race of aliens while condemning another to die. It’s heavy stuff.

I say “for the most part,” though, because at times it feels as if Bioware was just going down a checklist, dispassionately marking off character story threads that were just addressed because this was the last game in the series. There weren’t any conclusions that I would call disappointing, but some just elicited shoulder shrugs.

As for the game play, Bioware has clearly listened to fans. The lack of a varied arsenal that reared its head in the second game has been addressed with a vast, fully customizable one with old and new weapons alike. Modifications like scopes, recoil reducers, extended clips: it’s all here.

The dumbed-down skill tree from the second game has also been thrown away in favor of a branching set of skills. You can give your grenades a wider blast radius, or a tighter, harder hitting blast. Biotic powers can be modified with more damage or a faster recharge rate. Leveling up is far more satisfying this time around.

The third person shooting mechanics are smoother than ever, putting Mass Effect 3 on par with even the perfected system in Gears of War. Other small touches, such as the disposal of the excruciatingly boring planet scanning mini game in favor of a more streamlined system, make things even better.

Once the single player game comes to an end, there is the new multiplayer component. It only has six stages and one mode akin to Gears of War’s horde mode wherein you are fighting off waves of enemies for a set time with human companions. It is a fun diversion, however, that even interacts with the single player experience by modifying your galactic readiness; a meter that determines how ready you are for the final battle against the Reapers.

As mentioned earlier, the game is not perfect. Tons of small graphical glitches rear their head, dialog will cut out some times and I even saw scenes where characters became invisible even though characters were intently looking at them as they were speaking.

There is also the matter of the ending. While some have praised the open ended nature of it, it offers little to no closure at all. It is a brief abbreviated feeling, like an afterthought and wastes the well-established lore of the game in the final moments Though the ending is by no means satisfying, it does not change the fact that 30+ hours leading up to it are extremely fun and satisfying.

Mass Effect 3 is a superb game. Not perfect by any means, but it concludes a series that has built upon itself over the years and has finally found a sweet spot. Though it is not without its flaws and the ending leaves much to be desired, this is a game that Mass Effect veterans will love.