PC gaming magazine Gamestar, distributed in Germany by IDG Entertainment Media, has published what is believed to be the first official review of BioWare’s raved-about action RPG Mass Effect 3, declaring it to be the most compelling experience in the franchise yet.

Helpfully, BioWare forum member ‘hagren’ has taken the time to translate and summarise the glossy’s review – which is allegedly based on the PS3 version – commenting on narrative, gameplay, longevity and points of interest (**CONTAINS SPOILERS**):

• 15-20 hour-long main quest
• Around 40 hours playtime in total – side missions are vital to amass enough opposition to the Reaper threat
• 90 minutes of cutscenesNo loose ends or cliff-hangers, the game is truly an appropriate end to the trilogy with a very intense and touching finale
• More than 100 scenes, conversations and/or events change depending on our choices after importing a save-game from ME2 – from something small like someone thanking us for completing a mission to bigger repercussions which would be to spoilerous to write down- you are definitely going to feel the consequences, and not always like them
• SPOILER: In order to rally allies, we search for a cure for the Genophage, build a Prothean weapon, disarm a Cerberus bomb before it destroys half of a moon, and are even inserted virtually in a computer program
• If and how many of these quests we complete influences how the game ends, and who – individually and globally – survives
• While the game can be enjoyable for newcomers as well, because the game is strong on its own mechanically and story-wise, it is recommended to play the first two entries to make more sense out of the wealth of information that the game builds on
• There’s an interesting sequence after the end credits
• The “Role-Play“ mode of the game (In contrast to “Action“ and “Story“) feels very much like ME1
• The game gives you more opportunity to customize your Shepard. Each class has 8 talents with 6 levels each, and up from Level 4 there are two branches to choose from to level up each individual talent differently. Weapon customization is also a factor and noticeable, but the effects (which have both pros and cons) are only marginal
• Balancing isn’t optimal
• The game is noticeably more difficult up from “Medium”, which makes using the correct weapon mods and talents integral to survive. Shepard also shoots more accurately in cover
• The AI, on the other hand, is still not very advanced
• SPOILER: You are going to visit Krogan ruins, a Geth ship and the Turian moon Palaven, among others
• There are multiple turret sections which aren’t very well directed
• Despite the shortcomings in level design, which are similar to ME2, the game is constantly thrilling, spectacular and dramatic – largely thanks to the well-presented story and dialogue- and there are lot of small and large choices again to ponder on
• Scanning isn’t nearly as repetitive as before, because it works a lot quicker now and incorporates a new mini-game where you have to navigate your ship away from Reaper threat
• The new melee option is fun, but a little overpowered
• Graphically, the low polycount, lack of detail and low texture resolution disappoints – the characters are well animated and modelled however, and the overall look, despite its age, is quite moody
• Great dynamic soundtrack and sound-effects
• Our progress in the war effort is constantly trackable on a terminal on the Normandy
• In summary, the game builds on the strengths of ME2 and takes some notes from ME1 to create the most compelling experience in the franchise yet

We’ve also managed to track down a screenshot of ME3’s Gamestar scorecard, uploaded yesterday by Gaming Everything. While not all criteria has been rated, Sound, Story and Character Development all received 10/10, with Balance, Atmosphere and Complexity receiving a more than respectable 9/10. Scores for Graphics and Controls are TBA, pending a PC playthrough we suspect.
 
In short, it seems ME3 is exactly what we were hoping it would be, a stellar conclusion to a widely-respected videogames series. I’ve pre-ordered my copy; have you?