MASS EFFECT 3 RELEASES TOMORROW - What I'm Excited About

We are one day away from the release of Mass Effect 3, without a doubt, my most anticipated game of all-time. The first two games were spectacular and have told arguably my favorite story in video game and one of my all-time favorite sci-fi stories.

A remarkable universe, excellent dialogue, outstanding storytelling and absolutely superb voice acting have been the cornerstones that have made this series great and memorable. With luck those will continue into the final game of this incredible trilogy.

So what am I most looking forward to in this trilogy's finale? Well, it's hard to narrow it down to just one thing, so I've got a list of the things that I'm most looking forward to experiencing in Mass Effect 3. This is not a traditional list. Rather, it's a list of five things that I'm most curious in experiencing with no real order to them. So here we go. WARNING: SPOILERS FOR ME1 AND ME2 BELOW!

#1. SOUNDTRACK

A bit of a different one than the others but something that I'm very excited to hear. The first Mass Effect had a brilliant sci-fi soundtrack with a good helping of techno and synth that added to the mood. While Mass Effect 2 still had a great soundtrack, it didn't quite have the same feel as the first game's.

This has apparently changed from the pieces that I've heard and they've been SPECTACULAR. The piece from a mission on Mars in particular, which I have below, has made me come to the conclusion that this has the potential to be the best soundtrack in the entire series. Please let me be right. It sounds so good.

#2. CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS

The Mass Effect series has one of the finest cast of characters in all of gaming. Nearly all are complex and in-depth and their relationships with Commander Shepard have been one of the main draws of the series for me. As we come to the end of this trilogy, it's time to see where the relationships go.

I'm particularly interested in Shepard's relationship with the Virmire Survivor (Ashley Williams/Kaidan Alenko). Good friends and comrades in the first game Shepard and Ashley/Kaidan parted on a bitter note in Mass Effect 2, with Shepard reluctantly working with a terrorist organization. Recent videos still show quite a bit of tension between the two and it has me really curious as to where that will lead.

But other relationships also increase my anticipation. Will my Shepard get the happy ending with Liara that she's been hoping for? What role will Legion, Wrex, Mordin, Miranda, etc. play? I could go on for a while but I'm simply so excited to see the culmination of all of the character development we've so far. Almost there.

#3. WHAT IS THE ILLUSIVE MAN PLANNING?

What are you planning you magnificent bastard?

Quite possibly the most intriguing character in the entire series is the mysterious Illusive Man, head the pro-human terrorist organization, Cerberus. Martin Sheen was perfectly cast as the character, giving a perfect combination of sinisterness and charm. In Mass Effect 2, he gave, in my mind, the second best performance in the game, second only to Jennifer Hale as FemShep. In a series lauded for having some of the finest voice acting imaginable, that equates to a really, REALLY good performance.

Now, as we come to the end, one of my biggest questions is "What is he planning?" The Illusive Man, and by extension BioWare, have done a superb job of keeping his greater plans under wraps. I would not put anything past him. This is a man who, I feel, is capable of anything. If he's planning a massive Xanatos Gambit, he is fully capable of pulling it off.

#4. THE POLITICS

Will we finally be able to respond to the turian councilor's airquotes with our own airquotes?

Mass Effect is a very politically driven franchise. The series is just as much about political conflicts and power struggles as it is about the conflict with the Reapers. With an entire galaxy at war for its survival against an ancient enemy and many species attempting to take advantage of the chaos, I'm very curious to see the political climate that will be in Mass Effect 3.

So far we've got tensions between the salarians and krogan, humans and turians, a 300 year old conflict between the quarians and geth with the quarians wanting to break the ceasefire, a cold war brewing on something larger between humans and batarians, etc. There are so many possibilites here and it's making me salivate in anticipation. Can they possibly come together to fight a common enemy that has committed galactic genocide countless times? That is a big question and one that I can't wait to see the answer to.

#5. HOW DO WE STOP THE REAPERS?

The Reapers are a terrifying force and antagonistic group. They're basically mechanical Cthulhu. Unimaginably powerful, ancient, sentient starships that have committed systematic galactic genocide every 50,000 years for at least 37 million years, and I'd bet everything that they've been doing it far longer. And that's already over 700 civilizations wiped out.

The Reapers are among the most powerful antagonists I've ever seen. How powerful are they? Well at the end of the first game, it took around 40 ships to destroy ONE Reaper, around two fleets. And while it appears that Sovereign was an exceptionally powerful Reaper and most are not that powerful, even the weakest ones take a massive amount of punishment to even dent.

So the question is, how are they going to be stopped. It's obvious that right now, they are not going to be beaten in a straight-up fight. From what I've heard, Mass Effect 3 will revolve around Shepard both building up galactic forces and look for ANYTHING that might offer some hope.

This leads into another question: what are they and where did they come from? Part of what has made them so terrifying (not counting the mind rape that is indoctrination, what they do to those they don't kill, etc.) is that we know barely anything about them. As Sovereign said, "[We] are beyond your comprehension." We got limited answers in the second game but they still remain an enigmatic force and are all the more terrifying because of it.

All I know, is I cannot wait to stick it to them and I hope you all are as well. The Reaper invasion will begin tomorrow when Mass Effect 3 finally hits stores. So get your Shepards ready and get set to kick some Reaper ass.