So I decided to write up a quick review for the game. Not really spoilers but there are some general plot ideas but it shouldn't spoil anything. Anyway so if I had to give the game a number score I'd give it 6.5/10.
 
 
1) Audio and visual:
                visuals: Mass Effect 3 hasn't changed much from Mass Effect 2, it still runs on Unreal Engine 3 and still has the overall art style from the second game.  The levels are a bit more varied in color and tone but it isn't anything to write home about. They did update the CC, or character creator, and that's caused some issue. The update removed some of the old facial settings so some characters look different, that's a small issue compared to the fact your Command Shepard also suffers from this. Just take a look at this thread (http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/323/index/9661093/1) and believe me it's just as bad as they say.
                Audio: The music has always been one of Mass Effect's strong areas and it continues in the third installment. The sounds comes in at all the right moments (basically whenever something's going down) and draws down as everything gets calm. The gun sound effects are a different story, they've change (again) and now sound more "real" ie more like current weapons which, to me, seems a strange considering its set in the future. The enemy sounds are good and add a fair amount to the combat, though the Cerberus troops are more comedic than threatening. However, the voice acting is not nearly as good as the second or first games. It frequently comes off as stilted and out of place and there are far too many lines that had me laughing for all the wrong reasons.
 
2) Story:
                Overall Story: To put it bluntly its crap, the game is extremely predictable. I was able to predict the ending with far too much accuracy, I could easily tell which missions I'd get squad mates on, and there was no revelations. I never became invested in the story, I was stuck looking in. The game does a good job of building tension, the problem is you get the impression that its building the tension so you hurry through the game and don't stop to think, "wait that's a massive plot hole." By the time the game is done, you have more question than when you started. "But,"  you may say, "all my decisions carried over, right?" Well not really, the game does mention some of your decision but they don't have an impact. You may have picked Anderson for the Counsel, but does that matter? Nope, Chuck Testa. And now for my biggest complaint with the story, the ending. Spoiler warning- just a general ideas not specifics, there are 3 things you learn at the end, one is what happens to Shepard, the second is what happens to the galaxy, and the third is about the Reapers. I predicted them all, accurately, within 4hrs of the game starting. That's bad storytelling, a predictable story isn't a good story.
                Sidestory/dialogue/talking to shipmates: The sidestorys just aren't there, it's only the main mission which really takes the depth out of the game and reduces playtime.  Much of the dialogue is poorly written and out of place. They gave Shepard a personality that can conflict with the players ideas, this disrupts the immersion and can lead to some very funny (again for the wrong reasons) dialogue. The poor writing combined with the bad delivery makes the game feel poorly made and rushed. While you can talk to shipmates it doesn't have the depth of 1 & 2, it feels like they cut it out to save time and money, which they shouldn't have done on the "final" installment.
 
3) gameplay:
                It's not that good nor is it that bad. The cover system is clunky and doesn't work half the time. The shooting is pretty much the same as ME2. Squad and enemy AI is dumb as ever, the difficulty fluctuates from really annoying to a walk in the park. It's never hard, but it does get annoying when some parts ask you to take on 3-4 tough enemies and your squad mates are down the road playing hopscotch. Making the interact key and go to cover key the same creates some problems, like front diving when trying to activate something. If you really want to know what it's like play the demo's multiplayer that's basically what it's like.
 
4) replay ability:
                Its low because you know that your decisions have little overall impact so there's no need to see what happens if you pick different dialogue options.  The only real reason to replay is to try different classes, but that seems a bit of a waste of time considering you can try that classes in MP.  
 
5) multiplayer:
                I'm not going to review it because you can try it in the demo but I will say that it gets boring really faster. There's only a few maps and 3 different enemies. It's a nice add-on but not going to increase the longevity of the game, though I bet EA starts releasing DLC as fast as they can.

_Nite_

I just finished the final battle last night, it was a bit of a disapointment and I can also confirm the endings aren't much different from each other, thier is videos on youtube that shows them all.

The overall gameplay wise was great, graphics are the same as ME2, but the storyline felt like it was cut in half, ME1 and ME2's storyline felt longer to me then ME3's

agreed on everything but the gameplay isn't that great because of the cover system sucks and the AI is so bad

seronx

I hope they let the singleplayer die off and just have multiplayer DLC more races more classes more abilities and more maps

Multiplayer is the only saving grace for it

Why would you pay to play the same, repetitive, boring game over and over? Get a real co-op game like L4D2, ME3's MP isn't a very good example of co-op play.

How many hours did it take?

Afterburner

How many hours did it take?

It took me 18hrs playing on hardcore, I blasted through the combat so that's part of the reason it was so fast. My brother has played 20hrs and isn't done so I'll update you when he's done.

_Nite_

ARCTIC_EAGLE

_Nite_

I just finished the final battle last night, it was a bit of a disapointment and I can also confirm the endings aren't much different from each other, thier is videos on youtube that shows them all.

The overall gameplay wise was great, graphics are the same as ME2, but the storyline felt like it was cut in half, ME1 and ME2's storyline felt longer to me then ME3's

agreed on everything but the gameplay isn't that great because of the cover system sucks and the AI is so bad

the cover system is actually improved in my opinion, like you can do barrel roles from cover to cover, do a sneak attack behind a enemy when behind cover, but yea I have come across some areas where cover is difficult or limited.

Its great in theory but most of the time it doesn't work, especially when you need it too. I liked 2's more because it wasn't the game playing the game, it was you.

^^ Thank you both... My 26 hour guess seems to be close enough. Thank you! I will get this when on sale...

Well hopefully they didnt have more than just the 1 DLC hiding that was ripped out from the game.

Yea that was pretty bad for $10, shoulda been a $5 DLC if anything at all. Only long term benefit is you have him for the rest of the game.

Took me ~29 hours

it took me about 40 - 45 hours to finish, I had to redo the final battle a second time cause I didn't know the side missions were critical to be successful. (not talking about the citadel missions or anything like that, you have to scan all the planets to find stuff for the war terminal)
 
edit: vvv ...........spoiler warning on Kuzaks image....... vvv

@Kuzak that pretty much explains everything rofl.

The series/game was awesome....until the last 10 minutes.  Man, I've not been that depressed in a LOONG time, that's all I'm gonna say .  I know its probably a futile attempt, but it's pretty telling when nearly EVERYONE hates the endings so much they have a 700+ page thread on the bioware forums asking them to "fix" it.  Link is here, if anyone cares (spoilers inside link of course).http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/9512916/700
 
On a side note, it took me 35-36 or so hours on insanity/infiltrator doing all the side missions/tasks, and just like in ME2 I made sure and "talked" to my squadmates after every mission to check for new dialogues, and thoroughly searched all areas for weapons/upgrades ect.  I also had zero issues with cover, or anything else in the game, until the insanely depressing, poorly done ending.  It's gonna take me awhile to get over that .

I kinda agree but I have not finished the game yet. It feels a little boring. In ME1 and ME2 I really feet connected to the characters but in ME3 I dont have that connection. Both ME1 and ME2 had a bit of mystery your trying to solve but in ME3 there is no mystery. You pretty much know what going on at the start of the game. Yet another let down by Bioware. I loved  DA1 but DA 2 was garbage. Seems they must have all the good people working on their cash cow SWtoR.  I hope they get some better people working on the new CC game. Would be a shame for them to ruin yet another good game.

ARCTIC_EAGLE

4g63pilot

I kinda agree but I have not finished the game yet. It feels a little boring. In ME1 and ME2 I really feet connected to the characters but in ME3 I dont have that connection. Both ME1 and ME2 had a bit of mystery your trying to solve but in ME3 there is no mystery. You pretty much know what going on at the start of the game. Yet another let down by Bioware. I loved  DA1 but DA 2 was garbage. Seems they must have all the good people working on their cash cow SWtoR.  I hope they get some better people working on the new CC game. Would be a shame for them to ruin yet another good game.

Well finish it and tell us what you think, its always good to get more opinions!

 Thats part of the problem. I'm just not that into this game like I was the first 2. After buying ME1 and ME2 I played them non stop when ever I was home.  This one just doesnt have the same appeal to me.  I do plan on finishing it in the next few days so I  can give  my opinion on the full game.

So according to my brother there's a "secret" that requires a second play through (along with other things) anyone have any idea about it?