The gameplay is really, i mean REALLY, good for it's genre. It's faster than its predecessors. Story is really good up until the ending. It's clearly rushed because EA gave them tight deadline. The original writer of ME1 and ME2 also left, so the story direction can be confusing because of tone differences. And yeah, in an interview, it wasn't supposed to be like this. Still a solid third person shooter with better stories than any game out there.