Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut To Flesh Out Controversial Ending

Written by: Scott Hawkes (Twitter @jarimor - Google+) | April 5, 2012 11:30 am

10 Comments

Ask and you shall receive.

Player power seems to have won out as BioWare announces a free DLC pack for Mass Effect 3 which will give additional story to the incredibly controversial ending of one of the biggest titles of the year.

Ray Muzyka — BioWare co-founder — stated that:

“With the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut we think we have struck a good balance in delivering the answers players are looking for while maintaining the team’s artistic vision for the end of this story arc in the Mass Effect universe.”

So it seems extra detail is being added to the end of ME3, though not the thorough change that many fans have demanded. Will the extra details help calm the rage of the fans? Or will this move just be seen as too little, too late?

In an FAQ released by BioWare this morning, there’s no doubt that there’s only so far the company is willing to go:

“Are we going to change the ending of the game? No.”

Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut will be free to download across platforms this summer.

Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut To Flesh Out Controversial Ending

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http://www.facebook.com/KyleDAJuza Kyle Juza

first. and I like the fact that they are answering a lot of the questions left unanswered at the end… but the fact that we don’t get another option for an ending where he doesn’t *****SPOILER***** DIE! WTF? still pissed that my character that I created from ME1 and brought over through 100+ hours of gameplay has to kick the bucket at the end of the world. they brought him back to life in the 2nd one, you would think that they would find a way to make it so he doesn’t die in the last one. Nice try Bioware… still not happy with you.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-McCarthy/510816820 Joseph McCarthy
  
  Shepard dying didn’t bother me, it’s
  
  *****************************MORE SPOILER****************************************
  the rest of the galaxy being destroyed, thus rendering all the “historical” changes of the universe that I have made being nullified. Didn’t matter whether or not I saved the Rachni queen, she blew up when I destroy the relays. Cured the genophage? Krogan are extinct anyway! The same endings, but no relays exploding and some cutscene showing what the rest of the galaxy does would’ve been fine.
  But, they’re going to release ending 2.0 for $14.99 that’s the REAL ending anyway, since they can’t make any form of sequel with the story as is.
  - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000275430351 Jay Burna
    
    @facebook-510816820:disqus OK, So I guess you just weren’t paying attention at all during your playthrough. Saving the Rachni queen DOES matter – if you saved the original Rachni queen, and you choose to do so again in ME3, the Rachni help a lot toward your war efforts. If you killed the original Rachni queen and then chose to spare the “cyborg” queen in ME3 she goes apeshit at the end of the game and cuts your war effort score by over 200. Genophage. If you cured the genophage AND kept Eve and Wrex alive, the Krogan go on to repopulate their home planet. How would “no relays exploding” be a better ending? How would that stop the reaper threat? PEOPLE ARE INDOCTRINATED BY USING REAPER TECH, WHICH MASS RELAYS HAPPEN TO BE. WTF do you mean they can’t make any form of a sequel with the story the way it is? There are TONS of open doors for sequels. Maybe they don’t include Shep as a main character, but the Mass Effect universe is still very much alive. That is, if the “plot holes” are not actual “plot holes” and instead cleverly written game design.
    @facebook-704971412:disqus Why does Shepard dying have to be such a bad thing? They brought him back in ME2 using reaper tech (read above) – so they obviously couldn’t use it to bring him back at the end of ME3. Like you said, you played that ONE character through 100+ hours of QUALITY gameplay. The end of the trilogy is meant to be epic and leave you with a feeling. Shepard beating the bad guys and going on to live a happy life is so fucking vanilla and overdone that I would have hated that ending more.
    
    All that being said, I was ridiculously unhappy with the ending at first too – not because Shepard dies, but I felt like a lot of my decisions didn’t affect the overall ending. But after reading a few different theories about the ending with an open mind, I actually think it’s one of the best endings ever — if the theories hold up.
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Carlos-Moreno/100000967473108 Carlos Moreno
      
      ehh…. It doesn’t really matter, sure you have to save her again but that is pretty much it. You never really see the rachni helping you at all.
      The whole war effort score is just BS. All the war effort score is for, is so that when you reach more than a certain amount you get an extra scene in the ending. Which sucks.
scottsummer

It can only get worse. There is no way no fricking way Bioware can clarify the shear amount of plot holes in the ending. (I can almost guarantee the whole indoctrination theory is not true, the ending was simply rushed for the sake of the release date)
But Let’s hope this DLC delivers and become something like Blade Runner director’s cut.
- shgfosho
  
  I disagree with the premise that this is a “rushed” product for a few reasons though. After a storyboard is created development of different parts of the game doesn’t just happen in a straight, linear fashion. Different teams work on different parts but there’s a framework that they are working from, and if the framework (i.e. storyline) is inherently flawed, you’re going to see a poor product. Secondly, ME3 up until the last 10 minutes is widely considered to be of stellar quality. On top of that, the “Final Moments of Mass Effect” media material that was released indicates that the lead writer wanted lots of speculation and discussion about the ending. I think what’s more likely is that this was just an extremely poor writing decision by the lead writer.
  
  Regardless of the reasons, I doubt the DLC will satisfy people but I’ll wait and see. For the moment, I don’t have anything to lose since it’ll be free.
jayremy

I still would give Bethesda the winning ticket on worst ways to end/finish games rather than Bioware. Rage had the worst ending for any respectably funded or sized game, it felt like that cut out the remaining last third of the game and replaced it with a dull 15 second cutscene.
- scottsummer
  
  Id software developed the game, the ending of Rage is so bad i laughed for real, i am not even sure if that little cut scene should qualify as “ending”. Don’t even know WTF were they thinking.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_R35J5EUERGS3E6JRIQMBCDTRRY Nathan I

If it was free forever, I would look at it in a somewhat positive way. But it’s only free for a limited time. So essentially it’s just an effort on their part to get people who returned their copy of ME3 to buy it again.
http://twitter.com/HallusH HallusH

well they messed up since day one with mass effect 3. EA made bioware a joke with the whole first day DLC. which is a big part of the mass effect overall story and lore about the reapers and the protheans. playing without it you get a way different experience.
that’s where developers are forced to break down the game for more profit for the publisher.
so even if they flash some cutscenes go break down the endings. it still would be the same end point.
i think that the worst thing people hate/dont like about the endings is that it isn’t all rainbows and flowers. as much as real life.

Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut To Flesh Out Controversial Ending

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