BioWare have been keeping themselves busy after the massively negative fan response which was brought on by the controversial ending of Mass Effect 3. While many fans vocally brought their discomfort with the endings – and, notably, some equally as vocally defending it – there was enough of a public uproar to warrant an extended cut to help clarify what exactly happened to the people of the galaxy.
It’s an appreciated gesture, seeing as fans have kept poking holes at the ending of Mass Effect 3 since its release, and looking for any reason why it might not have been as it seemed.
Some fans of the series are aware that Admiral Steven Hackett, the top-ranked official in the Alliance Fleet, is voiced by veteran actor Lance Henriksen (Aliens, Terminator). In a recent interview for Tron: Uprising, Henriksen dropped the news that he was going in to do some voice work with BioWare, confirming Hackett will play a role in the extended cut DLC:
“I just did another session with them…They were saying there’s a little bit of a problem with the abruptness of the ending, so we did a whole series of things to add to the end of the game, to live up to the quality they’ve been doing.”
Also at the Tron: Uprising event was Tricia Helfer, the voice actress for EDI in Mass Effect. She also confirmed that she’ll be doing some voice work for her digital character this Monday, and confirmed her presence in the DLC as well.
Although Ashley hasn’t been confirmed yet, the voice actor for Kaidan Alenko (Rapahael Sbarge), was also approached to resume his role in the DLC. It only makes sense that if Alinko is in the DLC, his female counterpart will also be automatically included. He tweeted this earlier:
“Just when you thought I would never go back, they keep PULLING me back in #MassEffect!! Recording!! Yay! Wha-hoo”
While there are still several important characters who haven’t been confirmed, it’s good to see that BioWare is starting to include some of the major players involved with the final battle. BioWare have made it clear that the extended cut isn’t changing the ending, but merely providing more context about the state of the universe.
What do you think about the Mass Effect 3 extended cut? Are you worried that characters like potential romance interests haven’t been contacted for voice acting roles yet?
Follow me on Twitter @Makelevi.
As previously mentioned, the Mass Effect 3 ‘Extended Cut’ is still set for a summer release this year.
Source: G4TV
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Alenko, not Alinko
We asked for new endings but got instead extensions of the already crappy endings we already have. Do the new endings remove the **child? That’s answered with a no. Do the new endings explain cannon breaking problems we have now? Don’t know that one yet.
I’m not going to hold my breath but I’ll let out a sigh of relief if it turns out good. Now if I can just delete Diana Allers from my DVD.
She was a very pointless addition – weak character, doesn’t do anything significant, but somehow a romance interest? Baffling.
Maybe just…don’t let her on the ship? There you go, problem (using the term loosely) solved. Stop complaining about ancillary things.
What? You didn’t want a chance to “bang” Jessica Chobot? Hell I refused to use Freddie Prinze’s character or let Jessica Chobot’s character on my ship. I personally felt that actor fanboys or hot gamer girls shouldn’t be offered or allowed to request a VO characters in a popular game just to promote themselves. I love and trust Bioware, but when I saw that crap, I couldn’t help but think, “WTF is going on?”
It has been confirme that the wooden actress will reprise her role as Diana Allers. Commander Sheperd will have the option to throw her into the Normandy trash compacyer into space.
I have my doubts as well the extended cut will make it all better, but please people give Bioware a chance, they are trying to make it better, most licenses wouldn’t make the effort. I think the real problem that needs to be addressed is if the Citadel and all the Mass Relay’s were destroyed, wouldn’t that by itself destroy all civilization, effectively doing the exact same thing the Reaper’s are doing??? really gotta fix that plot hole Bioware! please!
Sure Bioware mucked up the ending, but are they not giving us every DLC (other than “From Ashes”) for free?
There are so many hints and clues to the indoctrination theory within the entire game that i am 100 percent convinced. I didnt have a problem with Allers, as her news questions were actually interesting and she gave some good war assests. But if the voice actor for Harbinger, or Keith David or Martin Sheen gets confirmed then we’ll definitly know theyre making the ending right
Jessica Chobot is cute but skinny, doesn’t have the ‘war assets’ Allers has. Indoctrination or not, does anyone else agree that the destruction of the Citadel/Mass Relays destroying everything is really important??
Yes,it’s one of my main complaints with the ending. That(and I know this would be kinda cheesy)buy if Shepard ends up surviving,I wanna see some little blue children! Lol
With this DLC, bioware is basically telling us why their shite stink, instead of giving us something that isn’t smelly shite. Will I buy this dlc? Hell no. This is a stupid idea, way worse than that brainfart of an ending.
But my thanks to Lance Henriksen for making me laugh when he said “there’s a little bit of a problem with the abruptness of the ending.” Understatement of the year!
It will be free…they’ve already said that.
What they need to do is make it a dynamic scene. The biggest letdown is that all of the choices you made since the initial game release of ME1 don’t count for squat even though the war assets give them so much potential to appear. I want to see something that confirms Indoctrination Theory (even though Bioware already told us it was wrong.) and shows just how the battle with the Reapers plays out on and near Earth. I want to see Krogan and Elcor destroying lines of Banshees and Marauders. I want to see Salarian scientists using their secret experiments on SurKesh in open fields. I want to see fleets of mercenary ships from Aria teaming up with asari ships engaging and either winning or losing. I want to see the individual fates of each of the Characters in differing locales, like Jacob being blown up on a ship near the moon or Samara using her biotic abilities on the Brutes in DC. I want to see Wrex and Grunt have a freaking competition of who can kill the most indoctrinated between London and Moscow ala Legolas and Gimli. I want to see the fate of Jack and her students in Berlin. I want Rachni and Turians taking out destroyers and batarians taking down cannibals, while getting thrashed themselves in Paris. All of these and more are what I had in war assets and I want to see how they each factor in to the final battle. Hell, I even want to see a live broadcast from Jessica Allers on Earth before she gets killed Star Troopers style. Basically, I want to see every war asset I busted my ass to secure in the fight fo my planet to be PROMINENTLY featured, especially since the war asset score is supposed to be all important to how the game ends (it’s really not, but hey it let my Shepard live.) And speaking of Shepard, I want to see a better epilogue for him than just Buzz Aldrin telling his grandchild a bedtime story (even though it was Buzz freaking Aldrin. that was awesome.) If indoctrination theory is wrong, I want to see how his death affects the characters I made him close to. A eulogy from Garrus, or Liara. Joker saluting an empty coffin or a shrine to his memory while Edi looks on, recording. If he survived, I want to see a unique showcase of his fighting in the battle based on paragon/renegade, backstory, and war assets, and also how his life ultimately ends up according to my choices. This is my Shepard, and as the franchise initials suggest, this should be about ME. From the beginning Bioware’s been touting the importance of choice in ME. So show me Shepard in his old age surrounded by little blue children, or sitting in Tali’s house on Rannoch, or on a beach with Garrus and Grunt sipping some brews while Wrex makes them look like teetotalers, or going back to living on Earth with Miranda, or Ashley starting a family and meeting the rest of the Williams, or returning to the grounds of his backstory’s details with an “It all began here” montage in the event that he didn’t make any commitments to any characters. Also, explaining the fate of Joker and Chakwas would be welcome. And show how paragon-renegade attitude comes into play with each ending featured. That’s what’s called CLOSURE. Which is what Bioware promised us. I can forgive just about everything else, but give me some closure dang it. And while you’re at it Bioware, you can also explain why Joker was going AWOL, the fate of the galactic fleets stranded at Earth, whether the Normandy is ever recovered from the alien planet, and just what is left of galactic civilization after the mass relay destruction created supernovas in every inhabited star system.
The DLC is a waste of time if the game still ends with that star child & space magic crap. Basically they’re saying “We know the conclusion of this good series is crap, but take this DLC and move on.” I’m done with Bioware & EA.
well said Dan, that be great. tho there’s no way Bioware would fit ALL that into a piece of DLC. more likely it should be put into the novelization of ME3, or it should be.
I almost agree with you. But the only problem with print or film is that it’s fixed to one set of choices. The medium of video games is really the only thing that works with a variable number of choices in the scope of 90+ hours of gameplay. That, or a very large make-your-own-adventure novel.
we dont want the ending explained wtf lol we want a new ending and if they do make it a indoctrination explanation then they stole that from the fans and that would also mean the illusive man is alive mannnn they ruined this game which is why i traded it in lol
Speak for yourself. My opinions lie exactly where Dan’s do. I can forgive them for plot holes (I’m used to it with Bungie), I just want closure since we have no idea how our choices played out or even if they mattered. I can forgive the fact that no matter your choices, you always end up with the three choices and Shepherd almost always dying because there are some points in time that everyhing before leads up to and has to happen (what Doctor Who says is a “fixed point in time”), I just want to know how the galaxy moves on, if we ever recover, or if we all die because of the mass relays exploding or if we all kill eachother off or starve to death becuase we’re all stuck on/around earth. That’s what I want to know. Bioware is standing by their ending, so I respect that, but I just need closure
I agree with Dartanian. I would appreciate more gameplay, and I would like another ending, but more than anything else I want me some closure dang it.
Bioware has already denied indoctrination theory. But I really wouldn’t mind them stealing it from the fans. I think it’s a compelling gateway to continue telling the story. Hell, it could allow Bioware to make another dozen hours of gameplay and if they give it free, they’ll get no complaints from me (they make enough from multiplayer microtransactions I’m sure). And then they’ll also have a second crack at another ending, where (hopefully) Hudson doesn’t exclude his team of writers and do it himself again. So I really am disappointed that they AREN’T stealing it from the fans, make sense? And besides, Bioware asked for fan input to help make the game. What better contribution is there?
Besides, why not explain the ending, if the explanation turns out to be good? Sure it’s poorly handled, but just writing off Bioware and refusing to keep an ear open is just spiteful.
And really, are you really going to complain about killing the Illusive Man twice? C’mon. Martin Sheen deserves more credit.
The worst thing is the way they treat the community. They made it look like it’s our personal problem that they royally screwed up the ending. They never even said something like “sorry to those who were disappointed”. Nothing.
Instead they seem to think that they are doing us an enormous favor by extending the crappy ending with more confusing crap.
Seriously the ending is beyond repair it’s not that it’s sad, it just doesn’t make any sense at all, no matter how you look at it.
Picture this: you make a statue that everyone has been looking forward to because you are known to make great art. It isn’t what they expect and doesn’t seem finished when you reveal it, and they respond in anger and and sign petitions to get you to change it. How do you respond? Human nature says you will be defensive and hurt and that you will stand by your art even if other people don’t like it. Now change that to Bioware and Mass Effect 3
Ahhh yes, “Artistic Integrity” – We have dismissed that claim. Monte changed one of his painting after the buyer complained btw.
If I go to a concert, and pay top dollar to be entertained by the music of (insert band here) therein, why shouldn’t I be angry if at the very end the (insert band here) throw away their instruments and start playing death metal? Am I not entitled to expect the end to the concert to be what I have paid for?
I in no way endorse death metal or Christian rock or any form of punk after 1987 nor do I endorse gospel or scream metal. I do endorse Tool and the Sex pistols.
@Dartanian: Or picture this.Your waiting in anticipation for a meal being prepared by a world-class chef. The chef keeps telling you that it is going to better than any meal that they’ve made for you before.Your going to love it.
So the chef finally brings the meal out to you.It looks good, smells good.The texture is quite good as well. But the meal itself is either to salty, spicy or needs to be cooked longer.
You tell the chef this and ask if they can make appropriate modifications. And instead of agreeing to do so.They throw a hissy fit about how the meal is exactly how it is meant to be! And accuse you of trying to compromise their “artistic integrity”. When all your asking for is the same meal (game – ME3) just with less sodium in it.
Or in Mass Effect 3′s case. Less bulls!t: better writing, directing and editing of the story.
I don’t see Game Developers as just being artist.There creative — yes. But were not buying paintings or sculpters from them from some Art Exhibit. Were buying video games from them, that are suppose to be enjoyable and fun.And if they fail to produce this.They’re suppose to go back to the drawing board until they get it right.Many people are telling them that ME3 is not what they said it would be.Go back and fix it, till you get it right.I do not believe that this is an unreasonable request to make. BioWare made all sorts of promises about ME3 that turned out to be false.And that’s not cool.
Well if this doesn’t work I can always play ME2 and kill Shepard atleast that ending was pretty sick.
Once, perhaps, the general thought was that a game, particularly one as beautiful as the Mass Effect series, was deserving of a poetic ending; yet, here we are, in this place, at this time, we the consumers nearly begging for this ending to be naught, and instead we receive the same putrid pile of plotholes, nonsense, and broken hopes. Except now we get more expansion upon the nonsense. Truly, we have a masterful author directing the course of Mass Effects story (That was sarcasm). Bugger this for a buck fifty (or, in this case, $10); I’ll prefer keeping my points until the realization of flawed production is realized. Take our indoctrination theories, take the better end result when it exists, swallow your pride, and realize, please, that sometimes the idea of “overly open ending” is a failure when you anger the fan-base to this extent. This series is dead to me, until this crappy ending is completely fixed, preferably by unloading two shotgun slugs into the back of this game’s ending and replacing it with something that makes SENSE! YOU CANNOT HAVE REALISM FOLLOWED INSTANTLY WITH SURREALISM. ARGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!
i agree with all of you with how the ending sucked…i am willingto give bioware a chance to fix it with the extended cut dlc tho…the game on a whole was the best of the 3 and im still getting surprised by stuff with the lil things i change every time i go thru the game again.(which by playing all 3 all over makes me appreciate the whole series even more)my brother said it best 99% of this game is perfect now hopefully the extended cut fixes it…im waiting however impatiently for more SP dlc to expand the story…i heard there is supposed to be a collector mission which taking javik there would be awesome or the retake omega dlc(which i think def coming prob right on the heels of the extended cut dlc) and hopefully there by a dlc with grunt in it and then which you can add him to your party or another dlc for another party member to join the crew…i dont know but the damn summer cant get here quick enough for me:)
I had issue with the entire plot of the ME3 not just the ending.
1. Technology to possibly defeat the Reapers is located of all places on Mars… lol… seriously ? And why wasn’t Shepard totally pissed off when he found this out.
2. The crucible. Ok our entire galaxy is under attack what do we do ? Lets gather every known species and make a big armada to fight them while we try to turn on this device that we don’t know how to use or what it does. Wait a sec, don’t we already know that current military technology cannot stand a chance against Reapers ? Oh and you wanna gather all of it thats left and try to fight them to use this mystery device.
Awesome plan ! Lets do it…. (extreme sarcasm)
3. The star child. It wants to kill all organics using synthetics to prevent synthetics from rising up to kill organics. Uh wtf ?
4. The star child. After you meet the star child thingy it suddenly decides to give you three different options. Destroy, control or merge, oh great. I can destroy the enemy thats plagued everyone the entire series, or if I’m evil I can control them, or if I’m crazy decide to combine with them which makes no sense whatsoever.
But wait ? This reaper cycle which occurs every 50,000 years… you’re saying you had the option to do something different all this time and have only decided to do it now ? So all those other extinction events never had to happen ? lol… wtf BS.
Just a few points on my dislikes. Sure the game was enjoyable however the entire plot was farcical and laughable not just the ending. Yay I get the same cinematics with differnt colors.
I would’ve liked the plot to involve Shepard investigating where exactly reapers came from, what created them, what controls them. Explore darkspace. We’ve had two games around this galaxy lets explore somewhere else.