In a surprise twist on what we expect from publishers and developers of triple-A games, BioWare announced not long after the release of Mass Effect 3 that they would directly address some of the game’s negative feedback by releasing free single-player DLC to expand and flesh out the game’s conclusion. Despite highly favorable reviews, some of the critical response – including in our own ME3 review – called out the game’s ending as a letdown.
Much of the community agreed (check out this poll) and voiced strongly online, which gave rise to various petitions and efforts to gain the attention of BioWare and convince them to “change” the ending. Instead, they decided to expand on what was there and give fans some of the answers and explanations they were looking for with the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut DLC. The new content is available now, and if you don’t care about spoilers or don’t want to play it yourself, you can see all of the new Mass Effect 3 endings below.
We can debate forever on why Mass Effect 3 needs a new ending or why it doesn’t (and we did), but BioWare has their reasons and a lot of it has to do with simply pleasing more fans. While ME3 was meant to conclude the story of Commander Shepard, the universe and series will live on and the last thing BioWare wants to do is leave a sour taste in the mouths of their most loyal fans, especially after Dragon Age 2 presented a disappointment and the much beloved Knights of the Old Republic series was converted into an MMO that’s losing subscribers.
BioWare admits that the Extended Cut won’t satisfy everyone, but it’ll hopefully meet your expectations. If you’re eager to see how the new endings play out, enjoy the three videos below for the new, extended endings, along with a fourth surprise video for a new option at the end of the game. That’s right – players have a new option in their final choice.
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Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut – Control Ending
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Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut – Synthesis Ending
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Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut – Destroy Ending
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Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut – Refusal Ending
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Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut Hidden Refusal Ending
For the extra curious, we’ve compiled a list of everything the extended endings changed in detail. What are your thoughts? Did BioWare succeed on wrapping up loose ends? Should this content have been in the game at launch? Is the ending of the trilogy still a mess or is it exactly the fitting ending it should have?
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Yay they gave us a option to tell the god child to go screw it’s self. Granted by doing so every one in the galaxy dies.
As I wasn’t going to download this anyway, thanks for providing links Gamerant – searching this on YouTube is an exercise in frustration.
On another note, so long Bioware, & thanks for all the fish.
DONT DOWNLOAD IT ITS A SLAP IN THE FACE SCREW BIOWARE
It’s still a mess. Just not as big of a mess as it was.
I quite liked the synthesis ending, though.
Still crap. That last “additional choice” refusal feels like a slap in the face from Bioware. I feel even more justified in not buying this game now.
I’m so done with Bioware. i’m probably considering give all my ME Games a proper, yet, Posthumous Burial for all the good times i’ve enjoyed :-/
Then again, it was a comforting ending and can rest this trouble at peace. Now i can finally move on.
Wow, the added option is a direct “f you” to everyone who hated the other choices. Thanks, Bioware.
What sucks is I can’t download the ending at all since my xbox continues to check downloadable content. It hasn’t stopped checking for the last hour. Sadly I have all my downloadable content on my HD can’t for the life of me figure out why its taking this long. Besides Mass Effect 2 no other game I have has this problem.
Seriously what’s wring with it? It tied up everything and fixed the plot holes. The Normandy isn’t stranded we found out what happened to all the races. What more do you people want?
I agree with you 100%, they gave us pretty much everything we asked for ad people are still finding ways to bitch.
However it didn’t show any future for Shepard except for control. People want Shepard to be fully alive.
There are still a few plot holes, like the members of your squad somehow beaming up to the Normandy when we weren’t looking, but I agree. I feel more satisfied with this ending.
I found It an acceptable apology. While not great, it is better than what they gave us. I kind of wish the refusal ending was the original ending. I will give Bioware another chance but I will be wary.
can’t agree more buddy
Why can’t have a totally new main character within the world of mass effect? It would maybe give us a chance to play a different race. Shepard is awesome but lets be realistic. We need variety.
No one said anything about a new main character. Or anything about using Shepard again in another game.
I know no one said that there would be a new character but some fans are angry that Shepard is dead indefinitely. I just think the idea to play a new character possibly of a different species would be cool
Is it just me, or does the “Stargazer” scene make absolutely no sense if you choose the Synthesis ending?
Went for the Synthesis ending again myself, was happy with it last time, found it to be brilliant this time round, I’d actually really want to play a game set in that universe.
Still can’t understand the anger, so they left it open ended for you to form your own ideas, so Shepard pretty much always dies, so there’s not much variety… I cannot understand how that can make you so truly ferocious that you’ll just ignore everything that came before it.
Well, it would be a very boring game set in the synthesis ending, because there’s no more conflict, remember?
I understand, open ended, yeah fun. Except for the fact that SO MANY games and movies are doing it, I’m a little sick of it. Not only is my imagination running dry, but I have a very cynical imagination when it comes to something like this, so I’ll take a fully explained, closed ending to an opening any day at this point.
I like the new ending. then again i didn’t hate the old one, bt i do want to know what wold happen if you did different actions in the game, like not cure the krogan.
If you choose not to cure the Genophage, (if he’s alive) You’ll get a slide of Mordin, and the scenes on Tuchanka are far less cheery.
It almost made me feel bad about sabotaging the cure. Almost. Wreav as the sole leader of the Krogan? I feel like the slides for that outcome would be even less appealing.
I thought they did a good job filling in the holes, Synthesis is still the best IMO, but Control actually seemed a lot better given the additional scenes. I wondering where they go from here, Campaign DLC? Not sure what they could do though.
I hope that we do get more Mass Effect games, on the next gen consoles most likely. Shepards awesome, but I’m perfectly fine taking over a new character in another trilogy.
I think a prequel would be neat. Maybe about the protheans.
I really, really, still don’t like it. It didn’t address what made the ending a disappointment for me at all. And the added option is just a big middle finger to everyone who complained. I didn’t think it was possible but I’m actually reliving the anger and frustration that I had months ago, fresh.
Get a life. I can’t believe people are still bitching.
I can’t believe you’re still trolling people in the comment threads of these articles.
trolling? No. This is exactly why I always said Bioware shouldn’t have wasted their time. Nothing was going to make these cry babies happy. I could have already been playing single player dlc if it wasn’t for all of you who were never going to be happy bc your precious Shepard didn’t go out the way you wanted.
You mad bro? Upset that someone doesn’t like the same things you like? Pot meet kettle.
U mad bro? Wow original.
Took yea 14 minutes to respond G? I’ll just put this here “Get a life. I can’t believe people are still bitching.”
Honestly, the problem I had with the ending couldn’t have ever gotten fixed so long as the God Child is still there. It’s doesn’t fit the themes or the tone of Mass Effect up until that point. We moved from sci-fi to fantasy. That sudden shift is what I dislike about the ending: BioWare broke the rules that this fictional universe had set up. It broke my willing suspension of disbelief.
That’s my problem as well.
“Giving the middle finger to those that complained”. They had already said that if you refuse to make one of the choices the world basically ends. They give you the option to pick that. What more did you guys want from that ending?
how comes the body that was gasping for longer showsor air when u destroy the reapers
Ok now I’m really annoyed.
So I couldn’t download the Extended Cut because my copy of Mass Effect 3 wouldn’t stop checking the downloaded content. So I finally fixed that by deleting all of my downloaded content from my X-box. Then I downloaded the Extended Cut, want to guess what happened? My X-box won’t go past the checking downloaded content message.
So yea, why would I buy DLC from BioWare if I can’t even play their free stuff? This is the only game I own that has this problem. The sad part is this wasn’t a problem when I first got the game it became a problem sometime between when I beat ME3 and today when I downloaded the Extended Cut.
The ending was still bad.
It cleared things up in a…kind of lame way…but it was still bad.
The MAJORITY of fans likely didn’t want this Reaper-Shepard orgy selection of endings. Most of us wanted classic endings that come with the whole “Man-vs-Greater Force” Type thing.
We wanted a big, happy cheery ending
We wanted a happy ending where Shep sacrifices himself
And we wanted an ending where the Reapers won.
With PARAGON/RENEGADE variations.
Extra little cutscenes would be showing the effects of our ending on all of the people involved in our choices from the past. The most prominent one that keeps coming to my mind is the Zhu’s Hope colonists and Shiala the green Asari.
I would’ve liked to see what happened to them. You get one message from them in the entire game saying “Derp, we can all fight through joined minds with the skill of Commandos now”
How about a cutscene showing a few of the colonists and Shiala fighting of some husks right before the big finale.
Still, Bioware tried. And I’m not going to stop getting their games simply because of the final run in ME3.
I just would have liked a more…classical ending
not this Synthetics-on-Organics crap. That reeks of ripping from other ambitiously written sci-fi stories. 2001 A Space Odyssey and I, Robot are some examples.
Eh, I’m almost tempted to fanfic my vision of all of the different endings and extra scenes that would’ve come from other choices. That’d be a lot of work though.