Three months after the controversial release of Mass Effect 3, which many die-hards criticized for failing to provide a satisfying conclusion to the fan-favorite trilogy, BioWare is set to unveil the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut DLC. The expansion will buff up the original Mass Effect 3 ending with added cutscenes (but no gameplay) that flesh out the fate of key characters as well as showcase how each players’ decisions affected the final moments of the game.
However, according to executive producer Casey Hudson, fans should temper their expectations – as there are certain Mass Effect 3 criticisms that BioWare could not address in the expansion.
Speaking on an official BioWare podcast, Hudson asserted that while the team has worked extremely hard to accommodate fan feedback and provide a satisfying conclusion to the space saga, there are limitations to what the developers could incorporate in the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut DLC:
“Ultimately our passion is entertaining people, so delighting them with our stories and giving them amazing worlds to escape to, that’s what we love to do, so in this medium it just wouldn’t make sense for us to make some kind of artistic statement, and then turn our backs on it forever [...] There was some feedback that we can’t address. There are people who just outright rejected the whole concept of the endings, and wanted us to start from scratch and redo everything. And we can’t do that because that’s not our story, we wouldn’t know how to write that story [...] What excites us is the challenge of learning how people consume our stories, so it’s a learning process for everybody. And then incorporating that feedback, that’s how we make our work better.”
Given the range of debate among fans of the series, it’ll be interesting to see who is left out in the cold by the Extended Cut DLC. We’ve published a number of articles charting the Mass Effect 3 ending controversy – resulting in a range of feedback from readers. As Hudson indicates, there’s a very vocal minority who have outright written off the Mass Effect 3 experience (such as one especially enraged fan who complained to the FTC) – while other players never understood what all the fuss was about. However, plenty of gamers found themselves somewhere in the middle – disappointed by the game’s conclusion but willing to provide constructive (and manageable) feedback for BioWare.
In a perfect world, where developers enjoy unlimited time and resources, these players might have loved to see a more fully-formed, and playable, expansion but most just want to see closure for party members as well as the sense that three games worth of decisions had an actual impact on the ending.
It’s these story-related criticisms that, according to Hudson, BioWare attempts to address with the additional cinematic content in Mass Effect 3:
“When things are really constructive like that, even when it’s critical, it means a lot to us, because when you think about the artists and writers, all the people here – they work because they’re passionate about games. They’re passionate about making a really great experience for players. So when they get constructive feedback, constructive criticism, they’re really excited about that [...] You can never completely satisfy everyone. We’ve seen a whole range of feedback, ranging from people who wanted a total redo, to people who had concerns and questions about the original endings, to people who loved the original endings and have told us they don’t want to change anything [...] So there’s no doubt that there will be a whole new wave of discussion and debate, maybe even controversy. But we didn’t do the Extended Cut because we’re trying to make everybody happy, make it perfect – we just saw an opportunity to expand on things that we felt could add value to the experience, for those that appreciate it.”
Ultimately, given that the original Mass Effect 3 ending is intentionally open ended (read our Indoctrination Theory explained post), it’s unlikely that BioWare intends to spell out every story beat and plot point that’s setup in the final act – especially after other industry icons defended the developer, claiming that outright changing the endings would undermine the team’s original creative vision. That said, BioWare co-founder, Dr. Ray Muzyka admitted that there was room for improvement – asserting that the team would try and expand the original ending content in order to provide a richer (albeit not entirely revised) experience.
As a result, Hudson is probably on-point when he says that BioWare has worked hard to expand the conclusion – while also warning players to temper their expectations. It’s easy to imagine that the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut will flesh out the endings a bit more by providing closure for fan-favorite characters and showing how a number of story-related decisions affected the endgame – though it’s unlikely that we’ll see a single major change to the original conclusion (i.e. only additional content stitched into the mix).
For more on what to expect check out our own cases for:
What are you hoping to see addressed in the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut DLC?
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Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick for further updates on Mass Effect 3 as well as other movie, TV, and gaming news.
The Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut DLC will release on June 26th 2012. Mass Effect 3 is available now on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
Source: BioWare [via CVG]
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Well that’s obvious, no matter the ending would have been there would have been a group of “fans” not satisfied. They get props for even doing this Extending Ending Cut because regardless of what it has the “fans” will still not be pleased. I just hope it doesn’t start up a s*** storm again. It’s well pass time to move on now.
SPOILER ALERT : For those who say they had no problems with the endings, and people are just whining for no good reason, you really haven’t paid attention to the series. The ending is thematic and literary suicide. Throughout the entire Mass Effect series, there’s a theme of diversity, and accepting other cultures and lifeforms for what they are. The most striking fact being the acceptance of AI such as the Geth. and EDI. Javick even says that the Protheans were doomed becuase they were too homogeneous. The synthesis and destroy endings completely throw this out the window, by either destroying ALL synthetic life (and rejecting their right to existence) *(why cant i just shut down the damn reapers?) or combining both organic and synthetic life, rejecting the right of both to be unique. In the control ending, Shepard is given the choice to try to control the reapers. Alright. that’s not too out there. except for the fact we just watched a man slowly degrade and die over 2 games becuase he tried to do just that. Shepard or no Shepard. I wouldnt bet my chances on that. Now onto the plot holes so ridiculously large it feels like they didnt even look at the last 2 games when writing them. 1) mass relays destroyed. not only does this completely screw the entire fleet Shepard brought with him, but it ruins everything for EVERYONE else. the galactic economy is done for. thousands are stuck on earth and other worlds that dont have the means to the support them, and not only that, In the arrival DLC for mass effect 2, we see that destroying a mass relay effectively ruins all habitable planets in the immediate solar system. so everyone is screwed twice. The last plot whole is why joker would be running from the final battle in the first damn place. There is no way the crew shepard’s spent several games with would abandon you in the last minutes of the battle. No way in hell. (that, and Bioware didnt even think to leave out the poeple you brought to Earth with you in the scene where joker walks out) . In any case. that is why the ending is terrible and Bioware needs to fix it. (not to mention by destroying the mass relays, they have effectively ruined a story universe, making subsequent games impossible and Shepard the worst war criminal in history) It seriously wouldve been better for the galaxy if they had just let the Reapers do their thing.
I’m not going to go in depth and argue everyone of your points here, just one thing.
Endings don’t have to be happy.
So Mass Effect 3 ends with 90% of the universe being wiped out, Shepard’s alternate option is what again?, oh right, complete enslavement and then inevitable death. I think I’d rather enjoy a Mass Effect game set 10 years later in a universe recovering from an apocalyptic event, I’d like to see the council races struggling to rebuild, the new races gaining power, old friends surviving through the worst.
Oh, and actually if you think about it, would the relay’s destruction really destroy that much, in arrival it kills 304,942 Batarians on the nearest planet in a small system, are the other major planets so close?, Earth’s relay is all the way out at the moon.
Bluehue- 1)Im alright with an unhappy ending, trust me. but one that makes sense. this one does not. 2) a sequel would not make sense becuase you would be stuck in 1 system the entire game…so so much for seeing all the council races doing their thing. you physically could not. 3) Earths relay is out past pluto, and “Kenson was right about one thing, the resulting explosion destroys the system”, and while u may be right about it being an unhappy but interesting ending, blowing them up is still a worse ending then if the reapers won. that does not sit right with me. playing 90+ hours trying to make a difference, and in the end that difference is making everything worse. mass effect is not that kind of game and doesnt deserve that kind of ending. if that was a possibility and a theme then it wouldnt be so bad. but it was not present in anything else
Why is it so hard for Bioware to just make a solid obvious ending, why does it have to be so abstract? Can’t the crucible just be activated, destroy the Reapers and what ever follows will be reflective of the players choices. Even if you are paragon or renegade, both want to destroy the reapers whether it be to save the galaxy or out of self preservation. As soon as Bioware confirmed that the indoctrination theory was false I already had doubts about the ending DLC. I plan to have my expectations lower then they have ever been so that I am not too disappointed.
according to one youtube user “and why the hell not a happy ending”?
While they shot the Indoc Theory down, I still will choose to believe that if the game is left open ended.
However, it would’ve been much nicer if they’d given the game six major endings, and then a lot of cutscenes simply showing the effects of what you’ve done on everyone you’ve interacted with in the past games, depending on how you interacted with them.
The six, overarching endings should’ve been this
PARAGON Everyone lives. Really happy.
RENEGADE Everyone lives. Happy, but sad because of the losses.
PARAGON Shepard dies. The Reapers are destroyed at the cost of Shepard’s life.
RENEGADE Shepard dies. The Reapers are destroyed, and ultimately, Shepard’s death was quite violent.
PARAGON Everyone dies. The Reapers win. It was a valiant last stand.
RENEGADE Everyone dies. The Reapers win. Everyone is utterly slaughtered.
Case closed. When making a massive choice-based game like this, it doesn’t hurt to not be too ambitious. A standard ending was what most people wanted. I know it is. They just wanted to see it done Mass Effect style. I would’ve been satisfied with any of those endings I listed above, even with very slight changes, considering that those are very vaguely detailed.
Regardless, I’ll keep my hopes up high. I know there are people who agree with me. And I’m sure there are some who don’t. To each his own.
I don’t really see this being anything but the obvious, final binge attempt by bioware to clam down the whole s*** storm they brewed up. Frankly I have lost any and all faith i had in regards to bioware, ME3 started with controversy (the from ashes DLC debacle) and ended as such, and this is the second cash cow series (the first being their dragon age title) that bioware has f-ed up after they got latched on by the EA parasite.
It will be quite the cold day in hell before i pay money for any bioware content ever again, and even if such an enticing games should appear (imagine a colder hell) it would be an even colder hell before i actually pre-order etc.
from my wallet to Bioware i bid adieu…i just wish it did not have to end this way.
I don’t know who it will satisfy. The Indoctrination Theory fans will know their theory is crap, and the Failchild will still be there. And everyone who was disappointed have already written it off. They might as well have not even bothered.
While I don’t have have huge expectations on the ext cut I’ll be happy if they clarify and give closure about my crew then I would be satisfied not exactly happy but satisfied..now what will make me happy and satisfied is if they included some more battle scenes like harbinger being blown up after torching sheP and like if say you see a group of Asari being led by samara ripping banshees apart would be pretty cool… Hopefully they incorparate a bunch of the on top of the epilogue but we will see…personally I loved the game for 99.8% of it…just wanted more out of the ending which is what we r getting as of 5 am tomorrow
SPOILERS
I was actually ok with the ending I got. It may not of been how I wanted it but at least it had an end, and it kept me wondering afterwards. The thing i didn’t like was the ending after the ending with the little boy and old man. In my opinion that was unneeded. It ruined the game for me. Just like watching a movie and then at the end you find out it was all fake or just a dream. So the game play and story line for me got a 10/10, the one out of three endings I chose got a 6/10, and the ending after the ending got a 0/10.
Didn’t like the ending. I know the last game was nothing but sacrifice, but as a work of fiction that is supposed to please the consumer me3 failed. Maybe a no win situation is more realistic.. But how much realism is needed for a work of fiction?
“And we can’t do that because that’s not our story, we wouldn’t know how to write that story” So…who wants to take bets that some fanfiction writer well have a better ending out by next week? Two weeks?
They’re already there.
Though it is much easier to have choices dramatically affect things when you only have to deal with the choice that story’s Shepard makes, not every choice anyone might want their Shepard to make.