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Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut is a free DLC pack coming from BioWare in summer 2012 that will bring additional detail to the game's controversial ending, a morning press release confirms. The announcement notes that the Extended Cut pack will deliver "additional cinematic sequences and epilogue scenes" aimed at giving fans "deeper insight into how their personal journey concludes."
The download will of course be available for all platforms -- those being PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC -- and they won't cost a cent. Casey Hudson, the game's director, added: "We have reprioritized our post-launch development efforts to provide the fans who want more closure with even more context and clarity to the ending of the game, in a way that will feel more personalized for each player.”
A cynical person might look at that quote and realize it means that actual play-oriented DLC will be coming later as a result. None of you readers are cynics though, right?
For those who need a spoiler-free recap, the March 6 release of Mass Effect 3 was greeted with a considerable amount of criticism by fans who felt dissatisfied with the way the game ended. The overriding complaint for most is that, for all the choices players have made over the course of three 40-plus hour games, the end didn't deliver enough in the way of answers and closure. Various fan-led protests spawned online as a result, and BioWare has patiently addressed those concerns every step of the way.
Your best bet for catching up on all that's transpired is probably the latest episode of Feedback, in which Blair Herter, Nikole Zivalich, Stephen Johnson, and Donell Tucker discuss the situation at length.
Also, just to be clear about this new content: don't expect a changed ending. This is a clarification, an expansion. One that will hopefully offer more context to those who feel that what's on the disc is lacking. Also, the press release notes that the Extended Cut DLC content will only be free until April 12, 2014. So... uhhhh... yeah. Be sure you get on that right away and stuff.
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Vilelated
Artistic talent... Hand this story over to someone with true artistic talent in writing like mr Stephen king and see if he truly believes this is talent. Also, if ypur going to write something with an artistic flavor, you need to make sure everyone can understand it. If not it is just wasted ink on paper.
Pulloff
I don't see what the point in betting on redemption from an extended ending is, when that ending sucked so much. Do you seriously think an epilogue of the ending that ruined a 5 year commitment in a mere 5 minutes is going to win back anyone's loyalty? They gave their audience the finger. You don't end an world-famous trilogy with the intention of, "getting people to talk." You keep the frigging promise you made through the art of the last two games. I would have much rather had the original ending that was pirated, because I avoided seeing the leak. That's what Bioware asked of me.
Aeoael
If your ok with the the ending thats fine, Im not here to dictate what is right for you, but even though i was prepared by posts and other sources along the way, I still couldnt get over my disappointment with the ending. I dont thing it would have been too hard to give at least one reasonably happy ending, one that i can take a deep breath after and go "man, that was great, I think Ill do it again", but no, I cant, cause no matter what I do, i will always be stuck with crap, trash, or puke for choices, so why bother if it all sucks in the end.... And thats basically whats wrong with it in my opinion. I had heard the original design for the ending was pretty different from the half-assed one they churned out, and I think its because 1. New writer, and 2. EA was forcing deadlines because all they really care about is the money going into their pockets, and not the gamers satisfaction with quality of product, or delivery of expectations. I mean come on, a game as big as the Mass Effect trilogy to end like that seems very underwhelming, and the lack of diversity when you think about it is a bit saddening. If the gaming industry is going to go down the same road of corruption as so many other institutions, what with profit being the determining factor in the way many games are made, or with the possibility of future consoles locking used games...its like money hungry execs are strangling this beautiful aspect of society(video games as we have known them) I think gamers need to stand up for their rights and demand that producers consider them and the reception of their product, over how much money they can harvest off of it. I intend on making a career within the game industry, as I love gaming and the whole experience of it all, perhaps I might be able to help keeps things like they are, at least be another voice for gamer rights closer to home than a forum.
AceIllk
To Reiterate what McSwankenstein has already posted:
Non gaming journalism is the only place to go for any sort of balanced and unbiased reporting on this story.
First off, gaming publications and programs don't hire journalists. At best, they employ public relations shills who do their best to seem quirky, hip and ironic, usually while desperately needing a stylist.. Sure, they may have a tilt at Dynasty Warriors or the latest iteration of the WWE franchise, but no way do they have a go at the truly big franchises.
As I said in a previous post, if Sessler genuinely saw no potential issues with the ending of ME3 that were worth of even mentioning in his review, even if he PERSONALLY had no problems with it, he is incompetent and unqualified, regardless of the reasons behind his inability to foresee there being an issue.
It is telling that gaming industry "journalists" all seem to be talking down to the people who make them and games themselves relevant: the consumer. Further, they are hiding behind their misguided proselytizing about creator's rights and the "dangerous precedent" being set if Bioware attempts to make amends.
And all of us have bought or played a whack ass game or wished the ending had been handled better. I HATED the ending of both "Shutter Island" and "Inception" , but I accepted the rights of the folks who made and wrote them to handle things as they saw fit because the endings were true to the story and played out with a sense of logic and continuity. BY comparison, after reading the scathingly bad reviews for the third installments of the X-Men, Blade and Spider-Man trilogies, I have never seen any of them and never will.
Granted, compared to the gameplay and weight of decisions made in Fallout 3, the ending felt shabby, threadbare and cheap. But even if they had never addressed player's concerns with the DLC, I would have been cool with it. Not like the Vault Dweller wakes up from a VR sim gone wrong or turns out to be a space hamster having a bad salvia reaction. Even if poorly done the ending was true to the events I had spent 60 hours experiencing previously.
But when has there been such a vicious, passionate and committed response as the one we now see over ME3?
The issue isn't the quality of the ending or the creator's vision and their right to express it. It's that Bioware straight up LIED to their consumers and rather committed fans of the franchise. The games ending was so jarringly illogical, impractical and in direct conflict with the spirit, narrative and continuity of everything that had come prior to that point that it just made me stare at the screen in dumbfounded confusion as the credits rolled.
Given the level of effort that has gone into this franchise, I can only surmise that this is a cynical, calculated decision on the part of Bioware and EA to milk the franchise for as much extra cash as possible though DLC..
As for me, I am done. They can give away all the ME3 DLC they want and have it hand delivered to my door by Brazilian thong models. I still wouldn't play it. Indeed, the Next Big Thing from Bioware will get a wide pass from me until the "epic conclusion", at which time I may borrow the trilogy from a friend or snag me some used copies, provided they play down to my limited grasp of the Art of Video Games.
As all the gaming journalists have repeatedly pointed out, I should respect the creative process and appreciate art on it's merits. Which I will do by keeping my wallet in my damn hip pocket.
Kerith8
I'm just waiting for Bioware to come out and say "Gotcha! You don't honestly think we would jump the shark on this do you? This was payback for the early release of our old script... Tomorow we will be adding the TRUE ending to ME3. Don't steal our scripts next time!" But I doubt that's what actually going on :(
McSwankenstein
I know this point has been brought up before, but I find it amazing that the non-game industry insider journalists are doing the best job covering the issues fans are having with this product.
One would think that the gamer "journalists" would have their finger more accurately attuned to the pulse of their own audience and yet they seem overwhelmingly dismissive of the Retake Mass Effect movement whereas legitimate press has actually shown a surprising degree of unbiased opinion on a subject most would expect them to be less familiar with.
The disparity in fairness of reporting would almost raise the question in an outside onlooker's eyes of whether the importance of advertising dollars to the reviewers and game "journalists" wasn't a contributing factor to their opinions.
Not that I would accuse the *most trusted video game website* of being so easily manipulated, mind you, but if we don't ask they questions they certainly won't feel a need to address them either.
MrRickenbacker
Oh and for all you whiny little nancy girls...how long did people go without completeing understanding that Rick Deckard was actually in Android in Blade Runner. Don't hate on artistic vision ladies.
MrRickenbacker
Gamers Killed Mass Effect.
Zarbak
This is just wrong... unless this DLC confirms indoctination i don't wanna see it. Few cutscenes and dialogs can't fix the plot holes, lore bashing they made unless it's indeed indoctination.
Instead of going ahead and giving this game 5/5 and calling those stupid 15min "works of art" you should stand up against EA's bashing its franchises.
Zero_12975
i'll say that the ending didn't bother me too much, it the fact that they left so much questions unanswered. i would love to see what happened to the cast, the krogan, the rachnii, how did they cope with the relays being destroyed. they had the story for the game mapped out but there is a difference between leaving no closure and leaving what possibly happened up to interpretation. it doesn't even need to be any kind of cinematic i would be thankful for something like a written codex or something. but this is just my opinion.
i can't say that i'm all that disappointed in this game for one simple reason. i don't let the hype pump me up. ME is a freaking good game, but the minute you set your hopes up too high you get burned......badly, then you rage on the internet. it's happened time and again and it's about time people realized this. COD MW, FF13, and fallout new vagas are just a few examples of this. then, as i said in a previous post, the minute one sees EA as a publisher, you should apporch with caution.
balto85
I feel bad for the developers. This really is proof that you can't try to do anything original, because you're going to get crucified for it. I personally buy the indoctrination theory and think that's brilliant. And I don't need the developers to come to me and explain every aspect of it like I'm an idiot. They want room for interpretation, and that's the mark of a great book/movie/game. This wasn't EA making them put a certain ending on it. Bioware has said from the first game that they had their storyline all mapped out. The best stories are the ones where you have to think, and go back and watch again with a different mindset, and try to pick up on everything that you missed before. All these gamers that are foaming at the mouth over this won't do that, won't go back and play the game, and won't like anything that anyone else has to say or do about the game, and that's too bad. Those developers really tried to do something different, and all they've gotten is a bunch of crying, whining, and tantrums in return. And if you don't think that group has been childish, look at how many have tried to ruin the game for others by telling the ending to other people who hadn't finished yet. They've behaved like a bunch of bitter exes. If you think that wasn't a Mass Effect ending, maybe you don't know the franchise as well as you think you do. Those guys created everything from scratch. Every character, every gun, every ship, every tiniest detail. They didn't hand the game over to some new guy to write the ending. That was their ending. And if people weren't so busy looking for new reasons to hate it, you might see that it was as brilliant as everything that had happened in the game previously.
Machdude
Shep n Jack need to get busy repopulating the earth... C'mon, show jack fans some love!
NinjaMang5
They couldn't throw in a boss battle with Harbinger why? I would pay cash to have a boss battle. I would also pay for indoctrination to be true. I don't think they can pull a Thresher Maw out of there hats to fix the ending. They say they care about the fans, I not seeing it. I feel bad for Bioware because the they hare under EA control. If you like the ending ok. I'll try not to punch you in the face. Yet if your going to call me a cry baby for not liking plot holes, miss opportunities, and a poor delivery I would hate to see what you'd think of as "A bad ending". I mean all the had to do was fallow Halo 3's play book if they wanted another Mass Effect game. If EA and Bioware disregards everything the fans are saying, I'm not coming back for more. Call me all the names you want. I'm not going to stick around if I don't get what I payed for.
Alien_Number_Six
I love free stuff.
NuBeatz
Here's a thought. Since we've made so many choices along the way, there would be way too many endings so they left it up to the player to draw their own conclusions. Apparently gamers have to be spoonfed details cause we all know gamers are unintelligent goobers that need things broken down childstyle or they'll cry like the babies they really are.
jutsin928
QQ, my game didn't end how I wanted it to.
NuBeatz
So now the can of worms/pandoras box has been opened, what's to stop people from complaining about future games to have developers change and or add content to suppress their displeasure? What's next, more alternate endings for movies/tv shows?
This isn't Burger King folks, you can't have it your way. Sometimes you have to accept what you cannot change yourself. Well, scrap that cause apparently, all you gotta do is cry enough and someone will hand you a proverbial tissue.
shepardtorres
First of all screw all of u outhere that hate mass effect 3 endings. Bioware did a fantastic job and mass effect 3 is one of the greatest games ever!!!!! I like the ending alot ...so all of u winy gamers outhere f-u very much!!!
smrtstn
Would be nice in a future DLC to remake the Relay and find my old Squadmates.
Could even be a couple of DLC's
Seahawks28
Why do so many people act like the first two games have such radically different endings. No matter what choices you make in the first game it still ultimately ends with Sovereigns destruction...the subtle details of the ending are all that is different. You can't make choices that end with Sovereign winning. None of the choices you make effect the end of the game in any kind of radical way. Only in subtle ways
The same holds true with ME2. In fact the only differences in the ending for ME2 is who lives and who dies. The game still ends with the defeat of the Collectors. There's no ending where you refuse to go through the Omega 4 Relay and decide to turn tail and run. The endings are all the same just slightly different from each other.
So why does everyone expect something totally different when it comes to ME3? The choices you made still ultimately come to the same conclusion its just the subtle details that are the difference.
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