BioWare has released a fairly definitive statement regarding it’s plans for Mass Effect 3 at the BioWare Blog. Brace yourself, because the following news may make some people happy and some people even more upset.
Over the course of the last few weeks since Mass Effect 3‘s launch, the majority of fans of the series have been very vocal about the ending. People weren’t happy because it had plot holes, brought in outlandish elements out of nowhere and, most importantly, didn’t factor in any of the decisions made during the previous two games. The ending (singular) was the result of one decision made in the last five minutes of the game. Most importantly, the decision in the last five minutes only influenced what color the flash of light coursing through the relays was. It was, in short, disappointing.
BioWare heard these complaints and said they were listening, but the Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut DLC doesn’t exactly show it. This free DLC will be released sometime this summer and will provide additional scenes during the ending and as an epilogue. None of the existing endings will be changed. No new endings will be added. All we will be getting is some extra movies that are intended to provide more "closure."
I’ll admit, I’m disappointed. I was really hoping BioWare would come through. I didn’t expect additional gameplay or a boss battle against Harbinger. (It would have been nice since Harbinger was set up to be some kind of big bad for the series and didn’t even get one line in Mass Effect 3.) I did expect multiple endings that took decisions I made in the previous games into account. After this statement, I’m guessing we’ll maybe get one or two movies and perhaps some epilogue text ala Dragon Age: Origins.
The Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut DLC will be available for free until April 12, 2014.
