..Mass Effect 3..

PARTIAL REVIEW | ? Comments |

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know how much flak BioWare has been catching for the ending of Mass Effect 3. Very few – if any – fans were actually happy with how things turned out, and the media frenzy surrounding the ending pretty much polarized the entire gaming community. On the one side, you had people saying that the fans were entitled brats, and that even if there was something wrong with the ending, they should just swallow the bitter pill and move on. On the other side, you had the people who felt that there was something very, very wrong with how BioWare chose to end the franchise, and that Shepard deserved something more.

For my part, I saw what they were going for. I could have even come to like the original Mass Effect 3 ending… if it hadn't felt like the writers threw it out in an hour-long session. I count myself unsatisfied with the ending, not because I didn't like how the story ended, but because I didn't like how poorly that ending was presented. 

BioWare listened, and now, several months after the game's initial release, they've delivered the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut. This whopping two gigabyte download completely reworks the final stretch of the game, adding new dialogue and cutscenes, all while still retaining the basic narrative of the original endings. Basically, BioWare completely fleshed out everything that was already there. 

The conversation with the catalyst is now much more developed, and it actually says something about its purpose and its origins. The three choices your given are explained in a bunch more detail, and if you really want to do so, you have the choice of simply rage-quitting and letting the Reapers win, at which point you're treated to a cut-scene that features a familiar computer terminal coupled with a hologram of a particular Asari Scientist. 

Anyway, am I satisfied with the DLC Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut? Yes. I'll admit it feels like the ending they should have had in the first place, but… at the very least, they've corrected their mistake. Those of you who were unsatisfied with the narrative rather than the presentation… sorry. You won't see a different outcome. The difference is, with the new ending, the end result and your choices actually feel like they meant something. 

At the end of the day, isn't that what most of us wanted anyway?  

Nicholas Greene   FollowTech_Light A gamer at heart, Nick started writing when he was a child. He holds a BA in English, works as a freelancer, and loves every minute of it. One day, he hopes to net himself a career in game design - but that's something for the future.

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