BioWare has always claimed they listen to fan feedback, and I don’t remember the last time there was as much “fan feedback” about a game than there has been with Mass Effect 3.
By now, I’m sure whether you are a casual or hardcore fan of the Mass Effect series, you’ve heard pretty much all there is to hear about the ending. I shared my personal experience with the ending as well as tried to round up all of the controversy and theories surrounding it in previous posts, so let’s just jump in to what EA had to say about releasing new DLC to expand upon the controversial ending.
“Through additional cinematic sequences and epilogue scenes, the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut will give fans seeking further clarity to the ending of Mass Effect 3 deeper insights into how their personal journey concludes. Coming this summer, the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut will be available for download on the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation3 computer entertainment system and PC for no extra charge.
“We are all incredibly proud of Mass Effect 3 and the work done by Casey Hudson and team,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder of BioWare and General Manager of EA’s BioWare Label. “Since launch, we have had time to listen to the feedback from our most passionate fans and we are responding. With the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut we think we have struck a good balance in delivering the answers players are looking for while maintaining the team’s artistic vision for the end of this story arc in the Mass Effect universe.”
Casey Hudson, Executive Producer of the Mass Effect series 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.”
As a fan of the Mass Effect series, this comes as very good news. Having now been a few weeks since beating Mass Effect 3, I have come to terms with the ending. I am still massively disappointed by it and think it is filled with plot holes and nonsensical rambling, but the frustration about the situation has worn off knowing that BioWare and EA had already announced there will be some clarifying DLC and that they would make good on their word.
We now have a time line for this DLC and that is a release date some time over the Summer. Having dug a little deeper into the ending, and having spent hours talking to fellow BSR Bot and Mass Effect fan Senador Kooch, it appears less and less like the Indoctrination Theory is true – that BioWare had somehow planned for this ending to not be a “true” ending. After scouring through production notes about cut story lines and tight deadlines and all the pressures that come with them, it appears more like BioWare just dropped the ball with their story telling. There’s probably no higher meaning, no “this is all happening in Shep’s mind”, the ending is just simply poorly scripted – at least in the form it currently holds.
The quote that gives me the most hope is that last line from Casey Hudson, “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.” For me, this is exactly what I was hoping for. Clarify for me some of the more major plot holes at the end of the game, and provide some sort of personalization to each players’ ending based on the hundreds of choices we’ve made over the course of 80+ hours of game play. Was that not one of the big selling points of the Mass Effect series? An incredible sci-fi universe and story taking place within it that the player is able to participate in in a big way? It will be nice to hopefully see more personalization added to the ending, and of course some clarification to the many “What the hell?” moments that happen over the course of the last 10 minutes of the game.
In my humble opinion, this is the right move to make. Had this DLC been released and cost already upset video gamers more money to gain additional clarity and personalization that should have already been included in the ending, the proverbial feces would have hit spinning, air-circulating blades. Did BioWare drop the ball with the end of their epically awesome franchise? It kind of looks like that was the case. Are they listening to fan feedback and providing more clarity, closure, context and personalization to their game in a way they feel still maintains their artistic integrity? It certainly appears that way. But let’s face it, BioWare is up against the ropes here and I don’t envy their position, and even after the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut DLC drops, there will still be unhappy fans out there (hell, I very well could be one of them), but you can’t please everyone. The important thing here, I think, is that a company like EA and BioWare actually listened to the feedback from their fans and are willing to add to their game to improve it.
Just how much of the ending are they going to be able to improve? Well, we will have to wait until Summer to find out.