Mass Effect 3’s ending is arguably the most controversial video endings in the history of the industry. Some people were very satisfied with the ending. Many were confused and disappointed. And some were completely outraged and carried torches & pitch forks to BioWare head quarters. BioWear responded with this free DLC Extended Cut meant to answer questions and clarify things. They nailed it.

Without spoiling the new content for you here are some questions they attempted to answer:

Was the entire last sequence indoctrination?
How does your crew get back on the Normandy when they were on earth fighting by your side minutes before?
Is there only one right choice?
Who is this kid?

BioWare did a fantastic job elaborating on the choices and giving us significantly more closer than the original endings gave. Whether you liked the original ending or not, the extended cut is what it should have been in the first place.

That said, there are a few glaring items that should at least be acknowledged.

First BioWare seems to still be over promising. No matter how much they say all your choices throughout the series effect the ending, it’s simply not true. There are 4 possible endings – depending on your choices throughout the last game you may have all options available to you or only 1. However the choices you made in the first Mass Effect and the choices you made in the second Mass Effect have literally no effect beyond seeing certain people still alive in the closing sequences. Rex from ME1 & Jack from ME2 if you saved them.

Second, BioWare was very adamant in saying that these are not brand new endings but just extensions and further insights. I applaud them for sticking to their guns and not just throwing out the current endings all together. However, that’s more of a half truth. Yes they kept the basic frame work of the endings but a few things were changed that actually alters the story.

For example, (not really a spoiler because this is a change in the story – not new content) originally no matter what choice you picked the mass relays were destroyed for some unexplained reason. This caused a serious problem: hundreds of thousands of aliens are now suck in the Solar System unable to ever return home. In the new version the mass relays are only “badly damaged” but not beyond repair.

Over all I believe anyone who plays this ending will appreciate the new cinematic’s and content. If there is a lesson to be learned from all of this I would say its this: It’s always better to under-promise and over-deliver. BioWare over-promised and under-delivered. This Extended Cut is a welcome solution to several plot holes and should defiantly be played (or at least watched on youtube). But the original ending will forever go down in history as one of the most controversial and confusing ending in video games. We’ll have to wait and see with ME4.

I give Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut a 7.5 out of 10

 
-LazyCoffeeGuy