BioWare is standing behind the controversial (some say “convoluted”) ending to its blockbuster Mass Effect trilogy, refusing to change it, despite the pleading and demanding of its fans. But they are going to release an “Extended Cut” DLC that expands on the ending.
Call it the best of both worlds: BioWare gets to hold onto its creative integrity, proving that the creator (rightly) gets the final say in his or her art; meanwhile, fans get their concerns addressed with a free downloadable content pack. The developer says that Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut will “offer extended scenes that provide additional context and deeper insight” to the finale.
I risk repeating myself with this, but it’s worth being clear about such a contested topic: BioWare is not changing the game’s ending. What they are doing is giving fans the closure they crave. They’re doing this with additional cinematics and epilogue scenes (which sounds to these ears like content you’ll watch instead of play). But where these scenes will be inserted — be it before, after, or even during the final scenes in the game — you’ll have to wait and see.
Specifically, BioWare says the “Extended Cut” DLC will answer lingering questions and mysteries in the overall story, flesh out the series finale to provide fans with a more personalized ending that offers greater closure, and give greater insights into the conclusion of Commander Shepard’s journey. The good news is that this DLC will be free for all Mass Effect 3 owners. The not-so-good news is that if you still aren’t satisfied after this DLC pack is released, then that’s your too bad, ’cause while more DLC is planned beyond “Extended Cut,” none of it will relate to the end of the game.
“Extended Cut” will be available sometime this summer. Players will have until April of 2014 to snatch the DLC pack for free; after that, it’ll cost ya.
And that’s the way it is.
Will this be something I can purchase, say at Best Buy? Unfortunately, I do not have any XBOX/Internet connection so I will probably not be able to see it at all unless I get Xbox live sometime in the near future…. will they be selling it as a disk or will it be downloadable only?
the good news is, it will be free by all accounts. But the bad news for you is it will be download only, sorry! It’s basically just going to be extended cut scenes at the end. But from what I understand, it may just be released as a patch so, if you have an internet connection, it will just download automatically for you
I am very happy with this news! It wasn’t a bad ending, it really wasn’t! It just lacked exposition, and I think people were just angry about that in my opinion. I can’t wait to see what happened to my crew!