Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut Impressions
Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut brings some Clarification and Closure
Note: Massive spoilers are in this post you have been warned.
Before I begin I want to say I’m a dedicated fan to the Mass effect series. I’ve spent more hours in Mass Effect 3, than I have in any other game to this date. Needless to say I was hurt when I saw the ending to Mass Effect 3. It just had too many plot holes and I didn’t care for the star child and the whole Deus Ex Human Revolution ending. But now the extended cut is out and it fixes some plot holes and clarifies things a bit.
The Extended Cut for Mass Effect 3 is out now and it adds a few more scenes and an epilogue to the end of the game. I have played through all 3 of the endings and I have to say I am happy with the new extended endings. Now that doesn’t mean some people won’t still complain about the ending. People will also complain about something.
In order to play the DLC you must have a save before attacking Cerberus Base, but the DLC will not start until you are running down the hill towards the beam to get inside the Citadel. This is also where the first new scene takes place. Well running down the hill with my squad mates (I had Ashley and Liara with me.) Harbinger comes down and starts blasting the Alliance forces. My squad mates also get injured during this attack. This is when Shepard see’s his injured friends and calls the Normandy down to pick them up. Both characters get into the Normandy and my this is where my love interest and I part ways for the final time. For me it was Ashley and she refused to leave Shepard behind. This helped clarify how the characters were on the Normandy when Shepard stepped off the Crucible.
Some plot holes have been fixed
The next new scene won’t happen till you meet the star child. Here you will have a couple new dialogue options to learn a little more about where the Reapers come from, who made them, and what the Crucible does. This helps clarify a lot of things about the Reapers and their background in the Mass Effect universe.
After this, things continue as before. You can now question the three choices he gives you and he’ll tell you more about them instead of just doing them without really realizing the true repercussions. There is also now a forth new ending called the refusal ending. In this ending Shepard pretty much tells the star child to go screw himself and that the galaxy will just fight the Reapers without the Crucible. This is the worst ending in the game. The Reapers win and the cycle continues.
The ending I personally chose was the destroy ending. In which all synthetic life is destroyed and the galaxy can start over. I also did this when the game came out originally and I was pretty happy with it. Also another big change to the ending is that the Mass Relays are not destroyed, instead they are severely damaged leaving the door open for more forays into the deep and incredible Mass Effect universe. Also, this is the only ending where Commander Shepard can ‘survive,’ with a short scene depicting him laying in rubble and inhaling sharply.
Bioware has also added a Fallout like epilogue to the end of Mass Effect 3. It explains what happens after the Reapers are defeated and how the galaxy is rebuilt. My favorite scene was a shot of Wrex and Eve holding a brand new baby krogan, solidifying the hard work of Mordin Solus and Shepard to help cure the genophage.
I am happy with the ending, but at the same time not happy with the ending. I was really hoping there would be a way for Shepard to find a way to live and be united with his crew. Yes I’m a sap for happy endings and I think Shepard deserved one after he saved the galaxy. Overall, there’s just more clarification and closure within the Extended Cut. There’s also a lot more variety instead of the abrupt ending that was originally released.
