Mass Effect 3

Kirby · 26-06-2012 4:30pm

65% on the download

I'm at 50% though and I want the proper endings tho so will have to grind 4 or 5 multiplayer games so that adds another couple hours which is a pain......but even if the ending is horrid I feel I owe it to my squad.

J. Marston · 26-06-2012 4:36pm

Watched the destroy ending on Youtube. Erm....at least the music is good.

So they're not going to expand on Shepard breathing?

MitchKoobski · 26-06-2012 4:39pm

So in the updated Control ending,

Shephard basically becomes Reaper Jesus?

Eggy Baby! · 26-06-2012 5:46pm

Here's a summary of the content:

Okay, the content really starts after the citadel beam bum rush. It shows what happens to your squadmembers (the Normandy arrives and picks them up). The EC shows Shep physically flying out of the Citadel beam and into the hallway, and not just waking up.

All parts up until after Anderson dies are the same.

The Normandy is told to retreat before the Crucible goes off.

The scene with the Catalyst is much longer and much, much more detailed. The scene has way more investigative options and the Catalyst explains each choice in greater detail. It is also implied Harbinger is the first Reaper. It shows more scenes on the ground when the Crucible goes off- for example- I saw Cortez on the ground fighting and stuff. It also shows flashbacks of all those who have died. It shows the results of the Crucible's firing on Thessia and Tuchanka for me. The mass relays are shown to simply short out rather than explode. It is also implied at various times they can be rebuilt.

The Normandy is retreating from the explosion in an FTL jump when it is boosted by the blast and lands on the jungle planet. It is seen later to be leaving the planet. Your Love Interest places a memorial to you on the memorial wall.

A slideshow is displayed of Krogans holding babies, humans rebuilding etc. with a speech from Hackett in the background. I picked destroy so it showed EDI and Legion as losses. Mass relays are seen to be in the process of reconstruction, as is the Citadel. The Citadel is seen in ruins but mainly intact. This tells me Shep was actually on the Citadel and they were explaining his presence there with this scene. At the very end, the "buy DLC" message is replaced by one from the BW team thanking the fans (akin to the message from Bungie at the end of Halo Reach) et cetera. Stargazer is still present and unchanged.

There are a lot of pre-rendered cutscenes which i presume make up the bulk of the DLC.

The scene with Shepard breathing is still there but it is foreshadowed what it is (the Citadel was actually just severely damaged but appeared to be habitable) but the scene itself is unchanged.

I got from the Cerberus Base to the beginning of the DLCs content in 50 mins on Narrative difficulty.

Overall the DLC was great and I really enjoyed it. Some things went ambiguous still, however.

Kirby · 26-06-2012 5:49pm

Okay so, couldn't wait for my download to finish and watched em all. No spoilers just my impressions.

Is the ending still now suddenly super good? No it still feels somewhat haphazard. But it is better with the extended cut. A couple of the "wtf?" plot bits are explained and there is a much better finality to it. I think if people had gotten these endings originally, there would have been less complaining.

I also rather like the new 4th ending. It's short but in keeping with what I actually always thought the series would end.

Josey Wales · 26-06-2012 6:20pm

Eggy Baby! wrote: »

I got from the Cerberus Base to the beginning of the DLCs content in 50 mins on Narrative difficulty.

Overall the DLC was great and I really enjoyed it. Some things went ambiguous still, however.

So was any of the gameplay sections different? Or did it play just the same as before but with a new video to watch at the end?

Mr Freeze · 26-06-2012 7:46pm

Some one on Game Trailers said its mostly just screen shots and voice overs.

I am doing well so far not to have looked at those youtube vids, must get my copy back and play out the ending again and see what happens for myself.

Kirby · 26-06-2012 8:28pm

Some of it is screenshots and some of it is video's.

Browning2010 · 26-06-2012 8:33pm

I'm currently playing mass effect 3 and haven't finished it yet should I download this now or wait til Ive finished it at least once?

Josey Wales · 26-06-2012 8:44pm

Browning2010 wrote: »

I'm currently playing mass effect 3 and haven't finished it yet should I download this now or wait til Ive finished it at least once?

I would think you would be best of downloading the DLC and see the new extended ending. This is the official Bioware ending now.

Just so you know I haven't seen the new ending yet.

Clover · 26-06-2012 9:05pm

Downloading it now from the US psn store:D.

Edit: Installed , going to play it now.

Gunmonkey · 26-06-2012 9:06pm

Browning2010 wrote: »

I'm currently playing mass effect 3 and haven't finished it yet should I download this now or wait til Ive finished it at least once?

I would get the DLC, it doesnt change the endings much as more flesh them out and give more details on what happens.

And you theres nothing cut from the current endings so you will see the scenes anyways, may as well get the full versions.

Sad Professor · 26-06-2012 9:47pm

I liked it. It gives some much needed clarity to the ending(s). Although it feels like they cheapened out a bit on some of the details.

The voice-over playing over still frames.

Also, I wish they had edited together the various epilogue scenes a bit better. All the fade outs reminded me of LOTR.

I think the "control" ending is the best. The "destroy" ending still ignores some pretty important consequences:

the destruction of all synthetics, including EDI, etc

.

Anyone who hated the original ending on conceptual grounds isn't going to feel much different about after this. Personally, though, I thought the original ending was good from a cinematic and story perspective, just poorly executed in terms of gameplay and delivering the kind of emotional payoff that fans were expecting.

J. Marston · 26-06-2012 10:12pm

Finished watching all the endings. I think I like the control ending the most.

Shepard becomes ''Reaper Jesus'' and protects everyone plus the synthetics survive. Happy enough with that.

I don't like synthesis, it's creepy. I dunno, I just don't like the green glow for some reason.

One thing though...

In the synthesis ending, there's a picture of a Geth and a Quarian without a mask on but Tali still has her mask on while Liara's putting up Shepard's nameplate. Bit of a cop-out.

Clover · 27-06-2012 1:33am

Well I downloaded it from the US psn store and played it from cerbeurs base onwards and not one thing changed

, will have to wait until next week so.

FutureGuy · 27-06-2012 3:02am

Just finished it. Sleep time. Will discuss tomorrow. Zzzzzz.

Much better ending, some good things, some not so good.

Zero-Cool · 27-06-2012 9:03am

Clover wrote: »

Well I downloaded it from the US psn store and played it from cerbeurs base onwards and not one thing changed , will have to wait until next week so.

Ah sickner, thanks for trying anyway.

Cina · 27-06-2012 9:30am

My two cents on the endings

Basically what they've done is try and explain the ending itself, as in the difference between the 3 choices they make and that it's not just a case of one green, one red, one blue, by adding a few screenshots and a few minutes of dialogue from different characters.

But the actual ending stuff was never the problem for me, I don't care about the crucible or whether he was indoctrinated or the differences between the 3. I cared about what happens to the characters and what happened based on decisions you made throughout the entire three games, NOT that one little red/blue/green decision at the very end of the last game. And they still haven't told us any of that. Ok there's the odd screenshot here and there showing the Krogan baby and what not, but that's just lazy.

Meesared · 27-06-2012 11:09am

I think I have to agree with the general concensus here in that the new endings while not fantastic, are much more satisfying, and do actually bring proper closure to the story.

I did feel like a proper bitch for killing EDI with the Destroy ending >_>

Gunmonkey · 27-06-2012 11:26am

Loving the responses to:

the refusal ending that are going round the internets. People claiming there should have been a chance to "win" even though you dont use the Catalyst....the sole chance you had to defeat the Reapers??

Im sorry but the whole idea was that your one and only option was the Catalyst, you dont have enough ships and troops to defeat the Reapers...they kinda have experience the whole "wiping out the galaxy" gig, and the Protheans had better tech and a more organised army and they lost too. Knowing that, you then dont want to use the Catalyst and are suprised and complain when you lose the war

Nice they showed the "jump-gate thingys I cannot remember the name for right now" being damaged, and repaired so the possibility of following games is high. Though would have been cool to have a game set decades after where the travel is restricted to solar systems and the mix of species on some planets and the isolation causes whole new political and govermental systems to spring up, and you as an explorer from Earth (a descendant of one of the species fighting there and using the Reaper tech to enable system jumps) encountering and "first contacting" them.

noodler · 27-06-2012 11:38am

Gunmonkey wrote: »

Loving the responses to:
the refusal ending that are going round the internets. People claiming there should have been a chance to "win" even though you dont use the Catalyst....the sole chance you had to defeat the Reapers??

Im sorry but the whole idea was that your one and only option was the Catalyst, you dont have enough ships and troops to defeat the Reapers...they kinda have experience the whole "wiping out the galaxy" gig, and the Protheans had better tech and a more organised army and they lost too. Knowing that, you then dont want to use the Catalyst and are suprised and complain when you lose the war

Nice they showed the "jump-gate thingys I cannot remember the name for right now" being damaged, and repaired so the possibility of following games is high. Though would have been cool to have a game set decades after where the travel is restricted to solar systems and the mix of species on some planets and the isolation causes whole new political and govermental systems to spring up, and you as an explorer from Earth (a descendant of one of the species fighting there and using the Reaper tech to enable system jumps) encountering and "first contacting" them.

I won't spoiler my response (don't tink it needs it) but:

1) Saying you can't beat the Reapers with ships and troops kind of makes a mockery of the whole war assets thing unless of course you are happy enough to say a bigger army just allowed you to build, protect and escort the crucible.

2) The Reapers do have experience but the people of the ME universe do have advantages that were pointedly made numerous times regarding having some advanced warning. They also, according to Jarvik, have many different races which (somehow - he got a bit wishy-washy) means the fighting forces are less homogenous than those fighting under a unified Prothean banner and apparently more effective.

3) I find it amazing that we have th tech to repair Mass Relays considering we didn;'t build them!

Mr Freeze · 27-06-2012 11:40am

I think on my initial playthrough, I would have chosen the new option. Because I was only offered the Control and Destroy endings, and I didn't like either, didn't really know which was right or wrong, so I went with Control, I thought it was the right thing to do at the time, I will go with the Control again when I play the extended ending & watch the rest on youtube.

FutureGuy · 27-06-2012 12:25pm

I've decided against dissecting every single point about the ending...my thoughts below. There were three things I was hoping for from the new ending...

1) Either support the Indoctrination theory or dismiss it outright
This was the most critical point that I felt needed addressing. Even though that I completely disagree with people that think that Sheppard was indoctrinated, I do understand *why* they felt that. There were simply too many inconsistencies in the original ending. I am very satisfied that they have explained many of these inconsistencies. We see why our squad are back on the Normandy during the cut scenes. We see Sheppard actually enter the Citadel via the beam, we hear different dialog which dismisses any chance that it was all a dream or an indoctrination attempt. Indoctrination was been put to bed, and rightly so.

2) Do not remove the Catalyst.
There were calls for the Catalyst to be removed entirely, and I am glad that Bioware refused to bend to this demand. Why I feel that the origins of the Catalyst did not need explaining, many people wanted the back story, and I felt that they handled it well. It added meat to the bones of the initial ending. Personally, I strongly feel that some things do not need explaining as it takes away from the mystery of the situation.

3) Show us more of the effects of our decision and diversify the endings.
I chose Synthesis again and am very happy with the ending that I was given. It gave me the emotional payoff that I needed from the series and I can't ask for more personally. But now onto the other endings (watched on Youtube).

Ok, we have a fourth ending (refusal) and I am going to start with this as it was brilliant. Basically, you refuse to go with the "stoopid starchild" and decide you believe in freedom and beating the odds and all that Americana bull****. It was a reflection of many of the people on the Bioware forums that wanted the "we are the good guys, let’s whoop some aliens and get the happy ending...Yeeee-haaaawwww". Well fcuking done Bioware. Bravo. No happy ending for you. You were told thousands of times that the Reapers were just too strong. You lost, everyone was harvested, and so the cycle begins again. All that’s left is a beacon warning the next generation of life against making the very mistake that the player just made.

The Control ending was excellent and, coupled with the expanded Catalyst conversations, it was probably a satisfying ending for those who chose it. I still feel that it's an incredibly short term solution, as eventually synthetics will defeat organics even with the Reapers under control of the Shepard, and there will be nothing to stop the synthetics in future.

While I love all these endings, I do feel that Bioware really caved to pressure by allowing the Mass Effect relays to remain, albeit in a damaged form. I know that in the worst Destroy option that they do get destroyed but it is pretty moot given the destruction of pretty much everything else. There were idiots crying on other forums that "ooh everyone will starve and everyone is stranded, nothing will be the same". Tough, that's life. They couldn't understand that eventually, through hard work, we would eventually rebuild them.

Now onto the Destroy option. I really disliked it for so many reasons. I feel that Destroy was the poorest choice that a player could make for so many reasons. One of my greatest gripes in the original ending was that you were not made accountable for your actions. Yes, you defeated the reapers, but you also brought an end to every synthetic race across the galaxy. You knowingly sacrificed the Geth and EDI. They could have added scenes that made you full aware of your actions, but they didn't, and herein lies my greatest gripe with the Extended Cut. They had the chance to show you the result of your actions...Joker crying while holding the body of EDI, thousands of Geth dying in an instant, new species you never knew existed just wiped out. But again, there are few ramifications. The fact that Sheppard lives at the end strengthens the belief that this was the "best ending" which it clearly is not.

While I stated earlier that I was happy that Bioware explained certain uncertainties, I was hoping that they would not resort to spoon feeding the players everything, but I felt that they did pander a little to those people who are too fecking lazy to draw their own conclusions. The fact that they changed the dialog to clearly explain that Synthesis was the best possible ending was a bit much. The onus is on the player to come to that conclusion themselves.
FIN
Overall, I am very happy with the new ending. I am envious of anyone that is new to ME3 that can now play the game with this ending in place. I wish they had the guts to stick with the destruction of the relays and to show the terrible effects that the Destroy ending had, but they did not. I see the destroy ending as irrelevant to me anyways as it was not my choice, but it annoys me that those players got away so lightly.

Thank you Bioware for giving me an incredible series.

Mr Freeze · 27-06-2012 12:31pm

^ not reading that, as I have yet to see the endings.

But if that's the un-dissected version, I'd hate to see the length of the dissected version. :pac:

Cina · 27-06-2012 12:40pm

Gunmonkey wrote: »

Nice they showed the "jump-gate thingys I cannot remember the name for right now" being damaged

I'll give you a clue, look at the front of the box, or the title screen.

Mr. K · 27-06-2012 1:16pm

FutureGuy wrote: »

Indoctrination was been put to bed, and rightly so.

I thought the

Indoctrination Theory

was pretty good, but I agree that the new content has pretty much debunked it completely!

FutureGuy wrote: »

Ok, we have a fourth ending (refusal)

I liked the

refusal option too, it added a more definite unhappy ending and a proper sense of choice, something the original endings sorely lacked.

FutureGuy wrote: »

I feel that Destroy was the poorest choice that a player could make for so many reasons.

I disagree here; this simply seems like the most straightforward choice. The Reapers are

wiped out, but not without consequences. At least it gives players an option where Shepard lives

.

I thought the

destruction of the relays was most annoying thing about the original endings, since it made hurt the other races so badly after all of the player's efforts to improve their futures. Thousands of them were left stranded on Earth. The new ending gave them a way home, which is more satisfying

.

I'm glad that none of the endings were as simple as

Reapers defeated, everyone happy

. I know that's what lots of people wanted, but ME is way too clever a series for something so clique. Other series finished up like that and their endings were utterly forgettable. Bioware have us talking and debating the endings, which is just brilliant.

As a side note, I'm glad

Liara's fate has been clarified. She gets to have all those little blue children on the planet of her choosing! And in the Destroy ending, Shepard can grow old with her. The romance scenes with her were great, the added evac scene was essential (even if calling the Normandy in with Harbinger right there seemed impossibly risky and unprofessional!)

.

All in all though, the EC is a vast improvement on the original endings and I agree with FutureGuy that players who experience this conclusion instead will be much more satisfied than we were. It's a huge pity this content wasn't in the game from the start. But they got there eventually!

Josey Wales · 27-06-2012 1:17pm

Don't think I need spoilers for this.

I find it very strange that Bioware left obvious gaps in the original ending, like how did your squadmates survive and end up on the Normandy. I wonder if they simply ran out of time while making ME3 and always intended to come back later with DLC to flesh it out.

I chose the Destroy ending in my original play through but I didn't realise this was going to kill off the Geth or EDI. It was only watching the new ending last night that I realised my mistake.

Mr. K · 27-06-2012 1:19pm

Also, news on possible single player DLC, huzzah!

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-06-27-mass-effect-3-leviathan-dlc-files-hidden-in-extended-cut

Gunmonkey · 27-06-2012 1:29pm

Is it odd I want more info on the rumoured next MP DLC more than SP DLC??

noodler · 27-06-2012 1:37pm

Gunmonkey wrote: »

Is it odd I want more info on the rumoured next MP DLC more than SP DLC??

Very, imo.

I have been bored of the MP for quite some time.

Mass Effect 3

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