Spoilers ahead! Only dare trek through this post if you've beaten the game.
Here on Volatile Mode I've been quite vocal about my dislike for the ending, and not because of the creative direction of BioWare to leave it down to a game-concluding choice, though that decision was questionable. The persisting outrage stems from the lack of clarification of such a monumental choice, something as little as determining the fate of the universe.
Shepard's adventure is about making the difficult calls and seeing the ramifications through. And the effects are widespread -- the continued existence of four species is left directly to Shepard, and siding with certain races compromises the war effort. But the ending's main issue is that seeing-through aspect was nonexistent, and we are left guessing.
After Ray Myuzka stated altering the ending was being considered and more information would come this month, BioWare delivered on that promise. A couple hours ago the "Extended Cut" DLC pack was announced for download this summer, adding "new cinematics and epilogue scenes that will expand on the game's ending, providing extra detail and insight to fans." That last part is important because it answers a majority of the concern directly.
And the DLC is free. Awesome.
Now let's play the speculation game. Depending on how Shepard's diplomacy skills are, some races won't be attending the final battle. For the purpose of this exercise, all races have been safely recruited so no one feels left out.
The species in play are the Turians, Quarians, Geth, Salarians, Krogan, Asari, Volus, and of course, humanity. Earth is the final battlefield. The spirit of the Catalyst proclaims whatever decision has devastating consequences, including destroying the Mass Relays. With every major militaristic power near Earth, immediately this is a red flag because it means they have no way of getting home. Thus does Earth become the military hub of Citadel space, or at least what's left standing?
Furthermore, how would the Turians and Quarians survive on Earth? Their digestive tracks can't extrapolate nutrients from human food -- a fatal infection is likelier.
With the situation at hand, whatever BioWare comes up with will be a hot topic. And the start of a dangerous precedent. Jeff out.
I saw this earlier too and several thoughts came to mind - not the least of which was the summertime date. That's leaving themselves quite a bit of time and release wiggle room. I find that encouraging that they will take the time to 'get it right', but that only sets expectations up higher than ever. That's going to be interesting, to say the least - because if Bioware fails to deliver this time, it will be a huge deal to fans.
ReplyDeleteI also found the information that it would only be free through next April interesting. It makes me wonder if there are plans to release some sort of a dlc-included Game of the Year edition down the road, or if they plan to charge for it after that, or simply remove it from being online.
My hope? That your decisions will be reflected in the ending. I really did not mind the current ending. To me, it made sense - I didn't have any trouble figuring out what an exploding Big Ben meant, or what a cybernetic Joker meant when he get out of the Normandy. I was disappointed that other than choosing a color/fate, and the number of resources I gathered, there was nothing else in the ending that reflected my choices from earlier in the game/series.