However, according to executive producer Casey Hudson, fans should temper their expectations - as there are certain Mass Effect 3 criticisms that BioWare could not address in the expansion.
Speaking on an official BioWare podcast, Hudson asserted that while the team has worked extremely hard to accommodate fan feedback and provide a satisfying conclusion to the space saga, there are limitations to what the developers could incorporate in the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut DLC:
Given the range of debate among fans of the series, it’ll be interesting to see who is left out in the cold by the Extended Cut DLC. We’ve published a number of articles charting the Mass Effect 3 ending controversy - resulting in a range of feedback from readers. As Hudson indicates, there’s a very vocal minority who have outright written off the Mass Effect 3 experience (such as one especially enraged fan who complained to the FTC) - while other players never understood what all the fuss was about. However, plenty of gamers found themselves somewhere in the middle - disappointed by the game’s conclusion but willing to provide constructive (and manageable) feedback for BioWare.
In a perfect world, where developers enjoy unlimited time and resources, these players might have loved to see a more fully-formed, and playable, expansion but most just want to see closure for party members as well as the sense that three games worth of decisions had an actual impact on the ending.
It’s these story-related criticisms that, according to Hudson, BioWare attempts to address with the additional cinematic content in Mass Effect 3:
Ultimately, given that the original Mass Effect 3 ending is intentionally open ended (read our Indoctrination Theory explained post), it’s unlikely that BioWare intends to spell out every story beat and plot point that’s setup in the final act - especially after other industry icons defended the developer, claiming that outright changing the endings would undermine the team’s original creative vision. That said, BioWare co-founder, Dr. Ray Muzyka admitted that there was room for improvement - asserting that the team would try and expand the original ending content in order to provide a richer (albeit not entirely revised) experience.
As a result, Hudson is probably on-point when he says that BioWare has worked hard to expand the conclusion - while also warning players to temper their expectations. It’s easy to imagine that the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut will flesh out the endings a bit more by providing closure for fan-favorite characters and showing how a number of story-related decisions affected the endgame - though it’s unlikely that we’ll see a single major change to the original conclusion (i.e. only additional content stitched into the mix).
For more on what to expect check out our own cases for:
Why ‘Mass Effect 3’ Needs A New Ending Why ‘Mass Effect 3’ Doesn’t Need A New Ending
What are you hoping to see addressed in the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut DLC?
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Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick for further updates on Mass Effect 3 as well as other movie, TV, and gaming news.
The Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut DLC will release on June 26th 2012. Mass Effect 3 is available now on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
Source: BioWare [via CVG]
