While I was preparing my Dragon Age post, Bioware decided they'd go and release Mass Effect 3. I'm still working on my Dragon Age post of course, but sometimes you have to have to blog abot currnet events.
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| I rolled a Femshep, because that's how I roll. |
Now anyone that's a gamer would have heard of Mass Effect 3, and anyone that reads blogs and things about games will have learned that not very many people were happy with the ending. Really unhappy. The guys at Bioware had to change thier forum rules because of all the bile, vomit and swearing thrown at the company and people involved. There was even a movement called Take Back Mass Effect 3, which donated over $40 to a charity in order to try and convince Bioware to change the ending. The basic argument was that Bioware had lied to them about the ending, because for the last few years they had been told the kind of ending they could expect, and what they got was not that ending. Bioware further riled them up when they announced they would not change it. But then they announced a DLC which would come out in summer to help folks work it all out.
I'm not a big fan of commenting on stuff that I've no real experience of. So I've waited until I've finished it before I started pounding away at the keyboard. I'd heard of the upset, and I'd even seen a few comments on Twitter about it, then I finished it. I tweeted this: "Finished Mass Effect 3. No spoilers or comments about the ending from me." Mostly because I was still mulling over what I'd just seen. So, what did I really think then...?
Well, the Mass Effect 3 ending is a mess. It makes no sense. People railed against the ending of Fallout 3, but at least that made sense. I could see why people were upset with it. Instead of jumping on to forums and spewing Internet hate (because I'm an adult), I thought about why I was upset with it. When I finally went online to see why others didn't like it, I discovered we all shared common ground- there was no sense of closure, which was odd to me, as Bioware have usually been good with that. Going back to Dragon Age for example- part of the ending of the game was a series of screens detailing how your decisions had shaped the world immediately after. This was the sort of thing I was expecting. But instead I watched a few cut scenes that did not mention how my Commander Shepard's actions had affected the galaxy's many races and planets.
Don't get me wrong however- Mass Effect 3 is still an incredible game.It's one heck of a ride. I've been seriously impressed with the multiplayer side of things. But then I wondered if the ending had been made this rubbish on purpose. I found it suspect that Bioware announced a Downloadable Content that would give us the closure we desired, not long after it had all kicked off. Was it all just a ploy to get us talking about the game for longer? After all, bad press sells games. Grand Theft Auto sells bucketloads because of all the negative press it gets, proving the old saying "There's no such thing as bad publicity" entirely true.
Of course, doing some research online tells me that there are other ideas- one called the Indoctrination theory is quite popular and explains a fair bit. But at the moment, any theory we have is peeing in the wind. Why? Because at the end of the game, we are told DLC is coming. Bioware have announced a DLC that will help clarify the ending. So it would seem that the end is not the end. The ending DLC comes out in summer, but will it be what the rabid fans are after? Or could it be worse, just a corporate ploy? Well, only time will tell it seems, and I'm sure I'll be writing about this subject again at some point, which is probably what Bioware wanted in the first place.
...or it it? The situation seems as confusing as the ending sequence....
Links
This guy actually liked the ending to Mass Effect 3.
People are actually trying to take legal action over it all.
Shamus Young details the big problem with this problem.
What if Shepard was indoctrinated...?
Forbes on Indoctrination Theory and it's buisness implications
Article on Kotaku detailing the problem. (Spoilers)
Take Back Mass Effect 3's facebook page
This is where I got that Femshep picture. Interesting article about her voice actor.
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