Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut DLC Releasing June 26th

It is official: The Extended Cut DLC for Mass Effect 3 will be releasing next week on June 26th. The waiting is up and now we get to see what this DLC has in store for us. BioWare had the following to say about the DLC:

The Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut is a downloadable content pack that will expand upon the events at the end of Mass Effect 3. Through additional cinematic sequences and epilogue scenes, the Extended Cut will include deeper insight to Commander Shepard’s journey based on player choices during the war against the Reapers. The Extended Cut will be available to download at no additional charge on June 26th on Xbox 360 and PC and PlayStation 3.

This is great news for anyone who was distraught over the controversial ending to M<ass Effect3 earlier this year. The Internet turned insane within days of the game’s release as many fans started seeing the ending to one of the greatest sci-fi trilogies and realizing it wasn’t exactly what they wanted it to be.

Well come June 26th in North America (July 4th in Europe for the Playstation 3) we’ll be able to see what BioWare decided constitutes an extended ending to this amazing series. The best part of it is that it won’t cost us anything as the DLC is completely free on all platforms. It will however clock in at around 1.9 gigabytes of space, which I know might be a potential deal-breaker for at least one of our writers.

Looking forward to jumping into an older character and experiencing the new endings immediately? Well BioWare has an explanation of how to do that as well [SPOILERS]:

[SPOILERS] To experience the Extended Cut, load a save game from before the attack on the Cerberus Base and play through to the end of the game. The Extended Cut endings will differ depending on choices made throughout the Mass Effect series, so multiple playthroughs with a variety of different decisions will be required to experience the variety of possibilities offered by the new content.[END SPOILERS]

My only big gripe with the news of this DLC is that June 26th is the same day that Dawnguard for Skyrim releases. Looks like next Tuesday is going to be a potentially busy day.

Come the week of June 26th, make sure you stop back here for my impressions on the DLC. There’s also a good chance that I will be tweeting either during breaks in conversation, or more likely as soon as I finish the DLC. Finally, we will not be discussing the DLC on our podcast next week due to a special guest making an appearance. More information on that later. (I know I keep teasing that, but had trouble figuring out when would be best to announce it.)

Mass Effect 3: Rebellion Pack Info

Well looks like Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer component is getting another free DLC pack in the form of the “Rebellion Pack”. This pack will be free to anyone who has redeemed an Online Pass for Mass Effect 3.

The pack includes:

• New Characters – Vorcha Soldier & Sentinel; Male Quarian Engineer & Infiltrator; and Ex-Cerberus Vanguard & Adept.
• New Maps – Firebase Jade: A waterfall surrounded base overlooking an ancient reservoir built by the Salarians; and Firebase Goddess: An Asari stronghold based in a Thessian metropolis.
• New Weapons – Cerberus Harrier Assault Rifle; Reegar Carbine Shotgun; and Krysae Sniper Rifle

The DLC pack releases on Xbox Live, the Playstation Network and PC on Tuesday, May 29th (Wednesday, May 30th on the PSN in Europe).

So let’s get this out of the way: “OMG WTF?! Y U NO RELEASE EXTENDED ME3 DLC YOU FUCKTARDS?!” Yes, I did read that earlier on Facebook, but the person had the momentary higher brain function to remove said idiocy from the post. Look, we all want to see what BioWare has in store for Mass Effect 3’s extended ending. We all just want some more single-player content in any way shape or form as well. The extended DLC is still at least a month away, if not more, and until that releases I can all but assure you that there will be no additional single-player expansions even discussed with the public. So, patience is key here.

BioWare as of next week will have released two multiplayer DLC packs for free that they could very easily have charged for. They don’t need to do this, but still they are. All I ask is that we extend a little more patience and goodwill towards them and wait to see what they have in store.

Hey it’s already been confirmed that Lance Henriksen, Tricia Helfer, and Raphael Sbarge have recorded further dialogue for the DLC; which can only mean good things for more Hackett, EDI, and Kaidan goodness. Now just announce Brandon Keener is returning simply to speak and I’ll be all set.

 

Source: Mass Effect 3: Rebellion Pack (BioWare Blog)

Calibrating Microphones

Sorry for the delay, but we are now back with our third ever podcast. This episode is brought to you in stunning HD, or Hungover Definition. In this edition you will hear talk of our favorite April Fools jokes, Assassin’s Creed 3, our dream podcast guests, Doctor Who discussion, and possibly many more. Listen and let us know what you think.

Calibrating Microphones

Was the Ending of Mass Effect 3 Telegraphed Five Years Ago?…

…that was the question asked by Kate Cox over at Kotaku a couple of days ago. It is a question that has been coming up a lot in the month since Mass Effect 3’s release. Fans, whether angry, upset, indifferent, or even happy about the ending have looked for some reason where the ending came from. Most people feel that it came out of left field, and maybe they’re right. “A sharp-eyed Reddit user replaying the first Mass Effect game has found that maybe, there were hints all along.”

*Spoilers for Mass Effect 3 likely to follow*

In both Mass Effect,Mass Effect 2, and Mass Effect 3 Commander Shepard roams the galaxy, first searching for a way to stop Saren, then a way to stop the Collectors, and finally for a way to drive the Reapers off of Earth. During his travels you can investigate assorted planets which all have various stats and varying levels of information on the planet. In Mass Effect there was a planet named Klencory in the Newton system of the Kepler Verge cluster. In its entry it mentions a volus who, with information now known about Mass Effect 3’s ending, may have been a prophet of sorts:

Klencory is famously claimed by the eccentric volus billionaire Kumun Shol. He claims that a vision of a higher being told him to seek on Klencory the “lost crypts of beings of light.” These entities were supposedly created at the dawn of time to protect organic life from synthetic “machine devils.”Shol has been excavating on Klencory’s toxic surface for two decades, at great expense. No government has valued the world enough to evict his small army of mercenaries.

Klencory is also a possible destination in Mass Effect 3, which gives it a shiny new entry:

Klencory is famously claimed by the eccentric volus billionaire Kumun Shol. His once-ridiculed visions of “beings of light” protecting organic life from synthetic “machine devils” don’t seem quite so far-fetched now. His private army of mercenaries are well-established on the planet, waiting for husks to come knocking in on their door. In all likelihood, they will be obliterated by the molten metal of a Reaper orbital bombardment, on its way to somewhere important.

It might just be a coincidence or it’s possible a BioWare employee had planned this out long ago. It has been pointed out that fans have pointed this out in the past, prior to Mass Effect 3, but at the time it went unnoticed. Only time will tell, or it won’t. At this point we just have to wait for the DLC to see what happens.

 

Source: “Was the Ending of Mass Effect 3 Telegraphed Five Years Ago?” (Kotaku)

Miracle of Sound Easter Egg in Mass Effect 3

Just wanted to throw out a video here. Apparently @miracleofsound the creator of such amazing music as Commander Shepard, Take It Back, and more recently co-creator of Legends of the Frost released a video yesterday showing the easter egg placed into Mass Effect 3 by BioWare. This is confirmed by them, and while it’s not quite what fans had hoped for (something along the lines of full dialogue from the song, or the song being featured as the end credits theme were rumored) it’s still nice that they did something.

The above video was created and posted by Miracle of Sound.