BioWare: Mass Effect 3 ending will "make some people angry"

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 2 February, 2012

But "you'll get answers to everything".

Mass Effect 3's ending will anger some of the series' fans, BioWare has admitted.

The sci-fi action role-playing game begins with the Reaper invasion of earth, and sees Commander Shepard embark on a mission to convince the various races to join forces in an attempt to fight back. It marks the conclusion of Shepard's story, which began with the release of Mass Effect 1 in 2007.

This, BioWare producer Mike Gamble told Eurogamer, puts pressure on the team to deliver a satisfying ending.

"We have a really talented team of writers. We go through iteration after iteration, making it the best and most satisfying we can," he said.

"It's going to make some people extremely happy. It's going to make some people angry. But that's part of it, right? To invoke the emotion putting some of these stories to bed will naturally bring up.

He added: "I honestly think the player base is going to be really happy with the way we've done it. You had a part in it. Every decision you've made will impact how things go. The player's also the architect of what happens."

Whether you're happy or angry at the ending, know this: it is an ending. BioWare will not do a "Lost" and leave fans with more questions than answers after finishing the game, Gamble promised.

"You'll get answers to everything. That was one of the key things. Regardless of how we did everything, we had to say, yes, we're going to provide some answers to these people."

Like Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3 lets you import your game save to continue your story. "If characters lived or died they'll be there or they won't," Gamble said. "Certain exchanges, certain romances will be different depending on your previous choices you made in Mass Effect 2.

"There are so many different places where we're reading certain plot states from the past that, without ruining any story spoilers, it definitely has an impact on the game."

Gamble said players will feel the impact of their decisions more keenly in Mass Effect 3 than they did in Mass Effect 2.

"Because a lot of these plot threads are concluding and because it's being brought to a finale, since you were a part of architecting how they got to how they were, you will definitely sense how they close was because of the decisions you made and because of the decisions you didn't make," Gamble said.

"You'll definitely feel it."

Mass Effect 3 launches on 9th March.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (75) Latest comment 3 weeks ago

  • jessewiatrak #1 3 weeks ago

    I bet Shepard dies, or defeats the Reapers in some way that he has to sacrifice his life. Either way, it has been confirmed that this is his last appearance in the series, so the series is basically over after this game. As for me, I am pissed that the series is over, but these things can't go on forever can they? All I know is that they better end this game in the most epic way possible, or else it will be a letdown of huge effect; Mass Effect.

  • Belmonth #2 3 weeks ago

    the series ? lol, shepard's story is done, not Mass Effect games. If you think this is last game in this universe , you and gaming | | .

  • Tomahawk #3 3 weeks ago

    @jessewiatrak This is what I was thinking. Maybe they have a weepy Armageddon style ending on a Reaper to send Shepard off.

  • FuzzyDuck #4 3 weeks ago

    Yes, overweight, 30-something virgins do get pretty angry about these things.

  • Nova1977 #5 3 weeks ago

    Shepard joins the Reapers!!!!

  • Yuroko #6 3 weeks ago

    Probably because you have to purchase the ending separately.

  • Kanjin #7 3 weeks ago

    It worries me when people say things like that. On the other hand, he sure knows his fans.

  • geordiek #8 3 weeks ago

    Shepard is really Darth Revan.

  • CaptainQuint #9 3 weeks ago

    Shepard relinquishes his duties with the alliance and pursues a career as a Kay's Catalogue model.

  • fabiosooner #10 3 weeks ago

    Yes, overweight, 30-something virgins do get pretty angry about these things. (2)

  • GaryHoward #11 3 weeks ago

    Shepard wakes up on an island after dreaming about reapers and such. A Reaper (the black smoke) kills him there and then on that same spot seconds later. And then meets the rest of the Normandy crew in purgatory land. The end.

  • username84 #12 3 weeks ago

    Shepard & co crashland outside the city of Kirkwall and have to run around the same streets constantly doing pointless bullshit for 50 hours.

  • CaptainQuint #13 3 weeks ago

    Right after saving the Earth, Shepard is killed by a rogue airborne knitting needle.

  • RedSparrows #14 3 weeks ago

    I hope it makes me angry. Anything is more fun than the sense of 'what...? oh.' feeling of the ME2 story. :(

  • caesar_ #15 3 weeks ago

    The ending is DLC

  • Shotofen #16 3 weeks ago

    Shepard dies and is resurrected, and dies and is resurrected, and dies...etc. HE'S LIKE JESUS ON STEROIDS(I wonder if anyone has made a Mass Effect religion yet).

  • TheNonk #17 3 weeks ago

    It's all been a dream

  • stryker1121 #18 3 weeks ago

    I hope there's an option to fail and the Earth gets destroyed based on your choices. Make it mean something, Bioware.
    Edited by 1 at 02/02/12 @ 17:39

  • Jay-ITFC #19 3 weeks ago

    Does it matter if Shepard is killed? We know from ME2 they can piece him back together willy nilly!

    Then ala Halo "hey folks ANOTHER trilogy" ;)

  • Architect_z #20 3 weeks ago

    Spoiler alert: The ending is...."And it was all a dream! The end"

  • kassmageant #21 3 weeks ago

    dialogue options for " best ending" will have to be bought by microtransactions.

  • Gilgamesh #22 3 weeks ago

    I hope to see what Tali really looks like!

    I'm glad that there shouldn't be too many loose ends but I hope that the threads end naturally rather than feeling forced.

    The Game really should be very good but I hope they strike the right balance in wrapping things up.

  • vert1go #23 3 weeks ago

    A gigantic Reaper Boss will be *just* about to explode spectacularly and then...
    THE END - THANKS FOR PLAYING!
    Roll credits.

    (And you can see Tali's face by manipulating the camera... videos are on youtube if you want to spoil the mystery.)
    Edited by 1 at 02/02/12 @ 18:06

  • The-Bodybuilder #24 3 weeks ago

    @Tomahawk
    "I don't wanna close my eyes,
    I don't wanna fall asleep.
    Cuz we'll miss you shepherd,
    but we don't want an ME4."

  • DrStrangelove #25 3 weeks ago

    Two bobbies show up and arrest Sheperd just as he wanted to lead the final strike against the Reapers. That'd be fucking cool.

  • Trigg3rHippie #26 3 weeks ago

    It all was a dream within a dream that was within another person's fantasy and all of that was contained in The Matrix which wasn't even true, it was my uncle who told me that or it wasn't him and there is no spoon and the cake is a lie.
    Edited by 1 at 02/02/12 @ 18:14

  • CaptainQuint #27 3 weeks ago

    Captured by the Reapers, Shepard is shown a vision of the past in which he sees a 21st century Earth inhabited by Call of Duty addicted anti-social wasters.

    My God, it's full of chavs...

    The credits roll as we see a Star Child hovering over Wigan town center.

  • Sodding_Gamer #28 3 weeks ago

    Bet you Shepard is really a Cylon or an angel that has came down to help the human race or some bullshit. Thing is will the ending anger new fans? or will it anger the majority of people who have been fans from the start??!

  • FortysixterUK #29 3 weeks ago

    So everyone dies then
    Thanks
    No need to buy game now.
    OR....
    Mass Effect is an actually an episode of Dallas and it's all a dream?
    Come to think of it...Shephard does have a JR Ewing look about him.
    And that Brunnette bint he shagged at the end of the 2nd game looks like Sue Ellen....

    OMFG I guessed it didn't I? ...and it's all a pre-publicity campaign for a new Dallas Movie.

  • Whitster #30 3 weeks ago

    If they had the balls to make it so that you can't win and have to accept the Cycle of reaper extinctions I would give mad props. Knowing that they'll want to make more games in this franchise however leads me to believe they won't.

  • Srift #31 3 weeks ago

    "This is Commander Shepard and I approve this ending"

  • kassmageant #32 3 weeks ago

    @Whitster you might be onto something here, fact that shepard would Fail would leave room for next game with someone else in his shoes - Blasto, perhaps? even better, indoctrinated shepard might be a villain : O
    Edited by 1 at 02/02/12 @ 19:33

  • Whitster #33 3 weeks ago

    @kassmageant Problem is it would be no universe let alone no shepard left.

  • eloquent_coat #34 3 weeks ago

    don't care how it ends, it's looking ace and i'm looking forward to playing. love the bouncy bass in the mass effect music!

  • Subdominator #35 3 weeks ago

    If the leak was real he does indeed become a Reaper himself.

  • blarty #36 3 weeks ago

    The ending will be Shepard turning to Wrex and saying, 'Wrex' and Wrex saying 'Shepard' *ROLL CREDITS*

    Nothing more is required

  • kassmageant #37 3 weeks ago

    @Whitster how DARE you doubt the power of Blasto, Sir.

  • Yuroko #38 3 weeks ago

    @FuzzyDuck
    15 of them so far!

  • madjim #39 3 weeks ago

    Right before the final confrontation, Shepard discovers that the Reapers have the Angry Birds on their side. It's the last thing he sees, when the Mighty Eagle strikes with no mercy.

  • BellyFullOfHell #40 3 weeks ago

    He retires, and his autobiography flops because overweight nerd fans decide it's 'not cannon'?

  • Janurai #41 3 weeks ago

    Bioware could give away free puppies and people would still be angry, so that's not much of a surprise.

  • 32768Colours #42 3 weeks ago

    Maybe Shepherd is really an unwitting "guardian angel" à la Sam Beckett from Quantum Leap?

    After saving the universe from the Reapers he/she ends up leaping into the body of a 1950's housewife accused of murdering her husband.

    The final words out of Shepherd's lips: "Oh boy!"

  • OnlyMe #43 3 weeks ago

    They should end it like Monthy Pyton and the Holy Grail.

  • CyberScourge #44 3 weeks ago

    I'm quite easily pleased really, I was even pretty happy with Dragon Age 2. Hopefully they'll be more spin-off games based in the Mass Effect Universe !

  • Ask99 #45 3 weeks ago

    As long as I see the Quarian race's face before the credits roll... all will be forgiven

  • geordiek #46 3 weeks ago

    @OnlyMe That would be awesome!

  • superflyninja #47 3 weeks ago

    Hmmm I bet Marcus fenix turns up and shepard becomes the new dom

  • Bremenacht #48 3 weeks ago

    PEW4 confirmed

  • ShiroBen #49 3 weeks ago

    Mass Effect 3 already makes me angry.

  • Skirlasvoud #50 3 weeks ago

    "make some people angry"

    The word you're looking for there is dissapointed.

    Anger I can deal with, anger is good and immersive.
    Dissapointed is a whole other beast. That's just gonna drive me away.

  • DurzoBlint #51 3 weeks ago

    Those of us who had it spoiled already know. In fact, they're understating how awful and lazy their chosen ending(s) are.

  • Mentat_Idaho #52 3 weeks ago

    It'll be the same ending from Babylon 5...

  • hybridial #53 3 weeks ago

    @Mentat_Idaho

    Very possibly, most of this game's story has just been a poor man's Babylon 5.

  • Nithron #54 3 weeks ago

    I thought BioWare kind of wrote themselves into a corner with this series, right from the start. They made the oft-repeated mistake of making an enemy so insanely powerful compared to the protagonists, that almost any way of beating them will just look like a complete ass-pull.

    You can solve this by having the Reapers win, or partially win, or something, but writers almost never do that sort of thing. So my money's on it being some kind of deus ex machina, which is a shame.

    Hope i'm wrong.

  • SimonM7 #55 3 weeks ago

    It genuinely confuses me, this notion that people are invested in the stock, canned things that happen in Mass Effect. Yeah, there's a way I'll be angry about the ending; if I have zero agency in how it plays out. You know, choice and consequence, one of the fundamental pillars of the series?

    The character stories/relationships - when they don't launch you down a smutty Leisure Suit Larry-esque dialogue path ending in awkward action man boffing - is the real story meat of these games. I couldn't possibly care less about their generic sci-fi plot and whatever arbitrary things they have happen at the end in that regard. I'm assuming its overarching structure is a copy/paste job from ME1 with some of the names switched out just like ME2 was.

  • Inmediasress #56 3 weeks ago

    Yep if anyone spoilered the endings for themselves they know that all of them are pretty disapointing.
    Hell if you read the leaked script the whole story is a big fan service romp compiled from ME1 and 2.
    Well, basically, I would say this interview is just trying to bagatelize the dissapointment that probably most people will feel but who cares if it sells enough.

  • BellyFullOfHell #57 3 weeks ago

    @CaptainQuint
    They're welcome to Wigan town centre, it's fucking crap.

  • hiddenranbir #58 3 weeks ago

    I guess the ending is you die....again. :x

    Or it was you all along, the sleeper reaper! Typical Bioware, giving away spoilers but just talking and trying to be vague.

  • levitate #59 3 weeks ago

    Shepard becomes Zerg King... uhm, wrong universe?

  • Djimm #60 3 weeks ago

    The ending has a coda where we flash forward several thousand years to see scientists have uncovered remains of a human male they are calling "mitochodrial shepard", believed to be of mixed Human/Reaper parentage.

    Liara and Garus - now revealed to be "angels" - have a poorly written conversation that's been badly over-dubbed. The game finally ends with a dodgy musical montage of sheep husbandry through the ages featuring a Jimi Hendrix cover of The Wurzels "I've got a brand new combine harvester".

    :|

  • Triggerhappytel #61 3 weeks ago

    I reckon Doctor Who* shows up and shuts down the Reapers with his Sonic Screwdriver.

    *Before anyone gets too pedantic I know his name isn't Doctor Who, but had I said 'the Doctor' folk wouldn't have known who I meant.

  • Gumersindo #62 3 weeks ago

    Probably it's like Metal Gear 4.
    The Lazarus Project makes him getting old faster than a normal human being.
    The last image will be a veteran retirement home.
    Edited by 1 at 03/02/12 @ 08:49

  • Seoh #63 3 weeks ago

    Spoiler:

    It turns out its all a dream.
    Edited by 1 at 03/02/12 @ 09:06

  • Skyclad #64 3 weeks ago

    An ending in which Shepard had to sacrifice himself would be dumb.
    Why?
    If you steal the plot from Dragon Age (unite galaxy against Reapers vs unite Ferelden against Darkspawn) there is no reason to steal the ending, too.

    My hope: My renegade Shepard can join the Reapers. My paragon Shepard ... well, let that tool sacrifice himself, I don't care.
    Edited by 1 at 03/02/12 @ 09:47

  • Zomeguy #65 3 weeks ago

    No one gives a fuck about video game story endings, get over yourself.

  • Nico4 #66 3 weeks ago

    Endings to a show or series will always make people angry. MGS4, I'm looking at you.

  • geeza2020 #67 3 weeks ago

    No one gives a fuck about your opinion Zomeguy, get over yourself.

  • Zomeguy #68 3 weeks ago

    No one gives a fuck about your opinion Zomeguy, get over yourself.
    You seem to care a bit too much IMHO, bored at work?

  • Zomeguy #69 3 weeks ago

    Endings to a show or series will always make people angry.
    This is just BioWare trying to PR for their next game, nothing more. Video game stories are a joke. People that think they matter should read a book.

  • Yuroko #70 3 weeks ago

    I just hope it doesn't end like Lost insofar as making the ending so shit it makes the entire series shit and not worth recommending to anyone who hasn't played it before.

    Before the last series of Lost I had in the back of my mind that I will buy the whole set on BluRay and watch them all again. After the god awful ending I vowed never to watch the show again, despite the first 2 series being amazing television. I felt the same way about the Matrix trilogy too.

    Please don't fuck it up Bioware, I really love the Mass Effect series so far.

  • Skyclad #71 3 weeks ago

    @Zomeguy Of course they are a joke compared to good stories in books or movies. True.

    But if you played ME 1 and 2 for 100 hours, the story will still matter to you.
    Simple as that.

    So yes, some people give a fuck about video game story endings, get over yourself.

  • stryker1121 #72 3 weeks ago

    I'll be pissed if some dumb asshole who read the leaked ending online spoils it on some message board. I really need to stop reading this shit..

  • Kikizosan #73 3 weeks ago

    Of course it's going to piss some people off. Some will love it; some will hate it - better that than it trying to placate everyone, to be all things to all people, and then just ending on a damp squib.

  • Lucodeath #74 3 weeks ago

    The bad guy says " Shepard I am your father" Noooooo replies Shepard.

  • scuffpuppies #75 3 weeks ago

    The end destination is of least interest to me (albeit still important), it's the journey I enjoy the most.