What I wanted was a large diversity of endings based on my decisions throughout the three games. I wanted a
chance at everything spanning from utter failure to glorious success. What I expected was a bitter-sweet ending
filled with loss and sacrifice but laced with hope for a brighter future. What I received was a slipshod farce so full of
gaping plot holes and loose ends that a thirteen year old Star Trek fan-fiction writer would have laughed at.
All of my choices and achievements mattered not a whit in the end. All of the speeches about hope and chance were an illusion. What about dark matter? What about stars dying? How is galactic civilization saved when it has
been so devastated and scattered? The falsehood of choice and these few loose ends are but a tip of the iceberg. The destruction of a mass effect relay wipes out an entire system, by Bioware’s own design. Their destruction would mean the destruction of all of the great civilizations in the galaxy. Earth would be destroyed, along with the majority of all other life bearing worlds in a chain reaction of fiery explosive doom. The unbridled joy of earth’s defenders as they watch the Reapers fall inert or retreat is cut short as we pan out to see the utter devastation the relays destruction brings, followed by the view of the galaxy and similar explosions so enormous they can be seen from millions of miles away signaling the death of virtually all life. Or maybe somehow this galaxy spanning doom was somehow contained to just the relays themselves despite evidence to the contrary? We don’t really know. If the gaping plot chasm of the destruction brought about by the explosions of the relays is ignored, the galaxy is still left with the impossible task of surviving the devastation wrought by the Reapers, and the loss of the recourses used in combating them with no means of galactic travel.
On a smaller more personal scale examine the plight of the Normandy. We last see the Normandy and crew in the midst of a relay jump attempting to escape the massive explosion of said relay. After the attempt fails, we cut
to the ruin of the Normandy and we find Joker and my last two squad mates (Tali and Garrus in my case) have survived and are now stranded on a planet reminiscent of Gilligan’s Island. I can only assume that this is in place to allow us some comfort that while our loved ones are in a bad situation they have survived and have the opportunity to be alright. This is a failure as our merry band of heroes is stranded on a hostile planet with limited supplies. One has brittle bone disease and has little hope of survival there even with the medication he now lacks access to. The other two are in a similarly hopeless predicament as the building blocks of their anatomy won’t allow them to eat amino based acid food. At best they can hope for a quick death from the environment as opposed to a slow death of starvation. If we look at this more intellectually we see the impossibility of them even being in this situation. How did your friends survive the blast from the Reaper on earth, contact the Normandy, escape to a point of extraction, and be picked up? How did the Normandy possibly find our squad mates, avoid the epic super-conflict in space and on the ground to pick them up then avoid the conflict again and make the long journey to the mass relay and then jump in the short amount of time allotted? It is impossible in that frame of time. Not to mention why they would. The idea that these heroes would follow this course of action in this situation is against the very nature of their being. The idea that they were running away is in opposition to their personality.
Needless to say at the end of Mass Effect 3 I felt like a very large man had kicked me in the groin. How could Bioware create a masterpiece then end it in such a way. It was like Michelangelo drew a stick figure of Adam touching the finger of God on the Sistine Chapel, or Beethoven ending his Fifth Symphony with out of tune kazoos. Like many I felt betrayed, confused, and heartbroken, all because of a game. That seems silly but it was how I felt at the time. Over the past two days I have past the feelings of anger and betrayal and have found a flicker of hope. The developers would not leave these plot holes if they did not plan to fill them. Even if they did just make a huge mistake, if they own the mistake and listen to the fans it can be rectified.
There are many ways Mass Effect can be saved. Many things throughout the story just seemingly fell into place at the right time. How did Liara discover the plans for the super weapon at just the right time? Why did Illusive man insist on bringing Shepard back with no controls on him? Mass Effect is full of these magical coincidences that allow things to work out for the best. Perhaps there is a power opposed to the catalyst that has influenced our heroes all along? Maybe that is the reason the Normandy is where it is, because it has to be.
That is just one idea among many that could explain this debacle. I am not sure how Bioware plans to move forward with the Mass Effect franchise. With a company that prides itself on “story” and “listening to fans” it
seems that there is no way they could let this ending stand as it is. Bioware is at a precipice, and could continue
to be great or fall into ridicule. I don’t believe that I am the only Fanboy holding on to hope. Don’t let us down Bioware.
Modifié par matthius299, 09 mars 2012 - 12:55 .
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