Bioware talks Mass Effect 3 choices, endings

BioWare's Casey Hudson explains how choices, both from past games and in Mass Effect 3, will impact the ending to the trilogy.

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The various choices that impacted the ending of Mass Effect 2 were pretty complex, and now Mass Effect 3 is primed to amplify that feeling by tying together choices from all three games. BioWare's Casey Hudson explained how this will bring it all together in an interview with PC Gamer.

"I think a way to think about it is if you made decisions early on, you'll see them affecting this," he said. "And the decisions you might want to make that go against those prior things are gonna be harder."

Specifically, Hudson seems to imply that no matter what decisions you made in past games, it will be more difficult to change course now. "Killing the Rachni might present opportunities in Mass Effect 3 that you wouldn't otherwise have, but if you don't take those opportunities and you try to do something in opposition to that, then it would be harder for you than if you work with it. Similarly with the decisions at the end of Mass Effect 2, for whether you saved the base or destroyed it."

Like Mass Effect 2, all of your decisions will culminate at the end, and it will reward you for being more thorough. "All the different things that you do, if you do a little side quest, or you go off and do a major plot, these things contribute to the war effort," Hudson explained. "If you just rip straight down the critical path and try to finish the game as soon as you can, and do very little optional or side stuff, then you can finish the game. You can have some kind of ending and victory, but it'll be a lot more brutal and minimal relative to if you do a lot of stuff."

He says that if you take your time through the game, rallying the various factions of the galaxy around the war effort, "you'll get an amazing, very definitive ending."

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  • reply
    May 17, 2011 2:15 PM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Bioware talks Mass Effect 3 choices, endings.

    BioWare's Casey Hudson explains how choices, both from past games and in Mass Effect 3, will impact the ending to the trilogy.

    • reply
      May 17, 2011 2:21 PM

      I have a bad feeling that I'm really going to regret killing Joker halfway through ME2

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      May 17, 2011 2:27 PM

      Didn't all the choices in #1 boil down to 6 pivotal points? Since the ending of 2 can be really varied, I doubt that there is that much variety.

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        May 17, 2011 2:39 PM

        In terms of the core stuff, sure. But there were other situations, like bumping into people you saved in the first game. It's the little stuff I'm interested in.

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          May 17, 2011 6:24 PM

          I guess that is where I am confused. I just figured if you did the comic you would run into those people anyway in ME2. I was just kind of hoping there would be more flushed out side missions then what there was as well. Make me skeptical for ME3.

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        May 17, 2011 2:43 PM

        Some quests had a minor influence in 2, in terms of npcs showing up to visit as cameo's or to talk to Sheppard. Primary choices from the first game haven't really shown what they will yield just yet.

        The most obvious choice that is seen involves Wrex, which may change the fate of the Krogan.

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          May 17, 2011 6:28 PM

          Maybe Wrex will be something, but again I don't know how much it can play into ME3, again with how varied the ME2 ending can be.

          Now if you got the perfect ending in ME2, and that worked to your advantaged in whatever the final battle in ME3 was, that I would be excited for.

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      May 17, 2011 3:01 PM

      how much should this be avoided for those who want little to no information about the ME3 storyline yet

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        May 17, 2011 4:26 PM

        There is nothing about the ME3 storyline in the article really. Just a mention of which choices will have a big impact from the last games.

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      May 17, 2011 4:27 PM

      This kinda makes me not want to import my save anymore. I'm worried I won't have done a side quest and some of my squad will die or something.

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      May 17, 2011 4:56 PM

      It's May 2011 and it'll probably be almost a year before the game comes out. Bioware needs to STFU. All this teasing is going to drive me insane.

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      May 17, 2011 11:04 PM

      Hi guys just a quick question.

      Will Bioshock 3 be like you can jump in a spaceship and actually fly to
      other planets, and land on them, hop out and walk around and stuff?

      Or is more like an action / movie linear kind of thing?
      Cheers

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      May 17, 2011 11:47 PM

      Can you date spaceships in this?

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      May 17, 2011 11:48 PM

      All I know is, if you made all the 'right' choices throughout ME1 and ME2, and end up curb stomping the Reapers, Shepard had better be declared the Legendariest Asskickingest Baddest Motherfucking Hero in the Galaxy at the end of ME3 and given a bigass beer stein made of pure platinum for him to put more stuff in the thing more stuff goes in. While Liara, Tali, and Miranda fight over who gets to suck him off.

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        May 18, 2011 12:04 AM

        Hahaha, amen brother.

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