BioWare Calibrates Mass Effect Extended Cut For June 26

You may not have heard, but the Mass Effect trilogy tried to end earlier this year. It was all like, "OK folks, that's our show!" And then everyone held hands and bowed at the same time. As the curtains closed, I even briefly caught a glimpse of Shepard and Harbinger hugging. They had quite a run together, those two. Fans, though, weren't so keen on the space odyssey's final moments. Perhaps the krogan dance number lacked 'zazz. Maybe the one-fourth scale replica of the Normandy that ran on doves and confetti was a bit much. Regardless, BioWare decided to have another go at it. Just, you know, better this time, apparently.

The latest official line on the free DLC - which will board the mass effect relay (aka, giant space gun) to our hard drives on June 26 and, based on an audio Q&A, weigh in at close to 2GB - describes it as follows:

"The Extended Cut expands on the endings of Mass Effect 3 through additional scenes and epilogue sequences. It provides more of the answers and closure that players have been asking for. It gives a sense of what the future holds as a result of the decisions made throughout the series. And it shows greater detail in the successes or failures based on how players achieved their endings."

"The Extended Cut is an expansion of the original endings to Mass Effect 3. It does not fundamentally change the endings, but rather it expands on the meaning of the original endings, and reveals greater detail on the impact of player decisions."

Will it live up to fan expectations, though? Can anything bring their stratospheric demands back down to earth? We'll find out in a few days. The bigger question, though, is what sort of precedent this will set for controversial endings in the future. And on that front, it sounds like BioWare's opted to stick to its guns, but with a healthy dose of bigger, better, more. We'll see, though. And then we'll probably talk about it incessantly again for, like, a month. Because the Internet.