Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut Review

OK before I go into any detail with this, I haven't actually played this DLC yet as I'm waiting for its release on the PS3 in the UK (yeah I know, it sucks to be British and have only a PS3 with the PS3 versions of ME2 and ME3 and use a backstory comic for ME1). However, because the extended cut has been uploaded many times on YouTube, this can permit me to review it as its mostly cutscenes than anything else, so let's get to it:

The Run to the Citadel:

So the first new scene that is seen, is what happens to your squadmates when on the run to the citadel beam. Depending on your EMS score, Shepard will call the Normandy to pick up your squadmates and he/she will then make his/her goodbyes from there (if Shepard romanced any of his/her squadmates beforehand, he/she will share a final love scene) (and this happens if the EMS score is high), or Shepard's squad are blasted by Harbinger's beam and are killed by a falling tank (and this happens if the EMS score is low). This pretty much resolves the issue with your squadmates not being seen upon Harbinger's blast and why they appear on the Normandy on that alien planet. 9/10

After this and when you get through the beam, Hackett will then get some sort of report that tells him that Shepard made it (with Anderson not far behind). We then see how Shepard teleported to the Citadel and we then see the original Illusive Man encounter. Then upon opening the citadel arms we then move to the Earth Child and we get this:

Earth Child Dialogue:

During the course of the Earth Child encounter, we get the original conversation, along with some dialogue options that Shepard can pick, so that you can find out more about Reapers and other things that are relevant. At some stage, you can then pick the ending you want along with a brand new 4th ending which I feel is a mockery of the original endings. Dialogue here is fixed so great stuff. 9/10

The Endings:

These endings will occur if your EMS score is at a sufficient stage, otherwise if its a low score and depending on if you saved the Collector Base or not from ME2, you'll be forced to choose only destroy or control (but you'll still be able to refuse as well) which will show some of the original endings and a very different aftermath ending narrated by Hackett or Shepard in Reaper form.

Destroy:
In this ending, the red blast shows Reapers falling down (presumably dead) on Earth, Palaven, Thessia and Tuchanka. Hackett narrates the aftermath of the destruction of the Reapers and explains that it will take time to rebuild, but with Reaper tech, it won't be a problem. The changes that I noticed in this ending was that a vision of EDI will show after Anderson's vision regardless of who died in the game as this ending will kill all synthetics which not only includes EDI, but also the Geth as well. At the memorial, whoever Shepard romanced (if Shepard romanced no one, then I assume Liara will do it as default), will not put his name on the wall of names of people that have died in action, presumably to put his/her fate into consideration. After this, if the EMS score is high enough, we then see the scene of Shepard breathing, presumably still alive (as seen in the original ending). So yes all synthetics die in this ending, but on good terms. 9/10

Control:
In this ending, we see blue lightning bolts blast out of the Citadel, which in turn, has the Reapers leave the planets and allow Shepard to control them. Shepard as a Reaper will then narrate the aftermath, explaining that with the Reapers, he/she can give people unimaginable powers and skills that weren't thought possible. Everyone survives and Shepard's name is put on the memorial wall as the guy the crew once knew, is dead, but has evolved into a Reaper, and is no longer human. This ending does have everyone live, but the peace may not last and Shepard may go rouge causing another Reaper war. 8/10

Synthesis:In this ending, a green blast comes out of the Citadel, which causes the Reapers to leave the various planets and we see the people on those planets get green eyes and they show forms of synthetics. EDI narrates the aftermath, saying that the Reapers are helping them rebuild and with synthetics inside everyone, they can start a life, they once thought wouldn't be possible. During the memorial scene, we see everyone show signs of Synthetics in them and whoever Shepard romanced, will hug EDI because this ending shows that with Synthetics, EDI can now leave the Normandy independently with her new body and thanks to Shepard, she now has the life she was hoping for. This ending is left on good terms with everyone living as part synthetic and allowing their new life to start a positive future. 9/10

Refuse:
In this ending, the Reapers are successful in killing everyone in the current cycle. we then see a scene where on of Liara's information beacons have been activated and contain information crucial to destroying the Reaper cycle. In the post credits scene, we see what looks like to be an Asari from the next cycle, explaining to the child about the Shepard and the archives that helped them with the Reaper problem. As a result, the next cycle (thanks to Liara's information) were able to stop the Reaper cycle for good. This ending is a mockery of the original endings which leave on very bad terms to begin with, but eventually show that it was the current cycle that helped the next cycle stop the Reaper cycle for good. 7/10

Other new scenes in the endings, is that we see Hackett give orders for any surviving ships (including the Normandy) to head for the rendezvous point (presumably the Mass Relay) and one of the squad members that didn't go with you on the final run, tells Joker to go and not bother with rescuing Shepard as its too late for him. After the original Earth scene, a solider is seen helping another solider and show the effects of the blast. Depending on various conditions, the Citadel can be seen closing its arms or showing the blast with the arms in tact (or not), the blast on the Mass Relay will show that only part of the relay was damaged and not all of it (again, depending on certain conditions). Tuchanka, Thessia and Palaven are shown with the soldiers seeing the effect of the blast, effecting the Reapers and then a scene on the Normandy showing that all planets are still intact and then the Normandy will go through the blast unharmed (again depending on certain conditions). Then we see the original alien planet scene and after the aftermath scene, we then see the Normandy either undergoing repairs, or leaving the planet (once again, depending on certain conditions).

Along with the endings, the required EMS is now 3100 which now means that you don't necessarily have to promote a multiplayer character to the GAW, nor do you need to complete the iOS games. Also some dialogue with the relationships of the ME2 engineers and Tali and Garrus have been restored.

Overall, I find that while there are still a few questions left unanswered, as well as other things, the endings overall give more closure than before and most importantly, make more sense than they originally did so well done BioWare for doing this. 10/10