Ugh, I usually avoid spoilers like the plague, but my increasing consternation regarding Mass Effect 3 has left me too curious. So I read them, and I'm glad. They're terrible, but at least now I've got time to prepare myself for disapointment. And hey! If these leaks are wrong or misleading I get to be pleasently surprised. I win either way.
Be warned, spoilers and ranting lurk ahead for those averse to either.
To elaborate, it isn't so much that I consider any individual ending to be bad, but rather the sad lack of variation. I would be fine with a few endings being extremely grim and dark, but why harp on about how important choice is in the game if every choice results in virtually the same miserable conclusion? That's just the illusion of choice. Even the happiest ending appears to be needlessly depressing, particularly how Shepard will always be isolated from his friends. That strikes me as pointlessly cruel. If he survives, and the team survives, what purpose can be served by them becoming eternally seperated? Aside from lazy writing or programming of course. Hopefully context will improve the situation but I can't say that I have my hopes up at the moment.
I'm especially annoyed by what happens to the crew. I imagine the writers concluded that having them survive would be a moment of happiness for the player, but then fridge logic sets in and you realise that in there present situation either Garrus and Tali (plus any other dextro-protein based species who might happen to be aboard), or everyone else will starve to death. It seems that Bioware's writers are just throwing previously established details aside whenever they become inconvenient. That's just shoddy. Add in the high likelyhood of there not being enough genetic diversity amongst the survivors to start a viable colony, plus the necessity of any lesbian or gay crew members being required to breed, and the whole thing becomes decidedly unpleasant. I almost feel that it would be a far kinder fate for them to all die in a sudden conflagration.
This all feels incredibly out of whack with the tone of previous games. In the rest of the series, no matter how badly things turned for the worse, no matter how dark the storm clouds grew, it has always been possible to come out the other side virtually unscathed. For pity's sake, one of the core themes of the second game is the triumph over impossible odds. Put in the effort and the so called suicide mission becomes anything but. To pull what barely falls short of a kill'em all ending is rather jarring for a lot of us.
I'd also appreciate it if people would drop the "Were you expecting sunsine and happiness?" spiel. That's a strawman. I don't think anyone has seriously suggested that the ending should have been nothing but smiles and sunshine. But between black (the current array) and white (the Reapers realise the error of their wicked ways, restore the dead to life and everyone is friends forever and ever) there are innumerable shades of grey. I don't see why just one of the seven endings can't provide a pyrrhic victory that isn't so oppressively bleak.
If you're satisfied by the bleak tone of the endings that's wonderful. I'm honestly happy for you. It doesn't mean we all are, and I'm baffled as to why just one of the endings can't provide for what clearly amounts to a significant portion of the fan base. One of the games key selling points is the emotional attachment that players form for their squadmates. Surely the writers must have realised that damning them to such an unpleasant fate would inevitably leave a lot of people feeling bitter.
I would also argue that a dark ending is not necessarily mature at all. Perhaps in the meaning of mature that the game industry seems overly fond of, i.e. violence and nudity, which is ultimately just a form of childish. No, I would argue that a mature ending is satisfying, and appropriate for the work in question. I don't feel that the current provisions amount to either. It's not like Bioware is breaking free of the mold here. Plenty of games have depressing endings these days. Bioware themselves have already done the grim style with the Dragon Age games. Halo 3 and Halo: Reach did it, and so on and so on. This isn't edgy new ground by any means.
Again, I'm hoping that the spoilers and leaks are either wrong are grossly misleading. I would love for that to be the case, but my anticipation for the conclusion to the Mass Effect series has just about hit rock bottom. I still think it'll be a fun game though. I mean judging from the demo, the combat certainly seems to have taken a step up, and I'm shocked by the high quality of the multiplayer. ME3 is still a day one purchase for me, but I'm just not looking forward to it as much as I was.
