Mirror's Edge Writer: BioWare's Defense Of Mass Effect 3 Ending Was Poor

The ending of Mass Effect 3 is proving to be a popular topic of conversation. In a new interview, Mirror's Edge and Heavenly Sword writer Rhianna Pratchett criticized BioWare's response to negative feedback about the game's ending.

"I've not played it yet, so I can't fully comment, although I have huge respect for BioWare's hard-working writers," Pratchett told ActionTrip. "However, I do think that maintaining the internal logic of a game's narrative is very important when you're dealing with such a story-heavy series as Mass Effect, especially when you're able to carry-over your character. Anything that breaks that and your players do have a right to be a little pissed.

"I found the 'We did it to get players talking' defence to be a poor excuse. You could fill the disc with images from LOLCats or tap-dancing Nazi nuns and it would get players talking."

Pratchett seems to be talking about ME3's Casey Hudson's response to criticism. Soon after the game's launch, he said that he was glad that the story inspired strong feelings among gamers.

"I didn’t want the game to be forgettable, and even right down to the sort of polarizing reaction that the ends have had with people–debating what the endings mean and what’s going to happen next, and what situation are the characters left in," Hudson said at the time. "That to me is part of what’s exciting about this story. There has always been a little bit of mystery there and a little bit of interpretation, and it’s a story that people can talk about after the fact."

As of late, though, BioWare has gotten a little more conciliatory. Last week BioWare co-founder Dr. Ray Muzyka said that the development team is working on "game content initiatives" to provide fans with a more complete ending to ME3.