Say what you will about the ending, this part was pure genius. After everything you and Shepard have been through, your final moments in control of him/her are spent slowly walking toward almost certain death, at the end of everything, with this haunting track playing in the background. If nothing else, this moment was masterfully done.
If you buy into the Indoctrination theory, this becomes the single most terrifying soundtrack piece in the game. Because you're not just picking your flavour of icecream, you're deciding if you can truly hold your moral ground in the face of the the most insidious Indoctrination attempt to turn not just Shepard, but YOU. Brilliant.
@anonymous anonymous WTF?!?!? What is wrong with you? Do you like the endings where Shepard plays god? What about the critical failure, let the reapers win, 100 hours fighting for the galaxy wasted ending? Shepard isn't perfect so controlling the reapers is a huge risk, synthesis is straight up pretending to be god, and I won't even start on the no choice ending (even if the speech is great). So what if the synthetics die, if choosing between destroy or control, control is far more risky. If Shepard's control is subverted then far more life than a few synths are at risk.
In all fairness, whenever something becomes as big as the ME trilogy, odds are that the ending won't live up to everyones expectations. I honestly liked my ending because, whilie minimal, it left room for interpretation, the ending was truly whatever I chose, whatever I could imagine. Even if you don't like how the trilogy ended, or how there was very little diffrence between them, you have to admit, It's been one hell of a ride, and I'm just glad I've been able enjoy it.
When this song played I just sat there for the longest time looking at all the reapers and dreadnaughts fighting out in space, having no idea what to do.
I know the ending itself left a lot to be desired, but the slow, agonizing walk to your choice while the Reapers and Alliance were slaughtering each other reminded me of the despair in Freespace 2 when the Shivans set off Capella's star. In other words, it was pretty goddamn epic.
*In an alternate dimension somewhere where Garrus is a spectre instead of Shepard* Catalyst: You must choose, between destruction, synthesis, and control. Garrus: I choose........ calibrations! *And so Garrus calibrated peace between people and reapers* THE END!
This is basically in my head: The war has been going on for what seems to be like forever, and now the end of the war is at your fingertips; all you need to do now is choose.
They push all the info on you at the very last moment, it feels like they were trying to come up with an ending, instead of the ending of an actual story. You will still be missing crucial parts of the plot if you haven't played the DLCs. The starchild tells you there can not be peace, yet you managed to bring peace between you and the Geth. The reason the Reapers harvest life makes no sense at all. All the 4 endings are bad, one you kill the geth, the other you become a dictator, the other you force synthesis on everyone, and the other you just allow the harvest and let the next generation deal with the problem (which they do, thanks to Liara's msg).
Well that really is a great mystery - the stargazers. You got me there. Also the little tid-bit that shows Shepard's body taking a breath was a real tease. Some say it was all just a dream, since the rubble around him does not look like material from the Citadel, but from Earth. Some say it was all just an indoctrinated hallucination.
this version of Catalyst is underrated as hell and hard to find, still remember my first time playing, it was tense as heck with this music blasting in the middle of the night at 1am, on top of that i made several bad choices, didn't help Zaeed (died in ME3), rewrited Geth, sided with Tali, got Jack and Legion killed during Omega 4 mission, and due to the fact it wasn't Legion during Rannoch mission, the Quarian got wiped out
not just longer, but a lot better and more satisfying that it gives closer to everything you fought for from the past mass effects. It wasn't bad, but it could have been better.
Kid - "Only you can choose Shepard, so what will it be? What's your most favorite color? Blue, Red, or maybe even Green?" Shepard - "Well, since I have no choice whatsoever, I'll choose".... (Dead)...
So THIS is the music track I heard for 15 minutes straight while I alt-tabbed and searched desperately for the best option. Needless to say, this music kept playing in my head as I watched in horror the terrible ending to Mass Effect 3.
This music reminded me of Terminator- No matter what you do, some mech is going to kill you, wether it be now, later, or in the far future, you're screwed
The entire series of mass effect was about making next to immposible choices. This track gave a great feeling for when commander shepard had to make his final choice.
This should have been the background music for the most epic moment in the series. Instead, I felt like it was being inappropriately played while I was deciding to pick strawberry, blueberry or mint flavored ice-cream.
@Sharpblade63 Because it's full of rebar and concrete, and the Citadel (and by extension, the Reapers) is not built out of rebar and concrete. Also, there's gravity, etc, when the Citadel clearly exploded in the Destroy ending. We can't be sure it's London per se, but it's definitely somewhere on Earth.
mine has done the same tbh, if you wait long enough it fades to black more and more before you die. I think its if you've already made a choice, if you step up to the Destroy path, you can't change your mind and go back
...the Reapers." Did you see the Rachni anywhere? Were they even mentioned? Nope. They're worth exactly as much as promoting a level 20 multiplayer character.
Same I was like "Hey, that wasn't that bad, a bit bittersweet but it was ok... I mean it DID kill of shepard with NO choice... a-and it did strand my squad mates... oh and don't even get me STARTED on the Mass Relays exploding... uurghh.... RAGE! TO THE FORUMS!"
Hackett: This isn't the right time for that! We need to get this machine to fire! Shepard: Maybe you shouldn't be so boring! It was only a joke! Just press ctrl + alt + delete.
@CptPakundo was a good ending as long as you do realize shepard never got off earth he was laying in a pile of rubble, everything that happened after was dream sequence and hallucination before he died, its the only explanation why in the ending it shows shepard laying in a pile of concrete in london derp derp
the first ending(which thanks to our good friends at EA and IGN was leaked so they needed to do another(the one that we got)) stated that the reapers were built by an ancient civilisation to delay the dark energy expansion every 50000 years. remember that human reaper at the end of ME2? the reapers found out that because the humans are such diverse creatures, they would be able to stop the expansion once and for all by making a human reaper. just search ME3 dark energy ending on youtube.
The only problem with the ending is the lack of closure, as long as you can use your own mind to realize the possible ways that the ending can make sense then it isn't so bad.
@Kastrenzo74 Bioware has said they want to use this universe again for something, but barring DLC Shepard's story is meant to be over, so there shouldn't be a Mass Effect 4: Revenge of the Reapers etc.
"alright. You've used phone a friend. All they told you was that it definitely wasn't answer D, which was purple. You are left with A. Red, B. Blue, or C. Green." -Regis Contestant- "Uhhhhh. well my favorite color is blue, but the red option looks like it might be the answer. Ummm, what about green? Do I have 50/50 left? No. Hmm, I choose A." Regis-"Is that your final answer?" Contestant- "Yes. A." Regis- "All right. We'll find out, right after this break!"
Can i just say. For all the stupid "OH THIS ENDING SUCKS" comments. This song grips you at the end. It makes your heart race. It makes you think "oh shit, what now". You got the Fate of the Universe on your shoulders. You decide the fate of the world...
Lives how? On a blown up citadel floating in space above an overcrowded earth that should techincally have been blown up by a relay supernova, awaiting being eaten by krogan?
I don't understand how people can say "the ending sucked" I loved the ending I ended up with. I wish I could see something like that in my own life time.. the Middle one if anyone is wondering.
or they coujd merged them together, before the EC was out I imagined an ending like that by keeping the Catalyst and explaining the origin of the Reapers, the Citadel and the relays and I also used the tech singularity, the dark energy and even a few pieces of the indoctrination theory to build my alt story...
That was not the game I got. Another example: "You'll get answers to everything. That was one of the key things. Regardless of how we did everything, we had to say, yes, we're going to provide some answers to these people." -Mike Gamble And then their design notes said the end should consist of lots of speculation for everyone. Not answers, as they promised us, but the opposite. Hell, they even said the Rachni would have "huge consequences in Mass Effect 3. Even just in the final battle with
When people made an uproar over the Fallout 3 ending, no one complained about them and told them they were whiners. And this uproar wasn't even close to the ME3 uproar. Bethesda wanted to make certain fans happy, just like Bioware should now, because they aren't a lot of happy fans of the ending, even with the EC. I'm just throwing that out there.
saddly it appears they are not given their declarations at pax, the patrick weekes ending statement scandal and the info on the final hours app, everything points out to EA.
A day, not so soon before Mass Effect 3 realase : EA producer : Ok guys, this is it ! Let's finish this game Bioware Scenarist : But sir, we didn't finished the ending ! EA producer : You will do what I want you to do ! Bioware scenarist : But sir, we can-EA IS ASSUMING CONTROL Bioware staff chief : WHAT ?? Bioware scenarist : FINISH TO WRITE THE ENDING, MAKE THE PLAYERS CRY, REALASE DLC
You're wrong there. The developers told us exactly what to expect from the ending. I quote: "At this point we're taking into account so many decisions that you've made as a player and reflecting a lot of that stuff. It's not even in any way like the traditional game endings, where you can say how many endings there are or whether you got ending A, B, or C." That's what we were told to expect. And that's exactly the opposite of what we got.
They are the endings sadly... Bioware's announcement is that they will expand more on the endings to help us understand what the fuck was going on, but Bioware was proud of how they ended and arent changing it. the sad truth.
Say what you will about the ending, this part was pure genius. After everything you and Shepard have been through, your final moments in control of him/her are spent slowly walking toward almost certain death, at the end of everything, with this haunting track playing in the background. If nothing else, this moment was masterfully done.
amen!
lol i knew there would be some decade old cope here, noice
Every time I hear this, the "swish-BOOM-BOOM!" sends shivers up my spine. Kudos musicians and sound mixer!
I love this. It's got a definite sense of finality, perfect for its scene.
The walk to choose the ending during this music had to be one of the hardest walks I've ever taken.
Too bad you cant airlock the starchild...that would have been Javik 50,000 year long dream come though.
If you buy into the Indoctrination theory, this becomes the single most terrifying soundtrack piece in the game. Because you're not just picking your flavour of icecream, you're deciding if you can truly hold your moral ground in the face of the the most insidious Indoctrination attempt to turn not just Shepard, but YOU. Brilliant.
This is basically the best thing of the whole "current" ending for ME3. The only way this could be any better is if you're on an actual time limit.
Every time I play it, I cry like it's the first time even though I have the extended cut and get the Shepard survives ending... it's perfect
@anonymous anonymous WTF?!?!? What is wrong with you? Do you like the endings where Shepard plays god? What about the critical failure, let the reapers win, 100 hours fighting for the galaxy wasted ending? Shepard isn't perfect so controlling the reapers is a huge risk, synthesis is straight up pretending to be god, and I won't even start on the no choice ending (even if the speech is great). So what if the synthetics die, if choosing between destroy or control, control is far more risky. If Shepard's control is subverted then far more life than a few synths are at risk.
In all fairness, whenever something becomes as big as the ME trilogy, odds are that the ending won't live up to everyones expectations. I honestly liked my ending because, whilie minimal, it left room for interpretation, the ending was truly whatever I chose, whatever I could imagine. Even if you don't like how the trilogy ended, or how there was very little diffrence between them, you have to admit, It's been one hell of a ride, and I'm just glad I've been able enjoy it.
This is such a great song, inspires incredible emotion as you watch the Reapers destroy everything you know and love whilst making your final decision
Choose wisely...the fate of the galaxy depends on it!
“Fuck, something feels off, none of these options feel good...”
Red ending!!
When this song played I just sat there for the longest time looking at all the reapers and dreadnaughts fighting out in space, having no idea what to do.
You. Are awesome. I read this while listening to the track and it made it even more awesome.
The idea just fits together perfectly..
I know the ending itself left a lot to be desired, but the slow, agonizing walk to your choice while the Reapers and Alliance were slaughtering each other reminded me of the despair in Freespace 2 when the Shivans set off Capella's star.
In other words, it was pretty goddamn epic.
dude agreed the Music is what gave the game it's emotion and mood
*In an alternate dimension somewhere where Garrus is a spectre instead of Shepard*
Catalyst: You must choose, between destruction, synthesis, and control.
Garrus: I choose........ calibrations!
*And so Garrus calibrated peace between people and reapers*
THE END!
I think I sat there for about 5 minutes at this moment trying to wrap my head around what the fuck just happened.
This needs to be the new waiting music for Jeopardy
THANK YOU! I LOVE THIS TRACK!
This is basically in my head:
The war has been going on for what seems to be like forever, and now the end of the war is at your fingertips; all you need to do now is choose.
This particular track just makes the... ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuckin last decision in the game feel eerie.
Apparently my playing Starbound with the Mass Effect Music mod literally spoiled the soundtrack of the end of ME3 for me
The music that played when I was scarred for life.
Fuck that ending
They push all the info on you at the very last moment, it feels like they were trying to come up with an ending, instead of the ending of an actual story. You will still be missing crucial parts of the plot if you haven't played the DLCs. The starchild tells you there can not be peace, yet you managed to bring peace between you and the Geth. The reason the Reapers harvest life makes no sense at all. All the 4 endings are bad, one you kill the geth, the other you become a dictator, the other you force synthesis on everyone, and the other you just allow the harvest and let the next generation deal with the problem (which they do, thanks to Liara's msg).
***** They do, there is a stargazers cinematic on the end (the same on all four! seriously, fuck bioware)
***** How is that not a confirmation that things worked out?
***** Yeah, but they are there, alive and well, telling stories about how shepard saved them and they have peace because of him
And the fate ends up being the exact same anyway... so you get tensed up for nothing.
Well that really is a great mystery - the stargazers. You got me there. Also the little tid-bit that shows Shepard's body taking a breath was a real tease. Some say it was all just a dream, since the rubble around him does not look like material from the Citadel, but from Earth. Some say it was all just an indoctrinated hallucination.
this version of Catalyst is underrated as hell and hard to find, still remember my first time playing, it was tense as heck with this music blasting in the middle of the night at 1am, on top of that i made several bad choices, didn't help Zaeed (died in ME3), rewrited Geth, sided with Tali, got Jack and Legion killed during Omega 4 mission, and due to the fact it wasn't Legion during Rannoch mission, the Quarian got wiped out
It took me like 5 entire minutes to decide and this song in the background was putting on my nerves.
not just longer, but a lot better and more satisfying that it gives closer to everything you fought for from the past mass effects. It wasn't bad, but it could have been better.
I love listening to this while watching the Reaper ships tear through your fleet as Earth burns. So many emotions in one, single moment.
Hackett: Shepard,the crucible isn't firing!
Shepard: April fools!!!!
You sir, are a genius.
They have a right. Just as much as you have a right expressing your feelings about them.
Blue
Green
Red
..Go!
Kid - "Only you can choose Shepard, so what will it be? What's your most favorite color? Blue, Red, or maybe even Green?"
Shepard - "Well, since I have no choice whatsoever, I'll choose"....
(Dead)...
You decide the fate of the world. You decide the colour with which you'll fuck up the Galaxy. Awesome decision.
So THIS is the music track I heard for 15 minutes straight while I alt-tabbed and searched desperately for the best option.
Needless to say, this music kept playing in my head as I watched in horror the terrible ending to Mass Effect 3.
GENIUS
The banging noise is me slaming my head agianst the wall because of the endings.
I turned around and started unloading clips into the little bastard.
SO BE IT
And then you blow up half the galaxy regardless of which choice you make. Yay!
This music reminded me of Terminator- No matter what you do, some mech is going to kill you, wether it be now, later, or in the far future, you're screwed
The entire series of mass effect was about making next to immposible choices. This track gave a great feeling for when commander shepard had to make his final choice.
Just play this music anytime you have to make a decision, even to decide what to have for dinner. Guaranteed more dramatic.
This should have been the background music for the most epic moment in the series.
Instead, I felt like it was being inappropriately played while I was deciding to pick strawberry, blueberry or mint flavored ice-cream.
@Sharpblade63 Because it's full of rebar and concrete, and the Citadel (and by extension, the Reapers) is not built out of rebar and concrete. Also, there's gravity, etc, when the Citadel clearly exploded in the Destroy ending. We can't be sure it's London per se, but it's definitely somewhere on Earth.
When im trying to decide what i should eat for breakfast this plays in my head.
Exaaaactly.
This 2:50 when you know, that you will get your test results.
@TheSilverSkeejee I'm glad someone sees the way it's meant to be.
Gonna need a 10 hour version of this.
as much as i hate the ending, i will admit this. this song is pretty damn epic.
mine has done the same tbh, if you wait long enough it fades to black more and more before you die. I think its if you've already made a choice, if you step up to the Destroy path, you can't change your mind and go back
In the final hours of Mass Effect it's pretty clear the ending is as is at face value. They probably will just add on it for closure
Had to have the last word, didn't you? Fine. It's all yours. This conversation is over.
finally someone gets it!!!!!
...the Reapers." Did you see the Rachni anywhere? Were they even mentioned? Nope. They're worth exactly as much as promoting a level 20 multiplayer character.
The music that played when I was emotionally scarred for life.
@360burner thank you finally another person doesn't hate it
I never would have known choosing my favorite color would be so damn difficult!
Save the cheerleader... save the world.
The banging noise you hear isn't a drum, its me smacking my head against my desk, trying to cope with the ending.
Indeed. Now if only this masterpiece would have been used on a better ending....
WINNING!!!!
Same I was like "Hey, that wasn't that bad, a bit bittersweet but it was ok... I mean it DID kill of shepard with NO choice... a-and it did strand my squad mates... oh and don't even get me STARTED on the Mass Relays exploding... uurghh.... RAGE! TO THE FORUMS!"
This is it, when all the galaxies suffering has come to witness, an end to the reapers cycle for evermore(rengade)
I liked the ending while I was playing it. It was after the credits started to roll that things took a turn for the worse
Hackett: This isn't the right time for that! We need to get this machine to fire!
Shepard: Maybe you shouldn't be so boring! It was only a joke! Just press ctrl + alt + delete.
i swear,i was thinking that when i had to decide LOL
@CptPakundo was a good ending as long as you do realize shepard never got off earth he was laying in a pile of rubble, everything that happened after was dream sequence and hallucination before he died, its the only explanation why in the ending it shows shepard laying in a pile of concrete in london derp derp
And this will be their bane...
the first ending(which thanks to our good friends at EA and IGN was leaked so they needed to do another(the one that we got)) stated that the reapers were built by an ancient civilisation to delay the dark energy expansion every 50000 years. remember that human reaper at the end of ME2? the reapers found out that because the humans are such diverse creatures, they would be able to stop the expansion once and for all by making a human reaper. just search ME3 dark energy ending on youtube.
The only problem with the ending is the lack of closure, as long as you can use your own mind to realize the possible ways that the ending can make sense then it isn't so bad.
@Kastrenzo74 Bioware has said they want to use this universe again for something, but barring DLC Shepard's story is meant to be over, so there shouldn't be a Mass Effect 4: Revenge of the Reapers etc.
"alright. You've used phone a friend. All they told you was that it definitely wasn't answer D, which was purple.
You are left with A. Red, B. Blue, or C. Green." -Regis
Contestant- "Uhhhhh. well my favorite color is blue, but the red option looks like it might be the answer. Ummm, what about green? Do I have 50/50 left? No. Hmm, I choose A."
Regis-"Is that your final answer?"
Contestant- "Yes. A."
Regis- "All right. We'll find out, right after this break!"
You know what, it would be better than the ending we got :P
Can i just say. For all the stupid "OH THIS ENDING SUCKS" comments. This song grips you at the end. It makes your heart race. It makes you think "oh shit, what now". You got the Fate of the Universe on your shoulders. You decide the fate of the world...
Fucking epicness
Ok besides all the jokes and hate on the ending this piece of music realy fits on your situation in choosing the fate of the whole galaxy
The last scene :)
@Newmex421 Mine didn't die. He just wakes up in London under rubble
Hah I took my sweet time deciding and ended up "dying."
Actually the endings spell drastically different things for the galaxy, but bioware decided to use the same damn cutscene.
Lives how? On a blown up citadel floating in space above an overcrowded earth that should techincally have been blown up by a relay supernova, awaiting being eaten by krogan?
I don't understand how people can say "the ending sucked" I loved the ending I ended up with. I wish I could see something like that in my own life time.. the Middle one if anyone is wondering.
or they coujd merged them together, before the EC was out I imagined an ending like that by keeping the Catalyst and explaining the origin of the Reapers, the Citadel and the relays and I also used the tech singularity, the dark energy and even a few pieces of the indoctrination theory to build my alt story...
That was not the game I got.
Another example: "You'll get answers to everything. That was one of the key things. Regardless of how we did everything, we had to say, yes, we're going to provide some answers to these people."
-Mike Gamble
And then their design notes said the end should consist of lots of speculation for everyone. Not answers, as they promised us, but the opposite.
Hell, they even said the Rachni would have "huge consequences in Mass Effect 3. Even just in the final battle with
I agree with you 100 Percent! The concept of the Catalyst was a good idea, but could have been executed better.
alright...point something out that can "only be explained with indoc Theory" and we'll discuss it.
@Daisy4Loka I,know, I meant after waking up.
When people made an uproar over the Fallout 3 ending, no one complained about them and told them they were whiners. And this uproar wasn't even close to the ME3 uproar. Bethesda wanted to make certain fans happy, just like Bioware should now, because they aren't a lot of happy fans of the ending, even with the EC. I'm just throwing that out there.
saddly it appears they are not given their declarations at pax, the patrick weekes ending statement scandal and the info on the final hours app, everything points out to EA.
A day, not so soon before Mass Effect 3 realase :
EA producer : Ok guys, this is it ! Let's finish this game
Bioware Scenarist : But sir, we didn't finished the ending !
EA producer : You will do what I want you to do !
Bioware scenarist : But sir, we can-EA IS ASSUMING CONTROL
Bioware staff chief : WHAT ??
Bioware scenarist : FINISH TO WRITE THE ENDING, MAKE THE PLAYERS CRY, REALASE DLC
You're wrong there. The developers told us exactly what to expect from the ending. I quote: "At this point we're taking into account so many decisions that you've made as a player and reflecting a lot of that stuff. It's not even in any way like the traditional game endings, where you can say how many endings there are or whether you got ending A, B, or C." That's what we were told to expect. And that's exactly the opposite of what we got.
They are the endings sadly... Bioware's announcement is that they will expand more on the endings to help us understand what the fuck was going on, but Bioware was proud of how they ended and arent changing it. the sad truth.
@Skoomax Sheppard was fighting reaper indoctrination and nothing actually happened, is that it?
Yeah, great closure....
@CptPakundo I bet you must get nightmares of this from time to time...