BioWare recently released the long-awaited Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, a compendium of the original trilogy, with all of its bonus material included (minus a few absentees) in one easy-to-handle package. It may not be the ground-up remaster many fans were hoping for, especially following the ill-fated release of Mass Effect: Andromeda, but it's certainly a major upgrade in terms of graphical fidelity, gameplay tweaks, and other goodies.
Gamers who have never had the chance to play Mass Effect before now have the perfect opportunity to jump right in and experience this amazing story for all it has to offer. There are many reasons why Legendary Edition just became the prime package for new and existing Mass Effect fans to get back into the action.
10 Updated Graphics & Visuals
This is one of the biggest draws of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, and for good reason. Those old games simply haven't aged all that well (particularly the first in the franchise), and a new coat of paint goes a long way to selling a classic series to a new audience. Yes, gamers can mod the original titles with HD texture packs, but not all of them are so eager to get out of their comfort zone and learn how.
By beefing up the visuals, Mass Effect gets a technical bump that incentivizes new audiences to give it a shot. It may not make up for the simplistic level design and décor of the games, especially in the current age, but looks sell, and that's true for old games as well as new ones. 4K resolutions and HDR are also possible, along with ultra-widescreen support.
9 Three Games + All DLC In One Package
Having all three titles under one package is a great way to experience Mass Effect for the first time, particularly considering that every single DLC pack (minus one that sadly cannot be retrieved), is there to play. This is the definitive way to play Mass Effect from start to finish, without missing any of the content in the process. This is some of the best DLC content around and definitely adds to the storyline in a big way.
Mass Effect 3 was particularly notorious for its fragmented and expensive DLC packs. Those days are over, and gamers can now fire up one executable and play to their heart's content.
8 Better Character Creation
The ability to customize Commander Shepard in the original games was a big draw for many players, but the world has moved on. Today's character creation systems are far more advanced and robust by comparison. BioWare decided to overhaul the character creation system for Legendary Edition to give players more flexibility when it comes to crafting looks.
It's not perfect, and it still betrays the game's age, but it's a decent enough bump in quality to warrant a nod. Here's to hoping that the modding community rips the game apart and figures out a way to expand on the character creation engine altogether.
7 Gameplay Tweaks & Balancing
BioWare made it a point to go back and tweak the gameplay mechanics of the Mass Effect games in order to bring them closer in line with 2021 standards. This means that new gamers will be spared the irritations and annoyances that plagued the original titles, specifically the first in the series.
One of the most obvious examples of gameplay tweaking is the Mako, which has been drastically overhauled for better planetary exploration. No longer does it feel like it's made out of airbags and marshmallows, and it finally hits its targets properly. This is just one of many examples of buffed-up gameplay.
6 Better Controls
Control schemes were quite different 10 years ago than they are today, and many newer gamers are used to modern setups. It may not necessarily be a deal-breaker to endure an older control scheme, but any refinement helps. Luckily, Legendary Edition has taken that into account.
Many of the changes will be unnoticeable to new players, but they include such things as reduced sniper rifle sway, better button mapping, and consistent headshot damage. This allows players to react tactically, without the game handicapping their strategy.
5 Changed/Extra Content
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition might seem like a straight port, and that's kind of the idea, but there's more to it than that. BioWare has gone in to clean up a few problem areas in order to make it easier on gamers. Environments have been tweaked for better pathing, and enemy encounters are now different, as well.
BioWare recently showed off a video that highlighted a battle with a Thresher Maw from inside the Mako. In contrast to the original game, the Thresher Maw now leaves a trail to indicate its direction, similar to the Tremors horror movie monster, and can also attack the player with tentacles that must be shot down to prevent damage.
4 Better Loading Times
Computer hardware has advanced by leaps and bounds since the original Mass Effect came out. BioWare capitalized on technological advancements for Legendary Edition by speeding up loading times right across the board, which was a big complaint from previous releases.
A great example are the elevators on the Citadel, which used to take around 50 seconds of wait time while the game loaded. BioWare tweaked the game to load up new areas in around 15 seconds, with an option to skip elevator chatter altogether. It may not seem like much, but it's one less hurdle for new gamers to deal with.
3 Better Sound Mix
One of Mass Effect's biggest draws was its incredible audio and music. This was an awe-inspiring soundscape through which gamers could get lost in, but BioWare decided to amp it all up for Legendary Edition, and that's a wise move. The overall mix is much clearer, wider, and more powerful than ever before.
Battles get this treatment the best, with weapons fire shaking the walls. Indeed, it's almost a little too loud, but those who love massive explosions and tooth-rattling gunshots will be in audiophilic heaven. The music is just as lovely as ever, and it's amazing in 5.1 surround. New gamers are getting spoiled with this release.
2 A Better Modding Platform
It didn't take long for the modding community, best known for its amazing Skyrim mods, to start fiddling with Legendary Edition, with the first few mods going up almost simultaneous to the game's launch. Currently, the Nexus Mods page list about 95 mods for Legendary Edition, with hopefully more on the way.
Mods are important not just for extra or enhanced content, but as workaround solutions for common bugs and irritations. For instance, ultra-widescreen gamers are subjected to black pillar boxes on the left and right sides of each in-game cutscene, which are highly annoying. Luckily, the latest edition of the Flawless Widescreen app includes a built-in injector fix to remedy this problem.
1 Gaming On A Modern Platform
It's getting harder and harder to run Mass Effect games these days. Console versions are obsolete at this point, and PC versions will continue to run into problems with newer hardware. Eventually, it will suffer the same fate as many older games that cannot run natively on the Windows 10 platform without some serious fiddling.
Whatever the case, having Mass Effect in updated fashion for the newest consoles and PC hardware guarantees longevity moving forward, especially given the paradigm shift in gaming technology. This ensures that it'll be around in updated form for years to come.
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