Review: MASS EFFECT LEGENDARY EDITION Is a Phenomenal Remaster
BioWare recently released Mass Effect Legendary Edition. This took all three games in the Mass Effect series remastered them, streamlined them, and even tweaked some aspects of them. Fans have been loving it, and it’s been a great way for new people to play the popular games. EA was kind enough to provide me with a copy of the game on PC to review. I spent most of my time in the first game but did take a break to try the others out as well. Sadly, due to the scope of this remake, this will not be a deep dive. The game is also available on PS4 and Xbox One.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition is a labor of love from the BioWare team and a heartfelt thank you to the passionate community. The textures, shaders, models, effects and technical features of these three epic adventures have all been updated, with the goal not to remake or reimagine the original games, but to modernize the experience so that fans and new players can experience the original work in its best possible form. We’re excited for you to experience the adventures of Commander Shepard in a whole new light through super-sharp HDR 4K, faster framerates, beautiful visual enhancements and of course faster loading times (meaning shorter elevator rides). Just like in 2007, we hope people around the world are getting ready to don the N7 armor for the very first time, but this time millions more can join them in dusting off their old gear for the adventure ahead.
First, this game is a remaster, not a remake and therefore one should not expect astronomical changes like in Resident Evil 2. However, the remaster is very nice visually. Everything looks so much crisper, the skin textures don’t look flat, the lighting isn’t weird and super dark, and everything looks more polished. There are a lot more lens flares it seems, which I’m not a huge fan of, but it’s not the worst thing. I will say that Udina does look weird with his updated facial textures. It looks like they lightened a fair amount of his head but then left the face darker and splotchy. There have been some updates since I last saw Udina, so maybe this changed, but he always looked off to me. The improved lighting is a huge thing for me. The original always had a much more dramatic feel with very strong shadows that would often hide much more of a face or surface than the scene warranted, and I’m personally glad that they really toned that down to what I feel are more appropriate levels.
As far as gameplay goes, the games feel very familiar with mostly minor tweaks. The HUD has changed a little with its layout which is nice. The biggest changes were to the Mako, and overall I’m loving them. I love how they fixed the physics and the aiming for the Mako. It doesn’t fishtail all the time and you can shoot up! I’m not a fan of the new camera-relative steering though. If I have the camera turned to the side, instead of pressing W to go forward, I need to press D or A (depending on what side I’m looking at) with W and S now being the keys for turning. It’s really annoying to me personally and just adds one more thing to keep track of while driving. I don’t like controlling vehicles with a mouse and keyboard anyways, but this control scheme has been driving me a little insane.
Another change that I love is the faster elevators. You don’t have to wait five minutes between floors anymore! I also think it’s great that the DLC content has been integrated into the game rather than just being given to you at the start. It helps with the immersion. If that’s not enough, I also really enjoy the new level up system in Mass Effect. You essentially level up twice as fast with a new max level of 30 instead of 60, but this also means that in a single play through, you can actually maybe hit that max. If you want, you can play with the level 60 cap though and just not get to improve your talents as much.
In Mass Effect 2 and 3, I loved the natural integration of the comics Mass Effect: Genesis and Genesis 2. These provide a seamless recap of the first game (or two) and let you make some of the big choices that impact the later games. The only problem is that you cannot speed it up and you cannot exit during the comic. Only choose to use the comic if you have the time. Everything else felt pretty flawless in the little bit that I played.
As far as problems, the only ones I’ve really come across are that a few textures don’t look quite right like Udina’s face. Also, anything that’s more metal tends to not quite look right or as crisp as other items, but they are still improvements overall.
Overall, Mass Effect Legendary Edition is a fantastic love letter to the series. This is probably as good as it can get without the team rebuilding the game from the ground up. Everything looks amazing and the updates have been pretty well integrated. It’s very faithful but isn’t scared to provide some improvements. If you want to replay the games or if you’ve never played them before, this is probably the best way to do it.
