Once I identified that Mass Effect wasn't just a port of some dumbed down space RPG for console peasants I had to have it. By the time I got to it in late 2008 I discovered it wasn't plagued by the normal pitfalls of PC ports. In fact it was so polished and contained so many options for the PC, I'd not have been able to tell it wasn't originally developed for the platform. This allowed me to fully enjoy the game for what it was - the first instalment of what would become my favourite game franchise.
It was a unique experience for me at the time, an RPG where you created Commander Shepard, series protagonist, with choices of appearance, gender, class, abilities, weapons and armour. In addition to extensive fully voiced dialogue and interaction with NPCs as you'd expect in an RPG, you chose two of your crew and explored open-world planets in the Mako, a tank (that was a pain to control) dropped from orbit. Ground combat was intense and followed cover-shooter mechanics which were admittedly a bit janky at the time but it was different. Inventory wasn't the best implementation I had seen and required far to long to sort out and equip your team.
However, the game-play flaws were largely overlooked because of the quality of the story and character interactions were above par. Mass Effect was a game-changer in terms of realising your fantasy as a space captain, unshackled by the rules of something like Star Trek and without the mysticism of Star Wars you were able to set out from The Citadel space station, the center of galactic power, and explore the universe as you saw fit in your starship, the Normandy. With the help of some other humans and aliens you pick up along the way you are tasked with an overarching mission to save The Citadel and establish humanity's place as a significant power in galactic events.
Everything got even better with Mass Effect 2 (in 2010) where you team up with an entirely new crew to embark on a suicide mission to defeat an emerging threat and Mass Effect 3 (in 2012) when all out war breaks out across the galaxy. The open-world and awkward Mako sequences were replaced with a planetary scanning mini-game to collect resources, ground combat was tightened up to use ammo clips rather than waiting for your weapon to cool down and allowed the issuing of squad commands for a more tactical options.The need for an inventory at all was removed and replaced with a weapon upgrade system.
In the sequels, the story's stakes were raised tackling significant ethical and moral issues including genocide and the right of sentient A.I. to exist all while evolving into preventing the destruction of the galaxy itself. Some 85,000 lines of dialogue was recorded by a cast which included Mark Meer/Jennifer Hale as Commander Shepard, with Martin Sheen, Keith David, Lance Hanrickson, Seth Green, Marina Sirtis, Armin Shimmerman, Yvonne Strahovski, Tricia Helfer, Adam Baldwin, Claudia Black, Micheal Hogan and Carrie-Anne Moss to same just a few. Perhaps just as importantly the choices you make in one game change plot points in later games. Some are more significant than others but the consequences of your actions have ramifications beyond the game you make the choices in.
The Mass Effect Legendary Edition, released in 2021 upgrades all three games with improvements to graphics and gameplay. Textures, lighting and effects are all enhanced and are clearly more noticeable in the first game as it's the oldest. Game controls, HUD, gameplay cover mechanics and squad/mob behaviour have been more streamlined in an attempt to make them more uniform across all three games and preventing the need to learn different elements and mechanics over the course of the three games. Levelling and XP caps are altered to remove the need of NG+ to "get all the levels". Overall the changes are welcome and do change the original game most significantly, removing a lot of things that people found painful.
Final Verdict: Mass Effect is my favourite game trilogy and I'm glad EA green lit Bioware to make such an important and well-executed in-house remaster to correct some significant if not game-breaking flaws and bring it to the systems of the 2020s. It doesn't change the most controversial and debated ending in gaming history, but the Mass Effect Legendary Edition is now the way new and veteran players should enjoy the saga at modern resolutions..
Technicals: 127 hours (ME-33hrs, ME2-43hrs, ME3-51hrs) through EA App on Windows 11 with an RTX4070Ti @ 3440x1440/175FPS with in-game HDR.
Bugs: In Mass Effect 1, some open-world Mako sequences suffered from framerate drops. Disabling VSync and locking frame rate fixes.
Availability: Mass Effect Legendary Edition is available from Steam or the EA Store for €59.99 but is commonly heavily discounted to €8.99. Review copy purchased in July 2021 for €37.99 from Fanatical.
Mass Effect series:
- Mass Effect (2007)
- Mass Effect 2 (2010)
- Mass Effect 3 (2012)
- Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017)
- Mass Effect Legendary Edition (2021)
- Mass Effect 4? (202?)
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