Hearing Bioware’s words and catching – albeit via the screen of a video conference – a special glint in the eyes of Mac Walters, project manager and longtime veteran of the Canadian Edmonton team, one feels how Mass Effect Legendary Edition does not actually represent one and only a commercial opportunity for a giant like Electronic Arts.
Of course, it is undeniable that fans have been clamoring for a long time for a remastered edition of a timeless classic, and it is equally out of the question that its release could have an impact on the market. Yet, as it became clear during the presentation event of the game, Mass Effect Legendary Edition is a project different from the others also primarily for the same Bioware: a way to revisit characters and situations that have de facto defined the studio, celebrating a saga that has written pages of video game history. All coming next May 14 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, as well as playable in backward compatibility on PS5 and Xbox X | S Series.
Back on the Normandy
Mass Effect Legendary Edition was born from a very simple goal: to allow an old and new audience to relive the great experience of an exciting space epic with a modern setup and the potential of gaming that represents today’s standard, including HDR, 4K resolution. and 60fps. All in the frame ofdefinitive edition of the adventures of Commander Shepard, featuring all the core single player adventures and over 40 downloadable content from the original trilogy. A bundle that includes narrative DLC, weapons, armor and promotional items, for over 100 hours of intergalactic fun coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
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In reality, bringing Mass Effect back to the scene in 2021 proved to be a less obvious and linear task than expected. Not that it was a radically new idea for the Dragon Age and Anthem team: as confessed during the meeting with the press, the remastered issue had in fact emerged several times over the years, and discussed openly “in at least half a dozen meetings”. Once the green light was given, however, we had to deal with a peculiar situation.
Excluding Andromeda (by the way, if you want to deepen the Mass Effect Andromeda review is a click away), the three chapters of the series were released over a single console generation, always using the exact same engine. A rather particular anomaly for a franchise that has entered the Olympus of the great, but at the same time the unequivocal testimony of the immediate success of the saga.
As mentioned, returning the trilogy to its former glory proved to be a complex and laborious process. “It was like fixing a beautiful vintage car, but immersed in concrete”: the eloquent words of Mac Walters give a good idea of a condition that has imposed non-trivial choices, sacrifices and in general a very different job from the automatic resolution increase of the textures that everyone will obviously take for granted. Because, as in the example of the car immersed in concrete, in removing the dirt you had to be careful to preserve the original paint that remained underneath.
Remastering a legend
The first big catch answered a very precise name: Unreal Engine 3. An engine undoubtedly very advanced at the time, which nevertheless represents a remnant of videogame archeology by 2021 standards. In this regard, Bioware has started a discussion directly with Epic, to understand if it was possible to adapt the game to some extent to the more modern and versatile Unreal Engine 4: an open-hearted confrontation that in reality did not lead to particular outlets, making the Canadian studio tend to remain anchored to Unreal Engine 3.
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Not that such a choice has actually ruled out the multi-level improvements that are part of Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Broadly speaking, the team’s approach was that of bring the quality level of the three games closer, to offer the most cohesive and uniform experience possible. A goal achieved thanks to the active support of the community: Bioware has in fact directly involved fans, streamers, cosplayers and fans of Shepard & Company, to intervene while respecting the originals where it really made sense to do so.
To undergo the most intense changes was in this sense the first episode, which was also the one objectively less refined from the point of view of the third-person shooter component. The aiming system of the original Mass Effect has been heavily revised, the weapons have been rebalanced more accurately and the waiting times in the elevators have been significantly reduced. Even the Mako has never appeared so drivable and responsive, to further incentivize planetary exploration. Bioware has explicitly talked about a chapter so reinterpreted starting from the foundations that it deserves another run, and the hope is to be able to touch the game soon to be able to have our say.
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The general premise is that in any case the fluidity ensured by the 60 frames per second and the Ultra HD resolution guarantee an aspect and sensations pad in the hand – even on PC, since full compatibility with controllers has been introduced – almost unprecedented, for a Mass Effect actually to be rediscovered. All textures, literally tens of thousands of files, have been enlarged from four to sixteen times through automated tools: a way to give a new look to the worlds and characters that have left their mark on the universe under the threat of the Reapers.
Also the protagonist creation editor has been unified, expanded and improved, thus allowing users to create a truly personal and “own” Shepard that remains consistent throughout the trilogy. For those wishing to opt for a standard look it is good to specify that Jane Shepard, or the female version of the commander, has been improved in the look. Improvements that also concern the materials, the hair, the surfaces of helmets, armor and weapons as well as the environments, with volumetric fog, ambient occlusion and depth of field to make the scene deeper.
The effect on scenarios is on average good: expect small improvements rather than staggering revolutions, even if among leaves, petals, rocks and god rays, the result is not bad at all for titles published from 2007 to 2012. It should be noted that Bioware has still taken some liberties, such as the idea of positioning the sun in front instead of behind on Eden Prime: a trick that specifically improves the overall impact of the scene a lot, even if at times there is a change in the aesthetics and in the color palette a little too pushed, which slightly turns off the brilliance of certain tones.
On the characters instead there is a double talk to do: thanks to the high resolution textures, the improved shaders and many small subtleties implemented by the team, the models appear convincing and capable of going beyond a quantity of polygons evidently far from today’s average. Details such as the skin of the various races, the textures of the fabrics and the damage of the armor emerge in all their unprecedented splendor, implicitly telling many additional details about the incredible narrative universe of the saga.
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The problem, however, lies in the animations, which for production reasons have not been revised at all except in small glitches that could occur especially in the cutscenes. The contrast between much more refined characters of the time and animations that have remained still a decade ago can be felt all over, generating dissonant sensations: the effect uncanny valley it is often around the corner, and the beauty of certain models weakens considerably when they speak or move, more or less clearly recalling soulless dolls. A limit linked to an operation that does not go as natural as it is in the parts of a real remake (by the way, here you will find our Demon’s Souls review), but that could lose a few points to an otherwise spectacular experience.
In closing, a couple of strictly technical notes: Mass Effect Legendary Edition is an impressive 100% single player title, so don’t expect the multiplayer parenthesis seen in the third episode of the saga. Despite Galaxy at War’s popularity, the mode was scrapped for development reasons. For those who were wondering: yes, The Mass Effect 3 ending included in this Legendary Edition is that of the Extended Cut became the fee, and not the one initially entered at launch. In short, everything is good what ends (more or less) well.
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