

The oldest, original game has changed the most.

Naturally, Mass Effect 3 has changed the least. The package provides a hefty visual upgrade for all three games alongside relatively minor tweaks to gameplay mechanics - though exactly how much has changed varies from game to game. Manage cookie settingsīioWare feels as though it has landed upon an elegant answer with Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, a package that is basically a 4K remaster of the Xbox 360 and PS3 games. How do you smooth that out without damaging the beloved originals? To see this content please enable targeting cookies. They’re designed to be played in succession, which isn’t so problematic when they’re played a few years apart - but put them back-to-back, as they’re presented here, and the differences feel more pronounced. Here you have three games that are all quite different - especially the first - and yet they are inexorably intertwined. That makes the pressure on BioWare for any re-release surprisingly significant. The smoke and mirrors of its choice and consequence are generally exquisitely executed - and it deserves to be replayed. Whatever you think about how it ended, or about that ill-fated sequel trip to another galaxy, Commander Shepard’s trilogy is one of the most thrilling in video game history.
