Mass Effect Legendary Edition is almost at the door, and in the run-up to its launch on May 14, BioWare has outlined its range of tweaks and improvements in a thorough new blog post.
The Legendary Edition, if you’re not familiar, bundles all three games and single-player DLC from the original Mass Effect trilogy, giving the whole thing a modern twist with support for 4K and HDR and 60 FPS on computers and consoles. from PS4 Pro / Xbox One X and beyond.
Most of the improvements at the highest level of the Legendary Edition – which includes extensive work on the original Mass Effect, ranging from dramatically improved environments to revamped Mako management – have been outlined before, but a new post on the BioWare website breaks it even further out and give fans an extensive list of everything available on launch day.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition – Official unveiling preview.
Combat in Mass Effect 1, which was originally intended to mimic the “randomness of a dice roll and pen-and-paper stat building”, will be significantly modified in Mass Effect 1, for example, to increase accuracy and reduce frustration. However, it does not stop there; the original game also gets a push button, rebalanced capabilities, faster weapon cooling, inventory management improvements and more.
BioWare also promises specific changes to encounters, enemies and how players in Mass Effect 1 fight – all of which are meant to align the experience with its sequel. Squadmates can now be commanded independently, while XP is now rewarded more consistently, and some encounters between the enemy and the boss have been adjusted to be fairer. In addition, BioWare says the coverage in the trilogy has been improved.
Eventually, however, the main improvement of Mass Effect 1 occurs in the form of changes to the infamous, ominous M-35 Mako, which is often bounced uncontrollably across planets in the original game. The Legendary Edition offers revised handling that promises a “much smoother ride while still being ‘lovely’ as before”, plus faster shield reloading, new pushers to help on uncomfortable terrain, improved camera control and more.
More common trilogy-wide adaptations include updated character creation tools that introduce FemShep from Mass Effect 3 as the standard female option, proper integration for DLC weapons and armor, updated achievements, mixed sound, ‘hundreds’ of legacy bug fixes , and more.
You’ll find significantly more detail – including changes to Mass Effect 3’s requirements of Galaxy at War, which was re-balanced over the trilogy – in BioWare’s report. The Legendary Edition will be available on Xbox, PlayStation and PC when it launches on May 14th.