#MASS EFFECT LEGENDARY EDITION WORTH IT INSTALL#
#MASS EFFECT LEGENDARY EDITION WORTH IT FULL#
#MASS EFFECT LEGENDARY EDITION WORTH IT SERIES#

#MASS EFFECT LEGENDARY EDITION WORTH IT FULL#

No, this is the full monty – almost every piece of DLC ever released across the entire trilogy is here, fully incorporated into the core experience. This isn’t just the core games with a lick of paint.

However, ultimately, what makes it a package worth experiencing is just that – it’s a package. So, Mass Effect Legendary Edition is, by and large, a technical triumph as a remaster. Thankfully, that move towards a more Gears of War-esque combat system means that it has held up pretty well today, with the squad mechanics and biotic powers (special abilities that your squadmates can utilise to gain an advantage) elevating it from standard 3rd-person shooter fodder to something a little more cerebral and interesting.

#MASS EFFECT LEGENDARY EDITION WORTH IT SERIES#

While some took issue with the gradual move from RPG to action RPG shooter that the series made from 1 to 3, I much preferred the combat in 2 and 3. Speaking of combat, you’ll recognise little to no difference between the originals and the remasters.

However, even this is less of an issue these days, given there’s an option to favour framerate over resolution – the option I have chosen, given I’m playing this on Xbox Series S. It’s definitely less of an issue with 2 and 3, but does mean that the combat in the original is a little stilted and awkward at times.

This means that movement is largely as clunky as you remember it being. If I have one complaint about the remasters in general, but specifically the first game, it’s that the animation hasn’t quite had the same amount of love lavished upon it. While the differences between Mass Effect 2 and 3 and their updated counterparts here are somewhat less pronounced, they’re still very impressive and the package as a whole represents one of the best remaster projects to date, outshining the likes of the recent Mafia trilogy. Where areas such as the Normandy – your home ship and central hub – lacked colour and detail, those same improved effects make a huge difference to what you’re looking at or interacting with. Where the original character models (or, at least, the ones with human-like features) now look flat and lifeless, the remaster’s improved textures and lighting breathe new life into them. This means that the biggest difference in graphical fidelity is between Mass Effect and its remaster – and the difference is pretty stark. However, that certainly wasn’t the case in 2007, when the original game in the series was released. As such, it was a remarkable looking game for the time and still looks pretty good today. By the time Mass Effect 3 came out in 2012, the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 were doing things they had no right doing. Because, as I’m sure you’ve already figured out, my brain has convinced itself that the original trilogy had held up better than it actually does. Now, my review is a very different beast, and not just because I now realise the folly of my reductive analysis of the graphics.

#MASS EFFECT LEGENDARY EDITION WORTH IT INSTALL#

However, in the interest of completeness, I decided to install the original trilogy (thank you, EA Play) to contrast and compare. It essentially amounted to “I expected it to look better”. After a few hours playing Mass Effect Legendary Edition – the long-requested, yet somewhat out-of-the-blue remaster of the original Mass Effect trilogy – I had my review written in my head. You know, the human mind is a funny thing.

Mass effect legendary edition worth it