After the facelift, Commander Sheppard is ready to hit the bars in 2021. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is a fantastic remaster and a great treat for fans of the series, as well as those who have never been tempted by it before.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is a remastered collection of all three installments of the series and over 40 DLCs. All this has been adapted to 4K resolution, adding a lot of new graphic models, high-quality lighting, shaders, and other graphic bells and whistles. There was also support for HDR and 21: 9 screens. On PC, games are supported by DX11 and Xbox controllers. The audio system has also been improved and cutscenes have been updated.
Of course, most of these novelties are visible in the first installment of the series, which has grown old over the years. The game is much brighter than the original. Character models and textures have become much more detailed. The addition of new filters, shadows, and lighting effects, on the other hand, strongly influenced the overall production climate.
Most of them are changes for the better, although it is impossible not to shed a tear over the heavy atmosphere, typical for the original, enveloping everything in a fog (it is especially noticeable on Eden Prime) and the characteristic grain. It is difficult to consider here to what extent it was dictated by the hardware limitations existing in 2007, and to what extent by artistry. The remaster goes in a slightly different direction - the game seems clearer, and sometimes even sterile.
Interestingly, BioWare in the remaster did not bury too much with the character animations. And these are very nudging - I mean not only the facial expressions but also the movement of the characters. For example, the male and female versions of Shepard use the same moveset. When deciding on the latter, you feel a certain mismatch. Especially since the creators moved the original female face from the third part to the two previous ones.
The single also has significantly improved Mako controls, better shooting (much better!) And improvements in AI. There have also been major changes to the balance of the game. You can see that the creators paid the most attention to this part. The second and third installments did not get old that much after all.
The HUD has also been unified across all three games, making the experience of playing them one after the other more consistent. In ME2 and ME3, of course, we will be able to import our character from the previous part (there is even an achievement to win for playing with one character all the time).
Another novelty is the photo mode, which allows you to look at the game from a completely different perspective. I'm not a big fan of this type of tool myself, but it will certainly find its fans. BioWare is encouraged to share shots on social media under the tag #MyShepard.
The game runs at 60 frames per second and 4K on PS5 and Xbox Series X | S. On the Microsoft console, we can get 120 fps at a resolution of 1440p. On PC, however, the upper limit is as much as 240 fps and 240 Hz.
Minuses? There are a few. Apart from the already neglected animations (on the other hand, this is a remaster, not a remake), there was no possibility of a partial language change. In ME and ME2 we can only play with Polish dubbing. It is not possible to set up English-language dialogues and Polish subtitles. This is a big disadvantage - especially that there is no dubbing in ME3 and the polling is cinematic. Not only that, in ME and ME2 the voices are given by completely different actors. The bitterness is overflowing with the fact that two DLCs for Mass Effect 2 have not been translated ... at all.
There is also no multiplayer mode in ME3, which theoretically can still be added. There are some rumors around the subject. But of course, this is not the key element that makes the third installment of the series unique. You can easily do without it.
I would not disdain a stronger refreshment of ME2 and ME3. I have the impression that the whole couple went to improve the number one, and in the next two parts of these changes, there are relatively few changes. It is difficult to compare them with modern productions here, but generally speaking, technically they are a bit weak compared to them.
The price is also surprising for a remaster of 3 games is relatively a lot. For comparison, 2K screamed PLN 170 for three parts of the Mafia. I don't think remasters, whatever they may be, deserve to be sold for the price of full-fledged new AAA games.
However, this does not change the fact that the entire trilogy is one of the best sci-fi stories ever made and a real treat for everyone (not just fans). So, if you haven't had a chance to learn about Shepard's fate so far, this is the best time possible. About 100 hours of fun are waiting for you, and I can assure you that for many it will be an almost personal experience. In terms of the story, Mass Effect has not aged at all - it still warms like little and ranks among the top s-f games (if not video games at all).
The only question now is when Dragon Age Legendary Edition ...
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