BioWare has revealed a huge list of changes and improvements made to the remasters included in the upcoming Mass Effect: Legendary Edition.
All the juicy details were posted on the PlayStation Blog and when I say the list is huge, it really is. So be prepared for a lot of bullet points and information!
Let’s start with the basics. We’ll be getting improved visuals and textures, updated character models, an improved framerate and resolution, faster load times and more.
However, there are also a ton of quality of life improvements made to the three remastered games in the collection that will make for a more modern and seamless experience.
Some of the changes even include bug fixes that were never made in the original releases.
The original Mass Effect released way back in 2007 for the Xbox 360, so I have no doubts that all the improvements made will be even more noticeable in this particular release.
So with all that said, below are all the improvements, updates and changes made to the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition.
The following changes have been made specifically to the original Mass Effect from 2007:
- Shepard can now sprint out of combat
- Melee attacks are now mapped to a button press rather than automatically occurring based on proximity to an enemy
- Weapon accuracy and handling has been significantly improved
-Reticle bloom is more controlled
-Weapon sway removed from sniper rifles
-Aiming down sights/”tight aim” camera view has been improved
-Improved aim assist for target acquisition
- All relevant enemies now take headshot damage in the first game
-Previously some did not, including humanoid enemies
- Ammo mods (Anti-Organic, Anti-Synthetic, etc.) can now drop throughout the whole game
-Previously, these stopped dropping at higher player levels
-They are now also available to purchase from merchants
- All weapons can be used by any class without penalty
–Specializations (the ability to train/upgrade certain weapons) are still class-specific
- Weapons cool down much faster
- Medi-gel usage has been improved
-Base cooldown reduced
-Levelling benefits increased
-Increased Liara’s bonus to cooldowns
- Inventory management improvements
-Items can now be flagged as “Junk”
-All Junk items can be converted into Omni-gel or sold to merchants at once
-Inventory and stores now have sorting functionality
- Some abilities have been rebalanced
- Weapon powers (i.e., those that are unlocked on each weapon type’s skill tree) have been improved:
–Effectiveness/strength is increased (duration reduced in some cases)
–Heat now resets on power activation
Updates have also been made to the targeted combat:
- Squadmates can now be commanded independently of each other in the first Mass Effect, the same way you can command them individually in Mass Effect 2 and 3
- Some boss fights and enemies in the first game have been tweaked to be fairer for players but still challenging
- Cover has been improved across the trilogy
-Additional cover added to some encounters
-Entering and exiting cover is now more reliable
- XP has been rebalanced in the first game (details below)
- Ammo drops have been rebalanced in Mass Effect 2 (details below)
These are the calibrations you can expect to experience when driving the Mako:
- Improved handling
–Physics tuning improved to feel “weightier” and slide around less
- Improved camera controls
–Resolved issues preventing the Mako from accurately aiming at lower angles
- Shields recharge faster
- New thrusters added for a speed boost
-Its cooldown is separate from the jump jets’
- The XP penalty while in the Mako has been removed
- Touching lava no longer results in an instant Mission Failure and instead deals damage over time
Other additional changes to the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition include:
- New unified launcher for all three games
-Includes trilogy-wide settings for subtitles and languages
-Saves are still unique to each game and can be managed independently of each other
- Updated character creator options, as mentioned above
· -FemShep from Mass Effect 3 is the new default female option in all three games (the original FemShep design is still available as a preset option)
- Trophies across the trilogy have been updated
-New trophies have been added to the trilogy
-Progress for some now carries over across all three games (e.g. Kill 250 enemies across all games)
-Trophies that were streamlined into one and made redundant were removed
–A number of trophies have had their objectives/descriptions and/or names updated
- Integrated weapons and armour DLC packs
-Weapons and armour DLC packs are now integrated naturally into the game; they’re obtainable via research or by purchasing them from merchants as you progress through the game, rather than being immediately unlocked from the start. This ensures overall balance and progression across ME2 and ME3
-Recon Hood (ME2) and Cerberus Ajax Armour (ME3) are available at the start of each game
- Additional gameplay & Quality of life improvements
–Audio is remixed and enhanced across all games
-Hundreds of legacy bugs from the original releases are fixed
What changes in the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition do you appreciate the most and which game in the game are you excited to play more than any other? Let us know across our social media channels.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition will release for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on May 14th. It will also be backwards compatible for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Have you pre-ordered Mass Effect Legendary Edition yet? If not, you can secure your copy from the GameByte Shop now!
Featured Image Credit: BioWare