The ‘Mass Effect’ trilogy gets remastered: Here are the details
The past year has been slow for a lot of things; live concerts, festivals, and movie theaters all took a major hit from the restrictions that came with the COVID-19 pandemic consequently crippling various industries. With people across the world hunkered down indoors, most activities bringing us together in person couldn’t happen, but that doesn’t mean people didn’t keep busy with some of their favorite activities.
People have spent time in the new world as we now know it, coming up with new hobbies, but they also have leaned into their old ones as streaming content became of absolute necessity in a time where the outside world left little to be desired. An at-home standby is the video game, and seasoned gamers & noobs alike took to their computers & consoles during what revealed itself to be a great year for the gaming industry.
The Verge reported in July 2020 that gaming sales reached $6.6 billion in June, the highest the industry has seen in ten years. While new consoles like the Nintendo Switch & PS5 had Twitter raging with hardcore gamers ready to sell their mother’s pearls for the latest technology, others delved into their favorite classic games to escape from the harsh world outside (good riddance).
Mass Effect
As classic gamers google searched lists for the best games they’ve never played (or forgot about), one game was featured on nearly every list for those still slummin’ it on the PS3: Mass Effect.
The Mass Effect trilogy is one of the most beloved series of the PS3/ Xbox 360 generation, especially Mass Effect 2 which holds a 96% Metacritic rating. Fans of the space epic will be delighted to hear it’s been announced the Mass Effect trilogy will be remastered.
Legendary gaming
Valdosta Daily Times reported that Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, a remastered edition of the trilogy, is set to release this May.
The remastered Mass Effect games will feature the same story as the original games, but with some pretty significant technological advancements. We can only imagine the remastered Mass Effect trilogy will lack any dated feel one might get from playing the original games.
The Mass Effect trilogy follows the story of Commander Shepard through their mission to set things right in the universe aboard the Normandy, and defeat the geths & reapers in their path.
The game series showcases some familiar voices, as you hear Seth Green and even Martin Sheen speak to you as you guide your crew through the cosmos. Furthermore, your hero Shepard is totally customizable in gender & appearance, a feature of the game that will be advanced in the remastered Mass Effect trilogy.
Legendary remastering
The remastered Mass Effect trilogy is said to have expanded options for Shepard’s look, with more hair & skintone options for gamers to customize their hero with. However, Shepard’s looks won’t be the only improvement Mass Effect: Legendary Edition will bring to the table.
Mac Walters, Project Director on the remastered Mass Effect trilogy, has stated the remastering of the game was a great undertaking, and over 100 hours of gameplay was combed through to bring audiences the best Mass Effect experience his team could come up with.
This undertaking included bringing gamers updated lighting & shadows, improved character models, and re-rendered cinematics for the many cutscenes in the games (which will appear in 4K Ultra HD). Furthermore, there will be added details to the massive planets explored in the game, as well as better gameplay with more precise aiming & combat features.
All of these improvements will be consistent through all three games of the remastered trilogy, and we can only imagine in many ways, we’ll feel like we’re playing a brand new game series. The people behind Mass Effect: Legendary Edition have said their goal is to bring fans of the trilogy its best version, while introducing the next generation of gamers to the famed series.
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The remastered Mass Effect trilogy is set to release on May 14th worldwide, and will be available for PC on Steam & Origin, PS4, Xbox One, with forward compatibility on PS5 & Xbox Series X|S.
