Electronic Arts has announced that the long-awaited Mass Effect: Legendary Edition will release on May 14th.
Alongside the release date confirmation, EA has released the first full trailer for Legendary Edition.
First revealed in November, the Legendary Edition is a remastered collection of BioWare Edmonton’s beloved Mass Effect trilogy plus all of the games’ downloadable content (DLC). The series follows human soldier Commander Shepard as they travel the galaxy to recruit allies and stop the genocidal advanced machine race known as The Reapers.
With the Legendary Edition, BioWare and Abstraction Games have enhanced the visuals of all three Mass Effect games, bringing resolution up to 4K with HDR support. Further, textures, character models, shaders, VFX and pre-rendered cinematics have all been improved across the trilogy.
Frame rate-wise, Legendary Edition will support up to 60fps and improved load times. The latter enhancement means the original Mass Effect‘s infamously long elevator rides — used to mask load times — can actually be skipped in Legendary Edition.
Another major improvement for the first Mass Effect is tweaked gunplay — a welcome changed for how dated the 2007 game’s shooting feels today. BioWare also took cues from Mass Effect 3 — which features more traditional Gears of War-esque third-person shooting mechanics — to modernize Mass Effect‘s cover system and combat UI. On top of that, BioWare says Mass Effect‘s clunky Mako space vehicle has been made easier to control.
One of the series’ hallmarks is the ability to create your own Shepard and carry him or her — as well as a litany of narrative-impacting decisions — over through the trilogy. To that end, BioWare is adding more customization options for Shepard in Legendary Edition, such as new hairstyles, skin tones and more.
Additionally, BioWare says it’s working on a way to let those who played the trilogy on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or PC to bring their save files over to Legendary Edition. However, the developer stressed that it might not have a solution ready in time for launch.
Outside of that, BioWare has confirmed that it will not be adding any new or previously cut story content to the Legendary Edition. Still, because the collection includes all previously released DLC, you will get the Extended Cut add-on for Mass Effect 3 that greatly expanded upon and — for many upset fans — improved the game’s originally controversial ending.
Finally, Mass Effect 3‘s multiplayer mode will not be included in Legendary Edition.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition will release on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and will be playable on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S via backwards compatibility.
Alongside Legendary Edition, BioWare is also in early development on a brand-new, untitled Mass Effect game that picks up after Mass Effect 3.
Via: The Washington Post
