(Review) Mass Effect Legendary Edition - Mass Effect 1

Mass Effect 1 Is Back, and it is Bolder Than Ever!

Even the start screen has been remastered, and yes, it should still give the average fan chills...

It’s been almost 14 years since the first Mass Effect game was released, sparking the introduction to one of the greatest sci fi stories ever told. Known for its incredibly well-crafted narrative, colourful cast of characters and engaging gameplay, the trilogy as a whole has won countless awards.

It’s no wonder that the newly released remaster of the trilogy, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, was highly anticipated by many. Heck, even I was counting down the days until its release. A promising remaster of the three games that aims to modernise the various dated aspects of the trilogy whilst still retaining what makes these games great.

If you haven’t already played any of the Mass Effect games, then the Legendary Edition is for you. Bioware aren’t wrong when they say that this is the best way to experience the trilogy. Improvements aside, it also comes with all of the bonus content and DLC for all three games in one convenient package, something that didn’t exist prior.

For returning players, there’s plenty available for you too, and this is especially apparent in their updated version of Mass Effect 1, which will be the topic of this review. As I mentioned earlier, it’s been a long time since Mass Effect 1 released, and since then it has become… dated to say the least, both visually and technically.

A Treat for the Eyes!

So what has Mass Effect Legendary Edition done to address these issues? Well, it’s more than you might think. On a visual front, all of the textures used throughout the game have been enhanced through use of AI upscaling. The final result of which, is nothing short of incredible, especially when compared to the original.

Places like the Citadel have received a major glow up with brighter colours and fancier textures. It looks how I remember it as a child.

The environments and the characters have been given a complete visual revamp thanks to the upscaling. Characters such as Garrus, Tali and Wrex have never looked better, whilst environments such as Eden Prime, the Citadel, Feros and Virmire look much more polished and detailed than they did before.

Speaking of detailed, some levels throughout the game received minor changes to their appearance and structure, whether for balancing reasons or for more consistency throughout the three games. For example, the area where you fight the final boss on Noveria has been restructured to allow for more leg room, while Eden Prime has extra buildings and other background details to look more like it does in Mass Effect 3.

Virmire looks much more lush and tropical as it was supposed to in the original. Noveria somehow looks colder than it did before, and Ilos’s lighting looks much more atmospheric. Even the uncharted worlds look better, with much more texture variety and added details such as grass and particle effects, (mind blowing, I know!).

Yeah, I'm using a custom appearance for my Commander Shepard. What of it? On another note, look at that those lovely armour textures. Very fancy!

Not to mention the highly noticeable character improvements, which are especially apparent on alien characters and NPCs. Skin, clothing and armour textures have all been enhanced to an incredible degree. These improvements continued to impress me from start to finish.

To summarise, on a visual front, the remaster is a complete success. It’s not perfect, a couple characters here and there will look a bit odd. The hair textures could use a bit of work, and the upgraded visuals really show how dated some of the animations are. But apart from these minor hiccups, I find it hard to fault it. Plus, they’ve added a photo mode! Something that wasn’t necessary in the slightest but is an absolute blast to have in the game. The work that has gone into these visuals can be showcased beautifully by all players.

I may have spent quite a bit of time taking pictures with the new photo mode. Photography fans, you're in for a treat here.

Playing Mass Effect in 2021…

So how does it fare from a gameplay perspective? Does the game still feel as dated as it did originally? This question is a tricky one for me to answer as a long-time fan of the game who would have a playthrough of it every year. It’s noticeably different, no doubt about that, however most of the systems more or less work the same way, but are just tweaked differently to improve the overall quality of the gameplay.

The Legendary Edition is not a remake of the first game, but it does take the time to update some of the more dated aspects of its core features.

The lack of any extreme reworking of the technical aspects of the gameplay may prove to be a disappointment to some who’ve set their expectations too high. The changes made to Mass Effect 1’s gameplay consist of smaller pieces to a larger whole. In essence, the changes come together to make a difference that’ll be significant to some more than others.

Aspects of combat have been tweaked to be smoother and more up to date. Examples of these changes include better gun handling, improved camera angles, reduced cooldowns on weapon firing and abilities, a dedicated melee attack button, the ability to independently command each squad mate, and many more. If you would like to see a full rundown of what has changed, be sure to check out the blog post made by Bioware written prior to the release of the Legendary Edition that lists all of the changes. Click here.

Not only have the core systems of the Mako been tweaked, the UI has also received an update. Nothing too amazing, but definitely an improvement.

The Mako has seen its fair share of treatment too. Is the vehicle still goofy to drive? Absolutely, although the changes introduced should give players a bit more control over the wheeled menace. If I’m being completely honest, the Mako didn’t really feel much different to me, however additions such as the speed boost and improved aiming are very much welcome.

As for those combat changes, they really do make a positive difference. While the game definitely still feels a bit dated to play, the balances and tweaks have turned what was an unplayable ordeal to some into a much more modern and tight-fixed experience that feels more in line with the other games in the trilogy.

Is this just a random unrelated picture that once again showcases the wonders of photo mode? Absolutely.

The not so pretty stuff…

Now to get into the not so pretty stuff, and it’s a shame I have to do this because this remaster is so close to being absolutely brilliant, but thanks to these two major issues I have with it, the remaster only just misses the mark.

Starting with the first issue, the bugs. I encountered a lot of them in my playthrough, and a couple of them were game breaking. The first game breaking bug I had was on Virmire, where I was driving along and shooting at oncoming enemies, when suddenly the Mako stops moving forward, and is now just moving on the spot. I decided to exit the Mako, but when I did, the Mako vanished. I had to reload the game for it to reappear.

The second game breaking bug happened multiple times, mostly on uncharted worlds. Out of nowhere, the interact button would stop working. I wouldn’t be able to open doors, talk to squad mates or get inside the Mako. This was also fixed by a reload.

Yeah... the Mako still does that on occasion... people who've already played this game will understand the pain. Or they'll enjoy it, if they are sadistic...

As for the not so game breaking bugs, there were many, but I’m not going to get into them all. While some bugs in the original game have been fixed, new ones have seemed to appear. All of these can easily be fixed through updates, but it’s safe to say that the ones I encountered hampered my enjoyment of the game.

And then there’s the second issue, which is the AI that somehow feels worse than it did in the original. To note, the AI was pretty bad in the original too, but in the original version you didn’t have enemies run around in circles, stare dead at a wall for no reason, or just stop doing everything entirely. The amount of times my squad mates got stuck behind a door, with the game failing to teleport them to my position… I lost count.

Either the enemy AI is very dumb, or they are secretly pretending to be dumb to draw you out in the open. Anything's possible I suppose?

I did my playthrough on insanity difficulty, which is the highest difficulty in the trilogy. Having the game set to this difficulty didn’t make the AI smarter, it just made it harder to kill, which meant that various sections, particularly the uncharted worlds, become a slog to get through. It annoys me because the last thing I want is to feel completely worn out by my favourite game. But alas, towards the second half of my playthrough, that’s what happened.

My Final Thoughts

So that last section was pretty critical. I wasn’t going to give this review special treatment because of my love for Mass Effect and my immense level of respect for Bioware as a company. The issues I encountered don’t appear to be well advertised online, so some of the problems I had could’ve been something wrong with my game. However, I can only say what I’ve played.

In conclusion, the remaster for Mass Effect 1 is a faithful and well worth upgrade of the original game that enhances what made the original so great in the first place whilst also providing something new for returning players. I cannot stress this enough; Mass Effect Legendary Edition is not some simple reshade. This remaster has had loads of work put into it, and is likely one of the best remasters for a game out there.

If somebody calls the Legendary Edition a basic reshade, show them pictures of Feros. Then proceed to look at them disappointingly...

For many, this will be the first time that people will get to experience the first Mass Effect game, and if I were asked which version of Mass Effect do I recommend, I would definitely point to this version. However, I cannot ignore the various technical issues that I experienced that others could potentially experience as well.

Dear new players: this is Garrus. Everybody loves Garrus. You will love Garrus too.

So far, Mass Effect Legendary Edition has been well worth the wait and the money, and I cannot wait to experience what the remaster of Mass Effect 2 has to offer.

Pros:

- Outstanding visual revamp

- Small quality of life changes make big impacts

- Photo mode is a nice addition

- Able to retain the same charm

Cons:

- Bugs; There’s a lot of them

- Very wonky AI

Final Rating: 8/10.