The Mass Effect Legendary Edition release date has been announced, meaning we now know when you'll get to go revisit Commander Shephard, and friends.
What's in Mass Effect Legendary Edition?
Mass Effect Legendary Edition has all three Mass Effect games, with visual improvements including 4k Ultra HD, improved performance, enhanced models, and a variety of different visual bells and whistles that have come out since the series began. Beyond that, there will be all-new Shepard customization options available for better hair, makeup, eye color, and skin tones, with all three games using the same character creator. Additionally, the third game's marketing 'iconic' FemShep has been made available as a default option for all games.
The first game has seen a significant amount of focus here, with new gameplay enhancements including better aiming and weapon balance, mako controls, squad behavior, and a variety of other things to make it play better. The first game has also gotten more visual work as there was a full world-building pass including environmental art, effects, and level lighting.
PC players will have support for ultra-high refresh rates, with controller support, as well as 21:9 widescreen support, improved user navigation, and support for DirectX 11. Console players will get a choice been favoring quality or framerate for whether they prefer a prettier picture or smoother play.
Over 40 pieces of DLC for the series are there as well.
What's missing in Mass Effect Legendary Edition?
40 pieces of DLC may sound like a lot, but it doesn't include everything that has come out for the series. First of all, Mass Effect Legendary Edition lacks the multiplayer mode that was released with Mass Effect 3, and originally envisioned as a key way of getting war assets, even if it was decreased in importance after patches for the game.
More notably is the fact that the Pinnacle Station DLC will not be included in Mass Effect Legendary Edition. While no reason is provided by EA, in the past the DLC wasn't released on PlayStation 3 with a former Bioware Producer Ryan Warden stating that they had the source code get corrupted and they couldn't build it. This is likely why it is not included here as well.
What is the Mass Effect Legendary Edition release date?
Mass Effect Legendary Edition releases on May 14th for PC (Steam and Origin), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, with targeted enhancements for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 on forward-compatible versions. It will cost $60 for Americans and is available to preorder starting today.
Additionally, there is a special edition Mass Effect Legendary Cache, that runs for $149.99 coming with a special Metal Game Case, a morality spinner pin, an N7 Acceptance Letter, 2 Canvas Art Prints, and a custom full-color custom box. Important to note, this edition does not come with the game.
Are you disappointed that Mass Effect Legendary Edition won't be released until May? Do you like or dislike the idea of significant overhauls to Mass Effect 1? Let us know in the comments below!
