Mass Effect 1 Legendary Edition Review

The Mass Effect series is one of my favorites in gaming of any era, based almost solely on 2 and 3. I generally consider Mass Effect 2 to be my favorite game ever; I love the characters, the combat, the setting, and the story.

 

My history with the first game is a little bit more hit-and-miss: I bought a 360 so I could play Mass Effect. But the infuriating Mako sections, long load times, and uneven combat slowed my progress. The Red Ring of Death ultimately ended my time with the game, and I left Xbox behind. My journey with the original game ended before I got to Virmire.

 

I played the mess out of the sequel once it came to PS3. It took the bits I enjoyed from my time with the first game, and improved on them in every conceivable way, culminating in an eminently memorable final sequence with high stakes. I even loved Mass Effect 3, despite the much-maligned ending. (The less said about Andromeda the better).

All of this brings me to the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, released last month. I’m taking my time playing through the series again, and recently finished the original game for the first time, playing as a Paragon male Shepard. I’m going to review each game as I beat it, separately, throughout the summer.

 

Non-spoiler review

 

BioWare did an awesome job of updating the original Mass Effect for a current audience. The game still definitely feels of its era, but the rough edges have been smoothed out. On a Series X, load times are almost non-existent.

 

Combat has been upgraded and feels pretty good. Once I got through the regular early game growing pains and figuring things out, everything clicked. I loved switching between weapons and varying my biotic powers to take down enemies.

 

The Mako controls have been extremely improved. It’s no longer a chore to control the vehicle.

 

Mass Effect is also a looker, considering that it was released originally in 2007. Sure, some facial animations are off; and characters move a little wonky at times; but the textures are great. Scenes in space are gorgeous. And the final battle sequence also looks great.

 

This is easily the definitive way to play Mass Effect. It’s a great introduction to an important and influential series of games and is absolutely worth playing. The knowledge that the relationships you’re building and choices you’re making will carry forward to future games is still really impressive.

 

While I consider the first Mass Effect a must-play experience in context with the entire trilogy, the Legendary Edition does shine a light on some of the shortcomings of the game.

 

While the Mako controls much better, it just shows how inconsequential these gameplay sequences are. Every time you’re in the vehicle, it’s literally to get from one point to the next. Everything follows a linear path — aside from the “open world” side missions — and the enemies are little more than speed bumps along the path.

 

Speaking of enemies, the AI in Mass Effect is particularly uninteresting and unchallenging. Enemies don’t do anything to try to trick you, and many battles turn into rote interactions. Pop-out of cover; shoot things; duck back and heal; rinse and repeat. It’s unfortunate because the combat feels good. Many game environments are recycled; every building that you enter on your random planetary expeditions is laid out exactly the same.

 

I didn’t feel compelled to dive much into the various weapons and equipment. I always equipped whatever new, more powerful items I found in the world; but I never spent time in stores looking for items.

The relationship development in the game is also a bit narrow. You have some conversations with your crewmates; then one crewmember is upset that you might be into the other; a couple of other asides, and then you’re bedding your chosen companion before the final mission. Diving deeper into the revolutionary dialogue system, it’s easier in 2021 to see the strings that are being pulled behind the scenes.

 

Despite these shortcomings, Mass Effect remains a great game. It allows you to shape your own kickass space marine; crewmates are reasonably well-developed characters; the Big Boss is intriguing, and the various reveals are handled well. Mass Effect hinges on the story and characters, which are extremely strong. Everything else is gravy. It’s a game that is truly more than the sum of its parts. And I can’t wait to continue my story in Mass Effect 2.

 

Spoiler review

 

The reasons I love Mass Effect as a series are ever-present in the first game. I love space/sci-fi; I enjoy RPGs but prefer light RPGs, and the mission structure with the Normandy serving as something of a hub world.

 

The story, when looked at from a broad view, is really straightforward. You’re the first human special operative, chasing down a rogue Spectre who was indoctrinated by a sentient AI race known as the Reapers. It’s your job to stop Saren and the Reapers, while trying to convince the Powers That Be of the existence of the Reapers.

 

If you’re reading this far, you know all of that. For me, as someone quite versed in the latter two-thirds of the trilogy, I already knew these story beats by heart. But experiencing them — some for the first time and some for the second — was unexpectedly joyous and, at times, heart-wrenching.

 

Finding out that Liara’s mother had been brainwashed by Saren — ultimately by Sovereign — was a fun character development moment.

 

Virmire was filled with tense situations. Thankfully, I was able to save Wrex. (In my original Mass Effect 2 playthrough, I didn’t keep Wrex and instead went the other direction). I know how the krogan story will play out, and now that I’ve been through the trenches with Wrex, it’ll make the eventual conclusion to the genophage that much more impactful.

 

I knew heading into the game that I would need to choose between Ashley and Kaiden at some point. And, for digital avatars, that decision was tough to make. Even though I actually dislike Ashley’s character, and think Kaiden is more interesting, it served my Shepard’s story to save Ashley.

 

The lore building from Virmire, through the Citadel, the trip to Ilos, and then the final battle is tremendous. There are a lot of heavy things introduced in the final four-ish hours of the game that will pay off during the remainder of the trilogy, and the pacing is just about perfect.

 

The final showdown with Saren was somewhat heartbreaking, as he shot himself. And the ultimate conclusion of Joker getting the final shot in on Sovereign was a great triumphant moment.

 

As far as key decisions and moments go: I saved Ashley; romanced Liara; saved Wrex; saved the Council; saved Feros; spared the Rachni queen; and chose Anderson as the Councilor over Udina (Anderson may be one of my favorite NPCs in any game. I think I cheered when he punched Udina).

And that concludes my playthrough of Mass Effect 1 in the Legendary edition. I absolutely loved the story, and can’t wait to dive into Mass Effect 2 and fall back in love with my favorite game ever.

 

Review by GamesReviews contributor Seth Roy.