Mass Effect: Legendary Edition remasters BioWare’s original Mass Effect trilogy. To give you a better idea of how much transformation we’re talking about, we’ve compiled several comparison screenshots.
Since the original Mass Effect is taking full advantage of the remastering in terms of updated character models and locations, you will probably notice the main differences in these images. That said, there are noticeable improvements for Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 in Legendary Edition too – also, surprisingly, BioWare changed the scene for certain scenes in ME2 and ME3. You’ll see what we’re talking about in the compilation below, with certain scenes being much more expanded than they looked in the original trilogy.
For the sake of convenience, all the images on the left side of the comparison are from the original trilogy (which were taken from the PC version of the game), while those on the right are from the Legendary Edition. We list the screenshots in the order they appear.
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Shepard approaching the Normandy deck – the first time in the game that we see her.
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One of the first photos of Mass Effect is (thankfully) a clear view of Shepard, allowing you to quickly decide if you need to start a new rescue to go through the character creator again.
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Ashley is the first of several loyal crew members you will meet and recruit on your journey through the Mass Effect trilogy.
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Hey, we can see our home from here!
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Just don’t look down, Shepard, it’s a long fall.
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The Normandy SR-1 is an engineering feat and a symbol of human and turian cooperation.
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Yes, the enemy’s flagship is very large.
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Damn, that foliage really adds a nice touch to this scene of Shepard being choked.
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Ensuring that the iconic look of Mass Effect 3 for female Shepard was included in ME1 and ME2 was one of the first things BioWare implemented in the Legendary Edition.
Mass Effect 2
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The lighting in Afterlife seems to be much clearer.
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Yes, give us that lens flare.
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Hey, Grunt.
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Whether it’s the original trilogy or the Legendary Edition, Zaeed just looks tired.
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BioWare seems to have added much more details to Kasumi’s costume.
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It seems that some scenes in the Mass Effect 2 remaster are much brighter than the original game.
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If you haven’t played the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC yet, you need to fix it right away.
Mass Effect 3
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Nice people don’t look at explosions.
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It seems that the architecture of Earth’s cities has changed slightly.
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See DETAIL on that jacket.
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See what we mean? The remaster zoomed in on this photo. We don’t know why.
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The robotic body of the Cerberus synthetic infiltration unit has much more details in the remastering.
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Why is Shepard always destroying things?
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Again, the scene is slightly expanded for remastering. What is up with that?
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It seems that Javik’s eye position has changed slightly in the remaster.
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Stab him, Shepard. Do it.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition is scheduled to be released for Xbox One, PS4 and PC in May. Along with the Legendary Edition, BioWare is also working on a fifth Mass Effect that acts as a direct continuation of the original trilogy, Dragon Age 4, and a makeover of Anthem. However, EA is reportedly meeting to decide whether Anthem is still a project worthy of more resources.