December 2020 by Daniel B.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Mass Effect trilogy on PlayStation 3. The games are so critically-acclaimed and universally-loved that BioWare is developing Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, a remaster of the trilogy plus DLC, promo weapons, armor, and packs. Legendary Edition will be optimized for 4K, available for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and will be released sometime in the first half of 2021. The original Mass Effect was released in 2007 followed by sequels in 2010 and 2012. Where Mass Effect really hit its stride was Mass Effect 2. To me, the best thing about the series is the characters. The universe of Mass Effect is beautifully-crafted and the characters are amazingly fleshed-out in wonderful detail. The writing, character design and development are terrific. The acting is great. An enormous amount of dialogue is contained within these games. I met Mark Meer, the voice of the series' main protagonist, Commander Shepard, at Dragon Con. The trilogy's cast of voice actors has been relatively star-studded for a video game series. The cast includes the likes of Keith David, Seth Green, Lance Henriksen, Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn, Buzz Aldrin, Freddy Prinze Jr, Troy Baker, and - most memorable to me - Martin Sheen as the Illusive Man. Like any good role-playing video game, I took a liking to many of the characters, from genetically-engineered krogan Grunt to perfect human Miranda Lawson (also genetically-engineered). The games do an excellent job of making you feel like a part of the ME universe and taking you on an epic, sci-fi, space opera journey. The game mechanic that has made Mass Effect such a success is player choice and its effect on the storyline, characters, and universe. The choices the players make carry over and intensify from game to game. It's like Choose Your Own Adventure, but on steroids; complex and extremely well done. BioWare is also known for developing other popular RPG franchises such as Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Dragon Age. The company is based in Epcor Tower, in the center of downtown Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They have a subsidiary in the US, BioWare Austin, in Austin, Texas.
