Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
One of the more interesting conversations that has come out of Mass Effect Legendary Edition has not only been how much work has gone into improving Mass Effect 1 – arguably a remake level of changes, upgrades, and improvements to the game – but also the things that players want to stay the same as they were. For instance, some players who may or may not be masochists would rather play Mass Effect 1 with the shoddy Mako driving just as it did back in 2007. Well, at the very least, it seems BioWare respects that commitment. The team has added options to allow you to disable improvements to the Mako’s controls and go back close to its original handling.
This interesting bit of information was revealed by BioWare project director Mac Walters and environment director Kevin Meek in a conversation with PC Gamer. According to both, handling the Mako has been an interesting matter in the redesign of ME1 for the Mass Effect Legendary Edition.
“For those people out there who do like pain, we've left the option to leave it back kind of closer to the original controls as well if you want,” said Meek.
According to the team, it was a matter that was hard to fine-tune for Mass Effect 1’s Legendary Edition version, both in the improved and classic control schemes.
“You'll never get consensus, whether some people love it, or some people hate it,” said Walters. “We're making a big point of it often in marketing, but it's a lighter touch than I think some people might think. And the optional control scheme is optional, so you can drop back and forth.”
It was surprising to us as well when we mentioned that the changes made us want to play ME1 again instead of dreading it. However, it seems BioWare has heard you loud and clear. The gameplay changes to the Mako will give it weightier physics, less slide, and a boost to overcome harder terrain. It will also have faster-recharging shields and not die instantly when touching lava. BioWare also removed the XP penalty from killing enemies while in the Mako.
That said, if you don’t want all that noise – if you simply long for the original Mako experience, for better or arguably mostly worse – it looks like Mass Effect Legendary Edition also has the option to toggle pretty much all of the Mako changes off. It’s just another way the game is trying to cater to everyone as we await its launch on May 14 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.