I’m a bit daunted by the task of reviewing the Mass Effect Trilogy. A three game, 150 hour journey spread out over 5 years of releases isn’t easy to talk about in a succinct fashion. But I loved it, so I have to talk about it. This Trilogy now holds a special place in my heart. I’m a huge sci-fi fan, and Mass Effect delivers an engaging world with inventive alien, ship, and tech designs that rival Star Trek’s.

The choices that follow you through the Trilogy are impactful and unrivaled in today’s gaming landscape. The amount of branching story honestly makes my head spin at times, but also makes the journey that much more personal. So much of the writing across these games feels tailored to your character, with entire scenarios playing out differently if you’re a female Commander. My Commander Shepard was Female, mostly Renegade, Infiltrator class, no romance, and Insanity difficulty, and my experience of the series is colored by that fact. The voice actor Jennifer Hale is a big reason why I enjoyed these games so much, and I’m not sure if male Shepard’s voice actor delivers the same performance.


First off, the collection itself is the perfect way to experience this Trilogy. I played entirely on Steam Deck, so I had some problems that were mostly Origin’s fault. There were some occasional failures to launch, and achievements in ME2 and ME3 just don’t work. Besides these minor hiccups, Legendary Edition runs great, looks great, and has a bunch of minor improvements (like photo mode) that I didn’t notice because this is my first experience with the Trilogy. The transitions between titles were extremely smooth as a result.


Mass Effect 1 is, without a doubt, the roughest of the trilogy. It has frustrating level scaling (which Legendary Edition attempts to fix), very dry gunplay, and lots of filler missions. There are some pretty bad autosaves that almost bricked my save, and some awkward animations that took me out of the moment. Abilities are also pretty weak when compared to the power of guns. To its credit, though, it has fantastic world building, impressive visuals, solid voice acting, good characterization of your companions/crew, and some really solid morality choices that echo across the Trilogy. I disliked some of the Renegade characterization, but most of it felt really cohesive, building up Shepard as a hard-ass soldier who does whatever it takes to get the job done, while not being completely unsympathetic and emotionless. The RPG aspects are definitely the worst of the series and more complex than they're worth.


Mass Effect 2 is improved in all aspects. Better gunplay, better abilities, more meaningful side content, better animations, stronger story, and a more in-depth look at the galaxy. Mass Effect 2 has the largest cast of the Trilogy, with a nice mix of returning and new characters. Each individual crew member has a strong story with convincing characterization, and the crew regularly interacts with each other, their environment, and scenarios. Player choices from Mass Effect 1 have pretty big effects on the state of the galaxy, and lots of references to the smaller choices are sprinkled throughout. The Renegade characterization in this game is my favorite of the series, elevating Shepard to something more than just “evil”. I particularly liked Shepard’s appearance changes as she became more and more Renegade/Paragon. There are some rough spots, though. The “Suicide Mission” is forced on you early if you don’t metagame and lookup the story progression, potentially locking you out of content. Fortunately, you can continue playing in the post-game, finishing up any companion missions you missed (or collecting some model ships for your cabin). The game features a resource gathering minigame where you shoot probes at planets. It gets old fast, but you have to complete it to get you, your ship, and your crew upgraded. Ammo scarcity is also a problem throughout the game. Bioware was clearly adjusting to level designing with ammo in mind, and slightly missed the mark on a few missions. The skill system is streamlined, and while you lose a bit of player choice, it comes with the benefit of a much more focused set of player abilities.

The DLC for Mass Effect 2 is hit or miss. Firewalker introduces a new vehicle, but the novelty wears off after the first of five new missions. Normandy Crash Site is a single mission that involved walking around a lot. Overlord presented some interesting morality decisions. Genesis provides a nice summary of ME1’s exploits in comic-book form, courtesy of Dark Horse Comics. Kasumi and Zaeed both add companions, of which Zaeed is the stronger addition. Kasumi’s heist mission is boring and FemShep’s dress is too uncanny looking. Zaeed’s missions tell a lot about the character and give some good morality choices. Arrival does setup for Mass Effect 3, best played after the Suicide Mission. Lair of the Shadow Broker is the best of the bunch, with a solid action-packed mission that gives Liara the much-needed spotlight and creates implications for Mass Effect 3.

Full warning, I couldn’t review the third entry without spoiling aspects of Mass Effect 2. So don’t read below this point if you care about that.


Mass Effect 3 takes a somber shift from ME2’s 90’s heist movie feel. The galaxy is now in a full-blown war with the Reapers, and the tone of the game reflects that. Things are serious, and Earth needs the galaxy’s support. The main improvements to ME3 are in the mission design, economy, and combat balance. Powers are significantly stronger than ME2, dealing more damage and having faster cooldowns. Ammo-placement, credit-balance, shops, weapon choices, mods, and ability choices are all much improved as well. I did have some problems with getting Kasumi’s companion mission to properly progress and had to resort to using a save-editor.

Things shift on the Normandy and in the galaxy as a whole as the battle with the Reapers rages on; crew members appear in various places, people talk, diplomats come and go. Your crew is smaller, but each character gets more attention as a result. The crew interacts constantly, and the interactivity present in ME2 is turned up to 11. The amount of voicework for all these diverging conversations is insane. There’s meaningful impact from the previous games, with constant references to past player decisions. The new “War Assets” you can acquire are the culmination of your journey through the galaxy.

The DLC for Mass Effect 3 is mostly great. From Ashes adds in Javik and his missions, which are integrated so well into the main game I didn’t even know they were DLC until writing this review. The Extended Cut refines the ending, which I thoroughly enjoyed. There’s a lot of negative critique surrounding ME3’s ending, but I was really satisfied with how my Synthesis ending turned out, which is due in part to this DLC. Leviathan adds several missions that expand on Mass Effect’s lore in really exciting ways. Omega puts you in cahoots with Aria T’Loak and another new companion for some pure shoot-em-up action while taking back Omega. Aria in action is pure bad-assery. Citadel is a fan-favorite, but I actually hated it. It has a very lighthearted tone, with characters constantly making quips in what is essentially one giant fan-service send-off of Shepard and the crew. The tone is completely at odds with the rest of the game, so I’d recommend skipping it until you’ve beaten the game (you’ll have a chance to go do it after you’re done with the final mission).


I’m a bit sad to say goodbye to the Mass Effect universe. There’s so much to love about its world and characters that I could spend hours more than I already have writing about it. Here’s to a bygone era of storytelling, and I hope many more enjoy it as much as I have.