A recent announcement from BioWare parent company EA regarding their game releases for the next fiscal year have many wondering if the long-awaited HD remaster of the original Mass Effect trilogy could be on its way.
EA announced that it would be releasing a total of 14 new games through the next fiscal year. That time period extends through March 2021.
Four of these games are confirmed to be sports games, along with mobile offerings and indie titles. However, there was also talk of an additional EA HD title, which sounds an awful lot like a remaster.
Rumors have since been circulating that fans might finally get an HD remaster of the original Mass Effect trilogy.
Mass Effect was one of the most touted titles of the Xbox 360/PS3 console generation. Its first game was released on the 360 in 2007 and introduced players to a new galaxy of gaming, where choices dictated the flow of the narrative and there were consequences for seemingly every action.
In 2010, BioWare followed Mass Effect up with Mass Effect 2, which has remained one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time. The sequel was one of the first games to import the player’s choices and character design from the first game and incorporate them going forward. It was groundbreaking and paved the way for the rest of the series.
Then came Mass Effect 3 in 2012, with all the hype of a blockbuster film behind it. The majority of Mass Effect 3 is a darker, grittier, truly brilliant finale until the final 10 minutes or so. The ending seemed to be a rushed mess that took your choices and tossed them out the airlock. Fans were not happy and trashed the game to the point where BioWare put out a free DLC patch that expanded on the ending and addressed several user complaints.
The company was hoping to relaunch the franchise with the soft reboot Mass Effect Andromeda, which followed a group of explorers on a quest to colonise the Andromeda galaxy. However, the game was seemingly rushed onto store shelves and there were a lot of glitches and unfinished animations that drove gamers all over the world insane.
Even now, years later, despite numerous patches and updates, the game remains a glitchy mess.
However, an HD remake of the original three titles in this series might be enough to revitalize the fanbase and get gamers excited for Mass Effect again.
There have been rumors flying around that BioWare wants to return to Mass Effect once more for a fifth title in one of its most iconic franchises. If the rumored HD remaster is a success, then good things might be in store for Mass Effect fans.
