BioWare today released the reveal trailer for the Legendary Edition for the Mass Effect trilogy. Designed for next-gen consoles in mind (coming to PC as well), it features overhauled graphics, 4K 60 FPS on the new consoles, support for widescreen displays on PC and HDR compatibility. In terms of gameplay tweaks, the environments of the first game have undergone a makeover, most notably Eden Prime, Ilos and Feros.
The Mako vehicle’s controls have also been fine tuned, the Citadel lifts are much faster and there have been adjustments to the combat as well, more in line with the third game. All in all, Mass Effect 1 is more of a remake than a remaster.
The above image is from the planet Noveria. As you can see, the remaster is vastly improved over the original. Ambient occlusion (likely HBAO) has been added, shadows are more detailed, post-processing effects like smoke, lens flare, and other shaders have been added. The textures are also sharper, featuring more details. They look more like revisions rather than complete remakes, however.
The character model of Thane, however, seems to feature new, much more detailed textures, though the meshes are the same. I reckon it’ll be the same case with the rest of the characters.
In the above image of FemShep, you can see that the hair textures have been replaced with more detailed, smoother ones and the facial textures have also been improved.
There appears to be a special focus on lighting and special effects like lens flare and you can also see mild use of god-rays or ray-shafts. The reaper textures largely look the same, but environments in every shot have gotten massive improvements from vegetation to clouds.
You can watch the 4K trailer below:
