Following months of rumors and speculation, EA finally announcedMass Effect: Legendary Edition, a remastered collection of the originalMass Effectgames with enhanced visuals, all of the DLC, and a variety of other improvements.Mass Effect: Legendary Editionis set to launch spring 2021 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and will be playable on both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X thanks to those consoles' backward compatibility with PS4 and Xbox One games.
Mass Effect: Legendary Editionwas announced alongside a brand newMass Effectgame that is in active development at BioWare by those who worked on the original titles. More information on thenewMass Effectgameis likely years away, especially with BioWare currently busy at work onDragon Age 4. Regardless, fans will haveMass Effect: Legendary Editionto fill the gap in the meantime.
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Mass Effectisn’t the only dormant franchise that EA should revive, though. There are a number of other older EA games that are all deserving of the remaster treatment, especially if those remasters help usher in new entries for their series.
The originalDead Spacewas essentiallyResident Evil 4in space, taking the basic gameplay of Capcom’s survival-horror classic and applying it to a sci-fi setting with a greatly increased focus on horror.Dead Space 2dialed everything up to 11, with improved visuals and gameplay mechanics, culminating in the somewhat controversialDead Space 3.Dead Space 3was criticized at the time of its releasefor its use of microtransactions, but its co-op mode was praised by critics at the time, and it did bring a mostly satisfying conclusion to the story that started with the originalDead Spacegame.
Unfortunately, theDead Spacefranchisehas been dormant since then, with no sign of a comeback. Considering the visual prowess of modern gaming consoles, though, it would be a shame if theDead Spacegames never get the visual upgrades that they deserve.Dead Spacewas already visually-impressive in 2008, just imagine what it could look like on the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X.
There were some high-qualityDead Spacespin-off games that could be made part of a potentialDead Spacecollection as well to sweeten the pot. For example,Dead Space: Extractionearned strong reviews when it launched in 2009, and EA has already released an enhanced port of that particular game in the past.
Dragon Age
WhileMass Effectfans wait for news on the new game, they can tryMass Effect: Legendary Editionand relive Commander Shepard’s classic adventures. However,Dragon Agefans don’t have something similar to help tide them over while they wait to play the highly-anticipatedDragon Age 4. To make up for that, BioWare and EA could release a collection of remasteredDragon Agetitles in the same vein asMass Effect: Legendary Edition.
Dragon Age: Originsin particular seems like it is long overdue for the remaster treatment. As some may recall, theDragon Age: Originsgraphics on consoles were pretty bad when compared to the PC version, but the power of the new consoles gives BioWare and EA the chance to right that wrong. Of course, such a collection would also includeDragon Age 2andInquisitionas well.
Mirror’s Edge
DICE may be best known for itsBattlefieldgames, but it also releasedMirror’s Edgeto strong reviews back in 2008. Unfortunately,Mirror’s Edgesales were lower than EA’s expectations, immediately throwing its potential to become a franchise into doubt. DespiteMirror’s Edge’s low sales, DICE was still able to move forward with a reboot,Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, though it was not nearly as well-received as the original game. A remaster of the originalMirror’s Edgeseems like it would go a long way in pleasing fans, and maybe it could even get some people who didn’t play the original to see what it’s all about.
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Skate
For the longest time,Tony Hawk’s Pro Skaterwas virtually unchallenged when it came to skateboarding video games. However, that changed when EA Black Box released the originalSkate, which opted to be more of a skateboarding simulation game than lean into the arcade-style of gameplay found in theTony Hawktitles.Skatewas fairly popular at the time of its release, spawning a brand new sports franchise for EA in the process.
EA capitalized onSkate’s popularity with spin-off games as well as two direct sequels,Skate 2andSkate 3. Despite all of these games being well-received by critics and fans alike, theSkateseries has been dormant sinceSkate 3’s launch in 2010. Luckily, EA has finally confirmed thatSkate 4is in development, though it’s unclear when exactly fans will get the chance to play the new game. While they wait, it would be nice for the originalSkategames to make a comeback on the new consoles, similarly to how Activision revivedTony HawkwithTony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2earlier this year.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
There are plenty of BioWare games that deserve the remaster treatment, but perhaps the games that deserve it the most areStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicand its sequel,The Sith Lords. Early precursors to the kind of gameplay found in theMass Effectgames,Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republicearned widespread acclaim at the time of its release and is often hailed as one of thebestStar Warsvideo gamesever made. However, there are some aspects about the game that haven’t aged well, so a potentialKnights of the Old Republicremaster could iron out those issues as well as improve the graphics to match modern standards.
Mass Effect: Legendary Editionlaunches spring 2021 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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