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PS3 Mass Effect sees ‘huge gains in performance’

The PlayStation 3 version of the original Mass Effect has benefited from a number of enhancements over its Xbox 360 counterpart, BioWare has revealed.

Speaking on the PlayStation Bog, Ryan Warden, the external producer on the Mass Effect Trilogy, revealed that the partnership with Edge of Reality has brought about numerous tweaks such as enhanced audio, lighting and visual effects.

“We partnered with Edge of Reality, an external team with whom we’ve worked on many previous projects," said Warden. "Edge of Reality has a deep understanding of how PS3 works, under the hood, so we thought the project would be a perfect fit. We had a huge head start because of the work we had done with Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 for PS3, but we still wanted to maintain the look and feel – the classic experience – of the original Mass Effect.”

"We tinkered with the audio engine, and with the way that memory was allocated to various chunks of the game. We brought over some lighting and visual effects improvements from Mass Effect 2 and 3, and combined them with the original Mass Effect systems. In essence, we invited the Wu Tang Clan to a rap battle… and it paid off.”

Warden said that the improvements haven’t compromised the game’s classic look and feel, and players can import their Shepard from the game over to ME2 and 3.

"We got some huge gains in performance – especially with regard to texture popping, which has been dramatically improved – yet we were still able to maintain the classic look and feel of the introduction to the Mass Effect universe."

"I’m really proud of the work that the team has done to bring Mass Effect Trilogy to the PS3, and I can’t wait for you to play through the whole series. I hope you enjoy it!" he said.

The Mass Effect Trilogy is released for PS3 tomorrow.