Mass Effect Trilogy

Overview

Mass Effect Trilogy is a compilation of the first three games in the Mass Effect series, released on November 6, 2012 for Windows and Xbox 360 and on December 4, 2012 for PlayStation 3. The three games are Mass Effect (2007), Mass Effect 2 (2010) and Mass Effect 3 (2012). In them Commander Shepard, a human soldier, tries to save the Milky Way from a race of ancient, hibernating machines called the Reapers.

Mass Effect is a 2007 action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. It takes place in the year 2183, when civilization is threatened by the Reapers, and Shepard must stop a rogue agent from carrying out their invasion. The game is built around exploring space, squad and vehicular combat, and talking to non-player characters. It was developed over three and a half years on Unreal Engine 3 and planned from the start as the first chapter of a trilogy.

Mass Effect 2 is a 2010 action role-playing game published by Microsoft Game Studios and Electronic Arts. It takes place in the 22nd century, where humanity is threatened by an insectoid alien race called the Collectors. Shepard assembles and wins the loyalty of a diverse team to stop them in a suicide mission, and a completed save from the first game carries earlier decisions over. BioWare changed several gameplay elements and leaned further into third-person shooting, with limited ammunition and regenerating health. Jack Wall returned to compose a darker, more mature score.

Mass Effect 3 is a 2012 action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts, and it is the last game of the original trilogy. It is set in 2186, as the Reapers invade the galaxy. It again carries over decisions from earlier games through an imported save, lets players switch tactical loadouts on the fly and adds a multiplayer mode. Its score was written by several composers, who aimed for a balance between the orchestral sound of the second game and the synthesizer-driven sound of the first.

The Xbox 360 version of the Trilogy includes all downloadable content that came with the original games, with the Cerberus Network for Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 unchanged. Downloadable content across the series includes Bring Down the Sky and Pinnacle Station for the first game, Kasumi - Stolen Memory, Overlord, Lair of the Shadow Broker and Arrival for the second, and From Ashes, Leviathan, Omega and Citadel for the third.

The original trilogy was a commercial success and drew acclaim for its narrative, characters, voice acting, world building and emphasis on player choice. Metacritic scores for the Xbox 360 versions are 91 for the first game, 96 for the second and 93 for the third. The ending of Mass Effect 3 was widely criticized, which led Electronic Arts to release an Extended Cut with additional cutscenes. In 2013 IGN rated the Mass Effect Trilogy the best Xbox 360 game or games out of a list of 25.

Mass Effect 3 sold over 890,000 copies in its first 24 hours, and 1.3 million physical copies in its first month by NPD figures, about twice what Mass Effect 2 sold in its opening month. The first game sold over one and a half million copies by January 2008. BioWare followed the trilogy with Mass Effect: Andromeda in 2017, and in 2021 the three games were remastered together as the Mass Effect Legendary Edition.

Official trailer

Mass Effect Trilogy Official Trailer, Mass Effect. Watch on YouTube

Gameplay

MASS EFFECT | Xbox 360 Gameplay, BenedictPlays. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

Action role-playing, Third-person shooter

Developer

BioWare

Publisher

Electronic Arts

Series

Mass Effect

Engine

Unreal Engine 3

Designers

Preston Watamaniuk

Writers

Drew Karpyshyn, Mac Walters

Producers

Casey Hudson, Jesse Houston, Nathan Plewes

Directors

Casey Hudson

Composers

• Jack Wall
• Sam Hulick
• Richard Jacques
• David Kates
• Jimmy Hinson
• Sascha Dikiciyan
• Christopher Lennertz
• Clint Mansell
• Cris Velasco

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

No

Online multiplayer

4

Release dates

Editions

Buy this game

Achievements

Achievements179 (4,105G)

1000G possibleYes

Total

179

Gamerscore

4105

100% time

185 to 235 hours

Difficulty

6 out of 10

Playthroughs for 1000G

6

Playthroughs for 100%

6

1000G without online

No

Online trophies

1

Online note

Mass Effect 3 has one online-only achievement. The other 178 are single-player.

DLC has trophies

Yes

1000G includes DLC

No

100% includes DLC

Yes

DLC still for sale

Yes

DLC note

The story packs add 1,105G across the three games and are still on the Xbox store.

Missable trophies

40

Separate trophy lists by region

No

Only in a language other than English

No

Languages

English

Online-only version

No

Digital-only

No

Disc-only

No

Gamerscore, base game

3000

Gamerscore with DLC

4105

Missable trophies

• 11 in Mass Effect, including the ally achievements and Scholar
• 22 in Mass Effect 2, including the loyalty and Suicide Mission achievements
• 7 in Mass Effect 3, including Paramour, Saboteur and Liberator

Grind

• Three runs of Mass Effect for the class, Hardcore and Insanity achievements
• Insanity in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3

• Medal of Honor Complete Mass Effect Playthrough 100G 62.84% of players
• Medal of Heroism Complete Feros 25G 68.59% of players
• Distinguished Service Medal Complete Eden Prime 25G 99.91% of players
• Council Legion of Merit Complete Virmire 25G 64.94% of players
• Honorarium of Corporate Service Complete Noveria 25G 67.72% of players
• Long Service Medal Complete 2 Playthroughs 25G 25.97% of players
• Distinguished Combat Medal Complete Hardcore Playthrough 25G 12.76% of players
• Medal of Valor Complete Insanity Playthrough 50G 8.13% of players
• Pistol Expert 150 Pistol Kills 10G 49.42% of players
• Shotgun Expert 150 Shotgun Kills 15G 38.49% of players
• Assault Rifle Expert 150 Assault Rifle Kills 15G 49.36% of players
• Sniper Expert 150 Sniper Rifle Kills 15G 24.39% of players
• Lift Mastery Use biotic Lift 75 times 15G 15.44% of players
• Throw Mastery Use biotic Throw 75 times 15G 19.79% of players
• Warp Mastery Use biotic Warp 75 times 15G 15.49% of players
• Singularity Mastery Use biotic Singularity 75 times 15G 10.31% of players
• Barrier Mastery Use biotic Barrier 75 times 15G 16.42% of players
• Stasis Mastery Use biotic Stasis 75 times 15G 9.53% of players
• Damping Specialist Use Damping Field 75 times 15G 10.52% of players
• AI Hacking Specialist Use AI Hacking 75 times 15G 7.7% of players
• Overload Specialist Use Shield Overload 75 times 15G 14.25% of players
• Sabotage Specialist Use Sabotage 75 times 15G 14.24% of players
• First Aid Specialist Use medi-gel 150 times 15G 23.26% of players
• Neural Shock Specialist Use Neural Shock 75 times 15G 8.34% of players
• Scholar Find all primary Alien: Council Races, Extinct Races and Non-Council Races codex entries 25G 31.41% of players
• Completionist Complete the majority of the game 25G 35.37% of players
• Tactician Complete playthrough with shield damage greater than health damage 25G 62.82% of players
• Medal of Exploration Land on an uncharted world 50G 75.91% of players
• Rich Exceed 1,000,000 Credits 25G 51.69% of players
• Dog of War 150 organic enemy kills 25G 68.65% of players
• Geth Hunter 250 synthetic enemy kills 25G 66.18% of players
• Soldier Ally Complete the majority of the game with the Alliance soldier squad member 20G 14.9% of players
• Sentinel Ally Complete the majority of the game with the Alliance sentinel squad member 20G 11.62% of players
• Krogan Ally Complete the majority of the game with the krogan squad member 20G 11.87% of players
• Turian Ally Complete the majority of the game with the turian squad member 20G 13.77% of players
• Quarian Ally Complete the majority of the game with the quarian squad member 20G 14.6% of players
• Asari Ally Complete the majority of the game with the asari squad member 20G 8.87% of players
• Power Gamer 50th level character 20G 30.41% of players
• Extreme Power Gamer 60th level character 50G 11.53% of players
• Renegade 75% of total Renegade points 15G 20.3% of players
• Paragon 75% of total Paragon points 15G 46.14% of players
• Paramour Complete romance subplot 10G 52.95% of players
• Spectre Inductee Player is Spectre 15G 86.82% of players
• Charismatic Resolved impossible situation with Charm or Intimidate 10G 54.63% of players
• Search and Rescue Found Liara in Artemis Tau Cluster 10G 71.12% of players
• Colonial Savior You completed the Bring Down the Sky mission. 50G 25.82% of players
• Undisputed You completed Ahern's survival mission 50G 10.6% of players
• New Sheriff in Town Took first place in a combat scenario on Pinnacle Station 50G 13.11% of players
• Best of the Best Took first place in 12 combat scenarios on Pinnacle Station 50G 10.68% of players
• Missing in Action Save your crew from an overwhelming attack 5G 99.91% of players
• Very Elusive Return to active duty 10G 95.87% of players
• The Convict Successfully recruit the biotic Convict 10G 84.71% of players
• The Krogan Successfully recruit the krogan 10G 82.74% of players
• The Archangel Successfully recruit Archangel 10G 87.71% of players
• The Professor Successfully recruit the Professor 10G 87.57% of players
• The Quarian Successfully recruit the quarian 10G 78.16% of players
• The Justicar Successfully recruit the Justicar 10G 78.43% of players
• The Assassin Successfully recruit the Assassin 10G 79.3% of players
• Friend or Foe Obtain geth technology 10G 73.69% of players
• Colony Defense Defend a human colony from attack 25G 82.27% of players
• The Prodigal Gain the loyalty of the Cerberus Officer 10G 78.34% of players
• Ghost of the Father Gain the loyalty of the Cerberus Operative 10G 77.89% of players
• Catharsis Gain the loyalty of the biotic Convict 10G 76.69% of players
• Battlemaster Gain the loyalty of the krogan 10G 76.14% of players
• Fade Away Gain the loyalty of Archangel 10G 76.15% of players
• The Cure Gain the loyalty of the Professor 10G 76.79% of players
• Treason Gain the loyalty of the quarian 10G 72.6% of players
• Doppelganger Help the Justicar resolve her mission 10G 69.55% of players
• Cat's in the Cradle Gain the loyalty of the Assassin 10G 71.41% of players
• A House Divided Hack a geth collective 10G 69.21% of players
• Ghost Ship Complete the investigation of a derelict alien vessel 25G 77.8% of players
• Suicide Mission Use the Omega 4 Relay 50G 74.06% of players
• Mission Accomplished Save humanity throughout the galaxy from certain annihilation 125G 73.66% of players
• Against All Odds Survive suicide mission 15G 73.43% of players
• Insanity Complete the game on the "Insanity" difficulty level without changing the setting 75G 12.16% of players
• No One Left Behind Keep your team alive through the suicide mission 75G 45.12% of players
• Long Service Medal Complete Mass Effect 2 twice, or complete it once with a character imported from Mass Effect 1 75G 57.66% of players
• Paramour Successfully pursue a relationship with a teammate 50G 59.42% of players
• Head Hunter Perform 30 headshot kills with any weapon on humanoid targets 10G 86.02% of players
• Brawler Shoot and kill 20 enemies while they're knocked back by a punch 10G 36.13% of players
• Big Game Hunter Thresher Maw defeated 10G 75.51% of players
• Tactician Hit 20 different targets with multiple biotic powers to combine the effects 10G 29.9% of players
• Master at Arms Kill enemies with 5 different heavy weapons during the game 15G 51.27% of players
• Merciless Make 20 enemies scream as they fall or are set on fire 10G 89.03% of players
• Overload Specialist Disrupt the shields of 25 enemies 15G 35.59% of players
• Warp Specialist Warp the barriers of 25 enemies 15G 26.79% of players
• Incineration Specialist Incinerate the armor of 25 enemies 15G 27.38% of players
• Operative Complete a mission discovered by scanning an unexplored world 15G 80.84% of players
• Agent Complete 5 missions discovered by scanning unexplored worlds 50G 66.49% of players
• Prospector Retrieve mineral resources by scanning and probing a planet in the galaxy map 5G 87.86% of players
• Explorer Visit 100% of the planets in an unexplored cluster 10G 73.94% of players
• Power Gamer Reach Level 30 with one character 10G 39.42% of players
• Scholar Unlock 15 new Mass Effect 2 codex entries 15G 86.99% of players
• Technician Obtain 10 technology upgrades 15G 83.44% of players
• Weapon Specialist Fully upgrade a weapon 15G 50.84% of players
• Scientist Complete any research project in the Normandy's laboratory 10G 85.74% of players
• Fashionista Personalize your armor in your quarters on the Normandy 5G 94.21% of players
• Power Full Evolve any power 15G 78.63% of players
• Highly Trained View all advanced combat training videos at Shepard's private terminal. 15G 75.16% of players
• Revenge! Gain the loyalty of the mercenary 15G 48.07% of players
• Broke, Blind and Bedlam Gain the loyalty of the thief 15G 31.13% of players
• Data Hound Collect 6 Cerberus data packets scattered across Aite 10G 19.41% of players
• Digital Exorcist Successfully shut down the rogue VI in Project Overlord 15G 25.26% of players
• Detail Orientated Use all information terminals in the Shadow Broker’s stronghold 40G 26.34% of players
• Most Dangerous Game Defeat the Shadow Broker’s Assassin 35G 29.56% of players
• Heart of Darkness Confront the Shadow Broker 50G 29.46% of players
• The Hard Way Complete the Shadow Broker Mission pack on Hardcore or Insanity 50G 12.75% of players
• Catching Up Reminisce with Liara on the Normandy 25G 28.5% of players
• The Ultimate Sacrifice Complete the Arrival DLC pack 50G 23.83% of players
• Last Stand Survive all five waves in the battle for Object Rho 25G 15.14% of players
• Covert Action Rescue Dr. Amanda Kenson without attracting hostile attention 25G 16.01% of players
• Driven Return to active duty. 5G 95.51% of players
• Bringer of War Chase down an assassin. 10G 89.4% of players
• Mobilizer Bring a veteran officer aboard. 15G 83.09% of players
• World Shaker Destroy an Atlas dropped from orbit. 15G 79.43% of players
• Pathfinder Explore a lost city. 15G 75.61% of players
• Tunnel Rat Survive the swarm. 15G 74.21% of players
• Party Crasher Sabotage a dreadnought. 15G 72.12% of players
• Hard Target Call down an orbital strike. 15G 70.04% of players
• Saboteur Disable a group of fighter squadrons. 15G 64.92% of players
• Arbiter Win a political stand-off. 25G 74.49% of players
• Last Witness Extract ancient technology. 25G 68.69% of players
• Executioner Defeat an old adversary. 25G 66.71% of players
• Well Connected Send a warning across the galaxy. 15G 67.9% of players
• Fact Finder Discover an enemy's monstrous origin. 15G 68.74% of players
• Liberator Stop a Cerberus kidnapping. 15G 71.37% of players
• Problem Solver Evacuate a scientific facility. 15G 69.21% of players
• Patriot Make the final assault. 25G 65.53% of players
• Legend Mission accomplished. 50G 65.08% of players
• Shopaholic Visit a store in the single-player campaign. 10G 85.76% of players
• Master and Commander Deliver most of the Galaxy at War assets to the final conflict. 50G 37.06% of players
• Lost and Found Dispatch 10 probes to retrieve people or resources in Reaper territory. 25G 64.46% of players
• Long Service Medal Complete Mass Effect 3 twice, or once with a Mass Effect 2 import. 50G 54.69% of players
• Insanity Finish the game on Insanity without changing difficulty after leaving Earth. 75G 11.68% of players
• A Personal Touch Modify a weapon. 10G 87.23% of players
• Paramour Establish or rekindle a romantic relationship. 25G 62.73% of players
• Combined Arms Perform any combination of 50 biotic combos or tech bursts. 25G 54.51% of players
• Focused Evolve any of your powers to rank 6. 25G 79.41% of players
• Recruit Kill 250 enemies. 10G 83.42% of players
• Soldier Kill 1,000 enemies. 15G 71.25% of players
• Veteran Kill 5,000 enemies. 25G 22.29% of players
• Bruiser Kill 100 enemies with melee attacks. 10G 54.83% of players
• Untouchable Escape a Reaper in the galaxy map. 10G 76% of players
• Defender Attain the highest level of readiness in each theater of war. 25G 33.04% of players
• Overload Specialist Overload the shields of 100 enemies. 15G 27.3% of players
• Sky High Lift 100 enemies off the ground with powers. 15G 53.88% of players
• Pyromaniac Set 100 enemies on fire with powers. 15G 73.85% of players
• Eye of the Hurricane Kill a brute while it's charging you. 10G 79.69% of players
• Mail Slot Kill 10 guardians with headshots from the front while their shields are raised. 10G 47.14% of players
• Hijacker Hijack an Atlas mech. 10G 34.26% of players
• Giant Killer Defeat a harvester. 10G 76.88% of players
• Enlisted Start a character in multiplayer or customize a character in single-player. 5G 80.44% of players
• Tour of Duty Finish all multiplayer maps or all N7 missions in single-player. 20G 65.56% of players
• Always Prepared Obtain two non-customizable suits of armor. 10G 60.82% of players
• Tourist Complete one multiplayer match or two N7 missions. 5G 80.4% of players
• Explorer Complete three multiplayer matches or five N7 missions. 15G 71.72% of players
• Gunsmith Upgrade any weapon to level 10. 25G 28.27% of players
• Almost There Reach level 15 in multiplayer or level 50 in single-player. 15G 66.27% of players
• Peak Condition Reach level 20 in multiplayer or level 60 in single-player. 25G 39.31% of players
• Battle Scarred Promote a multiplayer character to the Galaxy at War or import an ME3 character. 25G 39.1% of players
• Unwavering Finish all multiplayer maps on Gold or all single-player missions on Insanity. 50G 13.53% of players
• Freedom Fighter Find all required intel to help Eden Prime's colonists. 25G 28.69% of players
• Prothean Expert Learn more about the Prothean Empire. 25G 36.84% of players
• No Stone Unturned Investigate a sinister conspiracy. 25G 17.64% of players
• Under Pressure Uncover an ancient secret. 50G 17.3% of players
• Conspiracy Theorist Use clues to pinpoint the exact location of an objective. 25G 15.43% of players
• Family Matters Rescue a civilian from Reaper forces. 25G 17.45% of players
• Savior Free Omega from Cerberus Occupation. 25G 13.95% of players
• Talon Find the Talon leader. 50G 14.13% of players
• Meticulous Complete all the Command Center side-missions on Omega. 50G 8.38% of players
• Priority Target Discover a plot against you. 25G 14.93% of players
• High Society Go undercover to follow a lead. 25G 14.82% of players
• Team Player Infiltrate an enemy stronghold with your crew. 25G 14.74% of players
• Last Resort Stop an out-of-control scheme before it's too late. 50G 14.68% of players
• Perfect Host Throw a party for your friends. 10G 14.1% of players
• King of the Castle Win a prize at one of the arcade games. 15G 12.17% of players
• Technical Issues Investigate a strange occurrence in the combat simulator. 25G 7.07% of players
• Simulated Hero Score 9999 points in the combat simulator on Normal, Hardcore, or Insanity. 25G 7.55% of players
• The One and Only Defeat a group of Spectre-level opponents on Normal, Hardcore, or Insanity. 50G 6.41% of players

Space and patches

Space needed38.6 GB

Update patchMass Effect 3 title update 6

The title updates on record for this game.

DLC

The box holds the three games with only the extras that came with the original releases. The story packs for each game are sold separately, and the Xbox store still sells them for the backward compatible versions, such as Arrival for Mass Effect 2 at US$6.99 and From Ashes for Mass Effect 3 at US$9.99.

Items

Name	Adds
Bring Down the Sky (Mass Effect)	Released 10 March 2008. A new mission on an asteroid, a new alien race and extra side quests, about 90 minutes long.
Pinnacle Station (Mass Effect)	Released 25 August 2009. A training facility with eight virtual reality combat scenarios and a survival mode.
Kasumi - Stolen Memory (Mass Effect 2)	A loyalty mission for the thief Kasumi.
Overlord (Mass Effect 2)	Five new missions.
Lair of the Shadow Broker (Mass Effect 2)	Shepard helps Liara T'Soni find the information dealer known as the Shadow Broker.
Arrival (Mass Effect 2)	Shepard investigates evidence of a Reaper invasion, bridging to Mass Effect 3.
Genesis (Mass Effect 2)	Released 17 May 2011. An interactive comic that lets you set the first game's major decisions.
From Ashes (Mass Effect 3)	A Prothean squad mate and a mission on Eden Prime.
Leviathan (Mass Effect 3)	A story mission investigating a conspiracy about the Reapers.
Omega (Mass Effect 3)	A mission to free the Omega station from Cerberus occupation.
Citadel (Mass Effect 3)	A final story mission on the Citadel with a party, an arcade and a combat simulator.

Playable today

Playable offline todayYes

All three campaigns play offline, and Mass Effect 3's online co-op still runs.

Online

Online servers runningYes

Plays offlineYes

Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 are single-player. Mass Effect 3 adds online co-op for up to four players, and its servers still run.

Services

Service	Status	Shutdown date
Mass Effect 3 online co-op	running	None announced

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale	Game
Metacritic	Xbox 360	91	100	Mass Effect
Metacritic	Xbox 360	96	100	Mass Effect 2
Metacritic	Xbox 360	93	100	Mass Effect 3

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale	Game
IGN	9.5	10	Mass Effect 3
Game Informer	10	10	Mass Effect 3
GameSpot	9	10	Mass Effect 3
Edge	8	10	Mass Effect 3

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Developer	BioWare
Director	Casey Hudson
Producers	Casey Hudson, Jesse Houston, Nathan Plewes
Designer	Preston Watamaniuk
Programmer	David Falkner
Artist	Derek Watts
Writers	Drew Karpyshyn, Mac Walters
Composers, Mass Effect	Jack Wall, Sam Hulick, Richard Jacques, David Kates
Composers, Mass Effect 2	Jack Wall, Jimmy Hinson, Sam Hulick, David Kates
Composers, Mass Effect 3	Sascha Dikiciyan, Sam Hulick, Christopher Lennertz, Clint Mansell, Cris Velasco

Notes for collectors

• The Trilogy is three separate achievement lists: 49 for Mass Effect (1,200 Gamerscore), 62 for Mass Effect 2 (1,355) and 68 for Mass Effect 3 (1,550), 179 in all worth 4,105 Gamerscore with every pack installed.
• Each game's base list is exactly 1,000 Gamerscore: 45 achievements in Mass Effect, 50 in Mass Effect 2 and 50 in Mass Effect 3. The rest come from downloadable packs.
• Mass Effect was an Xbox 360 exclusive when it came out in 2007. It reached Windows in 2008 and PlayStation 3 in 2012.
• Mass Effect 3 has achievements that can be earned in either multiplayer or single player, such as Tour of Duty and Peak Condition, so the online mode is not required for them.
• Mass Effect 3's original ending was criticized by fans, and BioWare released a free Extended Cut that expands it without replacing it.
• The Xbox 360 Trilogy came out on November 6, 2012, a month before the PlayStation 3 version on December 4, 2012.

Credits

Publisher

Electronic Arts

Developer

BioWare

Released

2012-11-06

Age rating

M (Mature 17+)

Region

US

Time to beat

about 66 hours

Copies in the shop

• Mass Effect Trilogy (XBOX 360) CA$20.99