Mass Effect: Beyond The Relays Will Keep You Busy Till ME5

A huge Mass Effect expansion is now available, and it might just be the thing you need to hold you over until Mass Effect 5.

The original Mass Effect trilogy was host to all sorts of expansions. I’m sure fans remember the iconic Citadel DLC, or the Lair of the Shadow Broker expansion.

Well, even after all that content has dried up for you, there are always mods to keep you immersed in that universe. And with Mass Effect being a popular sci-fi series, that lends itself well to games with similar worlds.

Stellaris, a sci-fi grand strategy game, has a Mass Effect mod you can check out. Developed by modder Binary Helix, the expansion brings the universe of Mass Effect to the game, and it looks to be very ambitious.

Mass Effect: Beyond the Relays brings “a handcrafted galaxy map” and “hand-placed, lore accurate planets and systems” to Stellaris, where you have to navigate the Mass Relay network in an effort to prosper in the galaxy.

It essentially becomes the 4X Mass Effect game you have always dreamed of. And after a long hiatus of nearly two years, Binary Helix has provided another update on the status of the mod.

“I’m here to set the record straight: ME:BtR is alive, and we’re excited to share what’s next,” writes the mod development team.

The post then goes on to say that the team was not fully happy with some of the features in the last update, which came nearly two years ago, and so a full rework is being put to work.

“The economy collapsed under the weight of oversized starting fleets, forcing players to disband ships just to stay afloat. Strategic resources weren’t consistently implemented, leaving systems broken. Independent Worlds couldn’t be attacked or interacted with, making them effectively useless,” are the reasons Binary Helix lists as to why the 2.0 update didn’t land for them.

So, the team is now rebuilding the mod under the hood. The new update will bring an economy rebuild to make everything consistent, starting fleets will be rebalanced, and there will also be new playable factions.

You can play the current version of Mass Effect: Beyond the Relays with any compatible version of Stellaris, but be sure to keep an eye out for any further updates to the mod.