Mass Effect 3’s final mission has been extended as free expansion also restores cut content
Many of us are still mourning BioWare’s closure and the subsequent cancellation of Mass Effect 5.
Titled Mass Effect Universe in a leaked trailer, the franchise’s fifth installment was due to be set around 600 years after the Reaper War featured within the original trilogy.
Many of the game’s plot points had already been teased, and it’s a great shame that we’ll never know why Liara was set to return having acquired a new crew.
What you can now experience, however, is an expansion of Mass Effect 3’s ending courtesy of ‘Take Earth Back 2’.
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It was five years ago that the mod project ‘Take Earth Back’ first surfaced in celebration of one of Mass Effect’s former N7 Day.
The mod overhauled Mass Effect 3’s final mission, ‘Priority: Earth’, something the mod team called “one of the weakest sections of Mass Effect 3”.
The team felt that BioWare’s mission “didn’t account for the war assets you collected across the trilogy”, so set about overhauling the game’s ending, restoring cut content as well as adding in additional war assets, conversations, and cutscenes.
Following Mass Effect 5’s cancellation, the team has resurfaced with the surprise launch of ‘Take Earth Back 2’, a revision of that former expansion.
Responses to a trailer say the mod is finally allowing ME3 to live up to its potential
While the mod is officially being dubbed ‘Take Earth Back 2’ in a new trailer released by the modding team, it’s actually been released simply as an update to that original ‘Take Earth Back’ listing, which is available for PC users to download from NexusMods.
It perhaps goes without saying that this revised edition continues to expand and improve Mass Effect 3’s ending - specifically, this time, by improving Hackett’s speech and the Hammer Landing sequence.
After Hackett has hyped everyone up for the mission ahead, players will now be able to select from a comprehensive war asset selection system, reflecting all of the various assets you’ve acquired throughout the game.
The subsequent Hammer Landing cutscene has been extended with new content and then once the fight begins, you’ll actually see your chosen war assets fighting alongside you.
After the landing, there’s also a new Hammer assault scene that modders have added in, with soldiers changing based on your asset choices.
As you’ll know if you’ve played Mass Effect 3, the war assets you have available depend on factors like which side quests you completed, as well as which planets and systems you scanned, or which DLCs you completed.
Honestly, the revised mod is looking incredible and is really making me want to load up Mass Effect: Legendary Edition for another trilogy playthrough.
It’s a nice touch that the mod’s trailer ends with #SaveMassEffect, encouraging fans to keep going in their fight to secure the franchise’s future.
‘Take Earth Back 2’ is far from the only project to surface since the confirmation of Mass Effect 5’s cancellation.
One team is restoring Mass Effect 3’s lost multiplayer mode given that it’s not featured in the Legendary Edition bundle.
There’s also a new documentary on the way in 2027, charting the last two years at BioWare; it’ll offer a deeper look into the studio’s downfall which, admittedly, just feels like rubbing salt in the wound at this stage.
The bottom line is that we’re grateful to see fans keeping the series alive, with mod projects like ‘Take Earth Back 2’ now more important than ever before.
Topics: Mass Effect, Mods, PC, EA, Bioware
