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When Bioware first announced that it was packaging its three blockbuster Mass Effect games into one collection, I was reasonably excited. Mass Effect was one of the many terrific games that I had procrastinated on playing. Now that the trilogy would be released in one collection, I could acquire the entire series in one go. Unfortunately, while certainly still a great deal, Mass Effect's Trilogy collection isn't going to provide me with the complete Mass Effect experience that I thought it would.
At first glance the Mass Effect Trilogy has everything a complete series collection should have. All three Mass Effect games are packaged together in a single snazzy casing. What the collection does not include, however, is a complete compilation of each game's dlc. The most jarring example of this is that Mass Effect 3 will be included as it was originally shipped. That's five full dlc packs that aren't included in the collection, including the fan requested extension of the trilogy's controversial ending. Furthermore, in some cases one platform that the Trilogy is released on will not receive the same dlc as the others. For example, the Xbox 360 version of the collection won't include "Bring Down the Sky" or "Pinnacle Station" on disc, while the PC release apparently will.
What I like the most about "Game of the Year" and other types of gaming collections, is that I can get the entire experience on disc from the start. An example of this is the Arkham City Game of the Year Edition, which included all the previously released dlc for the game. It seems Bioware, however, isn't interested in offering such a definitive version of their games. They are instead releasing an incomplete collection that offers little to current Mass Effect owners (who might have been interested in having a physical copy of the trilogy's dlc), and requires newcomers who want the full experience to track down (and pay for) content that has been out for several months or more.
The Mass Effect Trilogy Pack is still a great deal for anyone who missed out on the series. It could have, however, been an even better one.
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