The modder who took out the gratuitous butt shots from Mass Effect 2 and 3 has now put them back in.
It’s a comedic twist that has brought a long-running video game drama full circle. Scottina123, whose mod published last winter discreetly removed all the close-up shots of Miranda’s butt from the original Mass Effect series, now offers a mod that puts all the butt shots back into Mass Effect Legendary Edition. In the development of Legendary Edition, BioWare’s developers subtly acknowledged some of their questionable camera choices in the original games and changed the scenes for the remastered release.
Mass Effect’s original trilogy launched in 2007, 2010, and 2012. Even then, folks noticed that there were more than a few scenes where the camera fixated on the butts of some characters. Perhaps the most well-known case happens in Mass Effect 2 when Miranda Lawson has a conversation with Commander Shepard about rescuing her family. As the two realize the seriousness of their life-or-death predicament, the camera focuses primarily on Miranda’s ass.
Not everyone liked the exaggerated fan service. So, in 2018, Scottina123 released a mod called “No More Butt Shots” that removed the gratuitous butt shots from that conversation. On the mod’s original page, Scottina123 said that the camera positioning annoyed them, and that “it was extremly disrepectful [sic] to Miranda’s character.”
Well and good. And this year, BioWare’s people said Mass Effect Legendary Edition would have remastered, reframed sequences that significantly dialed down the amount of booty. (You can watch a comparison video here). So Scottina123, in what can only be described as a cheeky move, has created a mod that adds the sequences back into Mass Effect 2 and 3. Now people can play the remastered version with the original camera angles.
If you’d like to play a prank on an unsuspecting Mass Effect fan, you should check out this other related mod, which restores the butt shots and adds farts to the scenes. Fraaap!