Mass Effect: Unification mod brings a different galactic struggle to Star Wars: Battlefront II

Mass Effect 3 wrapped up Commander Shepard's climactic crusade against the Reapers, and we loved every moment of its epic scale. But what if the faction-based fracas spilled onto the majority of the planets, stations, and ships from the rest of the trilogy? The Mass Effect: Unification mod for Star Wars: Battlefront II answers the call with Alliance, Geth, and other armies swarming across memorable destinations such as the idyllic colony of Eden Prime and the tropical paradise of Virmire.

Creator Marth8880 and a team of contributors set out to bring Mass Effect into the mod-favored multiplayer shooter after noticing an unacceptable lack of sentient robot cultures and zappy noises (well, Mass Effect zappy noises). What began as a few tributary maps eventually turned into Unification, and a year's development resulted in the release of the mod's first release earlier this week.

The initial batch of content includes the Alliance, Geth, and Collector armies and Eden Prime, Prothean Skyway, and Virmire maps. A fair chunk of Battlefront II's stock maps are also supported, so if you ever wondered what would happen if Shepard went for a drink in Mos Eisley, now you can find out.

Unification is far from done, and Marth8880 plans more factions and maps. We still haven't seen Cerberus or Reaper forces, and Tuchanka, Omega, and the decks of the Normandy are all slated as future war zones. What's been released so far shows a fantastic attention to detail in map layout and unit design—the synthetic suppleness of Geth units is particularly neat-looking—and we've waited quite some time to jump into a colossal Mass Effect battle sans hard choices or worrying about the fate of galactic civilization as we know it. Well, besides this caveat in the mod's disclaimer: "This mod may not be used to create nuclear weapons of mass destruction without prior author approval." All bases covered, then.