ioWare cut its teeth on the PC decades ago, and the developer’s latest masterpiece is finally available for Windows after its Xbox 360-only debut. The company thankfully went the extra mile in crafting an interface more suited to mouse and keyboard control for this port, and load times have been dramatically shortened, but at the end of the day, it’s very much the same game.

I won’t waste time with a detailed description of the game itself – plenty of ink and electrons have already been devoted to the task. The storyline is amazing, the combat and character progression systems are decent, and the presentation is second to none. None of this has changed from the original. The few areas in which Mass Effect differs on PC are minor, but appreciated.

A completely new pause screen replaces the selection wheels found on the 360. Holding the space bar brings up icons for everything you can do; skills and weapons for your party and yourself are controlled from this screen, and you can give separate movement orders to each of your two companions now. An MMO-esque hotbar allows for one-touch activation of your own skills without pausing play. Much-improved inventory management and an amusing new decryption minigame are very welcome as well. I’d like to be able to bind keys to a lot of the things that you’re forced to use the mouse for on the pause screen, but this is certainly a serviceable interface that goes well beyond the cut-and-paste jobs that PC gamers are too often subjected to with console ports.

While this doesn’t use the most scalable graphics engine in the world, a fast rig can pump out visuals that put the 360 version of Mass Effect to shame. That multi-thousand dollar investment seems worth it when you’re seeing 60-plus frames per second at resolutions a console can only dream of. Similarly, with a nice machine you’ll notice that the Normandy’s decks are much closer together – elevator rides are much, much quicker.

Nearly every one of the many praises and criticisms of the console version can accurately be applied to this port, but I’d recommend this edition of Mass Effect to anyone with a good PC. You even get the first downloadable content pack for free, though BioWare was silent when asked about whether future DLC will discriminate between platforms.