[3] Casey Hudson, director of the original Mass Effect trilogy, acknowledged that the Mako was inspired by the BIG TRAK / bigtrak, a programmable electric toy vehicle envisioned for use on the moon or a planetoid style environment.

The panel team indicated that the Mako would be customizable and that they wanted to make it fun to play: it will now be more agile and takes advantage of the newer open spaces, though it no longer have an attached cannon.

[9] In an interview with Polygon, lead writer for Andromeda Mac Walters said that it was a non-controversial choice internally to bring back the Mako as the game is heavy on planetary exploration which is appropriate for the vehicle's role, in spite of its notoriety with fans and critics.

[10] The 2021 Mass Effect Legendary Edition compilation implemented some design changes to improve the Mako's handling, such as tweaked turning physics, camera controls and thrusters which could give a temporary speed boost.

The Mako is environmentally sealed and powered by a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell to support Alliance military personnel who may find themselves fighting in a variety of planetary environments.

Numerous Mako vehicles are deployed during the final battle for Earth in Mass Effect 3, and form the bulk of the Alliance mobile armor under Hammer Team.

Some critics appreciated its exploration aspects, particularly in retrospective reviews, and considered it an iconic part of the Mass Effect series,[14][8][16] while others described driving the vehicle as a clunky and frustrating experience.

[19] Marty Sliva from IGN observed that the Mako was "infamous", and a "source of contention amongst fans of the original Mass Effect, partially due to the vehicle's wonky physics".

[8] In his review of the PC version of Mass Effect, Kieron Gillen from Eurogamer called the Mako "adorably rubbish" and made fun of its "attack truck" design.

[18] Besides her criticism of the Mako's control mechanics, Carolyn Gudmundson from GamesRadar also complained that the vehicle's shields took overly long to recharge, even with squadmates possessing high tech scores as its passengers.

[17] Brenna Hillier from VG247 commented that "ticking every side content box in Mass Effect required a lot of Mako time, and feedback was negative enough that BioWare mostly dropped ground vehicles for the two later games".

[4] Hayley Williams, also from Kotaku, recalled that the Mako was an "awkward, necessary game feature that became part joke, part legend"; while she argued that "anyone who managed to complete the drive up to Peak 15 without driving off the edge multiple times deserves a medal" due to its controls and questionable physics, Williams noted that "a lot of players missed the freedom that it offered" and that it was at least situationally useful in open world combat situations.