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Graduated High School with a diploma in Computer Science and Maths. Hold a degree in BA Games Design and Art from University of Southampton, part of the Russel Group.
Present-day passions include writing stories and learning about environmental creation.
Mass Effect Andromeda: Review and Opinion
Having pulled together a new rig, I wanted to put the extra power to test, so being a Bioware fan, I went straight to the only unplayed Mass Effect, Andromeda.
I only experienced Andromeda through the news and rumours that have floated around, so I went in to play without a lot of expectations.
To be honest, I was surprised to find the game in better shape than what I read about. That might have to do with the fact that I was at a final version of the game though. Also, I am a bit of a modding fan, so I could not play it without adding some nice modifications to it. Except for the visual ones, all I have gameplay-wise is the Mass Effect Fixpack as well as some of the quality of life improvements, such as kett and remnant spawning improvements, and I will admit, some extra points per level, so by the end of the story, I would have a fully levelled character, along with a mod that balances the powers a bit better. I am still modding as I am playing, but I wanted to share some thoughts and ideas about my experience so far.
A lot of the criticism that I read about Andromeda is that it is subpar as a sequel to the Mass Effect Trilogy and it does not fit in the universe. Mind you if you would take it as a sequel, indeed it feels somewhat lost compared to the great story formed along with those three original games. However if you would take it as a spin-off, if you will, it is entertaining in its ways.
I feel that the game might have flopped the expectations of fans, mainly because of the hype, something I believe was not proper, especially with launching the game in a whole different direction, compared to the original trilogy. I am saying this, as I consider Andromeda a whole other type of game, compared to the other ones.
The originals had a great story, connecting from one game to another, in well-developed narrative storytelling through its environment and characters. However this meant that the world was somewhat closed, in the sense that you would have only certain areas of the game to explore in semi-open world space, but the world emerged through the well-crafted environments with details spun around the world. Sometimes I would just find myself staring for a couple of minutes at the Omega background, or the emotional staging of the Citadel in the final game, as people were trying to cope with the whole situation.
On the other hand, I will admit that the main storyline, at least so far, in the Andromeda game fell a bit short, however, I find it that I am more distracted with the diverse sidequests of each discovered world, being the completionist that I am, as well as dabbling with the crafting system. Mind you I only have Eos, Voeld and Havarl explored so far out of the 9 planets available. The sidequests prove more than entertaining enough, as each affects the world in some way, especially the quest with activating the remnant pillars to modify the atmosphere, which is great to see when you return to the respective world once more.
Now in terms of crafting. It is an interesting system, to say the least, and I understand the want of including such a system because quite a lot of RPGs nowadays have it. In some way, ME2 and ME3 had a pseudo-crafting system, through buying the weapons for higher tiers and upgrading the Normandy. This is a bit more refined than the one in the previous game, in the sense that the augmentations that can be added are a nice addition for modifying and creating armour and weapons that suit your game style. However, I do tend to lose myself into it and lose half an hour of my limited game time in it, which kinda leaves me disappointed in terms of maximising playing time.
The new, more dynamic combat system is a drastic change from the old series, which I believe was a point of discussion on lots of forums, creating some dissent from the hardcore fans of the series. I understand the conflict that they have, as originally the game was more RPG, whereas now it feels a lot more action-oriented. I am somewhat sceptical of the decision of letting the AI decide what powers the Squad should use, as that takes away from the tactical aspect that was entertaining in the previous versions. Now in terms of changing the way that powers can be accessed, through a free-flowing tree skill system, I am neutral about it. From my point of view, storywise I can see where it comes from. I do agree and like the idea of deciding what powers I want to create for my build, but taking away the 8 power slots that were available in the previous games is quite disappointing, as I often lost time in deciding what powers I would like to use. The favourite system does not help much in that aspect to be fair. So this again minimises my gameplay time, as I decide the builds that I want to use. I would rather waste some time now and then to chose the most interesting 6-8 powers that I would like to use, rather than often looking at my build and then decide from all the cool powers what to use next.
Another aspect that was criticised on the game was just the inclusion of two species on a new galaxy. While I understand the opinion, I find it just as valid that in this vast space a galaxy can exist that has more species than the Milky Way or none at all. I would remind people that technically it is just the Angara that lives in the Andromeda Galaxy, whereas the Kett are aliens that just conquer other civilisations.
Now the selection of armours, while more detailed, left me a bit unsatisfied in terms of numbers. While the tiering system changes the look, having each look like an individual armour set, tier 1 to 10, I think would have filled the void. I am sure there are players which might prefer the look of the first tier of the Pathfinder Armour, but play the later tiers for better gameplay. Again more variety would have been nice in this aspect. On the side of weapons, the variety is plenty, although I do find myself missing the Kassa Locust, one of my favourite SMG in the series.
In terms of the world, even if the game has 9 worlds, compared to the higher number promised, which I cannot remember, I feel, that from the ones I am playing on at the moment, the attention to detail is phenomenal. I find myself just stepping through the sand, to see how the footsteps remain there or admire the far mountains of Voeld and how nice the Blizzard looks. For me, the detail that was given to the worlds, more than enough covers the minus of having less than promised. The fact that there are quite a few things to do on each is also a plus for me.
In terms of transport on those planets, the Nomad is one of the nicest designs that I like in the game, however, I do feel disappointed at the lack of a gun, like the good old Macko or Hammerhead, but running over enemies is as entertaining nonetheless.
The creation system for the character is somewhat flat, in terms of choices, yet, the skin textures are amazing, and the Frostbite engine does a good job of making the world feel unified, in terms of looks, because in the trilogy the created characters were miles apart from the scanned ones, in terms of realism, even with mods.
The animations are quite nice, especially since Bioware has patched them, as I was expecting clunkiness all around. They still feel occasionally robotic, but nothing too distracting. Now the facial animation system is another thing. While seeing wrinkles as Ryder is expressing his emotions, they feel somewhat fake from the way they are displayed, resulting in a bit of a dissonance between what is being said and what is being shown. I would suspect it is still better than at launch if the news were true at the time.
This marks the end of the review on Mass Effect Andromeda, and if I failed to cover something, I will probably mention it on a follow-up review, albeit probably shorter, like a sequel. All in all, the game is not as bad as people say it is, but I treat it as a Spin-Off, rather than as a sequel, considering it a game which treaded new waters. From my gameplay experience, I would recommend it, although enhancing it with some mods might make the game even more entertaining than it is. The next stage of the review might be quite a bit further in the future, as my schedule is busy for the near future.