Mass Effect: Andromeda

 PC
User Score
5.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 4468 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,749 out of 4468
  2. Mixed: 712 out of 4468
  3. Negative: 2,007 out of 4468
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  1. gypsygib
    Oct 20, 2017
    4
    Starts off pretty interesting but the acting is juvenile and the mission structure and missions are incredibly boring after you get the second planet. Can't believe this is a Mass Effect game, it's so boring. No structure, no pacing, missions are scan-a-thons/collect-a-thons, etc. Haven't found an interesting character yet. Also, main character is like playing as a 15 year kid and theStarts off pretty interesting but the acting is juvenile and the mission structure and missions are incredibly boring after you get the second planet. Can't believe this is a Mass Effect game, it's so boring. No structure, no pacing, missions are scan-a-thons/collect-a-thons, etc. Haven't found an interesting character yet. Also, main character is like playing as a 15 year kid and the plot, oh wait, is there a plot? I've played over 10 hours and there's not a story to be found. Shame when the story writers, gameplay developers, and designers all drop the ball. Additionally, for some reason all the female characters are kinda unattractive both physically and personality wise. Not sure why, but something is very off with them. I don' t really care if they're superhero comic hot but to make them all unappealing is weird.

    It saddens me to give this game a 4/10 but even free, it's not worth your time.

    PROS:

    Graphics are nice at times. But nothing special given the pretty bad character/environment design.    … Expand
  2. Winterpsy
    Sep 7, 2017
    4
    Animations, voice acting and facial graphics would had been good 10 years ago. Sadly, Mass Effect cannot compete with today's most popular games. Even more, new games released in the past couple years raised the expectation so much it hurts to look at Andromeda. Feels like playing with an old-timer game.
    UI: Menus are a maze, no minimap, or quick access to the map. You get a new codex /    Animations, voice acting and facial graphics would had been good 10 years ago. Sadly, Mass Effect cannot compete with today's most popular games. Even more, new games released in the past couple years raised the expectation so much it hurts to look at Andromeda. Feels like playing with an old-timer game.
    UI: Menus are a maze, no minimap, or quick access to the map. You get a new codex / journal entry every second, so it's very easy to get lost in what's going on.

    The game is very unrealistic even for a sci-fi game. Same fauna on every planet, no gravtiation, everyone understands everyone

    Plot and quests are boring: When I was sent on the 10th scan this-scan that type of mission I groaned.

    Cover-system is very unreliable and clunky.    … Expand
  3. Vasot
    Apr 10, 2017
    4
    1) Stupid story feels like it was written by college kids trying to get a job
    2) Shallow and boring characters
    3) More Denuvo anti-consumer DRM trash
    4) Glitches and bugs
    5) User interface is badly designed
    6) Combat and exploration is good
    6) Nice graphics at High/Ultra settings
  4. Jimbob2k666
    Mar 21, 2017
    4
    I'm so happy EA Access gave me a 10 hour trial of this game. It has saved me £50. Maybe worth a sale purchase somewhere down the line if they fix all of the issues, but then again, you can't fix a story and recast and re-record the entire voice acting. I felt like I was playing one of the original ME games the graphics are really bland for the most part. I wasn't expecting much anywayI'm so happy EA Access gave me a 10 hour trial of this game. It has saved me £50. Maybe worth a sale purchase somewhere down the line if they fix all of the issues, but then again, you can't fix a story and recast and re-record the entire voice acting. I felt like I was playing one of the original ME games the graphics are really bland for the most part. I wasn't expecting much anyway so I am not that disheartened by how poor this has turned out to be.… Expand
  5. ravenblade
    Feb 18, 2018
    4
    Brothers and sisters, it is with heavy heart that I must share this ancient message with you. Bear witness to a horrific truth that only has been spawned recently from the depths of the abyss from whence an old comrade has returned and who has left it to me on old charred parchment that I had to rip of his blood-clad hands with an inhumane force that was granted to me eons ago byBrothers and sisters, it is with heavy heart that I must share this ancient message with you. Bear witness to a horrific truth that only has been spawned recently from the depths of the abyss from whence an old comrade has returned and who has left it to me on old charred parchment that I had to rip of his blood-clad hands with an inhumane force that was granted to me eons ago by beautifully sinister forces. However as we all are striving to perfect ourselves and we always see when one of our fails and when that happens we all mourn for eternity. It is therefore with great sorrow that the knowledge of Star Wars: The Old Republic having enjoyed a greater depth and passion in its story than that of Mass Effect: Andromeda must pass onto our next generation and with it our hope that such abomination might never repeat itself for otherwise we might as well be doomed for eternity.… Expand
  6. TwiTu
    Feb 4, 2018
    4
    I loved the trilogy. Sure those games had their flaws too, but all in all I enjoyed them still.

    But this game is not worth a full price. Not by a long shot. It has a MASSIVE SJW undertone, where humans are mostly black or brown, and even the white ones look like black with white skin. That they tried to put SJW propaganda in it becomes very evident when you go into a museum of some    I loved the trilogy. Sure those games had their flaws too, but all in all I enjoyed them still.

    But this game is not worth a full price. Not by a long shot.

    It has a MASSIVE SJW undertone, where humans are mostly black or brown, and even the white ones look like black with white skin.
    That they tried to put SJW propaganda in it becomes very evident when you go into a museum of some sorts where all the species from the Milky Way introduce themselves through VIs. We all know that all the other species have different colors, skin patterns, or even horns, etc. And they dont talk about it in their VIs. But humans do. They proudly say that there are many colors and religions and that they all worked together and overcame their differences. I have never seen a more pathetic and disgusting virtue signalling in a game before.

    Add to that the childish dialogue, often completely irrelevant, which sometimes left me standing there with an open mouth and 3 question marks over my head, bland characters (which often are actually annoying) and the mandatory character with a Scottish accent, bad quality assurance (lots of ridiculous bugs, even with the newest version), bad graphics that stutter a lot and seem to come from the first 2 ME parts, planets that seem to come straight from some MMO RPG (one planet reminded me very much of a zone in Guild Wars 2 for example), bad console controls that are extremely frustrating, a boring character and weapon/armor/equipment advancement system, boring and super easy encounters with enemies (incl. very weak AI), a story that doesnt seem to know what it wants or where to go and MMO-like side quests and you have this disgrace of a game.

    Dont get me wrong, I still played through it, but I often was extremely annoyed by it, so that I often asked myself why I even play this game, for example having to read and listen to all these stupid conversations and dialogue (which is a huge part of the game). Its worth it for $10 to $15. But not a dime more.

    Please, BioWare, dont destroy this IP by continuing like this in the next part. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE replace the development team, especially those who did the story, the characters, the dialogue, the SJW propaganda with people who know what makes good games and the gameplay design. People like those can work at Buzzfeed or CNN and write their propaganda there, but that has no place in a game. Not even Star Trek (except the new series) ever was that audacious with their morality, and I loved Star Trek because of its morality. But it was normal. Nobody ever talked about skin color, because it was normal to have aliens and colored humans around. NOBODY CARED ABOUT THAT! Why do you care all of the sudden???    … Expand
  7. nagi
    Mar 27, 2017
    4
    20 hours in, while in some spots it reignies the ME exploration feeling, in most, it is an unpolished, buggy mess.

    Bad writing, god-awfully done and buggy animations, horrible UI, laughable AI, MMO-style quests, passable, but repetitive combat. It is as if the devs never even played the previous games, or any action-RPG game for that matter, and the writer never even saw a good    20 hours in, while in some spots it reignies the ME exploration feeling, in most, it is an unpolished, buggy mess.

    Bad writing, god-awfully done and buggy animations, horrible UI, laughable AI, MMO-style quests, passable, but repetitive combat.

    It is as if the devs never even played the previous games, or any action-RPG game for that matter, and the writer never even saw a good sci-fi book.

    If you want a good action-RPG, go with Witcher 3, Dishonored 2 or even Witcher 2. If you want a 2017 game with exceptional writing and mechanics, go with Nier. If you want a good RPG, go with Torment. Shooter? Sniper Elite 4, Deus Ex, or even Fallout 4 is better in that regard.    … Expand
  8. Nemo888
    Apr 29, 2017
    4
    It's boring. Don't bother if you liked earlier ME games. Story is on rails and your decisions are irrelevant. Open exploration is gone. So is character development. They don't refund your wasted time.
  9. ShiverinEskimo
    Apr 18, 2017
    4
    Huge fan of the first trilogy which I replayed prior to release to get back in the groove. Probably the worst thing I could have done in hindsight as it only highlighted even more the fall from grace that Bioware have achieved with Andromeda. In the first hour you'll experience the tedium that stays with you for the rest of your experience. The breadcrumb-style fetch quests and totalHuge fan of the first trilogy which I replayed prior to release to get back in the groove. Probably the worst thing I could have done in hindsight as it only highlighted even more the fall from grace that Bioware have achieved with Andromeda. In the first hour you'll experience the tedium that stays with you for the rest of your experience. The breadcrumb-style fetch quests and total over-reliance on scanning ends up turning everything you do into such a chore to the point where even Ryder themselves makes frequent comments about the fact that 'nothing is ever simple'. When loading times and travel times between zones and planets are this long and you're on stage 4 of a 5 or 6 stage fetch quest between planets you start to get pretty frustrated pretty fast. Navpoint after navpoint for simple, non-consequential quests become infuriating and the rewards for completing these quests are minimal.

    The main protaganist is as far away from Shepherd as Andromeda is from the Milky Way in terms of being a character you can invest in and relate to. Where a huge part of Shepherd's character was being a champion of a cause that people could rally to, Ryder comes across throughout as a character out of their depth and painfully cringey in certain conversations. Perhaps having the Andromeda Initiative being a corporate-type project means that it loses that sense of authority or duty and ends up feeling like you're playing as an employee of a company you find hard to care about. Having the military theme in the original trilogy representing the species gave a sense of gravity to your actions. Not so in Andromeda.

    While there are quite a few technical hiccups throughout the game it's not these technical issues that hold the game back. It's a huge, lush canvass that Bioware did a great job in building and decorating but it's the lack of engaging characters, storylines and quests that let the game down. None of the crew of the tempest evoke anything close to what the crew of the Normandy did with ease in the original trilogy and this results in even their personal quests becoming yet another distraction and a further chore on a long list of chores. The enemies you fight aren't nearly varied enough and while there are a few hairy situations thrown at you, overall you'll find a one-fits-all strategy early on and then go through the motions with it throughout. Not having access to your companion's powers in combat only highlights how removed your companions are from the experience. Combat often feels like a lonely affair as a result and the devastating combos you could launch in the original trilogy are underpowered and restricted to your own three powers only. The gun play and cover system is good but the choice to remove control over your companions was a mistake in my opinion as your companions just aren't as valuable to you in combat as they were in the original trilogy.

    Overall a huge disappointment that failed in the writing room long before the artists and designers got to work. Bugs can be patched but there's nothing they can do about childish writing, hammy dialogue and soul-less breadcrumb quests. Swing and a miss from Bioware.    … Expand
  10. Hoot86
    Mar 27, 2017
    4
    Three big problems with the game, one annoyance and one improvement over the previous Mass Effects...where did it all go wrong?

    My biggest complaint of Andromeda is the script and the writing. It sounds like it has been written by an eager 14 year old trying to get into fanfic writing. Some of the dialogue is cringe-worthy and most of it is just bland and uninteresting. After 10 hours I    Three big problems with the game, one annoyance and one improvement over the previous Mass Effects...where did it all go wrong?

    My biggest complaint of Andromeda is the script and the writing. It sounds like it has been written by an eager 14 year old trying to get into fanfic writing. Some of the dialogue is cringe-worthy and most of it is just bland and uninteresting. After 10 hours I couldn't be convinced to care about anyone I'd met and it didn't get any better.

    The animation quality in general is terrible. Living in a post Witcher 3 world you could argue that of many games, but most games manage to make their characters convey some kind of emotion, here pretty much every character is a stone faced mannequin. No facial movement other than lips. Ever. Except the main character. It just feels so stilted.

    The UI is garbage. That a PC title should be released with a UI in this state is just shocking. "Press ESC to Confirm". Really? Everything you want access to is buried under 3 layers of screens and clicking through them is a total clunkfest. They should actually sack the person who designed this UI.

    Most of the game is purely fetch quests (the annoyance) and it just feels grindy as all hell. You can sub/resub to The Old Republic or WoW and have a better experience (and to be fair, a better story) for half the price.

    The combat however is...good. It's a marked improvement and it really did feel pretty awesome even if the death animations were as bad as every other animation in the game and you don't have access to squad powers anymore, it was still pretty fun. Nowhere near enough to redeem the game though.

    In short, this is what happens when you give your untested C-team the task of developing a triple A title under your flagship IP. Disappointing to say the least. I'm just so glad Origin does refunds now.

    4/10 - Bargain Bin Material!    … Expand
  11. meru
    Apr 5, 2023
    4
    The motto for this game is: "Which intern designed X?"
    - The UI is all over the place - literally. Get a quick overview in combat situations, or outside of combat? The UI designers seem to have shouted "Not my job, also: Never heard of that".
    - The map does not help one single bit to do what its task is: Help the user orientate themselves. - Repeat this for each game feature. There    The motto for this game is: "Which intern designed X?"
    - The UI is all over the place - literally. Get a quick overview in combat situations, or outside of combat? The UI designers seem to have shouted "Not my job, also: Never heard of that".
    - The map does not help one single bit to do what its task is: Help the user orientate themselves.
    - Repeat this for each game feature.

    There is one redeeming aspect of the game, though, for game developer professors: If you need to prepare a seminar about some game element done wrong, you can always quote Andromeda as an example.    … Expand
  12. lippmannk1
    Mar 25, 2017
    4
    I'm 100 hours into this game. 100 hours of fetch quests, terrible animation glitches, and trying to find a reason to actually care about the "Andromeda Initiative"...

    It is so boring I want to get high on something. Anything. THAT is how bad this game is.
  13. Ronyo30
    Mar 23, 2017
    4
    I really wanted to like this game, the series only got better after the original Mass Effect, and after a 5 year wait I had high hopes and expectations. I've played about 20 hours now and unfortunately it seems the wind in the sails of the series died out long ago (I'll update the review if any of that changes, but at this point I don't think I can take more punishment from this gameI really wanted to like this game, the series only got better after the original Mass Effect, and after a 5 year wait I had high hopes and expectations. I've played about 20 hours now and unfortunately it seems the wind in the sails of the series died out long ago (I'll update the review if any of that changes, but at this point I don't think I can take more punishment from this game without some major fixes). From funky animations, homely looking uninteresting characters, to a questionable story and boring repetitive gameplay. To make matters worse, the different parts of the game don't even mesh real well with one another; it's like the different teams of people that worked on different parts of the game failed to ever communicate with one another. It has left the game at launch to be one big dysfunctional mess.

    Starting out it goes wrong real quick before you even enter the game. The default characters are certainly nothing to write home about, male Ryder is salvageable, but Female Ryder looks plain bad. Attempting to fix it in the CC is no easy task either. You cannot modify the default faces and the preset CC faces are one step above abominations. Once you decide upon a face, again another challenge presents itself in the form of a very simplistic CC, there aren't many options available and whatever you come up with will always resemble the preset face.

    The poorly implemented animations hit you almost immediately and continue throughout. From odd facial expression to no expression at all, lifeless hands, strange walking behavior, and the biggest offender, poor lip-syncing to the dialogue, it plain out doesn't look good. It fails to suspend disbelief and for a game based on so much dialogue is difficult to get past. Aside from animations, graphically the game holds up, nothing mind-blowing or spectacular, but by no means bad. The landscaping is nice and much of the game looks good enough to immerse yourself in, the problem here is the characters stick out rather badly. They are cartoonish, waxy, and in some cases downright inhumanly ugly. The aliens naturally look better, mostly because there isn't a frame of reference for exactly "how" they should look, the humans are simply ridiculous. Some of them look like they were taken strait out of The Old Republic and just had new textures slapped on them.

    Gameplay is okay at points and boring at others. The combat is familiar and largely unchanged from ME3, aside from the addition of the jet pack. The Nomad is okay to drive for about 10 minutes but quickly starts feeling more like a family van on a road trip than an APC. The lack of weapons was a terrible mistake and after awhile just getting in and out to fight things becomes a chore. The original developers dumped it for a reason; it should have stayed in the garage. The mini-games/puzzles are horrendously boring/frustrating, Sudoku, really? and mining for things, well I'm just not going to mine (really what was wrong with the orbital probe?) Missions are at best mildly entertaining and at worst mindless tedium, too much fetch filler and pointless dead-ends.

    The story, at least to the 20ish hour mark is less than stellar. It takes a long time to get going and once it does, it feels more like the buildup to an aborted launch than an actual liftoff. It doesn't have the urgency or charm of the original series and it doesn't help that it is being played out by largely uninspired characters. The main antagonist seems more like a speed bump instead of that giant imposing stop sign that makes you take pause at what your are up against.

    The developers it seems were out to make a game of a grand scope and scale and in doing so failed to see the little things that passed right by the wide angle lens they were using. Mass Effect was never about having vast landscapes to explore or tons of mindless things to do. It was about the story and characters, and the interaction of those two that made Mass Effect special. By attempting to make such a grand scale game they lost sight of that and ended up with a grand mess. What would have been wrong with simply making a Mass Effect game? Why try to turn it into something it is not, something that other games do so much better?    … Expand
  14. Mitchicon
    Mar 22, 2017
    4
    Pros:
    - combat is more intense
    - easier to switch combat styles through the game - significantly better weapon building and customization - open world format allows for a wider variety of possibilities and replayability value - ship internals on The Tempest are beautiful and well crafted Cons: - Mediocre to terrible voice acting - Face animations that are unforgivably bad -    Pros:
    - combat is more intense
    - easier to switch combat styles through the game
    - significantly better weapon building and customization
    - open world format allows for a wider variety of possibilities and replayability value
    - ship internals on The Tempest are beautiful and well crafted

    Cons:
    - Mediocre to terrible voice acting
    - Face animations that are unforgivably bad
    - Conversations that are awkward and make no sense
    - cover issues in combat
    - Does not feel like an RPG. Can completely reclass and your decisions feel like they carry no weight
    - I found I had no interest in my party characters and I had to force myself to stay pay attention to the storyline

    Neutral:
    - some people may dislike the smaller number of active abilities, despite the lack of a universal cooldown    … Expand
  15. budspencer2012
    Mar 25, 2017
    4
    The problem with this game is that it already looks like a 5 year old plus game which is pretty sad. Poorly done environments with no interactivity, just static meshes that do nothing, poorly done characters. After all this time the look of the game did not evolve one bit. That was a major turn off for me, I played an hour and frankly had no desire to continue playing afterwards. I willThe problem with this game is that it already looks like a 5 year old plus game which is pretty sad. Poorly done environments with no interactivity, just static meshes that do nothing, poorly done characters. After all this time the look of the game did not evolve one bit. That was a major turn off for me, I played an hour and frankly had no desire to continue playing afterwards. I will finish it but begrudgingly. I think Bioware totally goofed. They probably started developing this game at the same time as Mass Effect 3 and took too long to release this and could not get it into a newer engine to make it look relevant to what is being offered now for other games. I am glad that i did not pay full price for this. It's a big let down. Like the assasin's creed unity of Ubisoft for Bioware. I hope EA and Bioware learn a hard lesson from this. I don't blame anyone who are completely crapping on this game as it deserves it. It's a total afront to people who love the franchise.… Expand
  16. chronoT
    Nov 27, 2017
    4
    I've tried several times over the past few months to like Mass Effect Andromeda but have now fully realized this will not happen, and unlike Mass Effect 3 I refuse to stand up for Bioware on this one. I am a slow learner because the Mass Effect series is near and dear to me, but the latest installment is an utter disappointment and I believe a true testament to where we stand in the videoI've tried several times over the past few months to like Mass Effect Andromeda but have now fully realized this will not happen, and unlike Mass Effect 3 I refuse to stand up for Bioware on this one. I am a slow learner because the Mass Effect series is near and dear to me, but the latest installment is an utter disappointment and I believe a true testament to where we stand in the video game industry. There are only a handful of games that I've purchased that I truly regret spending my money on because I tend to do my research and form a usually informative decision but in this case I am painstakingly upset. I feel Andromeda was a complete waste of money and I really don't want to state this but releasing games of this quality actually encourages pirating and I think EA should be ultimately ashamed. Just about every aspect of ME:A is a complete downgrade and a move in the opposite direction. The combat, dialogue, story, characters, and overall RPG elements are lacking tremendously and it shows in every category. The story and questing get boring so fast and almost the entire galaxy feels empty and pointless. We all know how bad the facial animations are even after corrections, but how sad is the directionless plot and meaningless quests? The core game ends rather fast and you are left with about 5 empty planets that are left 90% unexplored because they are left out of this core game. On top of all this is the dreadful galaxy map and travel system that even after a tab skip was implemented the entire system is tedious and a real bore. The final icing on the cake is the less than mediocre multiplayer and in the end you are left with a steaming pile of crap. I think it is also important and humorous to mention that I have a very good rig with an overclocked GTX 1080 and the game with all current updates runs horribly, constantly lagging and stuttering in 4K, which does not occur with any other PC title I run. It is hard to say these things and this is tough love because I have old attachments to the Mass Effect series and Bioware, but the direction their moving in and EA in general feels very easy to criticize. If things continue in this direction I will be forced as a gamer to completely severe my support of EA and never purchase a title again that has their name anywhere near it.… Expand
  17. DebateMe
    Mar 26, 2017
    4
    Others have already pointed out the visual, game play, and bug problems so I'm not going to rehash those. What I'd like to say though is I'm tired of the social justice themes in bioware games. If I'm in the minority in this then fine, keep doing it. But I'm officially done with bioware games. I know I know... don't let the door hit me on the as... behind on my way out.
  18. Gaudd
    May 23, 2017
    4
    What could've been a great game has been crippled by some of the worst incompetence I've ever experienced, baring STALKER: Clear Skies which was so bug-riddled as to be unplayable when it was released. Leaving aside the fact that all everyone in MSA looks as if they're trying to star in a really crap teen movie, including unfortunately the lead, the dialogue is laughable and the plotWhat could've been a great game has been crippled by some of the worst incompetence I've ever experienced, baring STALKER: Clear Skies which was so bug-riddled as to be unplayable when it was released. Leaving aside the fact that all everyone in MSA looks as if they're trying to star in a really crap teen movie, including unfortunately the lead, the dialogue is laughable and the plot compared to the other MS games is Justin Bieber up against the Rolling Stones. All that I could forgive, and there are some real positives hence the score, but not the bugs. Worst of all is the save game bug, and no its not just when you're topped fighting. Having saved the game last night, standing perfectly still on Eos and not looking at anything in a hostile way just in case, today I've gone through the previous 5 saves, including two manual, and can't get any of them to load. This is a total shambles of a game.… Expand
  19. partyintheback
    Mar 21, 2017
    4
    If Gameloft made a Mass Effect title, it'd look a lot like Andromeda. While this game offers more exploration than Mass Effect 2 and 3 - and I welcome that, it also offers some of the lousiest characters ever to appear in a Mass Effect. Both lead characters, the male and female Ryder, are abysmal. From shoddy animation work, to poorly detailed character models, to unacceptably poorIf Gameloft made a Mass Effect title, it'd look a lot like Andromeda. While this game offers more exploration than Mass Effect 2 and 3 - and I welcome that, it also offers some of the lousiest characters ever to appear in a Mass Effect. Both lead characters, the male and female Ryder, are abysmal. From shoddy animation work, to poorly detailed character models, to unacceptably poor dialogue and voice acting, this is a disappointing outing all around. The Bioware of today is not the Bioware we knew and loved - it's merely a shell of its former self. Dragon Age II was the beginning of the end and Andromeda is the end.… Expand
  20. Tecco
    Apr 16, 2017
    4
    Why does everything have to be openworld nowadays, it just waters down everything.
    ME:A is no different.
    They spent so much time making "Open World" and so little making a what made the ME games truly special and lovable. We dont want a billion cubicmeters of coal Bioware! We want a flawless gem!, The size is irellevant!!! Quantity is worthless without quality. To be honest it feels    Why does everything have to be openworld nowadays, it just waters down everything.
    ME:A is no different.
    They spent so much time making "Open World" and so little making a what made the ME games truly special and lovable.
    We dont want a billion cubicmeters of coal Bioware! We want a flawless gem!, The size is irellevant!!!
    Quantity is worthless without quality.
    To be honest it feels like it is made by completely different people. People who dont understand the universe, and just dont really care.    … Expand
  21. Violett
    Mar 21, 2017
    4
    After I saw the news when Bioware are going to be sold to EA - I was like "RIP Mass Effect". This was well expected - everything EA touch starts to rot and stink. This is not the first game they corrupted. It is strange they didnt pervert ME2 and ME3. Companies like EA or Ubisoft must stay in their FIFA NHL field and not to go in area they have no idea what to do. They are able to makeAfter I saw the news when Bioware are going to be sold to EA - I was like "RIP Mass Effect". This was well expected - everything EA touch starts to rot and stink. This is not the first game they corrupted. It is strange they didnt pervert ME2 and ME3. Companies like EA or Ubisoft must stay in their FIFA NHL field and not to go in area they have no idea what to do. They are able to make niche products, this is true, and many people like it - in the nearest future it will be Mass Effect 5, Mass Effect 6, 7 ... bright and colorful games, but totally without soul.

    But lets support what I said above with some analysis. After recent news I released I'm not going to preorder this, not even buying this at all. But my m8 bought it anyway, despite my warnings, so I can write this review.

    - Graphics: Its quite nice. Really, graphics is fine, when you playing ME it is like you are watching blockbuster movie. This is the only reason I put 4 score here.

    - Plot: this is the main reason why we play ME, right? Right? Well, there are none. Where is Miranda? Where is Liara? Where are Reapers? Seriously, plot is dumbed down to some Android game. Please, go repair this module, because I'm technician and have no idea what to do, and dont even have tools o0

    - Gameplay: MMO quest system in single player game is the most absurd thing one can ever done. EA got warned after DA:I - do not do this **** again, but no, why we should listen to players? We are EA, we know better how to feed you.

    - Combat system: Well, it is okay. Honestly I dont remember how complex it was in ME 1-3, but here it is look like some japaneese slash and hack colorfest. Teleportations, explosions. Nothing special actually.

    - Animation: This should be the part of the graphics, probably, but I just had to separate this out. This is TERRIBLE. Face animaion is just abysmal. WHY SHE IS ALWAYS SMILING, like WTF. Like "my father is dead, and this is so funny." Is this some sort or black comedy, no? I even dont mention various graphical bugs and glitches, And have you seen this new azari-Shrek?

    Verdict: If you like WoW-style games - like bring 10 flowers, or kill 20 pigs - you might find this game intresting, if you like games where you need to shoot without thinking - you might find this game intresting, otherwise, especially if you are fan of ME universe - keep out of this, imagine ME3 was the last game, like HL2 and the next part will never come out.

    ...omg EA what have you done...    … Expand
  22. AJCk19
    May 6, 2023
    4
    Really buggy game, that further rolled back on its game design ideologies, instead of improving upon the first 2 mass effects. I can understand giving the story a side step to the main because of the controversies of ME3 and also they are in the midst of making a true ME4.

    But it was a huge let down, and I just hope they learn from their feedback, so ME4 will be a big success.
  23. Wermand
    Mar 25, 2017
    4
    I can understand everything: bland plot, poor dialogue wheel, bland characters (protagonist as well, even Inquisitor was a better written character), **** optimization. But Jesus Christ... I am horrified by thought of all asari in this game having the same face model. Each and everyone of them. Sometimes there are cutscenes in which several asari standing one next to another - it is anI can understand everything: bland plot, poor dialogue wheel, bland characters (protagonist as well, even Inquisitor was a better written character), **** optimization. But Jesus Christ... I am horrified by thought of all asari in this game having the same face model. Each and everyone of them. Sometimes there are cutscenes in which several asari standing one next to another - it is an attack of the clones, god damn it. Not to mention ugly human mugs and facial animations - those are simply abysmal. And i have waited five years for this game. What a shame.
    I liked Vetra though - she is the only reason i am going to rate ME:A with 4.    … Expand
  24. taufirec
    Mar 22, 2017
    4
    If this were a sci fi title put out by a small indie studio as a new IP I would consider it good, but as a AAA title made by a studio known for quality writing, the game is bad. The 3d models and animations make it abundantly obvious that the people working on them are not qualified to be doing that kind of work, the writing is amateurish and often times laughable, the characters areIf this were a sci fi title put out by a small indie studio as a new IP I would consider it good, but as a AAA title made by a studio known for quality writing, the game is bad. The 3d models and animations make it abundantly obvious that the people working on them are not qualified to be doing that kind of work, the writing is amateurish and often times laughable, the characters are shallow and often quite uninteresting, but luckily the core gameplay is good. Content is...lackluster to say the least and the game ends up having a lot of bugs as well as the same issues that ME 1-3 had with conversations that should have been fixed considering they worked on this for 5 years. Honestly, if this is what Bioware puts out, then I can safely say I won't be purchasing another game made by them. As for this game, It's already been approved for a return so I won't be bothering with it again either.… Expand
  25. Skyrant
    Mar 29, 2017
    4
    It is not the very limited character Editor, not the uncanny looks of the characters faces. it's not the amateur animations, not the horrible AI of your companions. It is not the many bugs or the repetitive and boring scanning mechanic.

    It is all the above combine with some of the worst, cringe worthy, worse than fan-fiction writing that makes this 4th incarnation of Mass Effect the    It is not the very limited character Editor, not the uncanny looks of the characters faces. it's not the amateur animations, not the horrible AI of your companions. It is not the many bugs or the repetitive and boring scanning mechanic.

    It is all the above combine with some of the worst, cringe worthy, worse than fan-fiction writing that makes this 4th incarnation of Mass Effect the worst and possible the last of the series.

    If we consider that a 1 means unplayable, 5 would be an average game and 10 a game of the century classic, i think a 4 is well deserved and probably too nice still.

    #BelowAverage #BargainBin #DonNotBuy    … Expand
  26. Thornblade
    Jun 21, 2017
    4
    Yes, it's THAT bad (nevermind the paid reviewers and ea employees who upped the user score....) I really tried, but the butt ugly characters (especially the females, all look like they are some plastic surgeon's failed experiment) and the laughable animations ( the lip sync especially is something from the early 2000s, even half-life 2 had much better lip sync) just destroy all theYes, it's THAT bad (nevermind the paid reviewers and ea employees who upped the user score....) I really tried, but the butt ugly characters (especially the females, all look like they are some plastic surgeon's failed experiment) and the laughable animations ( the lip sync especially is something from the early 2000s, even half-life 2 had much better lip sync) just destroy all the immersion.
    also, gameplay is repetitive, and story is lackluster to say the least.    … Expand
  27. dm04
    Apr 13, 2017
    4
    The game is huge, but still feels empty and shallow. On every step, every corner I got the feeling the game was rushed and released unfinished (after 5 years??) and worse then that, I could literaly see how BW went one step forward, but always two back.

    Character creation is non existant, no point in whining about that. Your options are limited to width, height and depth, but never    The game is huge, but still feels empty and shallow. On every step, every corner I got the feeling the game was rushed and released unfinished (after 5 years??) and worse then that, I could literaly see how BW went one step forward, but always two back.

    Character creation is non existant, no point in whining about that. Your options are limited to width, height and depth, but never shape (brow, eyes, nose, mouth) and because of that, it is an insult to call it CC... with this in mind the lack of "white" skin, haircuts and ugly presets is just not worth thinking about.
    The story is "ok"... it could be better, but it could be worse. What bugged me most was the poor writing and the delivery... no suspension, no climax build up. The story starts "big" and the next step, first revelation is a major leap down, the next is good again, and the next after again major leap down... this constant flow of ups and downs is very annoying. The poor writing dows also effect the dialogues, they feel like interrogations/interviews more then ever. And while we were limited to paragon/renegade/neutral in previous game, it is now limited to emotional, logic, casual and professional... what a huge step forward and a difference. The problem herein is: the few words you see on the wheel often do not match what is delivered afterwards and way too often do not match the situation at all (Many people complain about bad voice acting. Well, the VA is actualy good, it fits the lines, it is not their fault it does not match the situation. Even great voice actors could not deliver specific lines better because of the bad writing.)
    The combat is not as good as people want us to think. Sure it is more fluent and fast (step forward) but on the other hand, when you are on the far right/left of cover, you have to switch shoulder cam MANUAL (huge step back). Truth be told, I would rather have ME3 combat back. The jetpack is fun, but your squadies keep using it all the time out of combat and the constant powerup of the jets gets annoying when the squad tries to catch up with you. Also a little fun: you try some of this "jump'n'run" puzzles and out of a sudden a squadie is there and pushes you down the ledge because there is not enough room...
    The intentory is back, but pointless. You need a loadout station anyway, you can not have the same mod more then once (so equiping more then one gun with the similar mod is not possible), all you do is to open the inv when it is full and deconstruct everything. Oh and you can not customize your squadmates, they are limited to default outfit and weapon, all the time.
    The squadmates are also shallow and uninteresting, sure it is hard to come up with a strong new Garrus or interesting like Joker, Tali or Thane, but hands down, MEA have nothing. The ship is full of Kaidan Alencos or Carths or... pick any other general dude from the other games.
    Ever heard the saying "less is more"? Well, that applies to squad banter when you are out exploring. They talk so much... annoying. On the other hand, Tempest feels more alive then anything before, as your crew is not limited to their space only.
    People also say you have no impact on the game. Actualy you have, it is not much, but you do shape the story a bit. On the other hand, there is no Ryder progression. Sure you start small and are forced into a role you are not trained for, but with what you experience, any normal person would be quite self-confident by the mid of game after all the stuff Ryder accomplishes. And even by the end of game Ryder does not command respect, it is frustrating.
    Exploration does not realy exist, the moment you land somewhere, you see a dozen navpoints and all the points of intereset already. There is realy little to discover. Especialy at the galaxy map. The systems have nothing to offer and the descriptions are blunt. The exploration of new worlds BW promised is not there.
    The research and crafting are lackluster... the tier system from ME is back, but thats all. You want a N7 Valkyrie AR? Well, research the 10 tiers and construct it. New designs? Nada, and with constructiong comes a major ME2 flaw that everyone loved: mining, but it is worse here. You got to drive the Nomad across a mining field and call a mining drone when there are ressources available...
    The fear of failing an outpost, as BW said, does not exist as well. You land and in no tme you got the planet to 100% and your outpost running, failure? No idea how that could be possible.

    I am heavily disappointed with MEA, even more then with DAI.    … Expand
  28. skepticck
    Apr 5, 2017
    4
    The Game is not terrible but it is not really good either, best way i can describe it is "painfully average" even if you forget the really bad animations and the ridiculous character models, the story is generic, the dialogue is laughable, the characters for the most part are forgettable, lots of bugs and glitches.

    Graphics are good, exploration is good and combat is really good BUT    The Game is not terrible but it is not really good either, best way i can describe it is "painfully average" even if you forget the really bad animations and the ridiculous character models, the story is generic, the dialogue is laughable, the characters for the most part are forgettable, lots of bugs and glitches.

    Graphics are good, exploration is good and combat is really good BUT personally i don't buy a Mass Effect game for the combat, good combat is a plus for sure but that's not what i look forward to when i hear there is a new Mass Effect game.

    Fairly this game deserves a 5 or a generous 6 but it is imo inexcusable for a company like Bioware to release a game in this state and while they can patch some of the issues there is no saving the average story and painfully amateurish dialogue.

    You would think that Bioware/EA had learned something from the Mass Effect 3 ending debacle... guess not, i don't expect much from EA, a company that cut part of Mass Effect 3 content so they could sell it as a day one DLC but am really disappointed with Bioware.

    To conclude and while not a terrible game it is without a doubt (imo) the worst Mass Effect in the series.    … Expand
  29. braindamage
    Apr 24, 2017
    4
    a first time comer to mass effect I I was worried the game maybe be reminacant of Dragon age inqustion.. it is. I like the game more then that one but since the structure of the game is reminicent of dragon age inquitions except space porn with some shooting elements, wigth some cool cutscenes and world graphics as bad as something from 2012
  30. 21grams
    Mar 27, 2017
    4
    Based on public reactions I was not gonna buy the game and I still wouldn't. I only got to play the game because a friend who pre-ordered is on delegation and he gave access to his account.

    I knew a lot of what to expect form the game already, but still I was trying to explore basically everything, until the issues got me and I was rushing the main story more and more and more just to    Based on public reactions I was not gonna buy the game and I still wouldn't. I only got to play the game because a friend who pre-ordered is on delegation and he gave access to his account.

    I knew a lot of what to expect form the game already, but still I was trying to explore basically everything, until the issues got me and I was rushing the main story more and more and more just to be done with it. So here we go:

    Pros:
    - Environmental graphics - although there are some issues at times, for the most part it's absolutely stunning. This is the best looking space game to date, and tho there are not that many spaces games out there, believe me, some views will leave your jaw open, it can be really breath taking.
    - Combat - it's just great and dynamic, you have a lot of stuff (guns, powers, skills) to play with and customize your build, I think this is more fun than most shooter games out there. The small criticism I have here is dumb AI of your squad and lack of option to control them better
    - Main story - I wasn't intending to put it under the pros, but the story itself isn't bad all. It's nothing amazing, but it's perfectly alright. I wan't gonna list it under the pros, but I decided to split it from general writing, as such, understand "main story" as the events that happen in the game without its delivery.

    Cons:
    - Facial animations and character looks - this one is obvious one, it sucks, it feels dated, it feels unfinished and unpolished. It's worse than ME1. Facial animations are weird, disturbing and can make you feel uncomfortable. Character looks also has a lot to be desired. The worst part are the eyes - a cold, oversized eyeballs staring at you like the characters wouldn't have eyelids. It can look really scary and awkward. To quickly sum up, human characters (alien ones are much better done) feel more like androids or zombies than people. Character creation is also terrible - it feels like retard factory more than actual character creator.
    - writing - I will split it in few sections here. First, the character writing. I was not expecting this from Bioware, because the absolutely majority of them are basically puddle shallow generic, dull, emotion less characters with boring backgrounds. One the most boring character writing I've seen in video games (especially RPG) in past decade (not counting garbage like steam green light trash). Next is dialogue writing, which also has negative impact on main story delivery, which as already mentioned - is not that bad. To be perfectly honest, at times I would think the dialogues are written by a 10 year old. There are so many overly cheesy and pointless lines for an AAA game. Some of the lines are have even bad sentence structure and for such you would get F (or lowest equivalent degree) even in elementary school. This feels more like initial draft than final writing.
    - voice acting - not all of it is that bad, but overall a lot of voice actors just read the text without any intonation and emotion, just like a student reading of the powerpoint slides show during some presentation nobody has interest in.
    - User Interface (UI) - absolutely disgusting. I feel like it's done on purpose to waste my time with multi-layer sub-menus and overall awkward design.
    - Music - it's just lazy and boring and for most of the time there is no background music. The one is there - doesn't build the moment up at all.
    - Side missions - absolute most of it is boring fetch that has no real effect on your game progression. It's very repetitive structure kill the immersion and I'd rather just free-roam instead of going from point A to B to C and pressing a button, or picking up some irrelevant item.
    - Bug and glitches - there is quite a lot of them, it's various clipping issues, terrible graphical+physics glitches, like falling down thru floors, NPC standing in the air, or sinking in the ground and many more.

    So, it's pretty bad and no doubt a huge disappointment in ME franchise. At this point I strongly recommend not to buy it if you have at least some self-respect. Sure environments look cool and combat is really fun, story itself is also not that bad, but for me these are secondary aspects and the primary aspects (characters, writing, voice acting and overall presentation) are from bad to terrible. So the absolute maximum I can give is 4 out 10 and even with that I kinda feel merciful.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017
1
#1 Most Shared PC Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 37 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 37
  3. Negative: 1 out of 37
  1. Riot Pixels
    Jun 5, 2017
    55
    Postcard-pretty landscapes is pretty much all that there is good about Andromeda. They serve as backdrops for a boring, cliche-ridden, somewhat demented story with forgettable characters and even more forgettable missions.
    Read full review
  2. PC PowerPlay
    May 11, 2017
    80
    Enough of the classic Mass Effect, with enough new mechanics to keep the game fresh. [Hollingworth; Issue#261, p.55]
    Read full review
  3. Edge Magazine
    Apr 27, 2017
    70
    An earnest attempt has been made to create a new identity for a series here, but the question of how to best frame Mass Effect's narrative strengths is, once again, left open. [June 2017, p.90]
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