Read Mixed User Reviews for Mass Effect: Andromeda on PC

folmas

Aug 14, 2023

7

was surprised at how hated this game was. Yes, it's not Mass Effect 2, but it's not bad.

Crazygame

Jun 25, 2023

7

The game isn't a bad game game, combat mechanics and weapon types are good. But it has same mobs types, bosses and planet desings. It has not original map desings. The game says that you can discover 100 planets. But you can't land on a lot of these planets. Also planet maps are so boring and empty. It doesn't satisfy expectations if you like to play open world type games.

Magical_Viktor

Apr 30, 2023

6

Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»

TastieToasty

Mar 1, 2023

5

This is a great example of when the gaming industry was going Woke and in decline.

The graphics are a mixed bag, characters look really bad but the scenery is amazing. Our companions are the worst in the entire franchise, they are all (unironic) woke. they have no character and dont even really look exotic like our old mates. Gameplay wise its completely different compared to theThis is a great example of when the gaming industry was going Woke and in decline.

The graphics are a mixed bag, characters look really bad but the scenery is amazing.

Our companions are the worst in the entire franchise, they are all (unironic) woke.
they have no character and dont even really look exotic like our old mates.

Gameplay wise its completely different compared to the old games.
Gunplay is better and it is also pretty vertical with jumping now.
the sidemissions in the older games were top tier missions and I loved every single one of them.
here it is quantity over quality...

they also brought back the old problem that mass effect 1 had, the long useless walking to one point to another.

Mass Effect 2 fixed it and here it is back again..

also my main problem is our Protagonist "Ryde"r. He is a Cuck and would be a side character that Shepard would have killed in the older games.

I really miss the old games, they were such gems.
I hate the current gaming industry so much.… Expand

DavidBondy

Feb 25, 2023

6

While the scale, open world, non-face visuals, and combat are easily the best of any Mass Effect game, it fails to deliver on what truly makes a Mass Effect game great: story and characters. At least some of the characters are pretty entertaining and well-written, but they fall far short of the original trilogy in general. I can't help but feel that this game was rushed, and it's a damnWhile the scale, open world, non-face visuals, and combat are easily the best of any Mass Effect game, it fails to deliver on what truly makes a Mass Effect game great: story and characters. At least some of the characters are pretty entertaining and well-written, but they fall far short of the original trilogy in general. I can't help but feel that this game was rushed, and it's a damn shame because there is a ton of fun to be had in Andromeda.… Expand

jarvitom

Nov 8, 2022

7

I have played through the game after playing through the original trilogy: the game is OK, even GOOD when played through for the first time but replaying it was pretty boring this time.
- the story had too few epic moments, it was predictable and I wasn't motivated enough to push on
- too much meaningless side missions, conquering the planets had 0 creativity it could have been a greatI have played through the game after playing through the original trilogy: the game is OK, even GOOD when played through for the first time but replaying it was pretty boring this time.
- the story had too few epic moments, it was predictable and I wasn't motivated enough to push on
- too much meaningless side missions, conquering the planets had 0 creativity it could have been a great mechanic to find homes and manage them even with a bit of strategy but this was just repetitive
- research & development, gear, crafting by far the worst system, too complex, 0 motivation to dive into it
- graphically pretty great the planets looked awesome, character models were awesome too but face mimics 50% of the time strange
- reworked dialogue system: just bad, no real persuasion, no consequences of any choices, I understand the old paragon-renegade system was very predictable but this was even worse and weightless
- leveling and skills got a bit too complex too, not polished
- level design could have been more creative
- running movement just clunky, jetpack actually good
- combat is worse then mass effect 1, these ammo and health pickups are unnecessary, spells are looking great tho
- teammates were pretty good however cant compare to any of the original trilogies
- villains: WTF generic 2 dimensional with 0 motivation, poses no danger actually
- music: nonexistent, generic, even so compared to the tunes of the trilogy

It doesnt deserve the hate it got when it came out so I added a bit higher score, the game is enjoyable as a sci-fi RPG, at first playthrough I was a bit more eager to find out the story but the game had huge potential and only covered like 40% of the expectations.
I really love this franchise and I'm hoping the creators will learn from these mistakes and we can enjoy this universe for a lot more years.… Expand

PaddysPub

Aug 15, 2022

7

I played the game in 2021, while in quarantine, so i got to enjoy all the updates etc. Didn't get to be privy to all the problems on release. I played about 70% of the game. Felt repetitive at times and by the end i was sprinting for the end as i wanted to play other games.
It was a good experience all in all, worth the time in my opinion.

Tomle1202

Jun 18, 2022

5

Mass Effect: Andromeda's mind-numbing quest design and uninteresting main story fail to recapture the original trilogy's spirit.

PathFinder

Apr 6, 2022

7

The game is another great Mass Effect entry. We all know well that the game is good and the bad yet funny animations were only an opportunity to hate on Bioware.

Okay so now the game which has made many good improvements the most visible is the combat which now is more engaging and challenging it is certainly more fast paced than before and expanded on. With the great addition of theThe game is another great Mass Effect entry. We all know well that the game is good and the bad yet funny animations were only an opportunity to hate on Bioware.

Okay so now the game which has made many good improvements the most visible is the combat which now is more engaging and challenging it is certainly more fast paced than before and expanded on. With the great addition of the jump/jet pack the combat has really evolved. The jump pack is also a great addition to the overall game as now you can easily get to places that would be unthinkable in the first three Mass Effects.

The introduction to the Nomad, new mining system and largely open world has also improved gameplay and immersion in the game. As an addition to this statement the graphics are absolutely amazing even on low settings. Bioware did a great job in producing an immersing set of planets which are all unique in their own way.

Now an important part, the conversations and dialogue. Although the animations tend to be annoying and even funny many times they certainly do not ruin the gameplay. The dialogue is well delivered and enjoyable. The characters have great backstories which are always great to listen too. Even with great backstories the characters do not form a bond as some of the characters from the previous entries such as Garrus. The Good / Bad guy system was removed to ensure that you are making your own unique Ryder with a unique personality. Your dialogue options are now labelled clearly with a clear indication to when you can romance. Some of the dialogue of characters may seem cringy and forced sometimes but that fells normal to nearly every game I played.

The game largely reduces loading time throughout the game and there are no loading screens while on the Tempest which is great. The animations when moving from planet to planet are great and the sound effects are often helping to immerse into the universe.

Overall the game feels definitely like another Mass Effect game but different than the other. People are certainly hating too much on Bioware instead of focusing on the gorgeous gameplay of Andromeda. After playing 20 hours of the game it seems clear to me that the game is nothing as bad as some people say. A nice 9/10 is a fair representation of what the game has to offer. If you are a Mass Effect fan you should certainly pick it up as many reviews discourage fans to buy this great game with their stupid arguments of bad facial animations and poorly delivered dialogue which is not true. As i progress through the game my opinion on the game may change slightly but probably not for the worse but rather the better. The game is not the best in the Mass Effect series but it is another good game developed by Bioware. 9/10

EDIT: Yea that was quite dumb 7/10… Expand

r03vg

Dec 16, 2021

6

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Довольно много рутины в данной игре. Если не обращать внимание на контекст, то почти все задания в игре однообразны. Подай, принеси, постреляй и вернись. Тем не менее, с этой игры я начал знакомство со вселенной Mass Effects и хочу пройти оригинальные части.… Expand

togekk

Nov 25, 2021

7

This game is not that bad. The main story is okay, feels a little bit like ME2, but nothing heartfelt. The gameplay is awesome, the landscapes and architectures are creative and beautiful, and the loyalty missions are fun. Dialogues from squad members are well-written, but NPCs' are boring.

I love the tone of the story. It doesn't focus on wars and crimes but exploration instead. It'sThis game is not that bad. The main story is okay, feels a little bit like ME2, but nothing heartfelt. The gameplay is awesome, the landscapes and architectures are creative and beautiful, and the loyalty missions are fun. Dialogues from squad members are well-written, but NPCs' are boring.

I love the tone of the story. It doesn't focus on wars and crimes but exploration instead. It's something different and interesting from the sci-fi games nowadays. They should've just started a new title for it since "Mass Effect" is literally Shepard's story now. Don't know if Bioware have any plans to continue the journey, but I'd love to see more of it.… Expand

sft

Nov 3, 2021

7

7.5/10 • A galaxy of bugs. Far too many flaws to mention and yet it's still somehow worth playing. It could have been so much more.

ShockwaveGT

Jul 26, 2021

7

The anger and disappointment that this game raises in a lot of fans of the franchise is to some extend understandable and also justifiable.

I didn't finish the game when it was first released in 2017. It wasn't until I replayed the Legendary Trilogy recently that I decided to wonder how Andromeda actually finished. Instead of firing up my old save file, I decided to replay the wholeThe anger and disappointment that this game raises in a lot of fans of the franchise is to some extend understandable and also justifiable.

I didn't finish the game when it was first released in 2017. It wasn't until I replayed the Legendary Trilogy recently that I decided to wonder how Andromeda actually finished. Instead of firing up my old save file, I decided to replay the whole game as the Female Ryder and to some extend enjoyed my play-through.

Playing at 4k on Ultra settings with HDR-10 on (since Dolby Vision is broken but is supported by my hardware), the game is simply beautiful to look at. The visuals on the different planets are great. Some planets like Havarl give you the color pallet we were introduced to in Avatar (2009), others gave you Dune feels like on Eladeen. Overall, the Frostbyte Engine 3.0 has great planetary visuals. That's a huge plus and step up from the original trilogy.

The driving is also surprisingly fun, given the fact that the driving was develop by Need For Speed dev veterans, I am not surprised. These guys know how to make driving fun in games :)

The gun play and action is far more dynamic than in the previous game, although I find the level of customization, engineering (Research / Development) too much and you end up spending too much time trying to figure out which set up fits best. Frankly, that part could be trimmed but overall it's not a deal breaker either.

The worst part of the game is the main antagonist, the Archon is a completely underdeveloped character who does nothing but taunt the player throughout the game. You never get to actually fight him and the end boss battle is... meh... Why is the Archon the worst part? Because he sets the stakes of the entire story, which just feels like it's missing something the entire time. Plus he looks like an oversized pissed off Gizmo, but sure... Aliens be aliens.

It's clear that some of the underdeveloped storylines in the final product were done on purpose to allow them to develop in future titles (like who created the Remnant) and where did the Kett come from, what's up with Elizabeth Reilly, etc. The game creates a lot of hype and intrigue without any real payoff.

The repetitive tasks on each planet: I found the scenes between landing and take-off from and to planets way too long, which you couldn't skip for some reason. That got worse when I took off from a planet, exit the galaxy map, and then have an NPC tell me that either Gil or some other crew member wants me to go back to the planet to complete a small ridiculous fetch quest. A 90 Credit wine bottle is not worth the fuel it costs to get the Tempest to land and take-off from a planet!!

Finally, the BUGS and the rushed time table the team had to develop their product. EA leads the way when it comes to worst corporate reputation in the entire video game industry. R* and CDPR are following suit but the former at least delivers a product people just thoroughly enjoy, minus the part where they pressure their dev teams. I hope and I really wish that the devs get the leadership they need to make a product they can be truly proud off and not disappoint the fan base. I also hope that the Quarians make a comeback... In the end, I am keeping my fingers crossed that EA and BioWare are able to make a serious positive comeback with Mass Effect (5?).… Expand

rafaeal

Jul 18, 2021

7

Um simulador de passear e conversar, pelo menos poderia ter áudio em português.

PrincessRose

Jun 20, 2021

6

I like this game and find the gameplay good overall and am having fun with it. But some things are terrible such as facial animations often look weird, unnatural and also cutscenes when you land and take off that you can't skip is really annoying. It does seem like an unprofessional game at times, it makes me wonder did they let their kids work on this game? And what happened to reallyI like this game and find the gameplay good overall and am having fun with it. But some things are terrible such as facial animations often look weird, unnatural and also cutscenes when you land and take off that you can't skip is really annoying. It does seem like an unprofessional game at times, it makes me wonder did they let their kids work on this game? And what happened to really good writing, story and interesting characters? It also seems like it's written by amateurs.
It also has weird glitches as in characters arms froze in a weird pose and Ryder drinks from an invisible glass at the bar.

The story is alright, nothing amazing. The story lacks meaningful depth and choices. Ryder is so one dimensional you can't even be a renegade.
The characters are mostly forgetable.

I enjoy the combat in the game. It feels like they were trying to make a good FPS game and failed on making a good RPG with depth and choices that truly effect outcomes.
I also like exploring and discovering things. It looks amazing and fills me with a feeling of wonder and I do feel like Iam a Pathfinder.
A open world is great if they can make it full of interesting things as in meaningful side quests, but unfortunately it's full of mindlessly boring empty fetch quests. The side quest Tasks are the worst which are all very simular to each other such as have to find and scan 3 bodies that randomly appear at scavenger camps then get final location to go to or another is find 3 data pads then go to a final location. It leads to a lot of driving around as these bodies and other items appear randomly and have no quest markers for them. I got really sick of those side quests so stopped doing those as they only vary slightly as in just have to scan something different and drive around for ages trying to find them. I hate when they lack imagination for quests and just fill it with mindlessly boring quests that ad nothing but tedium.

Character creation doesn't seem to have many options. Can't even choose custom hair colour and if you choose any hair colour besides brown or black it looks like she has dark roots.

I still like and enjoy playing this game. The gameplay is mostly fun and enjoyable.
It had a nice solid game ending. Though it would of been nice to have choices that dramatically effect outcomes in the story resulting in various endings instead of just one.

I recommend the game as I enjoyed playing it mostly and would rate it 6/10 as game doesn't seem like it's made by professionals and it's lacking as a good RPG.… Expand

Antictra

Mar 28, 2021

6

ME Andromeda was a supposed "fresh start" for Mass Effect universe. Beyond technical defaults already resolved either by Bioware itself or by modders it has it's own flavour, even though it does not come close to the quality of original ME trilogy. On a "plus side" it still feels much better than Dragon Age Inquisition for example.

I disagree with severe critics of storyline, which IME Andromeda was a supposed "fresh start" for Mass Effect universe. Beyond technical defaults already resolved either by Bioware itself or by modders it has it's own flavour, even though it does not come close to the quality of original ME trilogy. On a "plus side" it still feels much better than Dragon Age Inquisition for example.

I disagree with severe critics of storyline, which I have found quite interesting, even though also subpar to original ME. It is interesting already to reposition the focus on exploration and construction in the "brave new world" instead of galaxy saving. The world is free roaming which gives a certain feeling of liberty, yet feeling empty, which can be understood considering the "recent" nature of colonisation from Milky Way depicted in the game; there is not enough of history of civilisations built before in Andromeda and game is simpler in terms of described "andromeda galaxy" ecosystem in all it's senses. Playing ME:Andromeda feels a little like a nostalgic peek into ME universe and lore, without that profound emotional impact that was left by original ME; The characters feel also less engaging and interesting than in original trilogy, somehow more "bleak", still sometimes they have their "moments" and they feel at least partially interesting to keep the pace of the game, better than for example the characters in the first "Assassin's Creed" series or Dragon Age Inquisition.

Gameplay wise I have found it to flow nicely, like ME2 and ME3, especially environmental effects of different planets explored by player. Together with such examples as "No Man's Sky" experience it might give the ideas for future how to try to make "free roaming" space exploration game but with storyline.

All in all ME Andromeda is worth to play by ME universe fans, just for yet "another story" about "The Shepard"... knowing we play here with completely different protagonist than a "galaxy savior", as for others, they might as well try the original trilogy first.… Expand

Paciorr

Jan 9, 2021

7

You can **** a lot on this game but the truth is that after few patches they fixed those broken animations, well at least most of them. Game is really fun to play even despite of some side quest which seemed repetitive (talk -> kill -> grab some stuff -> return), the world is huge and offers a lot of beauties and the main story line is really interesting and makes a spectacular show.You can **** a lot on this game but the truth is that after few patches they fixed those broken animations, well at least most of them. Game is really fun to play even despite of some side quest which seemed repetitive (talk -> kill -> grab some stuff -> return), the world is huge and offers a lot of beauties and the main story line is really interesting and makes a spectacular show. However it seems kind of unfinished. It left lot of space for the sequel(s) and not taken the advantage of it just yet. Maybe DLCs will make it way more interesting and "finished". I can see why many ME fans can be disappointed and I'm a huge one myself which maybe makes me less objective but remember - That's not Shepard's story and I doubt it will beat it but the circumstances are way different, new galaxy, new challenges, exploration. It's amazing in it's way but not that much catching our hearts like trying to save the Milky Way from annihilation. Give it a try it's worth it. Very good game in my opinion and has a lot of unused potential. However take in mind that it's different and it's difficult to catch up with the old ones.
PS. I think that the combat and leveling system is better though!… Expand

RodrigoroRex

Dec 21, 2020

7

"Mass Effect: Andromeda": Good game, it provides a good experience for the player. 5 out of 7. Played it on PC.

PeakTop

Dec 15, 2020

6

Андромеду нужно было либо превращать в полноценную РПГ типа Скайрим / Fallout, либо наоборот, урезать до линейной космооперы с плотной подачей на манер Mass Effect 1. В итоге игра висит где-то посередине и напоминает недожаренную котлету :) Технически после серии патчей всё прекрасно: красивые визуалы, приятный геймплей. Но в целом мир пустой, а сюжет уже не захватывает как предыдущиеАндромеду нужно было либо превращать в полноценную РПГ типа Скайрим / Fallout, либо наоборот, урезать до линейной космооперы с плотной подачей на манер Mass Effect 1. В итоге игра висит где-то посередине и напоминает недожаренную котлету :) Технически после серии патчей всё прекрасно: красивые визуалы, приятный геймплей. Но в целом мир пустой, а сюжет уже не захватывает как предыдущие части.… Expand

Lattely

Nov 25, 2020

6

I was waiting for this game after completing Mass Effect 3 but face animations (i preorder this game) and the most important gameplay was not like in old times. So, you can skip this game because besides header, this game has nothing new to play for (story in this game is just bad guys want to control every creature in the universe and you just go further, and further until the moment youI was waiting for this game after completing Mass Effect 3 but face animations (i preorder this game) and the most important gameplay was not like in old times. So, you can skip this game because besides header, this game has nothing new to play for (story in this game is just bad guys want to control every creature in the universe and you just go further, and further until the moment you understand maybe they are not so bad).… Expand

Doktorishka

Nov 4, 2020

7

This game is underestimated, but have for what. As pros, this is totally new galaxy to explore, new races, new planets etc. The game have good graphics and a lot new ideas, but the game haven't good story, and majority of quests is simple. This game is for one, maybe two times to walktrough, not more, 3rd time getting totally boring. Anyway I had fun and good emotes.

twobadcrew

Oct 29, 2020

6

So much potential wasted, EA's idiotic decision to take resources from this development team to feed Anthem. This is mass effect by numbers, the graphics are great but the content and story is Sci-Fi channel level bad. My only hope is that a Mass Effect remaster will be made in this same engine.

nexus151196

Sep 6, 2020

6

Это не МЕ. Даже если так ее воспринимать - это унылая игрушка-гриндилка. Стрельба хорошая, графика очень сильная, на этом плюсы заканчиваются. Сюжет,работа с вселенной, мимика,диалоги и все остальное - серая посредственность .Это не МЕ. Даже если так ее воспринимать - это унылая игрушка-гриндилка. Стрельба хорошая, графика очень сильная, на этом плюсы заканчиваются. Сюжет,работа с вселенной, мимика,диалоги и все остальное - серая посредственность .

unfortunateith

Jul 28, 2020

5

This game starts off with a bang, then just sort of peters out about halfway through. I absolutely loved the first 10-20 hours. The combat feels much better than previous ME games, and some of the new characters are great fun. But the game hits a point where it starts to drag, and drag, and drag, forcing you to slog through a seemingly endless mire of uninteresting content just to get to aThis game starts off with a bang, then just sort of peters out about halfway through. I absolutely loved the first 10-20 hours. The combat feels much better than previous ME games, and some of the new characters are great fun. But the game hits a point where it starts to drag, and drag, and drag, forcing you to slog through a seemingly endless mire of uninteresting content just to get to a few good moments. Definitely an example of a game which really shouldn't have been open world. Memorable character arcs and story missions are painfully few and far between once the game really gets under way. And there are only so many random encounters and "scan six items" side quests you can do before you just start blowing through everything in a desperate bid to get to the rest of the damn good stuff. Then, after all that slog, the main plot fails to deliver anything close to the dramatic conclusion offered by earlier games. Don't hold your breath for a heart-pounding suicide mission here. The game just sort of... ends, leaving little more than a sense of "oh, that was it?"… Expand

TimeOfTheChimps

Jul 25, 2020

7

One of the best things I can say about Andromeda is that the game feels, looks, and plays like it's the same universe I just left when I finished ME3 three days ago. All of the races, the environments, the technology, sound design, etc. is noticeably Mass Effect and that was a big must.

The squadmates practically carry the game this time around. Like every character in this game, yourOne of the best things I can say about Andromeda is that the game feels, looks, and plays like it's the same universe I just left when I finished ME3 three days ago. All of the races, the environments, the technology, sound design, etc. is noticeably Mass Effect and that was a big must.

The squadmates practically carry the game this time around. Like every character in this game, your teammates all have different backgrounds and experiences you can talk about and there are so many details it makes you feel like a part of the world rather than it revolving around you and only you. My favourite characters in particular were Jaal, the human/squid/cat man who feels like an outsider until Ryder gets him to open up, and is somehow the most adorable, human character ever written in a Bioware game, and Vetra, the hardass, snarky reptilian space mom shaped by years of having to fend for herself. After the halfway point, I never swapped those two out because I liked them so much.

While they're all unique and fascinating to hear banter back and forth between each other, the same cannot be said for Ryder, the main character. And I don't know if it's female Ryder's voice acting or something, but the main character is just not all that interesting and sounds kind of bored? I didn't really connect with them until the finale because they don't feel like they have a personality to speak of until that point. In addition, Ryder's brain AI SAM has a legitimately irritating voice and I hope they recast that entire part in the future. His constant, incessant updates were the only truly low part of the game.

The story is a bit slow-paced but picks up steam just at the halfway point. Not going too in-depth here but the Kett had revelations that kept them from otherwise being generic alien enemies to shoot at (which they mostly are anyway), and the whole Remnant/terraforming plot provides a fascinating apocalypse scenario to raise the stakes (on a much smaller scale). The finale is explosive and reminded me of the end of ME1 in a lot of ways, and a wonderful touch is that every one of your squadmates is fighting alongside you for the final boss, a first for Mass Effect. As a whole, the story was serviceable and I don't have much more to say about it.

I would talk about gameplay (which combat-wise is the best in the series), but to keep it short: Andromeda is a fun game, boosted by strong supporting characters and world-building, but held back by a blank-slate main character and the annoying AI voice in their head. I would gladly play the sequel though.… Expand

ahrek

Jun 22, 2020

7

the game is great. it has cool new gameplay combat and explorations mechanics. and finally, we can see both genders of all aliens races (at least those that are currently in andromeda). though I am not happy with the excuse they found to not show half of the milky way galaxy species, as well as children. facial designs and animations could have been better. the game needed more polish.the game is great. it has cool new gameplay combat and explorations mechanics. and finally, we can see both genders of all aliens races (at least those that are currently in andromeda). though I am not happy with the excuse they found to not show half of the milky way galaxy species, as well as children. facial designs and animations could have been better. the game needed more polish.

there are two big disappointments though. the biggest one is that EA did not release DLCs to continue important stories, and instead choose to put them in the novels. also, there needed to be more content connecting to the original trilogy.

the second issue is the music. the original trilogy is full of wonderfully memorable tracks. this game did not have even one. all the music is forgettable.

the open worlds and exploration are great, though a deeper lore and more memorable minor characters would have been appreciated. still, this game set a lot of material to exploit in future games. it got a somewhat sloppy start, but this game is by no means bad.… Expand

JoseVeras11

Jun 22, 2020

7

Mass Effect Andromeda is a game that was released when it lacked a lot to polish and it has some bugs that should have been corrected. outside of this it was the only Mass Effect that I have played, but I can say that the game is good it has a lot of content and the RPG part is very good. The story is not so good no, it has no Epic moment however the music and the gameplay are very good.Mass Effect Andromeda is a game that was released when it lacked a lot to polish and it has some bugs that should have been corrected. outside of this it was the only Mass Effect that I have played, but I can say that the game is good it has a lot of content and the RPG part is very good. The story is not so good no, it has no Epic moment however the music and the gameplay are very good. Multiplayer is also fun. The graphics are great too, but the facial expressions look bad. Another thing I didn't like is that there are so many side quests and tasks that get tedious and repetitive.
Graphics: 8
Music and FX: 8
Gameplay: 8.5
Duration: 6.5
story: 5
My final grade: 7.2… Expand

Kluco

Jun 21, 2020

7

For a fan of the Mass Effect ME:A might be a disappointment. There are still many improvements, combat feels better than ever and the exploration of an unkown galaxy felt great. The game has quite a few plot holes however the thing i think was the biggest stepback from the previous games were the Squadmates. Not only did the previous games offer more character but i felt more attached toFor a fan of the Mass Effect ME:A might be a disappointment. There are still many improvements, combat feels better than ever and the exploration of an unkown galaxy felt great. The game has quite a few plot holes however the thing i think was the biggest stepback from the previous games were the Squadmates. Not only did the previous games offer more character but i felt more attached to most of them, not to say than there are not any interesting characters in ME.A, i still found many great characters but none came close to my favorite character from the previous games… Expand

ENRY_Critic

Jun 11, 2020

7

Mass Effect Andromeda is a very ambiguous game. The game has both good and bad sides.
Good sides:
- The game is able to create a very beautiful scenery and it`s graphics are quite good - Never before in Mass Effect franchise have fights given me so much pleasure, although some decisions raise questions (for example you can use only 3 abilities) - References to the original trilogy areMass Effect Andromeda is a very ambiguous game. The game has both good and bad sides.
Good sides:
- The game is able to create a very beautiful scenery and it`s graphics are quite good
- Never before in Mass Effect franchise have fights given me so much pleasure, although some decisions raise questions (for example you can use only 3 abilities)
- References to the original trilogy are touching
- Some of our teammates have interesting life stories like in first ME
- Interesting character creator
Bad sides:
- Too many boring and stupid questions
- Even after patches there are some problems with animations
- There are bugs when you get stuck somewhere or fly out of the textures
- Worst ground transport in the all franchise

So, you can try ME: Andromeda if you want to try the role of not only the savior of the universe, but also a simple colonist :)… Expand

snake_arcos

May 24, 2020

5

Olviden la tontería esa de las animaciones faciales, vengo directamente de jugar la trilogía, ya que no la había jugado, maravillosa, emocionadísimo recién terminando el 3 abrí el andromeda, vaya decepción, lo terminé a la fuerza esperando algo bueno, la historia no te motiva a descubrir nada, haces el juego como el que hace la tarea del colegio, no hay misterio, no hay aquella sensaciónOlviden la tontería esa de las animaciones faciales, vengo directamente de jugar la trilogía, ya que no la había jugado, maravillosa, emocionadísimo recién terminando el 3 abrí el andromeda, vaya decepción, lo terminé a la fuerza esperando algo bueno, la historia no te motiva a descubrir nada, haces el juego como el que hace la tarea del colegio, no hay misterio, no hay aquella sensación que te da la trilogía de estar viendo como sería el viaje interestelar y tener todo por descubrir, cosa que tenía tanto potencial al viajar a la galaxia de andromeda, era la idea perfecta para crear algo épico de nuevo, y para los que pasan de la historia y quieren mecánicas, tampoco tiene mucho en mi opinión.… Expand

ComandanteCobra

May 7, 2020

6

Really average...worst than Mass Effect 1, 2 or 3.
Worst part is , sadly, gameplay....story progression require heavy grinding and very repetitive missions (side missions and main quests both).
Boss fight are all the same , planets (Ice, Arid, Jungle..) feel exactly the same, exploration is there but you just wander around to one-click some minerals or scan plants over and over again.Really average...worst than Mass Effect 1, 2 or 3.
Worst part is , sadly, gameplay....story progression require heavy grinding and very repetitive missions (side missions and main quests both).
Boss fight are all the same , planets (Ice, Arid, Jungle..) feel exactly the same, exploration is there but you just wander around to one-click some minerals or scan plants over and over again.
Research for guns and armours upgrade is repetitive (and pointless in some cases), recycled enemy type , NPCS look all the same.
Combat also it's repetitive...more action and less tactical play (control your squadmates is complicated)...so you will just use the same three powers for the entire game.
Rpg (or morals) aspects of the game is , also, reducted ...and most of your choices during missions or dialogues have little to no conseguences.
Good thing about this game are Krogans that have an important part of the plot and an important companion that shred some light on this race… Expand

tagort

Mar 22, 2020

6

I am finally payed and finished this game and now I can say that it was not as bad as everyone says but it definetly was dissapointing. I know that most bugs and animation issues was fixed at this moment (though not all for sure) but pointless grind, booring sidequests and lame script is still here. That game have good shooter mechanic, bunch of inteesting characters and sometiemes evenI am finally payed and finished this game and now I can say that it was not as bad as everyone says but it definetly was dissapointing. I know that most bugs and animation issues was fixed at this moment (though not all for sure) but pointless grind, booring sidequests and lame script is still here. That game have good shooter mechanic, bunch of inteesting characters and sometiemes even exelent atmospheric moments. But it sucks 80% time you playing it. Still other 20% gave me positive emotions. So I am not give up on Bioware and hope that they continue Rider's story but do it right negt time.… Expand

c300g97

Feb 6, 2020

7

The game has been properly fixed in time, and it is nowadays enjoyable from beginning to ending , but it lacks the mass effect feeling to it, less rpg and decisive, the game feels open world for all the wrong reasons. The action is probably 10 times better than it has ever been in Mass Effect.

LaDix

Nov 26, 2019

5

okay so I had never played the mass effect games before, and sins I just finished dragon age "1,2 and 3", and I thought I would try the other game series bungie has made, so you bought Mass effect 1 and liked it, then I bought ME2, also liked it, thought to my self I might as well finished the series, and bought ME3, then I saw I could get the newest Mass effect: Andromeda, and peopleokay so I had never played the mass effect games before, and sins I just finished dragon age "1,2 and 3", and I thought I would try the other game series bungie has made, so you bought Mass effect 1 and liked it, then I bought ME2, also liked it, thought to my self I might as well finished the series, and bought ME3, then I saw I could get the newest Mass effect: Andromeda, and people have said it was bad and all that, but I am a open minded person and not a hardcore fan of the serie, but got dammmm this game is bad, I am so happy I played 1,2 and 3 insted of this, it is so boring, the faces they make legit creeps me out sometimes, but tbh the game is good damm beautiful I will give it that, beside that it is just bad and boring, so happy I did't pay the full price for this.… Expand

Jckovacks

Nov 19, 2019

6

No comprendo las puntuaciones tan bajas y la "caza de brujas" a la que este juego ha sido sometido.
Pese a algún problema técnico(que los tiene), el juego presenta una historia épica con cientos de localizaciones que explorar, razas con las que involúcrate, secundarias de calidad (no todas) y una jugabilidad con cientos de posibilidades y un gunplay más que aceptable.
A mi juicio sonNo comprendo las puntuaciones tan bajas y la "caza de brujas" a la que este juego ha sido sometido.
Pese a algún problema técnico(que los tiene), el juego presenta una historia épica con cientos de localizaciones que explorar, razas con las que involúcrate, secundarias de calidad (no todas) y una jugabilidad con cientos de posibilidades y un gunplay más que aceptable.

A mi juicio son dos sus principales problemas:
- El exceso de tareas secundarias, que hacen que la calidad de estas no mantenga un buen nivel y que muchas te obliguen a ir de planeta en planeta para solo tener una conversación y volverte a mandar a la otra punta de la galaxia.
- Los tiempos de carga entre planetas, incluso en el propio navegador de la nave, lo cual no termino de comprender.

Que las animaciones no sean buenas, es algo a lo que rápidamente te acostumbras y te pasa desapercibido. Le invertí 68h para terminarlo y fue una experiencia muy satisfactoria.
Si prefieren valorar este título de acuerdo con la gente que le pone un 0, porque leen en las reviews que no han trabajado las animaciones faciales allá ustedes.… Expand

toxyk

Jun 3, 2019

6

La decepción hecha videojuego, un mal sueño para cualquier fan de la saga, vaya cagadón de Bioware

Your_Muza

May 9, 2019

7

(7.5) I don't know why everyone hates this game... Of course this isn't good enough for Mass Effect. But the game doesn't deserve all this hatred. I played for 50 hours and i am not tired! It's rare for me.
I liked the story and the characters. Optional quests 50/50. 50% are very interesting and other 50% grind. And without scanner the game would be much better.

SirHeathcliff

Mar 31, 2019

7

Anyone who rated this lower than a 5 is a casual gamer. They expect everything to be perfect, are overly swayed by public opinion, and generally just don't play it long enough to get a full grasp of the game.
Was this game perfect? Absolutely not, far from it. The graphics were kinda dated, the story was a little lack luster, and the animations were absolutely dreadful and an absoluteAnyone who rated this lower than a 5 is a casual gamer. They expect everything to be perfect, are overly swayed by public opinion, and generally just don't play it long enough to get a full grasp of the game.
Was this game perfect? Absolutely not, far from it. The graphics were kinda dated, the story was a little lack luster, and the animations were absolutely dreadful and an absolute disgrace for any developer who dares call themselves AAA.
But there were a ton of new mechanics, new species of aliens, and fun times to be had in this game. The story was still somewhat captivating and I genuinely had fun with it.
However, Bioware has fallen under the choking grip of the overly SJW and greedy EA and this showed for this game.
The graphics were dated and looked like they were a few years old at launch because EA had to cut corners for maximum profit. The animations were some of the worst done this decade and whoever the lead animator was needs to be fired and never let back into the gaming industry because they clearly either dont have a degree in animation, the ambition to make a good game, or eyes to see how dreadful their work was. Also if you are looking to enjoy the romances in this game as much as in the past 3, you will be greatly disappointed. If you are looking to date the guy companions, you wont be too sad for they seemed somewhat fleshed out and enjoyable. But anyone looking to romance a female companion, good luck buddy. None of them are aesthetically pleasing, and only one has an enjoyable personality.

Overall, If i had known what i know now, I would still buy this game. However, it has next to no replay value.… Expand

stafdude

Mar 24, 2019

6

So I read all the negative reviews on launch, which is why I bought the game heavily discounted just before xmas 2018. I have now completed the main story and a lot of the side missions, having played 129 hours in total.

From the reviews, there seemed to be a couple of major problems. One was the 'uglification' of characters as part of a sinister SJW plot aiming to rob geeks of theirSo I read all the negative reviews on launch, which is why I bought the game heavily discounted just before xmas 2018. I have now completed the main story and a lot of the side missions, having played 129 hours in total.

From the reviews, there seemed to be a couple of major problems.

One was the 'uglification' of characters as part of a sinister SJW plot aiming to rob geeks of their only access to good looking ***. I never played with the template heroes in ME games, so I created my own pathfinder and didnt use the generic Sarah Ryder so I was not subjected to that experience. I did however notice that it was very difficult to create a character that didnt entice the vomit reflex on sight. But I managed. Also seems like a lot of the NPCs hade quite a lot of extra charm in the chest area - which should mean the "sjw" masters didnt have total control over the process.

Onther reported issue were the bugs, the faulty animations and when functioning - poor facial animations. I experienced no game breaking bugs. I never saw a major animation glitch. I guess these issues were fixed at some point after launch. What I did however see were really bad facial animations (see the plethora of memes). Some characters look like they are severey depressed or had a lobotomy. Others look completely fine, but then they start talking an the lip movements look like a bad joke. I think they must have corrected some of these animations, because at times its hardly noticeable - but then there are whole segments where the animations look retarded. Most of the time you can ignore it. Something that is truly annoying though are the body animations - you dont feel like youre controlling a human being - but more like a bird with a human head. With the aliens this was not a problem for me, maybe they had bird like ancestors. But humans evolved from apes, not birds.

Another purported problem was the writing - the storyline and questing. Dialog choices are usually fine but most of the time unecessary since they have little impact on the story. Sometimes you make choices that will have an impact but mostly not. What I actually liked was the romancing (i did Peebee) which added an additional spice and served to make the story a bit more immersive. In general the story is pretty generic. Big bad wants to kill everyone because of reasons and power. You are a chosen person with special abilities that has to stop big bad because humanity and stuff. Its fine, but probably something anyone with a basic understanding of sci fi / fantasy could concoct.

What is less fine are the fetch/kill evil rando dude quests required before you can plant bases on the plantes. Although some of these do make sense, a lot of them feel repetetive and boring. All in all the writing feels sub par.

The vaults are are basically just different maps with the same elements, enemies and other assets. The planets are actually quite diefferen from each other which I liked. The user map is atrocious though. Especially on that jungle planet that I mentally blocked from memory. Crafting is mostly pointless and boring. The inventory system is messy and feels poorly constructed.

Ok so why do I give this game a 6, and not a 3 or 4? Well, for one after ME1-3 there are no other sci fi space opera games of this magnitude out there. At this point in time there are cash grabbing boring as **** looter-shooters and "battle royale" (is a game mode not a genre ppl!!! ffs.) games, dumb mobile-esque games, loot box filled "games as a service" bull etc. The spiritual replacement of ME is apparently Anthem, which seems to be totally broken on launch.

So in the current gaming climate, were you to ask me if you should get ME andromeda or one of the currrent crappy tripple A scam titles - yes my advice is get ME Andromeda. The story isnt epic, but its fine. The planets are sufficiently diverse. Some story lines are fun. The combat is actually nice. It is single player, so you dont have to play with immersion breaking morons and you dont have to buy loot boxes to have the full experience.… Expand

Daermon

Feb 22, 2019

7

Not bad, but not too good. After the patches the game is fine, the crafting and gunplay very good, but the story and few charachters is just meh.
Kobile app is good.
Multiplayer is meh.

QuatokyTonberry

Jan 23, 2019

6

Gameplay: - Good
Story: - Normal
Visual: - Good
Music and sound: - Good
*Microtransaction in multiplayer
*Lots of grinding
Average time: - 84h
Score: - 6 (Normal)

Quatoky

Dec 11, 2018

7

Story - Normal
Gameplay - Good
Visual - Very Good
Microtransactions - Yes
Pointless open world - Yes

IntotheCosmo

Nov 27, 2018

6

A now common "miss" from studio that was beloved not too long ago. Mass Effect: Andromeda is Bioware's reboot of the Mass Effect franchise, and a rather half-baked attempt at trying to forge new frontiers in an already adored franchise. Much like Dragon Age: Inquisition, however, this entry fails to recapture the brilliance that Bioware became famous for.

Absent is the immersive writingA now common "miss" from studio that was beloved not too long ago. Mass Effect: Andromeda is Bioware's reboot of the Mass Effect franchise, and a rather half-baked attempt at trying to forge new frontiers in an already adored franchise. Much like Dragon Age: Inquisition, however, this entry fails to recapture the brilliance that Bioware became famous for.

Absent is the immersive writing and lovable characters. Gone are the moments that make your heart pound and your eyes water. Forgotten are memorable questlines and the general sense of tension and danger when trying to complete a task. Andromeda offers little in terms of gripping world-building, having to, instead, lean heavily on its predecessors. Which is shame considering that its setting had so much potential for new and exciting lore to be explored.

Moving past the most critical features of storytelling, one runs into the general signs of lack of polish: models that are copy-pasted and overall horrendous looking, animations that are memeable in their faulty mechanics, and dialogue lines that are both poorly thought-out and poorly delivered.

That said, there is some good. The environments are beautiful, if a bit badly optimized. Driving is 100% better than any Mako or Hammerhead. The combat is a bit too fast to be my cup of tea, but there are some interesting features such as new powers, combos, and the profile system which allows for a wide range of playstyles to approach every situation from.

The development of Mass Effect: Andromeda is a sad story of trying to do too much with too little (a very well written article from Kotaku describes the hardships of the dev team), and unfortunately, it shows. Andromeda may bring more to the table in terms of graphics and combat, but it fails at what everyone wanted it to be most: a engaging story that has you hooked from the get-go and leaves you salivating for more by the time the credits play.

One can only hope that Bioware's next foray into the Mass Effect universe will see a return to a world that not only looks and plays nice but feels rich and alive as well.… Expand

Rilke21

Oct 2, 2018

6

This review comes after 48 hours of play, low expectations and a bunch of patches. The verdict? Andromeda is by no means an excellent game, but it's not terrible.

The Pros -Except for some wonky animations (female faces in general), the game is beautiful. -Voice acting is generally strong. -Multiplayer is fun...in short doses. -Combat is excellent. They really nailed it. The ConsThis review comes after 48 hours of play, low expectations and a bunch of patches. The verdict? Andromeda is by no means an excellent game, but it's not terrible.

The Pros
-Except for some wonky animations (female faces in general), the game is beautiful.
-Voice acting is generally strong.
-Multiplayer is fun...in short doses.
-Combat is excellent. They really nailed it.

The Cons
-Generally horrific level design. You blow hours scanning for glifs, trying to get over mountains or wondering "what the hell am I supposed to do next." Locations become repetitive fast. Whoever first equated "procedurally generated" with "fun" should be shot.
-The map. Oh god the map. Terrible optimization that leads to plenty of mindless wandering.
-The story. It's not all bad. Actually, I was quite drawn in by the first half of the game. But...the quests...are almost entirely miss-able. The end game content is dreadfully boring.
-The fun factor. Or more specifically, the lack of it. Because of all of the above, there is just too much about Andromeda that isn't fun. Driving in circles for hours? Ughhhh. Lackluster quests? Meh. Lack of any real narrative? ...Why?

I should say, for most of my experience, I was thinking..."this is a 7 game. I don't understand why it's getting so much hate." It wasn't until the entirely underwhelming endgame content that the "unfinished" quality of this game becomes unforgivable.

I bought Andromeda for $30 and I don't regret it. Will I be playing it more than once?

Meh. Doubt it.… Expand

sevh

Sep 13, 2018

5

For me it's a step back in the franchise, the premise is good but it's a licensed chapter. The original triology is superior in all respects.
It is noted that the game is not developed by the original team, even so if you like the saga you will enjoy it.
The artistic section is good highlighting above all the lighting and the soundtrack IF YOU ARE NEW IN THE SAGA PLAY THIS DELIVERY INFor me it's a step back in the franchise, the premise is good but it's a licensed chapter. The original triology is superior in all respects.
It is noted that the game is not developed by the original team, even so if you like the saga you will enjoy it.
The artistic section is good highlighting above all the lighting and the soundtrack
IF YOU ARE NEW IN THE SAGA PLAY THIS DELIVERY IN THE LAST PLACE… Expand

prossnip42

Aug 2, 2018

5

What the hell happened here. How did we go from Mass Effect 3 to this? What were you thinking Bioware? Actually that's a bit harsh because the real culprit here is EA. That big company sucking Leviathan is trying its best to completely destroy Bioware like they did with Visceral games. So why is Andromeda such a painfully average game? Well many reasons actually but let's do this one at aWhat the hell happened here. How did we go from Mass Effect 3 to this? What were you thinking Bioware? Actually that's a bit harsh because the real culprit here is EA. That big company sucking Leviathan is trying its best to completely destroy Bioware like they did with Visceral games. So why is Andromeda such a painfully average game? Well many reasons actually but let's do this one at a time.

Pros:
-Give credit where it's due, the graphics are pretty damn great. I was fortunate enough to purchase this game very late so all the hilarious bugs and glitches that i saw on the internet were thankfully non present throughout most of my experience and the game looked pretty appealing
-Driving the Mako actually feels nice for once and the whole planet traversing and exploration thing from Mass Effect 1 was brought back only this time so much more polished and satisfying
-The combat (while it's the most simplistic of the entire franchise) is pretty fluid and fun. Everything feels satisfying to shoot and the guns pack a good impact.

Cons:
-This is my biggest problem with the game. The story. Needless to say the story in Andromeda is boring and cliche beyond all belief. It really is terrible. The Kett are the most generic type of grunts you'll ever see and the Archon is a budget version of Saren, only less interesting, less compelling and doesn't have a cool voice.
-The characters are also terrible. I mean nothing will ever really come close to the Normandy crew but the companions that you're given are beyond boring and uninteresting. Nothing feels urgent, nothing feels like an impending doom is coming, it's just a slog, a 20 hour boring slog.

In conclusion, Andromeda's gameplay isn't that bad but the gameplay isn't why people played Mass Effect. It was for the story, the interesting characters, the plot twists, the larger than life conflict. Because if you take all of those elements out you're left with a basic third person cover shooter and nowhere is this more obvious than in Andromeda… Expand

mondovious

Jun 25, 2018

7

Whenever you see such a disparity between the user scores and critic scores, you should realize something is up. This game got some really bad PR rep at release that biased many people's opinions of it quite unfairly. These reviews of 0-5 are totally bogus. MEA is a high quality game. It is very similar to the level of quality we saw in DAI (in my opinion slightly better), so while it'sWhenever you see such a disparity between the user scores and critic scores, you should realize something is up. This game got some really bad PR rep at release that biased many people's opinions of it quite unfairly. These reviews of 0-5 are totally bogus. MEA is a high quality game. It is very similar to the level of quality we saw in DAI (in my opinion slightly better), so while it's not likely to win any GOTY awards, it is quite an enjoyable game to play if you give it a chance.… Expand

DillDoughNut

May 18, 2018

7

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. (Note: This game is only worth ~ $10). While Andromeda is not close to comparing to the original trilogy, it sloppily delivered a game that was very enjoyable at face value. I only paid $5 (EA Origin Access), and I found it to be fun. The premise had such a great potential, exploring a new galaxy and finding habitable places for colonization while fighting a hostile alien species. But, this game didn't really follow through with any of its content. Also, character customization was, well, super lame. Every human looked similar because there is like 6 hairstyles per gender . I would of rather waited for EA and Bioware to wait another 3-4 years and had a legendary game similar to Witcher 3 or even previous Mass Effects.

The game felt rushed, even after a years worth of patches to fix it. Human faces looked lifeless most of the time, like talking to androids. Asari for some reason looked like chubby little kids, not how they used to in the PAST THREE GAMES, which doesnt make sense. Some of the voice actors were great, others sounded like they were picked up for $5 and a lollipop. More than half of the side quests and "tasks" were boring and lacked any depth. I ended up not even completing 20+ side quests just because it was the same three steps: Travel, Kill and Scan. But to be honest, it is hard to live up to the previous ME games.

(On a side note, many people complain about the SJW undertones, and while I understand, I don't think it affected the game to the point where it was something to dock points for. )

I completed all of the loyalty missions, a good chunk of side quests and then finihsed the story and it took 40+ hours to complete. It kept me hooked for the most part, and like I said earlier, it was a good game, not great or amazing. Members of the team you eventually pick up were here and there, two in particular I hated Liam and PeeBee. They were a good assembly of squad mates with fun personalities, but none compared to the previous games' squadmates. None of their backstories were expanded upon unfortunately.

The settings were cool for the most part, beautiful looking planets and hostile wild life was pretty entertaining at first, but got boring after playing for longer periods of time. Driving the Nomad was also incredibly satisfying. Combat was probably the best in the series in terms of shooting and fluid movement. I had a lot of fun with the combat, easily the best pro of the game.

To wrap up, I believe any Mass Effect fan should give this game a chance for a sale price of 5-10 dollars. While the game isn't great, its good, good enough to at least give a chance. I didn't experience to many glitches in my 40+ hours of playing. I think if EA and BioWare took more time to refine this game and add more "flavor" to certain areas, it would easily be comparable to the others in the series.

Next time, try not to be selfish EA, I find it hard to comprehend that rather than making an excellent game and putting the time and resources into it, they would rather make a average game at best and spending as little money as possible to rake in a larger profit. Please, for the love of god, take example from CD Projekt Red or even your other previous installments.… Expand

birdman3

May 11, 2018

7

I don't believe this game to be the franchise killer that many make it out to be, but while there are many steps forward in this game, there are plenty of steps back. The changes to combat are great, in that you feel more versatile, agile, and height adds a third dimension to combat that was mostly missing in previous games. However, while the combat is a step forward, I see the skillI don't believe this game to be the franchise killer that many make it out to be, but while there are many steps forward in this game, there are plenty of steps back. The changes to combat are great, in that you feel more versatile, agile, and height adds a third dimension to combat that was mostly missing in previous games. However, while the combat is a step forward, I see the skill system as a step back. Only three active abilities at a time? I don't find myself switching profiles that often during combat, so I'm frequently stuck with the same three abilities on repeat for most of the game. I found that to be a frustrating downgrade from the previous series. Not to mention that you're no longer in control of your allies abilities - who should I take into battle with me? It doesn't matter in the slightest!

The universe that's presented is large and varied, but it's also quite empty. Traveling from system to system is more of a chore than anything else because you can only land on a few planets to begin with (not that I would want to land on all of them anyways). Once you start on each planet, you have your typical quest hubs that send you out into the unknown to do the same old things over and over again - go out to a navigation point, fight a few guys, scan a thing, follow a trail of bread crumbs to another point, do the same thing, etc. The quests were so repetitive that it got on my nerves and I wished for the more linear style that we got in the previous games. That's where Mass Effect shined the best in the previous games and in this one, in my opinion. Send me on a mission, give me a beginning and an endpoint, and put some bad guys for me to shoot in between. Make me feel like I'm doing something. Too many quests result in simple skirmishes that are ended easily, not to mention the frequent respawns of enemies that pop out of nowhere like "Oh my gosh! I have to kill these guys!", except that you can just keep driving in your car and you can avoid them entirely.

In the year since release, I can say that the animations have been improved - I didn't see much of the laughable bad facial animations that were such a joke early on, but there were many bugs that caused me to either have to reload a save or wait for something to trigger on the computer's end. It made it frustrating because sometimes when I couldn't advance in a level I wasn't sure if it was me or the computer.

Ugh- so many things I want to say about this game, but it's really not worth it to put it all into words - basically, they made some things more complex than they needed to be, and should have done a better job.… Expand

CallenAmakuni

Apr 3, 2018

7

This game saddens me not because of what it is, but because of what it could have been. I have 40 hours in so far, I've cleared the storyline, and the only thing I have in mind for sure is a single question: Why waste so much potential?

This game could have been much more than a not-exceptional-but-pretty-good one. It could have been a masterpiece given the appropriate time andThis game saddens me not because of what it is, but because of what it could have been. I have 40 hours in so far, I've cleared the storyline, and the only thing I have in mind for sure is a single question: Why waste so much potential?

This game could have been much more than a not-exceptional-but-pretty-good one. It could have been a masterpiece given the appropriate time and resources.

But let's start with giving credit where it's due.

- I waited a year to get the most optimized version possible (which shouldn't happen in the first place), and the technical difficulties that everyone has been complaining about are pretty much non-existent now, or at least I didn't experience them. Sure, some faces are frankly ugly and all Asari look the freakin' same except for Peebee, but animations are not bad. They're not good either but hey, Mass Effect was never known for its animations. The game is very pretty, and while it's not the technical breakthrough some people expected with Frostbite, it still does visual justice to the universe we're exploring (and a few sceneries are honestly gorgeous).
- The actual gameplay is fantastic; gunfights are nervous, dynamic and the weapons have a very good feeling at usage (My sniper rifle's shot echoing through a valley is the most satisfying thing I've experienced in this game). The Nomad also handles pretty well (especially when comparing it to the Mako).
- SOME quests are very good. For example, Cora's Loyalty Mission genuinely felt like I was back playing a ME3 mission all over again. It's a shame only a handful of other quests made me feel that way.
- The profiles system is a good idea, even though it could have been pushed further with more specialized trees.
- The companions are interesting to an extent (but the ability to roleplay is severely lacking compared to the OT).
- The mystery surrounding a certain ancient species looks very promising for future installments (and their tech looks badass).

Now onto the fun part:

- The writing, for the most part, is atrociously cringey. Some lines of dialogue honestly felt like they were taken straight out of a bad Fanfiction.
- I feel like the general tone is a lot lighter than the OT's, in a bad way. There are basically no stakes. No danger. The main enemy faction is a joke, a bad copy paste from the Trilogy's Reapers. The final mission started pretty awesome and ended in the most anticlimactic way possible. The only thing that kept me going, for the most part, is a completely optional side of the main quest.
- While this is more of a personal grief, I don't understand why they felt that adding a single new species was a good idea. We mostly just see the OT's species in Andromeda.
- Most of the quests are boring as heck. Their structure mostly consists of the talk-to-this-guy-go-there-talk-to-that-guy-come-back-fight-some-guys-yay-you-won thingy. MMO style fetch quests are not what Mass Effect is about. More quests like the Loyalty missions would have been appreciated. Those had stakes and genuinely made me worry about the characters and their motivations.

I'd give this game a 7.5/10 if that was possible, but that leans more toward 7 than 8. As a Mass Effect fan, I think, it loses a significant chunk of its charm, and I'd probably give it a solid 8/10 if I hadn't gone through Shepard's trilogy 15 times.

Again, what I see is so much burned potential. Even the animations look amazing in some scenes (no, I'm not joking, check Cora's intimate scene or the last mission's cutscenes), but they're below average most of the time. I'm not hating Bioware for this, but I'm definitely calling it a disappointment.

I bought it for 10 dollars, and I don't regret doing so. Some moments were genuinely fun. It's just that this game does not meet what we have come to expect from a Bioware game.… Expand

Infearno666

Mar 18, 2018

7

The game itself it pretty good, combat is great and the wold building is amazing. However your actions and desisions feel like they have zero effect. There is no player impact and therefore no player angency. On top of this I have one minor complaint and one majour one. The minor is that you get to watch the same damn take off and landing animations everytime you return to the ship, andThe game itself it pretty good, combat is great and the wold building is amazing. However your actions and desisions feel like they have zero effect. There is no player impact and therefore no player angency. On top of this I have one minor complaint and one majour one. The minor is that you get to watch the same damn take off and landing animations everytime you return to the ship, and you'll be doing that a lot if you want to make the most of your strike teams. Tha 2nd, and much more jarring problem is the random freezing out of the game. Sometimes I can play unhindered for hours without it freezing, other times it'll lock up after 10 minutes.… Expand

post_no_bills

Mar 4, 2018

5

This game is not terrible. But it is certainly not particularly good.

One rule of thumb for video games, at least for me, is that they should be more interesting than re-watching shows on Netflix. This game does not pass that test. Here is how I see it: If you played Mass Effect 2 and loved it, then you will probably not like this game. It is very much like they took everythingThis game is not terrible. But it is certainly not particularly good.

One rule of thumb for video games, at least for me, is that they should be more interesting than re-watching shows on Netflix. This game does not pass that test.

Here is how I see it:

If you played Mass Effect 2 and loved it, then you will probably not like this game. It is very much like they took everything I either disliked or was indifferent to in the ME series and multiplied it by 100, and everything that actually made the series great was reduced.

I never really liked wandering around planets in that stupid truck. That is about 70% of the game now.
I never really liked scanning things. That is a huge part of the game now.
Mining? Didn't care for it. Hugely expanded.

And the stuff I did like? The combat missions that were the core of ME2? They are still there, but you have to suffer through hours of tedium between them. Most of the game seems to be driving around looking for people I don't care about to give me meaningless missions I don't care about which results in more driving around. Oh, and mining. And lots of puzzles. Yay, puzzles.

I spent a day and a half of my weekend playing this, and frankly I wish I'd spent it watchin Dr. Who reruns, or maybe cleaning my garage. In that entire time there was maybe 2 missions that were even close to what the normal missions in ME2 were like.

So, to sum it up:

Driving the truck around planets is boring.
Talking with people you don't care about is boring.
Solving puzzles is annoying.
Mining is boring.
The characters are not compelling.
The story arc is not compelling.
The interesting combat missions are too few and far between.
Tiny little meaningless battles in the middle of nowhere are absolutely no replacement for actual ME2-style missions.

I'm done. Thank God it was only $13. If I had paid full price I would be really annoyed.… Expand

Tigran

Feb 2, 2018

6

I am a huuge Mass Effect fan... except for this one. I felt that Andromeda wouldn't be able to reach the heights of ME3, as that one is almost perfection. But Andromeda proved to be even less, a medium class game which you are not quite sure if it's good or bad.
The game is most definitely beautiful, especially the interstellar travel parts and on 4k monitor. The story is good and theI am a huuge Mass Effect fan... except for this one. I felt that Andromeda wouldn't be able to reach the heights of ME3, as that one is almost perfection. But Andromeda proved to be even less, a medium class game which you are not quite sure if it's good or bad.
The game is most definitely beautiful, especially the interstellar travel parts and on 4k monitor. The story is good and the main missions are interesting. One of the best parts - you get a freaking good-looking vehicle, the Nomad, to explore the planets (it does not have a gun, which would've been perfect, but anyway). The combat is pretty good, with many fighting styles.
The good part pretty much ends with that. The conversations are very long, sometimes even meaningless and awkward. The flirting is awful and there is no one to even want to flirt with - the asaris and the angara are disgusting, there is just one normal looking human female (with bad hair) with whom I didn't find a way to flirt... you can have the guys if you are gay (I'm not). The side missions get repetitive and boring pretty soon (I just liked driving the Nomad, that's why I finished most of them).
To summarize, you get a mixed gameplay experience, with a downward progressing sentiment, i.e. you like the game less and less as you progress through the game.… Expand

misfit5

Jan 20, 2018

7

I have finished this game: 76%, played almost 40h version 1.10. The game is a struggle for the first few hours or so. There no denying that it can be unnerving at times. I didn't care as much for my companions as in previous ME games or Dragon Age games. All that said I really have enjoyed how this game makes everything we do in game as a team effort, and provides this feeling that theI have finished this game: 76%, played almost 40h version 1.10. The game is a struggle for the first few hours or so. There no denying that it can be unnerving at times. I didn't care as much for my companions as in previous ME games or Dragon Age games. All that said I really have enjoyed how this game makes everything we do in game as a team effort, and provides this feeling that the whole Nexus expedition helps you in your endeavor to make Helios cluster home for every race. If you are a mass effect fan don't hesitate to play this game.… Expand

dandalis

Jan 17, 2018

7

Andromeda certainly is a quite polarizing game, but Jesus lord Christ allmighty its not as bad as the internet hate train suggests it to be. Weakest Mass Effect game ? 100 % yes, Bad game ? Not by a long shot.

Biggest 2 sins the game commits from my experience are the still even in build 1.09 present numerous bugs, glitches and other technical issues like lazy animation work and badlyAndromeda certainly is a quite polarizing game, but Jesus lord Christ allmighty its not as bad as the internet hate train suggests it to be. Weakest Mass Effect game ? 100 % yes, Bad game ? Not by a long shot.

Biggest 2 sins the game commits from my experience are the still even in build 1.09 present numerous bugs, glitches and other technical issues like lazy animation work and badly lit enviroments, plus the disappointing writing, as much as people like to hate on voice actors, you have to remember an actor can be only as good as the script he works with.

I should also add, while PC version has plenty of features and customasibilty, the PC port's performance is very sub par, i had to go along Medium settings to get playable performance when i can run Frostbite games like Battlefield 1 and Mirror's Edge Catalyst on Ultra 40 - 50 fps on my GTX 1050 Ti, here in Adromeda on Ultra im getting pathetic 20 - 25 fps, stutter, fps drops all over the place, complete game freezeups for 5 - 10 seconds, i have strong suspicion of memory leakage cuz my 8 GB of RAM gets maxed out. I've even seen GTX 1060 not being able to reach stable 60 fps on Ultra where as in Battlefield 1 that card does near 100 fps...

I blame EA the most for this game's rushed release date and unfinished state, extra couple of months couldve done the game so much good helping deliver well running game and fixed animations plus other technical mishaps, there's no chance all this crap didnt got raised up in quality control departments during game testing, yet EA just ingored everything and sabotaged the game's launch and never fixed it proper., they just ran away from the criticisms with head burried in sand.

With that out of the way i have to say game is still luckily playble with turned down settings, otherwise i wouldnt had invested nearly 4 weeks into completing it. Some of the saving graces are the planet and Heleus cluster systems space exploration. It doesnt reinvent open world gameplay, but still driving Nomad over the maps, exploring places, driving up and over mountains, seeing the great looking environments, it all kinda adds up for an enjoyable spent time. The Tempest is a really cool place to be in, good amount of attention to detail has been put into Tempest interior, it really felt like being on Normandy again for the first time, this time there are more windows on space so you can see the planets, stars and other bodies in space which are quite well made to feel authentic,
looking into space from Tempest's bridge its especialy awesome, it really feels like youre out in vaquum of space, something trilogy's games didnt really made you feel like that well.

Characters wise, there's no denying, original trilogy's lineup is an extremely tough act to follow, but Bioware Montreal didnt actually disappoint, Vetra, Jaal, Drack, Pebee, Cora and Liam was a cool team to have, some of them can be annoying at times, true, but i really enjoyed their banter, their loyalty missions, light they shed on their history and reasons why they joined the initiative. However the Tempest crew felt a bit lacking, while he's no Joker i still liked Kello, Lexi was alright, but Suvi and Gil especialy felt like not well developed, written charcters to me.

As for Ryder, i dont know, Ryder aint no Sheperd, what hurt Ryder the most was the dialoge that was written for him/her, lack of ability to create an attractive person to play as, really i have no idea why nearly all presets are so horrid looking, had to go with one of the female asian ones which is most acceptable looking one and those still existant goofy facial animations in places. I even think they should've let us play as old man Ryder not his children, or atleast give us an option to do so.

On story side of things, there were ups and downs but overall, the main missions, the unique places you go to, new people you meet, all had something interersting enough to offer for me as a Mass Effect fan. I genuinely enjoyed the mysteries and revelations Heleus cluster had to uncover. Kett threat probably wasnt as menacing as i wanted it to be, also you get very little exposure with main baddie Arcon. Finding intel about other species missing arks with their Pathfinders and tracking them down was cool and intriguing. What the story lacked heavily perhaps were the really emotional moments and properly important feeling choices of the trilogy.

In the end im really sad about how EA treated Andromeda, it still sold enough copies to make them profit, the reviews werent so bad, still they cancelled any planned DLC like Quarian Ark that me and millions of fans would've wanted, closed the Montreal studio entirely, they put whole Mass Effect franchise on ice in favor of Destiny type online casino cash cow game, this is not the fate Andromeda or Mass Effect as a whole deserved.… Expand

leSange

Jan 16, 2018

6

Ну я зачистил на 98% пацаны, нормальный Инквизишн в космосе с покатушками, очень комфортный геймплей, а Dolby Vision в 4к на ультрах смотрится потрясающе, а лицевая анимация такаяже как Инквизишн, даже багов поменьше

Mektu

Dec 28, 2017

5

I forced myself to play through the entirety of this game and I can not rate it any higher than "average at best". The story is weird, the voice acting is horrendous, most dialogues with crew members are cringeworthy, and side quests are MMORPG-style fetch missions.
The only positive thing about Andromeda is the combat, so if you like to pew-pew and are willing to completely ignore theI forced myself to play through the entirety of this game and I can not rate it any higher than "average at best". The story is weird, the voice acting is horrendous, most dialogues with crew members are cringeworthy, and side quests are MMORPG-style fetch missions.
The only positive thing about Andromeda is the combat, so if you like to pew-pew and are willing to completely ignore the side quests, I'd recommend waiting for a sale and erasing any previous expectations for this game.… Expand

Amsheagar

Dec 22, 2017

5

I ended this game today. I did nearly all quests, except 4-5 sidemissions. This game was a huge disapoint for me. I verly like the mass effect universe, but this, it hasn't got any mass effect essence.
This is a very long game, after 20 hours it became very boring and repetative. i played 89 hours with it
. The story and the action are boring. Ther is no tactics. The characters areI ended this game today. I did nearly all quests, except 4-5 sidemissions. This game was a huge disapoint for me. I verly like the mass effect universe, but this, it hasn't got any mass effect essence.
This is a very long game, after 20 hours it became very boring and repetative. i played 89 hours with it
.
The story and the action are boring. Ther is no tactics. The characters are ugly. The crew are unsalty. It has only a few playable planet in a vast new galaxy and every quests happen on the same planets again and again. This was very frustrating.
On the psitive side, The space art and landscape are very beautiful. I liked see and scan the planets better, than played the story.

after all, this is a correct game, but nothing more, it is very poor for a mass effect game. It gives me nothing plus… Expand

Notarzt

Dec 19, 2017

7

Are the Animations bad? Yes, human faces are straight horrifying at times. Does that impact the game experience? Again, yes it does and I wish they would've done better. But does that mean the game in general is bad? No, definitely not. The World look gorges, the story doesn't start off as bad as some people claim and if you like the old Mass Effect, there is enjoyment in this game.

loslos

Dec 15, 2017

5

i love the original trilogy but Andromeda's game world is just too uninteresting. The repetitiveness of the quests is too overwhelming for me, but I suppose if a player enjoys the hoard and fetch quests then there is great scenery to enjoy.

Trenos

Nov 29, 2017

7

Andromeda would be a weak game if not for the combat system, combat system is amazing. This is one of the best system on the game of all time, now I can't wait for Anthem! Andromeda has some pros, some characters are good and music isn't that bad. If you aren't fan of Mass Effect franchise than I think(ironically,) you should play this game.

PappyBakesCakes

Nov 27, 2017

5

Pos:
-The game as a whole looks beautiful and the planets are unique.
-Combat is very well done. -Riding in the vehicle can be very satisfying. There was this one time on an asteroid and some biggggg jumps... -First and last missions are sort of compelling. Cons -Menus are a bit clunky. -Character animations are typically quite poor. -Almost everyone is unpleasant to look at.Pos:
-The game as a whole looks beautiful and the planets are unique.
-Combat is very well done.
-Riding in the vehicle can be very satisfying. There was this one time on an asteroid and some biggggg jumps...
-First and last missions are sort of compelling.

Cons
-Menus are a bit clunky.
-Character animations are typically quite poor.
-Almost everyone is unpleasant to look at.
-Dialogue does the job but feels uninspired and sometimes cringy.
-After ME3 these flight animations feel like forever and the hubs are not designed for ease of access to the ship. Overall a lot more time spent waiting than in ME3.
-Side quests are not very meaningful and feel forced just to add more "depth" to the world. There is just so much more stuff to do and while that is not necessarily a bad thing if you are into that style of gameplay it does not add much else for the others who were expecting meaningful interactions like the ones found in the trilogy.

So... if you were expecting another ME game you will be disappointed but if you dont mind Oblivion style faces/animations/dialogue and havent played the main trilogy then by all means give this a go. After all that it is one of the free games on Origin Access which is only $5 and includes the original trilogy.… Expand

asminastan

Nov 10, 2017

7

Mass Effect: Andromeda is a game very much like Dragon Age Inquisition, expansive open world with a limited story due to the developers assuming you will spend time exploring the world they created. The combat is fun and there are tons of tactics that you can use, you won't find many people who play similarly. To give a clue on game length, i did about 90% of the content and it took meMass Effect: Andromeda is a game very much like Dragon Age Inquisition, expansive open world with a limited story due to the developers assuming you will spend time exploring the world they created. The combat is fun and there are tons of tactics that you can use, you won't find many people who play similarly. To give a clue on game length, i did about 90% of the content and it took me roughly 50 hours for my first play-through.

Is it worth buying? Yes.

I'll go through some things in the game so people can check it out to see if this is something you want to experience.

Pros:
- I enjoyed the characters, Cora has a very coy thing going on for her romance which was cute. Liam seemed like a well intentioned idiot whom I didn't appreciate but hey it's a character. Vetra is the responsible/cool type. Jaal was truly alien to me which is good (he is a part of the non milky way galaxy species). Dreck was a grizzled veteran. Peebee was a very mercurial and selfish character who was surprisingly not unlikable. The side characters were nice as well and they all have their own quirks. Are these characters equal to Mass Effect 2? No. Are they better than James Vega? Yes.

- As I said above, combat was enjoyable and had highly customization

- Story was good, some nice twists and a hanging mystery which I assume will be handled by DLC.

- The bad guys are bad guys, they are refreshingly evil. The "grey" bad guy archetype i've been seeing in most media now a days has been annoying me and this really hit the spot.

Cons:
- You'll see plenty of this, if you choose to look, but Female Ryder is not physically appealing, Male Ryder looks 100x better (there is a very good reason for Sara's specific ME:A commercial to have her with a helmet on 90% of the time and the other 10% the scenes are heavily shadowed AND super quick.) Facial animations are kind of wonky as well, but it is possible to overlook.

- Female Ryder equates to Male Ryder personality wise and they share almost every line/inflection, I may be remembering this wrong but I remember female Shepherd having a distinctly feminine edge to her even though she was a soldier and shared many lines with Male Shepherd. Female Ryder's personality/line reading seems off and I couldn't shake the dissonance in my head while I was playing.

- ME:A shares the same issues as other mass effects, the higher the difficulties the more "bullet-spongy" the enemies become.

- Your allies are poor fighters, they use their powers pretty much on cool-down but if they aren't using their abilities they are hiding behind a wall. It's standard AI.

- The planets are huge, but there is little reason to explore. The game has WOW problems where you will always be following waypoints to your quest destination. Speaking of:

- Waypoint system, I understand you need this for a game so large but it doesn't change the fact that I missed most of the multiple planet's beauty that dozens of animators poured their heart into because I was looking at the waypoint tracker at the top of the screen.

- Running over enemies with your "mako" doesn't insta-kill like it did in Mass Effect 1. I was crushed when I figured that out.*wink*

Final Thoughts:
Mass Effect: Andromeda is a nice game and a great jumping point for the new series. There are many faults with the game from a gameplay/graphics side but the developers assembled a nice cast of characters that make the game purchasable.

Side note:
Watching YouTube reviews of the game (which prompted me to give the review) I've seen a lot of mention of SJW propaganda going through the game. While I was playing I did not notice it. Make of that as you will.… Expand

MiniFigMike

Oct 31, 2017

6

1/2- sound - weapons, vehicles, abilities, and other sound effects but characters can be hit or miss
1/2- visuals - characters are pretty bad but the enviroments can look amazing
2/2- gamplay - awesome combat and exploration 0.5/2- story - pretty pathetic compared to rest of series 2/2- enjoyability - pros - very few loading screens - gameplay - planet enviroments - ending1/2- sound - weapons, vehicles, abilities, and other sound effects but characters can be hit or miss
1/2- visuals - characters are pretty bad but the enviroments can look amazing
2/2- gamplay - awesome combat and exploration
0.5/2- story - pretty pathetic compared to rest of series
2/2- enjoyability -

pros
- very few loading screens
- gameplay
- planet enviroments
- ending halo-like drive
- sound effects
- insanity is way meant to be played

cons
- character animation
- inventory screens
- no squad control
- had to deal with two broken quests first playthrough
- character creator
- non-customizable squadies
- story

Even tho its being recieved as the worst mass effect i dont believe this to be true in my opionion. my personal rank is me2, meA, me3, me1. Mass effect 2 is at the top for a superb story, interesting charaxters, much improved combat, great DLC, and great replayability due to actual consequential choices. Mass effect andromeda is number 2 in my opionion because it features the best exploration in the series, and the most refined combat experience. which to me makes it more replayable than me3 and me1.… Expand

Captain_Chaos

Oct 18, 2017

7

There's been a lot said about Mass Effect: Andromeda already. You've probably heard the basics: The vistas are pretty, the combat has been totally overhauled and much improved, you have a car again, and the facial animations are indeed, quite wonky. Also, there are breasts. It's clear from this game what the strengths and shortcomings of the Frostbite engine are- and it's obvious it wasThere's been a lot said about Mass Effect: Andromeda already. You've probably heard the basics: The vistas are pretty, the combat has been totally overhauled and much improved, you have a car again, and the facial animations are indeed, quite wonky. Also, there are breasts. It's clear from this game what the strengths and shortcomings of the Frostbite engine are- and it's obvious it was not designed with character-driven RPGs in mind. The fact that it was made by Bioware's "B Team" is also evident.

If you missed the boat on the trilogy, here's the basics. You take the roll of one of the Ryder twins, members of the "Andromeda Initiative", a joint coalition of various Milky Way species to journey to and colonize the Andromeda galaxy, our closest neighbor in the universe. Naturally, things go pear shaped almost as soon as you wake from cryo after the 600-some-odd year journey through dark space.

This distant sequel cleaves itself immediately from the events of the trilogy, hoping to make a fresh start as the colonists do. At the same time, it tries to evoke the spirit of the first game- a classical space opera of exploration, discovery and adventure. While that spirit can be felt, the reality of the game feels a bit hollow. My main gripe with the game is its sheer, padded length. The game is filled to the brim with unskippable cutscenes, fetch quests and the same dreary scanning for minerals and anomalies that has plagued the series since its inception. I played it for almost seventy goddamn hours and it really drags after the first thirty. I'm grateful for the explosive finale, or it might not have felt at all worth it. I had a similar issue with games like Mad Max, Kingdoms of Amalur, Metal Gear Solid V and especially Skyrim: There's too much to do and not enough of it feels worthwhile. The story feels a bit lacking as well: When your previous entry literally had the fate of a galaxy in the balance, a simple tale of colonization doesn't have nearly the same punch. I can't blame the team for things like this. Even with all the problems Mass Effect 3 had, there was simply no way to make a satisfying followup. And I think there was something to be said for the linear gameplay of both 2 and 3.

Also, I kind of liked the Quarians. Their absence from the game almost in its entirety, only getting a brief mention in the epilogue was felt.

But you've heard all this crap already. Let me talk about what I liked about Andromeda. I loved the car. The Nomad is as close to the Mako as I suspect we'd be permitted to get. It doesn't quite measure up, but it sure as hell looks cooler, and the environments were designed with it in mind- and that was not always the case in the first game. I loved the combat. It's fast and punchy, with the welcome addition of jump jets totally changing the dynamic from the comparatively stiff and clunky third game. This extends readily to the cooperative multiplayer, easily the game's best offering. While it retains the tired "booster pack" system of 3's coop, the drop tables are at least improved in such as way as to give you access to better characters and weapons early on. Also, while the combat in multiplayer is on the whole more challenging then 3, encouraging you to take advantage of your newfound speed and jump/dodge capability, the difference between bronze, silver and gold difficulties is less drastic. The combat is good enough that it carried me through to the end of an otherwise boring playthrough.

And I liked a lot of the characters. Mind you, Liam is as boring as Jacob, unsurprising given that they had the same writer. But Cora could easily have been worse, as could Peebee and Vetra. Drack was a huge hit, as with any of the krogan, who I think have the lion's share of quality lines and story, in this and the trilogy. But the real breakout hit was Jaal, and you can tell he was likely the dev team's favorite- the token local Andromeda boy, a smooth talker, sniper and user of the ever popular Shadow Strike. The banter between your squadmates and your ship's crew is deep and varied, and often poignant or at least amusing. They're a good bunch and I was happy to have them.

At the end of the day, Andromeda could have been a great game, though I argue that it was at least a good one. It's fault is its parentage- EA's talent for continually shooting themselves in the foot and running their own franchises into the ground is evident. The fact that there will be no singieplayer DLC is almost unheard of- and not a good indicator of the game's success. I hear they will even go so far as to resolve the obvious cliffhanger of the Quarian Ark in a comic book or something of the like.

I wish the best to Bioware in the future, and other developers at EA's mercy. I know they're capable of more. I just pray they get the chance to show it.… Expand

chunjurrinchhen

Oct 11, 2017

6

Huge mass effect fan. This game is definitely the weakest one in the franchise. Comparing this game to assassin creed or fallout 4, i would say its pretty good. but if i compare it with mass effect 1,2, witcher 3 its nowhere near that epicness. I think the developers tried to make a big world to explore and forgot that the fans dont want open world rather we want great experience withHuge mass effect fan. This game is definitely the weakest one in the franchise. Comparing this game to assassin creed or fallout 4, i would say its pretty good. but if i compare it with mass effect 1,2, witcher 3 its nowhere near that epicness. I think the developers tried to make a big world to explore and forgot that the fans dont want open world rather we want great experience with characters and story from a mass effect. Its never been about open world in this game. Hopefully they will learn from this next time. No Open world games from Bioware. Facial animation is pretty bad even with the fixes although im not really much bothered but it should atleast be the quality of facial animation of witcher 3 from a company like bioware. Well this is a disappointment but definitely not a bad game… Expand

parallax_84

Sep 30, 2017

6

I waited a long time for this game, i wont say that totally dissapointed me there are a few good things like the combat mechanics and some characters and locations but nothing more. The bad thing is the main history and main missions, they are boring and very repetitive, the side quests are useless.
Im never gonna buy a game from bioware knowing that they put all their efforts in a theI waited a long time for this game, i wont say that totally dissapointed me there are a few good things like the combat mechanics and some characters and locations but nothing more. The bad thing is the main history and main missions, they are boring and very repetitive, the side quests are useless.
Im never gonna buy a game from bioware knowing that they put all their efforts in a the new IP anthem( a f**king MMO) and let Mass Effect die.… Expand

AthanasiosT

Sep 30, 2017

6

Left the path of RPGs for the easy way of shooters. Graphics and sound are good, but what's the point of a team if you can't modify weapons and armor for team members ? No big decisions for the player, just some easy picks along the game. Battle is cover-shoot-cover-biotic-etc, too repeatable and easy. Story is too predictable. Nice driving, but where are the racing missions in the desertLeft the path of RPGs for the easy way of shooters. Graphics and sound are good, but what's the point of a team if you can't modify weapons and armor for team members ? No big decisions for the player, just some easy picks along the game. Battle is cover-shoot-cover-biotic-etc, too repeatable and easy. Story is too predictable. Nice driving, but where are the racing missions in the desert or on ice ? Give the players some challenges apart from the shooting.… Expand

przemeks1982

Sep 29, 2017

7

I waited for the game to get patched, and started playing with patch 1.10. The general impressions are that the game is good. I like the story of the pioneer, exploring new worlds, finding their secrets, managing the whole colonisation intiative (eg. deciding on who to wake up from cryostasis). The NPCs are interesting etc. To cut the long story short it has all it takes to be a quite goodI waited for the game to get patched, and started playing with patch 1.10. The general impressions are that the game is good. I like the story of the pioneer, exploring new worlds, finding their secrets, managing the whole colonisation intiative (eg. deciding on who to wake up from cryostasis). The NPCs are interesting etc. To cut the long story short it has all it takes to be a quite good action-RPG. Keyword here is "quite good". This is unfortunately nowhere near the original trilogy, but I try to be objective and rate it as a separate game.

Even if we take away the whole burden of being compared to the orignal trilogy, the game still has many flaws that make it less satisfying to play. After all the patching it is still underdeveloped. There are a lot of bugs. Some locations are frustrating because of lack of save points (eg. when you fail in some locations you are forced to repeat last 20 minutes of gameplay, which kinda makes you stop wanna playing). The graphics don't look that good, if you consider the hardware requirements - or the game is just not optimised well. If we consider all of this, 7 is the maximum score I can give. I wonder how bad it was before all the patching. Good that I waited for ver. 1.10.

All in all, I was happy to be back in the world of Mass Effect. It's just a pity that the quality of this comeback was quite average.… Expand

angelknives

Sep 28, 2017

7

It's pretty clear this game ran into a lot of issues in its development, perhaps that should make us more forgiving of its flaws, I don't know. The truth is, this game feels far too familiar. The new galaxy, the new aliens, the new landscapes all feel like they wouldn't look amiss right here; there is nothing truly alien about it.

The maps are huge empty places, often some variant of aIt's pretty clear this game ran into a lot of issues in its development, perhaps that should make us more forgiving of its flaws, I don't know. The truth is, this game feels far too familiar. The new galaxy, the new aliens, the new landscapes all feel like they wouldn't look amiss right here; there is nothing truly alien about it.

The maps are huge empty places, often some variant of a desert (snow desert or almost barren rock land included) which makes sense I suppose because they clearly want you using the Nomad. Thing is, if you don't enjoy riding the Nomad, you will not enjoy a large chunk of the game. Every quest will require you to spend most time completing it in the Nomad. Even when it makes no sense story wise, the game will direct you from one end of the galaxy to the other. Often with little reward for doing so.

The ridiculous amount of sidequests will make you miss linear games, and even the game itself tells you that some are not worth your time (namely tasks but honestly most of the other sidequests can be skipped as well). I know some people are of the idea that sidequest sucking does not matter because they're 'optional' but fact of the matter is, time went into creating these. Time now not spent on the real story content. Not to mention how discouraging an overfull journal can be when you can't predict which sidequests might be worth your while.

This game also tries to cram in more romance options than any Bioware title before, it's a feature the devs were promoting a lot before release. It doesn't help that all of the characters feel a bit bland - besides Reyes there is no possible conflict there besides one sulky dialogue.
These romances are some of the most disappointing once they've written yet, there are really only two that get fleshed out stories (Cora and Jaal) and neither of those felt more content heavy or engaging as some of the older romances did. Other romances seem to be missing scenes (for instance Liam's date cuts off before you see the actual date - this happens several times) and others are almost pointless. The flings should have been cut immediately. Again time wasted on developing those that could have been spent elsewhere.

Like designing more aliens. Or making sure that the very few aliens we get to see aren't all literal clones (it's especially glaring with the Asari of course.) Or maybe fleshing out some of the characters more.

The Ryders are the most preset PCs of any Bioware game. They have only one personality (a jokester because even if you pick serious options throughout all the autodialogue forces you into that role), often only two option to respond - both of which pretty much identical. Their whole background is set in stone as well, even down to their relationship with their father. Even the way they look, it's been slightly improved now but when playing at launch you literally had to pick a preset and you could only change a few things.

The story is boring and rehashes parts of the OT's plot. It is supposed to have the highest stakes yet, but it's told jokingly. There are no meaningful choices, there are no multiple endings possible (well one minor NPC can possibly die), and a major plot thread is only revealed in a fetch quest! Then the story ends with a major cliffhanger that will never be resolved.

Something clearly went wrong, the devs were promising things that never happened (just before release they said the CC was like the one in DA:I so clearly something went wrong), and there are some moments in the game that make you think there really was something there once. Of course the bugs are often too distracting to really feel emerged in the game. I've had some game breaking bugs and *still* have the issue that the cursor shoots to the middle of the screen all the time, even during cutscenes and I can't move it away.

I still enjoyed parts of my playthrough, the combat could be fun, I enjoyed the Reyes romance, brief as it was, I thought Jaal had a real story arc in the game, I loved Havarl (well the way it looked alien at least). But in the end I haven't been able to start a second playthrough because there just isn't enough replay value there. A shame because Bioware games are always my most replayed games.

Too bad we'll never see the series redeem itself.… Expand

passionne

Sep 21, 2017

7

In terms of background, I played the 3 previous Mass Effect games. I spent about 100 hours on Mass Effect Andromeda, did every quest except 6 secondary ones.

Pros : - graphically awesome, one of best-looking 2017 game : HDR, high resolution textures, lighting and smoke effects... - art design : each planet is different and really beautiful. - very good Nomad driving : on Voeld,In terms of background, I played the 3 previous Mass Effect games. I spent about 100 hours on Mass Effect Andromeda, did every quest except 6 secondary ones.

Pros :

- graphically awesome, one of best-looking 2017 game : HDR, high resolution textures, lighting and smoke effects...
- art design : each planet is different and really beautiful.
- very good Nomad driving : on Voeld, driving on ice feels natural.
- A few companions are really sweet.
- Mass Effect universe.
- Many weapons, armors and powers available.
- weapons and armors customization.
- a few interesting side quests.
- good loyalty missions.
- Good main quest
- huge content : 100 hours to complete every aspect of the game.
- combat is very dynamic.

Cons, from the most important to the less :

- only 3 powers available in combat : far too restrictive. Or one can use the favorites (1 favorite gathers 3 powers and there are 4 favorites. So, theoretically 12 powers available) but in fact, they are useless because of the cooldown when swapping favorites. Moreover, when the favorite is changed, the power "assault turret" is disabled, the turret disappears ! Bioware limited the number of powers like they did in Dragon Age Inquisition which makes the combats too repetitive : since only 3 powers are available, no variety and strategy is possible. 10 powers would have been adequate, without use of any favorites.

- No customization and control of the 2 squad mates : one can only tell them "go there" or "attack". Consequently, the combo powers are useless since you can not synchronize the actions. During 100 hours, I managed only 3 combos by luck. Moreover, it is impossible to create a strategy. Finally, I have the impression of playing alone and not be a team leader. Mass Effect 2 combat was more strategy-oriented : one could control every squad mate and optimize the attack. The action could be interrupted by pressing the space key in order to prepare the next action. The pace was slower than in Andromeda but enabled epic combats with numerous enemies. Each combat was unique contrary to Andromeda where every combat looks like the same.

- Interface is really bad :
- No mini-map when driving the Nomad, I always have to open the map then exit by pressing escape key twice !
- To choose the best weapons, it is a nightmare : it is very diffcult to compare the weapons statistics, a table would have been necessary.
- Moreover, there is nowhere a summary of all your characteristics (weapons, armors...).
- Finally, when I want to create new weapons/armors and use again the upgrades of my current gear, I must create second weapons/armors, go from the research computer to the equipement locker, un-equip and replace the weapons/armors by the second ones created, break up the weapons/armors which contain the upgrades, go back to the research terminal, create the weapons/armors with the upgrades, go back to the equipement locker to equip the new gear. Easy and optimized !

- The dialog choices are useless : they are uninspired, don't change anything and do not allow nuances. Many users have complained of childish writing and it is an example.

- Technically, uneven :
- the good : works fine most of the time, SLI supported and allows more than 60 fps with 2 GTX1080TI in 4K, everything maxed except anti-aliasing disabled.
- the bad :
-in Tempest, very bad performance between 20 and 30 fps. In cutscenes 20 fps. In Tempest, it seems that the graphic card calculates not only what is visible but also what is invisible too, in particular the space around the ship. Indeed, around Kadara, fps is very low whereas around Eos, the fps are doubled. And for a mission where there were many debris in space, fps in Tempest were below 10 fps !
-Stutters because a 10 GB swap file is mandatory with SLI enabled : the stutters disappear if the swap file is disabled but the game is instable and crashes when connecting to a terminal or pressing escape key.

- Many uninteresting secondary quests : fetch that object, find this person...

- Main story looks like the 3 previous Mass effect plot : Bioware did not run the risk of innovating.

Mass Effect Andomeda could have been the best game of the year if not plagued by many flaws. The worst is the combat : Bioware chose action rather than strategy and variety with more available powers : no wonder that many users complain about repetitiveness. The epic moments are very rare. Moreover, if the game launched before Witcher 3, the childish writing could have been forgiven. But since Witcher 3, the RPG fans have higher expectations in terms of story, maturity, choices : Bioware replicated their regular recipe for Andromeda and of course, it did not work : Bioware did not evolve while the RPG market changed.

To conclude, my note would have been 5 because of many defaults. But I gave 7 because I love Mass Effect universe and most of the companions were really endearing.… Expand

tomasdee

Sep 1, 2017

6

Single player review only.
60 hrs in / hitting side quests before point of no return.
Just really really odd the direction they took this franchise. Dumping all the old characters and bad guys for a whole new storyline. The would have have been better calling the game just "Andromeda" and dumping the Mass Effect title - they've really done themselves a big disfavour to the franchise -Single player review only.
60 hrs in / hitting side quests before point of no return.

Just really really odd the direction they took this franchise. Dumping all the old characters and bad guys for a whole new storyline. The would have have been better calling the game just "Andromeda" and dumping the Mass Effect title - they've really done themselves a big disfavour to the franchise - a real shame.

The game itself plays well - the combat is better, the visuals are nice, the atmosphere spot on. There is less 'exploring', ME2 was the best for that i reckon - resources took more effort, exploring felt more rewarding. Still - the planet zones are Big which is great and driving the Nomad is a hoot! Though after the initial explore you just fast travel (a godsend) about to the next quest point.

The questing is a pain - the endless go here / go there quests are very tedious, coupled with the constant loading is just plain abysmal. Fly here, {load} quest done in 3minutes, {load} fly somewhere else {repeat alot}. Why you can't enter the Tempest to check an email without having to launch is just ridiculous. The side quests are really just a distraction - other than unlocking NPC loyalty, there is little reward for completion.
The crafting system is pretty good - crafted gear is actually better than dropped or vendor stuff. Although i now have a bunch of credits with nothing to spend them on. I've also been using the same (upgraded) gear for a long time now - not a lot of flavour really in the gear.
The resource system is pretty pointless, normally i have plenty of resources to craft any gear upgrade so this side of the game doesnt add much.
The APEX missions are of no benefit to the single player game.

Overall, nice game but a real shame for the franchise.

PS - really enjoyed the ending. Nicely leaves it open for next chapter - pity they've canned and more single player content already >.< for andromeda.… Expand

dexiongmao

Aug 27, 2017

5

Even with ugly faces, too much similar puzzles, ugly faces, slow and repetitive stories, ugly faces, narrow space in co-op missions, and ugly faces, this is a solid game worth a score of 7-8.

Things like combat and exploring are pretty interesting to me, although they did a rather poor job to provide opportunities or attract players to do so. I can remember 1 year ago, we witnessedEven with ugly faces, too much similar puzzles, ugly faces, slow and repetitive stories, ugly faces, narrow space in co-op missions, and ugly faces, this is a solid game worth a score of 7-8.

Things like combat and exploring are pretty interesting to me, although they did a rather poor job to provide opportunities or attract players to do so.

I can remember 1 year ago, we witnessed the failure of No Man's Sky and wished this would not be another lie of the trailer. Now the developer proves that they are much less responsible than the No Man's Sky team. They have given up further effort on fixing this mess and this is probably the most thing I am unhappy with.

I cannot say I didn't enjoy my 70 hours. But it is pretty disappointing, and truly a lesson of not pre-ordering the game.… Expand

HeadyWook

Aug 27, 2017

6

Finally got around to playing it. It was fun but it got pretty boring after the initial 2-3 planet terraforming completions. It was an entertaining game while the moment lasted but I wasn't even inspired enough to finish the main story line.

tagos

Aug 22, 2017

6

It's now down to £17, the price of a good Early Access indie game.

As such it's a solid 6/10. Mediocre animation that does an okay job. Mediocre to downright hopeless voice acting. Meandering storyline that in the opening hours does all it can to make you die of boredom. Characters that range from uninteresting to downright irritating. On the plus side - nice exploration andIt's now down to £17, the price of a good Early Access indie game.

As such it's a solid 6/10. Mediocre animation that does an okay job. Mediocre to downright hopeless voice acting. Meandering storyline that in the opening hours does all it can to make you die of boredom. Characters that range from uninteresting to downright irritating.

On the plus side - nice exploration and combat.

For an indie game it's okay, if somewhat pricey.

For a AAA Mass Effect game it's very poor.

People scoring it 10 or 1 are taking the piss. It's not that good or that bad.

It's just okay for £17.

It's just not a full price game. It's just not worthy of The Mass Effect name and certainly not worth a second play through.

Treat it as a cheap generic scifi action RPG produced by a small indie team, none of whom were writers and it is okay for the bargain basement price.… Expand

cossayos

Aug 20, 2017

5

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After finishing the game and the announcement of no additional SP content coming, I'm doing another review.

The positive: The game is solid now. Mostly bugfree and the animations have been fixed for the largest parts.

The mediocre: Story, straight from the rack. Companions, apart from Drack and Peebee, the worst turnout of any Bioware game. In previous games, I couldn't wait to discuss our progress with the companions. In this game I get the feeling of do I really have to talk with that companion again. They're mostly cliche, with Gil sticking out like a sore thumb. He's the virtual gay checklist being ticked off. Gay, female best friend, wants to become a parent, becomes parent with female best friend. When I learned about his story, I was sure, a homophobe had written this. Liam, the guy that even the squadmates despise. So how would the player react differently to this annoying and boring cardboard? Then there's the lead character, Ryder. It's the weakest lead character of any Bioware game. I blame that on the absence of Paragon/Renegade options that doesn't even allow for a snide comeback if your character is outright insulted.

The ugly: Lose quest threads. I don't know what the developers had in mind when the most interesting side quests just lead to nowheren. Specifically the mysterious benefactor and the Garsson murder leave you hanging out to dry. Maybe they planned on producing DLCs to resolve these issues. But we're not getting any, so there's absolutely no incentive for a replay, fully knowing that you won't resolve most of the mysteries.

In short, buy if you're into some shooter action with added puzzles and repetitive environments. Steer clear, if you expect RPG content.… Expand

johnbman11

Aug 16, 2017

5

This game was just okay. The combat and graphics were absolutely stellar and the characters, while not as good as the original trilogy, were still pretty good. I personally liked Peebee, Drax, Vetra, and Jaal quite a lot. The rest... I could do without. The story, was straight up awful. I finished the entire game in 49 hours and left it feeling totally cheated. What a complete waste ofThis game was just okay. The combat and graphics were absolutely stellar and the characters, while not as good as the original trilogy, were still pretty good. I personally liked Peebee, Drax, Vetra, and Jaal quite a lot. The rest... I could do without. The story, was straight up awful. I finished the entire game in 49 hours and left it feeling totally cheated. What a complete waste of potential. Mass Effect 1-3 were absolutely epic while Andromeda is just a, ultimately, waste of time. The story, again, was so dry and uninspired, the missions left you watching your freakin' ship land and take off over and over.. and over... and over again to go to planets you've already been to. I got 100% viability in my playthrough and was rewarded with a total menial cutscene. The world doesn't feel alive and the lack of any real conversations seriously hurts this game. There were several epic moments in the game, but the rest was dry, repetitive fetch quests that didn't make you feel like you were doing anything that mattered. The exploration was a great idea but unfortunately, due to completely incompetent management of the project, it ended up being a boring, albeit beautiful, installment in the Mass Effect Universe.… Expand

Bennabus

Aug 5, 2017

7

I finally figured out what the problem is with this game. There is a lot of it I like quite a bit. There are some moments of great writing and interesting characters, Liam and Jaal trying to figure out what is insulting to each other's cultures is one such moment where I really found myself liking some characters that I had otherwise found totally uninteresting up until that point. I knowI finally figured out what the problem is with this game. There is a lot of it I like quite a bit. There are some moments of great writing and interesting characters, Liam and Jaal trying to figure out what is insulting to each other's cultures is one such moment where I really found myself liking some characters that I had otherwise found totally uninteresting up until that point. I know there are little gems here and there throughout the game. The problem lies in the time between theml. The conflicts you are solving when you're not busy trying to maintain the existence of humanity in Andromeda are based on petty, maufactured, idiotic whiny side characters. I mean come on, you've been selected as one of a relatively small number of people to head all the way across the galaxy and to another one, why the heck are you willing to do stupid crap to nearly kill everyone because your friends and family aren't being woken up first? There's so much pettiness, so much selfishness in all these side quests, it seems like they just shipped a bunch of entitled millennials to the Andromeda galaxy because the wanted to get rid of them and let the grown ups deal with life here in the Milky Way.

I mean there are certainly other problems, half the time Ryder opens her mouth she says something completely contrary to the tone of the story or scene at that point and she's super awkward in any remotely social situation, to the point she seems like she's not even part of the same conversation as everyone else, so far the logic behind the Remnant doesn't make any damn sense, and a few other silly things, but the further I get into the game the more I like it. I just hate dealing with anyone on the Nexus.… Expand

Master_Kosa

Jul 24, 2017

7

So few days ago I got my hands on Mass Effect Andromeda and after 24h in game I have to say WTF all those bad reviews are about? The game is very good, it has everything I expected from Mass Effect series except for Paragon/Renegade system which I miss a bit. Story and characters are on par with previous games in series, in fact there is one dialogue that made me laugh so hard, somethingSo few days ago I got my hands on Mass Effect Andromeda and after 24h in game I have to say WTF all those bad reviews are about? The game is very good, it has everything I expected from Mass Effect series except for Paragon/Renegade system which I miss a bit. Story and characters are on par with previous games in series, in fact there is one dialogue that made me laugh so hard, something that I fail to remember to happen while playing a game.

Yeah, the game is maybe a bit too complex in a way how many things you can do but for explorers it is a heaven because there is so much to do.

Maybe the story is not on par with RPG’s like Planescape Torment but PT is one game none other can ever hope to be equal story wise. Compared to other ME game, as said before, it comes right in the middle. Dialogues are OK too, sometimes stupid but nothing that would make me want to stop playing.

Honestly the only thing I’m going to complain so far are glitches like enemies disappearing into building that cannot be accessed and still being active, weird camera angles when I start dialogue from a jump or from behind a wall, dead enemies that do not fall, AI that lets me shoot them from a distance and nothing happens and few other things like scripting failures in case of few side quests (one “if” is missing apparently but given how big the game is it is understandable). But nothing too annoying, just weird.

So the conclusion on my side so far (I haven’t finished the game yet) is that game deserves at least 7.5/10. It would have been 8 if the scripting and glitches did not happen.… Expand

Fredvdp

Jul 24, 2017

6

Buried beneath a ton of annoyances and bad design choices is a very fun game. It's a shame you have to dig through the dirt to find it.

Mass Effect Andromeda does a lot right, like the improved combat, level design in the main story missions, and the setting. The biggest issue, however, was that BioWare decided not to improve upon the linear level design of the trilogy and opted to makeBuried beneath a ton of annoyances and bad design choices is a very fun game. It's a shame you have to dig through the dirt to find it.

Mass Effect Andromeda does a lot right, like the improved combat, level design in the main story missions, and the setting. The biggest issue, however, was that BioWare decided not to improve upon the linear level design of the trilogy and opted to make most of the game an uninspired semi-open world. In this regard it feels like MEA is two games: The main plot follows the design of the trilogy with well designed linear levels; The secondary content is part of the semi-open world with environments unsuited for Mass Effect's third person combat.

The various planets are a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand you have Havarl which has a very natural mission progression with sidemissions you can pick up on your way. On the other hand you have Kadara, a big map riddled with fetch quests and a storyline that requires constant backtracking. The planet Elaaden has some great looking locations, but the interesting parts of the map are tied to its storyline. The sidemissions are spread around the planet in outposts consisting of a couple of stacked boxes and are, once again, very uninspired and not worth the effort.

The sidemissions also require travelling between planets, with Peebee's loyalty mission requiring the completion of menial tasks in most of the game's main locations, which means you have to sit through unskippable landing and takeoff cinematics meant to mask load times (sorry, SSD owners). Unlike Dragon Age Inquisition you can't teleport to any fast travel point from anywhere. In MEA you have to first enter your ship, look at a minute long cutscene, fly to your new location in the galaxy map, then look at another unskippable minute long cutscene. What's especially frustrating is that after all the travelling you may get an email from a character telling you to go to a planet you just came from, forcing you to sit through the same unskippable cinematic once again.

As far as story and characters go, MEA is very mediocre. There are a handful of interesting characters, but they're not nearly as engaging as the ones from previous BioWare games. The story is decent, but very derivative of previous Mass Effect games.

At its best, Mass Effect Andromeda really shines. Some of the loyalty missions are very well designed missions, and the final story missions is heaps of fun. It's just a shame that there's so little of it compared to the hours upon hours of padding. A damn shame, because there's definitely a great game in here somewhere.… Expand

kane148

Jul 16, 2017

5

I was really disappointed by this game. ME is one of my favorite series, and I was a huge fan for the first three games. This game had an awesome premise and plenty of potential to be incredible. However, Bioware really dropped the ball in several critical areas, resulting in a mediocre game overall. To be fair, it's NOT a bad game, but it surely fails to be a great game. The combat isI was really disappointed by this game. ME is one of my favorite series, and I was a huge fan for the first three games. This game had an awesome premise and plenty of potential to be incredible. However, Bioware really dropped the ball in several critical areas, resulting in a mediocre game overall. To be fair, it's NOT a bad game, but it surely fails to be a great game. The combat is really well done--that's something they got right--and the lack of class restriction on skills was definitely fun (if not lore friendly). I also really liked the open planets to explore instead of the corridor shooting of the last two games, and the Nomad is much more fun to drive than the Mako. The story has some good things going for it; I won't spoil anything, but it's interesting and does present some compelling situations. But the story execution--pacing, character development, narrative arc, etc.--fails in many places, with the result that you'll either stop caring or feel let down by the lack of narrative reward for your effort...or maybe just be confused. Easily the worst part of the game is the frustrating technical problems and poor design choices that make the game hard to play. Problems such as poor facial animations and lip-syncing errors don't ruin a game, but they really do undermine the immersion of a game like this that's supposed to have such a big focus on narrative and characters. Moreover, the performance was just awful. I don't have the best PC, but I could run the Witcher 3 (which looks so much better) on max settings with no trouble; yet ME:A regularly struggled even on medium settings. (in fact it ran better with big fights in the open world than walking around the Nexus). Lastly, the interface is often clumsy and unhelpful, and is very limiting. As in Dragon Age: Inquisition, they force PC users to be limited by the UI for console players, so that you can only use a few abilities at any given time. The game also makes the frustrating choice to introduce a large array of weapon and armor crafting options, but does not let you customize your companion's gear at all, so that most gear you find or can make is useless to you. All in all, it's probably worth playing if you're a big fan of the series, but you will have to prepare to be underwhelmed. The real shame here is that, had Bioware put the care into this game that it did for previous titles, and not sacrificed the singleplayer game in favor of multiplayer, this could have been another incredible title. Instead, it's likely the end of the franchise.… Expand

M_Salgado

Jul 12, 2017

7

I Greatly enjoyed the game. NOT as much as the original trilogy but like 70% as much.
THE ONE THING I HATED was that I decided to buy on launch and ended the game really fast.
THEN they patched in a bunch of stuff that was problematic. INCLUDING cutscenes and animations.
So I am really pissed that my experience was actually a lot worse than if I had waited a month before buying.

ravenned

Jul 11, 2017

5

Bad, bad game. A serious let down from the original trilogy. There are actually little to no good points about this game.
First off, the graphics. In battle and while exploring, I wouldn't say that it's good. At this day and age, the graphics are actually only average. The in game cut scenes though... Oh god are they ugly as hell. Especially character animations. Even real humans don'tBad, bad game. A serious let down from the original trilogy. There are actually little to no good points about this game.
First off, the graphics. In battle and while exploring, I wouldn't say that it's good. At this day and age, the graphics are actually only average. The in game cut scenes though... Oh god are they ugly as hell. Especially character animations. Even real humans don't have pores as ugly as that. Characters move as if they have strings attached, like puppets. Their lips... oh god. Bioware should've known better... Have you ever wondered why people could be so stupid? Hundreds of staff, and no one spoke out about the animations?
Then let's talk about gameplay. Even in game the character feels like a puppet. Extremely difficult to move maneuver. Your character gets caught in little things, so you often go from a run to a stop. And every single time you do, there is a little period where your character has to accelerate to a decent speed. It's as if you're in a car, and the driver accelerates really slowly, only for the driver to slam the brakes just when you get to a comfortable speed. Again and again. Can you imagine how ridiculously annoying it is? Then there's the shooter experience. It's extremely shallow. Shallow as in it does not engage you at all. There are the little things that good shooters have that immerses you in the battle. Games like overwatch. Even destiny, that had **** amount of reviews for it's lackluster content, had at least one good thing about it. The satisfying shooter experience. The little things like screen shake, or a faint projectile trail to know that you're hitting your target, or the target looking like it took a shot when it's hit. There's none of that here. You shoot as if you're using a peashooter, and the target gets hit as if it's getting shot by spitballs. You don't feel as if you're holding a gun in game. But you see blood spurting, from bullets that feel like spitballs and it looks ridiculous. But there is one good thing about the battles. The battle system itself is well thought out. Things like the skill system, weapon design and variety. But other than that, battles are disappointingly shallow.
THEN there's the writing. Oh god. Even a random 20 year old on the street would cringe. HOW OLD WERE THE WRITERS?? I dare say that I could deliver a story that it more engaging. Some lines were good. But most were not. Feels like the team of writers are at a age where they just hit puberty, with only one adult among them doing what he/she can. Cheesy and cringey lines that are borderline childish can sometimes create humor. But not when that's the entire theme. Not like this. The overarching plot is decent though. But how can a story be well delivered when the writing is this ****?
I've already been through the graphics, gameplay and writing. What more is there to say? Okay, I'll deliver one more blow to the game. The UI. It LOOKS nice. But that's all it is. Looks. Once, again, it is unresponsive. For example, while exploring, you often have to bring the map out. But once you do, you have to press 'esc' twice to get back into the game, It doesn't take long, but for a UI, it feels annoyingly slow, and totally breaks the immersion from the game... not like there was any immersion anyway.
Seriously, I think I've said enough. I think most people would already have read about the troubles the developers faced. Bioware montreal was a bad choice. They should've stuck with Edmonton. The game that they were working on could not be more important than a franchise that was that successful. Even if we had to wait for 5 more years for Edmonton to complete what they were doing, and then work on Andromeda, I think we'd have gladly waited.… Expand

Porthys

Jul 11, 2017

7

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Mass Effect Andromeda is the first Mass Effect game I've ever played and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn't play much RPG games and my focus was set on strategy. But MEA was totally in the street of things I enjoyed about an rpg game especially with the Sci-Fi theme.

Once I've started playing, the cutscenes amazed me and I enjoyed the ability to change conversation outcomes and story outcomes. The game, however, did not feel so refined, but I did not have anything to compare it with. The storyline was interesting and made me want to keep playing hour after hour. There are hidden details here and there which makes the game more interesting.

Besides the storyline, romances were a big thing I noticed. You could romance anyone on your crew which also made the game more interesting. The animations, however, were a little... strange. I didn't know if it seemed rushed or if its supposed to be like that. Sometimes it was impossible to even read the facial expressions (which made for funny moments here and there).

After finishing the game, I was left with way too many cliffhangers... which is good... but after reading a bit on how the game was made and what the latest news is, it seemed that this game doesn't havea bright future, even though the game wasn't THAT bad. I started playing Mass Effect 1, 2 and 3 and enjoyed those a lot more than Andromeda. Overall, combat is a feature that was greatly improved in Andromeda. It made fighting a lot more fluid and flexible whereas in ME2 or 3. The previous ME games were more immersive, but Andromeda is different. A whole different story which I have come to appreciate despite it not being as immersive as ME2 or 3.

The exploration part of the game was pretty boring to be perfectly honest. I didn't realise I could use the fast forward stations because I was totally new to the game. It never really said that you could fast travel with those things. All of the planets were interestingly different, but the missions and what to expect on those planets are very repetitive. ''Activate 3 monoliths'', ''Defeat the Ket'' etc etc. There wasn't much of a challenge.

All in all I give this game a 7 because it is my first Bioware game, I liked the idea, the theme, the romance, the story and the combat. But after playing the previous games, Andromeda wasn't as good compared to those ME games. They were far more immersive, the choices made did end up changing the course of the missions which Andromeda certainly lacked. The story is interesting, but doesn't compare to the trilogy. The graphics are good, but the animations were a disappointment.
I am not telling you to buy it, unless you've read some of the other reviews around here. There are lots of things to improve about the game, but I didn't think it was a dead awful one.… Expand

obZen2012

Jul 6, 2017

5

seriously i was tired of seeing bugs!
wtf!
you can't open a door because you think like it's a puzzle, but no! if you just restart the game then you are able to open it up! i was in the nomad and i couldn't exit of it because of dangerous air. ok how am i supposed to get in the Tempest?! i love mass effect and i just want to say, why? even a 8 years old could understand this is a aseriously i was tired of seeing bugs!
wtf!
you can't open a door because you think like it's a puzzle, but no! if you just restart the game then you are able to open it up!
i was in the nomad and i couldn't exit of it because of dangerous air. ok how am i supposed to get in the Tempest?!
i love mass effect and i just want to say, why?
even a 8 years old could understand this is a a sht.
Bioware I am a **** huge fan of you. i love mass effect and Dragon age so much that i compare them to Lord of the rings.

this is what you give me?!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thank you.
you made me deppressed for at least some months...

**** you… Expand

AleksanderJ

Jul 4, 2017

6

It plays like an MMO, as a hardcore Mass Effect fan it feels more alien than it should.
Its another Galaxy but still, the lip synching is not good.

I wish they learn something from this one, im really trying to keep an open mind but its hard when it feels time and time again like star trek online on foot. Another bug after latest patch keeps me from playing fullscreen on my laptop.

andrewbrown

Jul 3, 2017

6

I made sure to to play Mass Effect Andromeda well after it came out, and far from when I played the original series. The game is fun but has no long term payout. I realized after a while all the things I was doing was take this to here, topped with the fact that even today there are a dozen of missions I couldn't complete due to bugs that I lost all motivation with tasks and set onI made sure to to play Mass Effect Andromeda well after it came out, and far from when I played the original series. The game is fun but has no long term payout. I realized after a while all the things I was doing was take this to here, topped with the fact that even today there are a dozen of missions I couldn't complete due to bugs that I lost all motivation with tasks and set on completing the main story.

The story and character chemistry is so uninspiring that I skipped every dialogue options halfway in the game. Its sad because I thought if I set my expectations lower I could enjoy this game but it wasn't enough.

I loved driving around in the Nomad.… Expand

muertefx

Jun 27, 2017

5

I wrote few reviews for past months, refunded the game even, but week ago bought it with big discount and spent already 90 hours in it. My opinion didn't change. This is very unpolished game with tons of bugs and glitches, starting from simple textures and ending at quests.

On patch 1.08 still weak character creation window with a lot of ugly presets without allowing us to change anyI wrote few reviews for past months, refunded the game even, but week ago bought it with big discount and spent already 90 hours in it. My opinion didn't change. This is very unpolished game with tons of bugs and glitches, starting from simple textures and ending at quests.

On patch 1.08 still weak character creation window with a lot of ugly presets without allowing us to change any face detail including eyebrows, lips type or eyes type (asian, europe etc), just the ugly presets. Still can't see my crew inside of Nomad, it's just empty! And don't even want to say about many texture bugs and quest glitches, up to broken quest which cannot be finished. With some weapons (as Valkyrie) wrong change weapon speed and still "something" pushing us in left or right side while falling down. And, still...a lot of glitches with hero legs animations...

Almost all side quest are boring, point A point B. Multiplayer practically didn't change, boring co-op against stupid AI (in ME3 AI was better, to be honest, while in ME:A enemies just rushing us and do nothing, just dying, very smart).

Many achievements cannot be achieved, some sort of bugs I think. For example 2000 kills Terminator - even if you have enough kills you probably will get it in next playthrough, if you didn't get it already. Same story with many other "kill score" achievements.

And, finally, the game do not see my current equipped weapons in cat scenes, it uses pre-made weapons in - attention! - cat-scenes made with game engine. The engine must understand what is equipped right now, instead giving us random guns we don't have. Same problem was with ME1-3, but...really? Still can't fix this? Why Witcher never had this problem?

I can see that there was made a great job, a lot of planets, space, all that stuff, but not professional job, it can be compared with the newbies learning Frostbite and trying to make something unique, but they can't. I think that because they didn't have time for this.

I respect BioWare, I love BioWare, and that is why it is too difficult for me to understand and realize, that you guys just screwed this up. I know about many difficulties which you faced, but still the game could be polished and release date could be changed. Instead, we got different story.

I really liked voiced, its good, great job. But, the storyline is awful, many quests or dialogs could be extended, a lot of animations could be added to it instead stupid JetPack and OmniTool, we got just 0 hand animations, no interactions with the objects.

5/10 from me for trying, at least.… Expand

Mr_Lut

Jun 18, 2017

5

If you didn’t like Mass Effect 3 ending, then you will love Mass Effect Andromeda ending. Why? Because THERE IS ONLY ONE ENDING, and it’s not actually an ending, it’s more like SEE YOU IN THE NEXT DLC type ending.

There .... I just saved you 60 Bucks, you can thank me later. Now to my opinion: MAE is Mass Effect 1 with better graphic and better combat, but with a **** story, ****If you didn’t like Mass Effect 3 ending, then you will love Mass Effect Andromeda ending. Why? Because THERE IS ONLY ONE ENDING, and it’s not actually an ending, it’s more like SEE YOU IN THE NEXT DLC type ending.

There .... I just saved you 60 Bucks, you can thank me later.

Now to my opinion:

MAE is Mass Effect 1 with better graphic and better combat, but with a **** story, **** villain, **** protagonist, **** facial animations, **** voice acting, and lot of “scan”quests and Sudoku. And of course performance issues and bugs.
You play as the “Pathfinder”.... NOT a badass commander super soldier spectre, but a “Pathfinder”, because i guess finding “PATHS” is more fun than being a badass super soldier.
NOW, is at least the exploration any good?
NO, IT’S BORING... unless you like exploring; I mean “finding paths” in deserts, because that's how 90% of the maps are... just empty deserts where everything is miles apart, because padding.
But at least it has good old Rex... I mean Drex, and Garrus ...... with a vagina, and some EMO alien caaallleeeed whatever its face ...... Yeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiii!
This franchise is so important to Bioware that they left it to the “capable” hands of their B team (Bioware Montreal), to make some Destiny clone called Anthem, although it looks way better than MAE despite both games being developed at the same time an using the same engine.
Oh and there’s more multiplayer Horde mode this time, because that is what we all wanted, right? And more microtransation, because EA is the best!
To sum it up.... don’t buy this game at full price, it’s not worth it. And if you buy it, at least play it on the hardest mode and ONLY do main quests and loyalty missions. It’s still going to be an average experience, but at least you won’t have to sit though 70+ hours of it.… Expand

Rudd_Nurseman

Jun 11, 2017

7

ME:A is a great game, well worth it's price. The graphics and performance are great, the characters are unique and believable and the story is pleasantly surprising and compelling. There are certain mysteries kept in reserve to allow a sequel game, which is part of good story telling. The game makes the player feel like he/she is making extremely long lasting choices that could conceivablyME:A is a great game, well worth it's price. The graphics and performance are great, the characters are unique and believable and the story is pleasantly surprising and compelling. There are certain mysteries kept in reserve to allow a sequel game, which is part of good story telling. The game makes the player feel like he/she is making extremely long lasting choices that could conceivably totally change their experience in the next game. In fact, there were a couple of moments where I was shocked that I could make the story play out exactly how I wanted.

Saying all this, ME:A doesn't stack up against MEs previous titles as well as hoped. The flow of previous games is much superior. ME:A's end game isn't as monumental as hoped, in particular the musical score isn't well matched to it's cut scenes. ME:A features alot of dialogue that occurs as you move around, but move too fast and you get two words worth and it stops - very annoying. This game isn't bug free, I had to restart a couple of missions; I wouldn't have minded if it wasn't the final boss mission!

The only part of the story that wasn't done well enough to my standards is a revelation regarding one of the ingame species, I barely registered the discovery in mission so was a bit shocked when my crew were talking about it...

The musical score for action scenes needed work, but the space opera music was lovely.

There were a few parts of the game that were underutilised as well, E.g. outposts, I would have liked some more action with these, perhaps even getting to design them to an extent like Fallout 4.

But overall I really enjoyed this game, and I really hope that the issues in the development that came up are sorted now so that the team can move on to progressing this new story line in their next title with more flow.… Expand

CLKgame

Jun 8, 2017

6

While the combat is possibly the best in the entire series... When it comes to just about everything else, Andromeda falls flat on its face. Before you can even begin your mission as Pathfinder, you are introduced to one of the most painful character creators ever conceived by mankind. No really, it's not difficult at all to create an abomination that would make Frankenstein's monsterWhile the combat is possibly the best in the entire series... When it comes to just about everything else, Andromeda falls flat on its face. Before you can even begin your mission as Pathfinder, you are introduced to one of the most painful character creators ever conceived by mankind. No really, it's not difficult at all to create an abomination that would make Frankenstein's monster scream and run away in terror. Andromeda completely lacks the cinematic feel of the original trilogy, and while some of your crew are compelling characters, the overall story is lackluster.… Expand

Artur_

Jun 8, 2017

6

Advantages: beautiful space and planet scenes. Sound and gravity correspond with environment - but a Krogan should use more solid word falling into the abyss, than "Cheeeeeeeck" ;-) Well done Nomad and fine armory development. Good idea changing side Ryder keeps weapon.

Disadvantages: too much pointless killing and other MMO-like "thingies" like boring side quests and too little RPG inAdvantages: beautiful space and planet scenes. Sound and gravity correspond with environment - but a Krogan should use more solid word falling into the abyss, than "Cheeeeeeeck" ;-) Well done Nomad and fine armory development. Good idea changing side Ryder keeps weapon.

Disadvantages: too much pointless killing and other MMO-like "thingies" like boring side quests and too little RPG in a RPG - this game really lacks a story and dialogues. No option to permanently disable flying animations between stars - they are nice, but only first few times. At one planet loading any of last few autosaves or last manual save freezed game. In combination with limited save possibilities - that were unforgettable impressions...

Others: without active pause fight is too chaotic, but still acceptable. Poisoned water kills Ryder almost immediately and companions survive walking this poison keeping head just above the water, right... If some(thing/one) attacks you during conversation, your companions stay blind and deaf - scroll the dialogue or die.

Summary: this is a fine game, not as good as previous Mass Effects, but I don't understand all these haters :-/ Of course it IS reminder of a gold standard that is valid recently - buy a game later, at least a few months after release, not pre-order neither right after release. I bought it 2 months after release, there were a few bugs only.… Expand

AppleRush

Jun 6, 2017

7

In my country so many people hate this game. Actually, it is wrong to say HATE, they just don't love it. They say it iin't the true mass effect. But I don't think so. We have new fight-system and qualitive caracters. Wood shooting have turned to really interesting thing. It is really funny. The landscapes is so beautifull, Actually, all visual content is really good. Planet-worlds are bigIn my country so many people hate this game. Actually, it is wrong to say HATE, they just don't love it. They say it iin't the true mass effect. But I don't think so. We have new fight-system and qualitive caracters. Wood shooting have turned to really interesting thing. It is really funny. The landscapes is so beautifull, Actually, all visual content is really good. Planet-worlds are big and interesting. But, of course, there are the contrarguments. Firstly, it is the programm-mistakes. It can be funny, but soon it becomes very annoying. OMG, Face animation... It is thing, which harm the all cinematography in this game. But mistakes isn't the one problem. there you can find the really bad-quallity antagonist, dumb quests and grind. Ooooo, grind... It the worst side of this game. You will spend hours to find the strange divice in big world of planet. It actually another Mass-Effect, but I think it can have the name of franchise "Mass Effect". Thank you for reading)

7/10… Expand

MR67

Jun 5, 2017

7

I honestly cannot understand why this game is getting so much hate. Admittedly, Bioware did drop something of a clanger by releasing it too early considering the monumental expectations it had to live up to with the Mass Effect name attached to it and a 5 year wait for this title, but to their credit, I think they have done their level best to listen to fan feedback and implement patchesI honestly cannot understand why this game is getting so much hate. Admittedly, Bioware did drop something of a clanger by releasing it too early considering the monumental expectations it had to live up to with the Mass Effect name attached to it and a 5 year wait for this title, but to their credit, I think they have done their level best to listen to fan feedback and implement patches as quickly as possible.

I've played around 40 hours total in the game (starting over multiple times owing to untimely deaths), so I think I can give a bit of a qualified review on this.

Cons:
- Absolutely no options to select your companions' gear or to control them in battle apart from directing them where to go. Their AI is not great either.
- FPS style gameplay means you can only map 3 different powers to your controller, which encourages you to play more as a soldier type character with firearms. You can specify 4 "favourite" profiles with 3 powers mapped to each, but the gameplay makes it a bit tedious to have to pause combat to switch between these profiles.
- Character animations have improved from the initial release, though some minor characters still look a bit patchy and the quality of the dialogue is not the greatest, though not as bad as some critics have made it out to be.
- Your own dialogue options are limited and result in more or less the same outcome, regardless of what you choose. Scrapping of the old Paragon/Renegade system means you always end up giving generally bland, inoffensive responses, even when you want to be an utter dickwad towards somebody who deserves it (looking at you, Addison).
- Enemies tend to respawn too quickly and often unrealistically. Example was when I went down into a vault to finish a side quest by retrieving a dead scientist's lost research notes. Vault was guarded by a huge robot which took ages to bring down. I defeated the robot, searched the vault, found some stuff and departed. Barely 10 minutes later I noticed that quest tracker was still active, so I returned to the vault to search it again more carefully as it seemed I had not yet found the research notes. Guess what? Huge robot is back again.....!

Pros:
- Combat system is more dynamic and more fun than in previous Mass Effect games. Ryder can use a jet pack to zip and jump around all the place while enemies tend to be more mobile and will try and outflank you where possible.
- Open world type setting allows you to go off the beaten track, explore to your heart's content and gives you more freedom to finish quests as you see fit. I reckon you could easily sink 200+ hours into a playthrough if you so wished.
- Nice new touches such as extreme planetary conditions (which cause damage to your vehicle and space suit), forward stations (where you can replenish your gear and change your loadouts while exploring), option to send other teams on missions that you can either participate in as a multiplayer game or else have these happen in the background in single player (and these earn you loot and credits), and a customisable vehicle that is more fun to drive around than the Mako from the previous games.

Overall, I think this is a good game, but not quite a great one. I would say it is marginally better than Mass Effect 3 but not as good as the first two.… Expand

Frenetik

May 26, 2017

5

I tried to look objectively at this game as i finished the main trilogy twice but Andromeda just doesn't hold up to its predecessors. Bioware put an emphases on open world, combat and driving, but not so much effort in storytelling, dialogue and characters, which was the heart of Mass Effect.
Though the main quest is mysterious and good at times it lacks tension and it feels like a disneyI tried to look objectively at this game as i finished the main trilogy twice but Andromeda just doesn't hold up to its predecessors. Bioware put an emphases on open world, combat and driving, but not so much effort in storytelling, dialogue and characters, which was the heart of Mass Effect.
Though the main quest is mysterious and good at times it lacks tension and it feels like a disney story with few to none important choices. I never got that mass Effect vibe, i never felt like one of my companions was in danger, it all felt too predictable and lighthearted.
Its not a bad game per see its just a BAD MASS EFFECT GAME. If it didn't had mass effect in its title it would have been mediocre at best.… Expand

nin2thevoid

May 23, 2017

6

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I made an account just to voice my thoughts, secretly also hoping BioWare would take note. I gave it quite some time to think about this...

TL;DR: RPG's matter because of choices (else, I'd get a movie). Choices only matter if there's consequence and compromise. Consequences matter only if the subject has been properly introduced into the heart of the player. Despite many positive points, I think BioWare failed to realise how these strengths were implemented in its previous Mass Effect titles.

* It wouldn't do a lot of very talented people justice if I didn't start with some very positive points:
- Disagree with me but, I like the graphics. The world and alien design is top notch and I've taken more screenshots in this game than pretty much any other game.
- Combat is fluent, dynamic and very versatile due to things like dodging, jetpack, best version of biotic charge, and I for one prefer this cover system over any ME1/2/3 title, since to me it was really intuitive and not as 'magnetic' as in ME3 (which caused me to get killed many times due to unintentional cover). It just works.
- Adding depth to Alec postmortem is to me a very good storywriting choice and was executed well. Even added a dimension to the opening scenes on replay.
- Some characters were written very well. Not to exclude anything, but top of my mind: Suvi, Kallo, Jaal, Vetra, Reyes. Top notch.

I wish to present my critique by highlighting some differences with older ME titles:

- I LOVE Mass Effect 1/2/3 and would rate them highly regardless of some omissions (ending, bla bla). They challenged my thoughts and evoked emotions, many times over. Sadly, I kept waiting for those big decisions and that loss of control. The only choice I had to make that directly resolved within this game was choosing between a salarian Pathfinder and a few faceless Krogans. The choice is obvious and logical, rather than ethical and emotional. This doesn't affect players as much.
Edit: you can also have or lose the Krogan on New Tuchanka but that isn't really followed up since you can complete the game easily regardless. A lot of open ends like this which suggest a followup in some ME:A2 but I think a game should be sustainable on its own. I could just play ME:2 and call it a day. Same with ME:3.

- ME2: Tali's romance felt a bit awkward and yet very intimiate and genuine, like you would expect from a real experience. Then there's the chance she gets killed in the end mission. This character buildup and then introduced uncertainty (unless you're the player that just starts over to 'get the story right') is a very good representation of a real life experience and adds immense value to what you do. If a character a) cannot die or b) dies but was only introduced 3 seconds ago (angara person where you found the AI in the ice cave), you do not feel *anything*. Yes, you are still logically choosing based on ethics, but you do not feel it.
ME2 Loyalty Missions were strong because yes a) you really got to know the character but more importantly b) you could actually lose them and you even had to choose between loyalty of characters. Compromise and uncertainty. An outcome only has meaning if it is not certain or if it means giving something else up. Examples:
- loyal characters that you are emotionally invested in, but can die
- loyalty of person A resulting in distance with person B. This was only presented in choosing between two Asari that only existed within the loyalty mission.
- losing loyalty despite doing what you think is best in the greater scheme (again, Tali, at her trial, which then even affects the potential Quarian/Geth alliance)
- Importantly: These choices offer immense replay value!!
- Most characters were professional and capable. Even a Wreav, who is relatively unintelligent, is a convincing (plotting, unstable) character within its own canvas. The Tempest crew feels a bit high-school-ish and it is not canonical with what they manage to achieve at all. In ME:3, all characters convinced you of their political and tactical knowledge which makes you feel like you should really pay attention to what happens, e.g. like in real life. For lack of a better term, many ME:A characters are edging on a little goofy. I like humor but a mature character should exert some matureness. Ryder for example only beats the game because of his (my) combat prowess. Because he can hardly keep the group together (people walking away from meetings should be an OPTION, because they sure as hell would not walk away from MY meeting, only if I would choose dialog that reflects very bad leadership - how else can I relate to my character?) and has dialogue with the enemy that is DragonBall Z level: "come at me, a**hole!" - "yeah? that's what YOU think" (I'm not kidding, I made a screenshot that has both options in a single wheel...)
- Characters aren't completely polarized. You could even feel loyalty towards an Illusive Man in ME:2.

Hello 5000 char limit :… Expand

SaintMSent

May 22, 2017

5

Story is bad, exploring is bad, protagonist is dummy, antogonist is the worst ever maybe. Graphics and art design are great, but that's not for what I loved mass effect, so sorry, BioWare.

YoloSwag4Doge

May 19, 2017

6

I've found this game to be mediocre, though I can see so much wasted potential in it. The graphics, for the most part, are pretty spectacular. On a gtx 1070 my game runs smoothly with a great frame rate. I do run into the odd bug and freeze here and there.

The combat is pretty good, but I find it tends to feel a bit meaningless. A good chunk of the combat is done at random, rudimentaryI've found this game to be mediocre, though I can see so much wasted potential in it. The graphics, for the most part, are pretty spectacular. On a gtx 1070 my game runs smoothly with a great frame rate. I do run into the odd bug and freeze here and there.

The combat is pretty good, but I find it tends to feel a bit meaningless. A good chunk of the combat is done at random, rudimentary outposts scattered around the various planets. The thing is, the outposts respawn, so when you're going back and forth you find yourself killing off the same outpost over and over, or straight up driving past it without consequence. The gun play itself is fairly satisfying especially with the various abilities and combo detonators which are basically large explosions. Can't go wrong with a big boom.

The animation is disappointing, but since that's been talked to death I'll leave it at that.

The dialogue is all over the place ranging from excellent to cringe worthy. Some of the best dialogue I found was actually listening to your squad mates banter during missions. Pair Drack with just about anyone and it's a good time. I found the romance dialogue really, really sucked for the most part which was super disappointing. Most of the time your character goes from having a fluid conversation to being either a bumbling idiot or going into an abrupt out of place sex growl voice. The voice acting is also pretty hot and cold.

Content wise the game is pretty packed offering dozens of hours of gameplay. But, I felt the writing was very bland causing a lot of the side quests to feel tedious and chore-like. There's a ton of ping-pong questing that goes on. Person at A tells you to investigate B where you read a data pad that leads you to C where you scan something leading back to A where you inform the person who then leads you to another planet at E where you talk to some one etc, etc. The going back and forth really wouldn't be a problem if I found the quests even remotely interesting, but without solid dialogue or engaging cinematic interaction between characters it just falls flat for me.

You use your scanner a lot throughout the game. It's kind of ME:A's version of witcher senses except I found it cumbersome to use. It takes time to deploy and holster, only fills up a small box on your screen and forces your character to walk which makes taking it out a pain in the ass. You also have to use it to collect research in order to unlock blue prints, which I think is absolutely **** stupid. Just a needlessly tedious, time murdering mechanic. Though not as bad as...

Being a god damn space miner. Yup, a space miner. In order to craft things you need resources and one of the quickest ways to do that is to drive your Nomad around looking for just the right spot to drop a mining drone. The thing is, you can't just drive by and drop a mining drone where ever you want. No, you literally have to monitor a **** graph to watch for just the right apex of resources to drop your mining drone at. Basically, you're playing marco polo with a graph. Cuzz that's what every gamer craves at the end of the day. To stare at a god damn, mother **** piece of **** graph. Like, who the **** came up with that? Seriously.

Anyways, it's an alright game with lots of sorta boring stuff to do in it.… Expand

majxik

May 17, 2017

6

Ok, it is complicated. First, bad things, after it good things. So graphic is not bad as overall, but, facial animation is awful, it is far far from a realistic look, and some of the characters are like after botox - no emotions expressed at all.

The second problem is in gameplay, they tried to create an open world, but there is one big problem, that open world is empty, as in space asOk, it is complicated. First, bad things, after it good things. So graphic is not bad as overall, but, facial animation is awful, it is far far from a realistic look, and some of the characters are like after botox - no emotions expressed at all.

The second problem is in gameplay, they tried to create an open world, but there is one big problem, that open world is empty, as in space as at planets. Most planet (like 14 from 15) you can't visit, you will just look at them from space, but you need to move to them to have 100% of a survey in the solar system, so for 100% completion, you will waste few hours to just looking at monitor while moving between planets. When you get lucky and find one of a visitable planet (don't worry, all are in main quest line), they are huge, and not much to do on them, at least, there is new vehicle :).

And side-quest, some of them are buggy, some are boring and you can live without them. By buggy I mean, you can't complete them, because something didn't happen, for example, I did one job for the Angara, he congratulated me, and nothing happened, the quest is still active, and I can't speak with a person which I should deliver it.

And now good stuff, the main quest are good, it is making sense, it is interesting, there some twist, and your colleagues have their side quest, which is actually interesting enough.

Battles are sometimes challenging, and cover systems work for you. Enemies are stupid just from distance. And special power system is in good shape.

The game is not good, but in overall, if you will skip side quests and you will play it as MA2 and MA3 (you will cut open world to a minimum) only main quest line + crew mission, you will probably enjoy this game much more, than with 100% completion.… Expand

jZero

May 14, 2017

7

A good (not great) game weighed down by technical issues and some poor game design decisions. After 90 hours I am very mixed on this game, not all of my time with MEA was fun, it often felt like a grind but there are some great moments.

The good: - the best looking Mass Effect by far - the main story was surprisingly good - the ending was really well done - gameplay wise and storyA good (not great) game weighed down by technical issues and some poor game design decisions. After 90 hours I am very mixed on this game, not all of my time with MEA was fun, it often felt like a grind but there are some great moments.

The good:
- the best looking Mass Effect by far
- the main story was surprisingly good
- the ending was really well done - gameplay wise and story wise. Feels like they learned from ME3
- at times the dialogue was great
- enjoyed the Angara as a new species
- Ryder's combat is pretty fun - enjoyed many of the moves and getting guns to my liking (for example super high damage sniper, high ammo assault rifle, flamethrower, concusive shot, etc)
- Really like some of the new squad mates - Drack, Jaal, Cora, Kallo, Suvi

The okay:
- Music - a bit more orchestral and for some reason I just didn't feel it the way I did in the original trilogy. Listening to the soundtrack online I feel that I should have enjoyed it more but it just didn't come through in the game.
- Animations - I feel like it's a bit overblown but there were def some animation issues one of the odder ones was Ryder over-rotating his head during conversations.
- The Nomad - fun to drive but without any weapons that's all there is. It doesn't feel great to constantly drive to the fight and exit the vehicle. Also fast travel cuts out a lot of the driving.
- Too much copy paste with non-humans. All non-human races looked virtually identical - just color swaps. A bit of this makes sense but there was often no variation besides color
- Dialogue was at times cringe-worthy, oddly spaced (lots of nothing new - sometimes when it seems a particular character should have something to say.)
- Some meh squadmates:
Liam -awkward mix of goofy and serious
Gil - weird sense of humor and dialogue
Lexi - maybe it was just my play-through but there's little interaction/ dialogue with her (I would talk
to the crew often between missions/side-missions and very rarely did she say anything new.)
Peebee - at times fun and endearing but often annoying.

The bad:
- LOTS of technical issues - broken enemy spawns (frozen/mid-air), weird visual bugs, warping into pillars, game crashed once. Luckily I was able to reload previous auto-saves the few times it was game breaking but there was definitely lots of issues that got more noticeable as the game went on.
- No ability control of squadmates... missed this so much. I loved coordinating this is ME1-3
- Vetra... didn't enjoying fighting or dialogue with her. Felt especially bad as Garrus was so much fun in the original trilogy.
- Felt similar to the Force Awakens where they tried to carbon copy the original. aka Nexus = Citadel, kett = reapers, the night clubs, etc. At times it felt familiar in a bad way
- the GRIND. A lot of content in the game felt like padding, mining was terrible / annoying, lots of fetch missions, lots of backtracking, way too much time spent on the outpost planets. The game dragged horribly at certain points.

It's sad to feel like if they had removed content this game would be better. For Mass Effect fans I think it's worth playing but focus on the main story as much as you can and try to avoid the endless grind.… Expand

Featured

Mass Effect: Andromeda

Review this game

Awards & Rankings

Essential Links

Critic Reviews

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