Mass Effect: Andromeda

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

Athraxes

Mar 30, 2017

6

There is a lot of game for the money... unfortunately its unpolished, uncomfortable with okay story, okay characters ... "okay" everything.
It's a mediocre RPG with many strange decisions and a step back for the franchise. It's basically a worse version of Inquisition in a different setting.
Both 10's and 0's are equally rediculous....!

Combustive

Apr 24, 2017

6

Looked at in the context of other games on the market, Mass Effect Andromeda could be forgiven for awkward writing, forgettable story, endless filler and weird design choices. But for buyers expecting Mass Effect 4, most of the time spent playing this game may very well prove uncomfortable. That's not to say I haven't enjoyed parts of this game. It is stunningly beautiful, there are someLooked at in the context of other games on the market, Mass Effect Andromeda could be forgiven for awkward writing, forgettable story, endless filler and weird design choices. But for buyers expecting Mass Effect 4, most of the time spent playing this game may very well prove uncomfortable. That's not to say I haven't enjoyed parts of this game. It is stunningly beautiful, there are some great technical achievements and most of the gameplay is quite solid. The talent and effort on display has to be given credit. however I just wish it was all driven in the right direction and these issues were recognised and addressed earlier in production.… Expand

irishbloke

Apr 30, 2017

6

How i wanted to like this game, but i cant, the characters are so generic and wooden that you just dont care after 2 hours.

Maybe its because this is the first one in a trilogy but god, its boring and this coming from a player of all 3 Mass Effect Games, which i loved.

Maybe The Witcher 3 has spoilt me, i dunno but the whole story and characters are very dull, a huge disappointment.

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

Surg3on

Mar 21, 2017

6

Not bad, not great. A disappointment but not a 1/10. The animation is poor, The environments are gorgeous. Voice acting is all over the place. The new Mako is awesome.

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

JeRDLe

Apr 26, 2017

6

[Played after release of patch 1.05, so this review is AFTER the worst bugs (and animations) were fixed]

TLDR: Not as good as any of games in the the original trilogy, but not terrible. Wait for a price drop. ME:A had a viable (pun) storyline for creating a game that was completely separate from the events of the previous games. Sadly, even after most of the bugs were patched, the[Played after release of patch 1.05, so this review is AFTER the worst bugs (and animations) were fixed]

TLDR: Not as good as any of games in the the original trilogy, but not terrible. Wait for a price drop.

ME:A had a viable (pun) storyline for creating a game that was completely separate from the events of the previous games. Sadly, even after most of the bugs were patched, the game still suffers from several annoying problems.

The following list includes minor & mild annoyances that ended up lowering the score I give the game:
REPITITION - Holy cow, I would wager a full 50% or more of the hundreds of missions in this game go something like this: Find one object on the map. "Oh, it looks like I'll need you to find (pickup/scan/destroy) 3,4,5 more of those objects, THEN we'll tell you where you need to actually go to do what needs doing."
SJW - I was hoping this was overblown. Thankfully, it is to a degree, but it was still bad enough to be worth calling out as groan worthy.
ANIMATIONS - Still buggy. Main character is part owl and can turn his head 180 degrees proficiently in conversations. Also can look up 45 degrees simultaneously to stare into the player's eyes as you watch him.
THREE ABILITIES - You get access to more abilities than ever before. Of course, you can only use three of them at any one time.
CONSOLES FIRST, PC LAST - Everything in the interface is mapped to a button. Your mail shows console controls for switching between new mail and archived mail. Okay, no problem really. Just use the mouse to click between them...but wait, clicking with the mouse only works to select something in about 80% of the game's various interfaces. It will always highlight and look like it will work, but sometimes it wont *actually* work. Gotta use that button...
WAIT, WHAT? - Let me get this straight. One crewmember is gay, but only as far as the main character is concerned. If you're a dude, get your romance on. If you're a woman, he won't touch you. But he'll be fine starting a family with a NPC woman later on. Actually, never mind, I just remembered how ugly they changed the female twin to be. Dude has reasonable standards and this is actually realistic after all. Not improving my rating though, because I'm 100% certain Bioware didn't intend the rational explanation.
FINAL BATTLE (in space) - They tried to pull in that element from ME3's epic "look at all our forces" scene. It came out of nowhere and bordered on deus ex machina.
FINAL BATTLE (on ground) - There's supposed to be a fight with the main antagonist himself Bioware. The last part of that final battle never happened.
TWIN - Honestly, should have just become a member of your squad after the first planet. Bioware seemed to forget that she has the exact same implant as everyone else sent to Andromeda except the protagonist. Something to conveniently forget, as that would have made tracking people down less time consuming.
INCOMPLETE STORY - Not in the 'this is set up to have sequels too' sense. I'm not talking about where the story goes from here. The story between start and finish needed more meat on the bone.
PC REQUIRES ORIGIN - This always will be an automatic deduction in score, and recommendation of "don't pay full price", EA.… Expand

Rudal

Apr 15, 2017

6

Like many said before... A Dragon Age Inquisition in space...
Endless, not interesting side quest. Main story is just boring and characters dull.
One thing that really catches the eye and makes you play is the environments (DA Inquisition again). Planets are a joy to explore. This shouldn't be a Mass Effect game it should be called "The Andromeda" a game based on ME universe. AndLike many said before... A Dragon Age Inquisition in space...
Endless, not interesting side quest. Main story is just boring and characters dull.
One thing that really catches the eye and makes you play is the environments (DA Inquisition again).
Planets are a joy to explore.

This shouldn't be a Mass Effect game it should be called "The Andromeda" a game based on ME universe. And trust me it would do a lot better that way...

Overall it's not a bad game but it's just average.
You start, you are excited during tutorial planet and things are happening and then you go on your own journey and you wish you could skip 2/3 of the grind and just move on...

Don't buy it.... Wait for holiday sale or something... It's not worth the price...… Expand

beladrim

Mar 21, 2017

6

Andromeda is not a complete disaster of a game. It's average.

But... It's a Mass effect game. And as such... It deserved more than just average. I am not going to bother speaking about the facial animations, since there are plenty of memes on the web. But let me just point out some of biggest problem of this game: - The writing in this game is really not that good. Some timesAndromeda is not a complete disaster of a game. It's average.

But... It's a Mass effect game. And as such... It deserved more than just average.

I am not going to bother speaking about the facial animations, since there are plenty of memes on the web.

But let me just point out some of biggest problem of this game:

- The writing in this game is really not that good. Some times it's cheesy, childish and awful. Most of the time... It's mediocre...

- The voice actor are ok but it feels like they recorded their line out of context. Which makes them sound robotic, emotionless at times.

- Lots of side quests. Most of them are tidious... grindy... and booring. Just like DA Inquistion.

- The saving system is retarded.

- Lots of gliches that pull you out of the experience.

Conclusion: This is not the Mass effect we deserved. Get it when it's patched up and on a 50% sale.… Expand

dkaizer

Mar 30, 2017

6

An overall "ok" game that can be exciting and enjoyable. Worth playing if you can ignore some of the glaring problems. Honestly, this game could do with a lot of improvement.

The Bad: - Horrible animation, facial expressions, gestures etc. Characters stand and walk in a ridiculous fashion. - Ugly, expressionless, lifeless characters. An intelligent and powerful female human or alienAn overall "ok" game that can be exciting and enjoyable. Worth playing if you can ignore some of the glaring problems. Honestly, this game could do with a lot of improvement.

The Bad:
- Horrible animation, facial expressions, gestures etc. Characters stand and walk in a ridiculous fashion.
- Ugly, expressionless, lifeless characters. An intelligent and powerful female human or alien cannot be good looking?!
- I really hate the traveling and exploration method. It is downright tedious, boring and a huge waste of time. Takes almost half a minute and multiple clicks to reach a planet when it used to place instantly. No skip button.
- Romance was supposed to be revamped but its still the same **** Talk till a certain point, then before the final mission the romance scene takes place. The End.
- This game seems to be tailored for the politically correct. I thought a game is supposed to allow me to delve into the fantasy realm and escape the real world politically correct bull****.

The Good:
- Combat is AWESOME and I really like what they have done with the skill selection and combat profiles.
- The Research and Development system offers a wide variety of craftables weapons, armour and augmentations and is a huge improvement over DAI.
- Beautifully crafted alien environments that sometimes take your breath away. Ample Fast Travel points located strategically.
- I feel the Nomad handling and control is a big improvement over the atrocious Mako from the previous trilogy.
- The storyline and setting is not the best but so-so only. Wish it was as epic as the previous trilogy.… Expand

priest865

Mar 25, 2017

6

Graphics
One of the biggest problem are the animation bugs and deliberately ugly characters. Encountering animation bugs is not fluke or happens by chance the just exist. However the worst of them seem to appear in the first three hours of the game. It also seems that the developers tried to make human npcs espescially ugly. Which is also a problem for the character creator. There areGraphics
One of the biggest problem are the animation bugs and deliberately ugly characters. Encountering animation bugs is not fluke or happens by chance the just exist. However the worst of them seem to appear in the first three hours of the game. It also seems that the developers tried to make human npcs espescially ugly. Which is also a problem for the character creator. There are only a few templates which are good enough for character creation at least for creating a male character. Additionally there is something wrong with the human eyes of the characters. They don't have no reflection, are to big and too wide open. In general fixing the eyes would already make the game a lot better visually. However other than that the game is beautiful. The planets and environments look great and the alien races look better than ever.

UI and Menus
At first the UI and menus are very overwhelming. I can only talk here about my personal expirience. After some time I got used to it. Using the keyboard to navigate the menus instead of the mouse is very efficient and fast. All in all interfaces for sure need improvements but bad menus and interfaces in AAA games seems to be a trand lately.

Gameplay
Gameplay is good and fun. However I am very much used to the cover mechanic of ME3. So I don't use the jet pack as often as I probably should in combat. I prefer to stay in cover and shoot from a medium distance. Also I sometimes "break cover" by just moving to much to the side. This doesn't happen to often so it is just a minor annoyance.
A new addition to the series is crafting which allows you to customize your armor and weapons. There are lots of armor and weapon types to craft. All with different attributes. Armors can benefit different specializations (biotic, soldier, tech) or they can have more general stats. All inall there are a lot of customizations options with the crafting menu. Probably every armor or weapon you've seen in the Mass Effect franchise can be crafted and equipped and modified with auguments. For all those options it is a pity that you can't equip your squad with the equipment you can craft.
Another new feature is the skill system. It allows for four different profiles to freely switched around. The player can learn every skill and add 3 of them to every profile - there is no class restriction for learning the skills.
Exploration seems to be the new focus of the gaming series. Most of the maps can be explored with the Nomad a vehicle which can be upgraded in various ways. The maps countain various activities and quests. At times the amount of quests can be overwhelming. The quality of quests vary greatly and probably depends personal preference.

Conclusion
All in all the game is can be a pleasant expirience when you can get past the biggest problem - the animation and hideous looking NPCs.… Expand

Megaparadox

Mar 26, 2017

6

Not so bad. If you evaluate a purely single campaign, then this is 5/10.But there is still a good multiplayer that draws on 6/10This is probably the worst mass effect, but I did not like 2 and 3 at all, I could not pass them, although 1 part was finished 3 times.Could have been better, could ...

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

Voodoo123

May 6, 2017

6

A missed opportunity to further expand Mass Effect games for a new generation. Some genuinely cool moments lost in a sea of technical shortcomings. Buyer beware!

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

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.

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

thisisevilevil

Apr 17, 2017

6

Even after patch 1.05 this game is still a mess, unfortunately. There's still too many bugs. I would have given it a 5/10 but the story is still good (Though not as good as ME2/ME3). There's just too many shortcomings here, and when you put the "Mass Effect" title on your game, the expectations is high.

Just a short summary of some of the shortcomings/annoyances: -Planet exploration isEven after patch 1.05 this game is still a mess, unfortunately. There's still too many bugs. I would have given it a 5/10 but the story is still good (Though not as good as ME2/ME3). There's just too many shortcomings here, and when you put the "Mass Effect" title on your game, the expectations is high.

Just a short summary of some of the shortcomings/annoyances:
-Planet exploration is a hassle. Too many cutscenes (And you still can't skip most of them, even after patch 1.05)
-Character animations are still buggy
-When engaging in conversation, the conversation option doesn't even nearly reflect what your character will actually say.
-A lot of quests is still broken as of patch 1.05. Reloading your latest save usually solves it for most quests though.
-Some very annoying side quests yield very little reward. Take for instance the quest where you have to scan minerals on a few planets. After completing that quest, you got a 200 credit reward.....
-Some side quests/assignments feels like a chore. I know the ME4 development team said they wanted to imitate what the Witcher 3 did with their side quests, but the quality of the side quests in ME4 is not even near The Witcher 3.
-The Quest tracking system is nothing short of horrible.

I see lots of 1's, 2's and 3 ratings in here, the game is really not that bad, but I do believe this just underlines how disappointed the ME fans is with this game… Expand

GamesBeatAll

Mar 26, 2017

6

Okay yeah, character customisation is utter pants, some of the animations are bad, like the NCP drinking from a bottle he stuck in his eye, and another one who appears to have some horrendous body wide tic. But I can live with that.
But the two things that disappoint me are the plot - or lack of it, and the dumbing down. Don't bother bringing your brain to this ME party - you won't beOkay yeah, character customisation is utter pants, some of the animations are bad, like the NCP drinking from a bottle he stuck in his eye, and another one who appears to have some horrendous body wide tic. But I can live with that.
But the two things that disappoint me are the plot - or lack of it, and the dumbing down. Don't bother bringing your brain to this ME party - you won't be needing it.
All the basic good stuff from ME is there, and some improvements. And yeah, I probably will play it to the bitter end, but no, I won't be pre-ordering ME 5 if there is one.
The dialogues, OMG, who wrote this snooze fest? And padded out with soooo many repetitive and pointless conversations.
And the basic premise, finding new homes - there is no urgency, nor strong motivation of 'all of mankind will die if you don't sort this Ryder'. It's more like an adventure holiday where you repeat the same adventures, just in a different location.
Also, I don't feel my answers and decisions really make any difference, where are the massive moral dilemmas? Where are the REAL character choices?
The technical issues are, well technical issues. What I'm finding hard to forgive is the lack of heart, the heart of the ME franchise, an immersive story with well designed characters.… Expand

amafadag

Apr 3, 2017

6

A solid 6/10 game. Worst Mass Effect yet. But if you're desperate for something "Mass Effect like", this will scratch that itch just a little bit.

The "Mass Effect" experience that you were hoping for is about 5% of the game, the rest is driving around on planets doing fetch-quests. The story, voice overs, missions and dialogues are absolutely horrendous and boring. I've skipped over aA solid 6/10 game. Worst Mass Effect yet. But if you're desperate for something "Mass Effect like", this will scratch that itch just a little bit.

The "Mass Effect" experience that you were hoping for is about 5% of the game, the rest is driving around on planets doing fetch-quests. The story, voice overs, missions and dialogues are absolutely horrendous and boring. I've skipped over a half of it because of how uninteresting and boring it was.… 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

Jaszczomb

Mar 24, 2017

6

I waited for this game. And it's a huge disappointment. Boring plot, not funny one liners, poor performance, fetch quests, akward conversations and those animation problems! You can not get into the game if characters makes this fascial animations and walks like ministers of silly walking! All that for 40 euro. Shame.

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

fooey

Mar 27, 2017

6

Decent, if generic, sci-fi shooter wrapped in a creepy Mass Effect skin.

This is the game where EA decided to cash out on the Mass Effect brand by shoveling out the bare minimum they thought they could get away with. Mass Effect has unquestionably lost its standing as a top echelon franchise.

Perfected

Apr 25, 2017

6

Pretty disappointing as to what one should have been expecting as the next big Mass Effect game.

Story and main plot line could have been better. Was very generic. Bugs and technical issues everywhere. Game crashes constantly. Facial animations and animations in general are terrible. Player customization is terrible. Customization of crew / companions is non-existent. Everyone looks andPretty disappointing as to what one should have been expecting as the next big Mass Effect game.

Story and main plot line could have been better. Was very generic. Bugs and technical issues everywhere. Game crashes constantly. Facial animations and animations in general are terrible. Player customization is terrible. Customization of crew / companions is non-existent. Everyone looks and feels generic and boring. Voice acting is hit and miss.

Gun-play, weapon mechanics, and combat are decent. Some of the worlds are beautiful. Atmosphere can be good from time to time. But that's pretty much it about whats good about the game. Everything else is either bland, generic, boring or just flat out bad.

Don't recommend unless you're a die hard mass effect fan but even then maybe you should wait until they're doing patching it or it goes on sale.… 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

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.

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

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

RedWyrm

Apr 12, 2017

6

Not bad, but not really good either.

Main story's not imaginative and strong enough, given a new galaxy. Character customization ghastly - Witcher3 and even XCOM3 are way better - patch helped some, though. (Had to go for antihero look, my Pathfinder is a bit clueless, spoiled rich kid with a big blonde afro hairdo :-)) Really miss the old "pause, look around and plan" interface,Not bad, but not really good either.

Main story's not imaginative and strong enough, given a new galaxy.

Character customization ghastly - Witcher3 and even XCOM3 are way better - patch helped some, though.
(Had to go for antihero look, my Pathfinder is a bit clueless, spoiled rich kid with a big blonde afro hairdo :-))

Really miss the old "pause, look around and plan" interface, lots of clean FPSers around

LOVE the whole planet developing, gear customizing strategic aspect.

Side plots are not bad, still Witcher3 is much better

Had hoped for a more cinematic experience involving flying as well, like Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

Cautiously looking forward to a ME5, there is potential, especially if they think consider aliens more alien (like Fred Hoyles book The Black Cloud or the Arrival movie)… 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

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

Antioch

Apr 6, 2017

6

Yes you all heard about it, the facial and some of the other animations are attrocious. however that has no major impact on my review of this game. I'm not the kind of gamer that truly roleplays to a point where quirky animations would be immersionbreaking. If anything i found some situations hilarious. however I do understand that it might be immersionbreaking for some people.
AnotherYes you all heard about it, the facial and some of the other animations are attrocious. however that has no major impact on my review of this game. I'm not the kind of gamer that truly roleplays to a point where quirky animations would be immersionbreaking. If anything i found some situations hilarious. however I do understand that it might be immersionbreaking for some people.
Another criticism the game has gotten from mainly prepub teen boys is that all the female characters are ugly. That is completely irrelevant to me as I don't tend to jerk of to videogame characters. I usually want to romance the most outrageous alien anyway just for the hell of it.

No my main critisism lies with the bugs and glitches that are actually a nuisance to me as a gamer. Like the falling through the floor, quests/tasks that you can't complete because the game either doesn't allow you to do what is required to complete them or because the game doesn't register that you have done it. The teleporting squadmates, the locked falling animations because you want to drop down a ledge, the Nomad that suddenly disappeares mid drive etc.
The UI and info are unecessarily convoluted, lacking and at times seems like they've been designed as an afterthought.
The story is so predictable and cliche it's not even funny. No plot twists no interesting characters a far cry from the orginal mass effect games (except for the **** ME3 ending).
The main villian is one of the most boring ones in later years.
The dialogue has been degraded to FO4 level. And the description of the dialogue you pick and what your character is actually saying is so far off at times you constantly get a "WTF, that wasn't what i meant to say at all" moment.
They've done awat with renegade/paragon system wich I really don't like. It's hard to choose a consistent path for your character, especially in conjuction with the dodgy dialogue descriptions that doesn't match what he/she says.
The flying around in space, it looks cool initially then it becomes such a huge choir. It takes 10-15 seconds to fly to another system, then another 10 seconds to fly to the planet, then it will have a zoomed in view for 5 seconds before you can scan the planet. When it takes 10 minutes to just look at planets in one system it gets **** tiresome after a while. And of course it's unskippable.
All this with the feeling of "halfassededness" overall takes away immensly for me.

Multiplayer is just hordemode with microtransactions. It's servicable, not really bad but nothing special.

Now there are some things I like. I do like the combat direction they have taken, some might prefer the cover based fighting of the old games but I much prefer the active combat in this game. The graphics are gorgeous on my rig at 1080p/ultra.
It also performs very well holding about 90 fps avarage (OC intel 4770K, 16GB ram, Titan black), initially it had a huge dump in frames for a split second when transfering from an ingame cutscene to gameplay but after the first patch along with nvidias gameready drivers the performance was stellar for me. I'm confident once I get my new monitor I can crank that res up and still keep 60fps on my 4 yo rig.
the environments are varied and beutifully built.
I also like the companionapp that allows you to send teams on missions wich might get you credits and research data and possibly some items while you arn't playing.
the crafting is pretty good save for the UI that handles it.

But overall for me, a mediocre game. Not bad but nothing to be hyped about. Worth a playthrough if you have nothing else to do but don't expect a masterpiece or the same level of quality as the previous titles offered.… Expand

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

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

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

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.

eva3si0n

Apr 8, 2017

6

I very much love the original trilogy Mass Effect. On 2 times I have played all games, but after 15 hours of a gameplay of Mass Effect Andromeda, I don't understand why this game is called Mass Effect. A mediocre plot which consists of one cliches. The boring gameplay consisting only of a grind. All I loved original Mass Effect here for has died. Yes a game became better in comparison withI very much love the original trilogy Mass Effect. On 2 times I have played all games, but after 15 hours of a gameplay of Mass Effect Andromeda, I don't understand why this game is called Mass Effect. A mediocre plot which consists of one cliches. The boring gameplay consisting only of a grind. All I loved original Mass Effect here for has died. Yes a game became better in comparison with Dragon Age: Inqusition. But everything that wants to be told about this game is a creative impotence of Bioware, the company for me has died.
P.S. Still it will turn out that we not what not Pioneer, all were settled on a galaxy for a long time and long ago there has taken place the first contact with other races. Even with it were trashed ((… Expand

Firewing2

Apr 3, 2017

6

I've almost completed this game after completing nearly every side quest (some were bugged and I couldn't finish them). About 90 hours played...

i'm a huge Bioware fanboy going back to Baldur's Gate, and this game is just disappointing. Not bad... but no where near what it could have been. I'm not one to knock a game because of bugs, especially if they're not game breaking, so I'llI've almost completed this game after completing nearly every side quest (some were bugged and I couldn't finish them). About 90 hours played...

i'm a huge Bioware fanboy going back to Baldur's Gate, and this game is just disappointing. Not bad... but no where near what it could have been.

I'm not one to knock a game because of bugs, especially if they're not game breaking, so I'll leave those issues up to the internet, but the animation is this game are not broken, they're just bad. Pee Bee is the only character whose face moves in anything like a normal persons. Half the conversations I'm in, I spend distracted by a face with a flat affect and seemingly random, jerky eye movements... which wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, except that the writing is equally bad. Dialog is flat and character development is non-existent. There are characters with really interesting backstories whose in-game personality is: "flat-toned shrug" (Cora, Vetra, Drack). 1400 year old Krogan who can remember the time before the Krogan rebellions and the genophage? Meh... sorta vaguely cranky old man, but not really... just mostly likes to hit stuff.

While not quite perfect, the original trilogy is probably my favorite video games of the last decade+. This game, I got bored 75% of the way through the story and forgot to play it for a week... How is that possible, BioWare? You can't even blame EA for this. The game isn't rushed, or incomplete, it's just not great.

That said, visually, the game is stunning. Space has never looked so good, which is great because it will force you to watch a 15 second flying animation every time you: Take off from a planet, land on a planet, fly to a new star system, fly to/between a planet in that star system, etc. My 90 hours of game play has to include 2-5 hours of watch my ship land, take off, or move between planets.

The combat is pretty solid. A step up from the original series, which is great, especially if you're a fan of ME:3s multiplayer, which is back in this game, more or less identically, which is not a complaint, I'm a fan.

But single player is the kind of underwhelming experience that makes me want to fire up ME:2 and 3 again, just for the pallet cleanser. I've never left an ME playing experience not slavering for the next game before...… Expand

Verosho

Apr 3, 2017

6

KOTOR
KOTOR 2
JADE EMPIRE DRAGON AGE ORIGINS MASS EFFECT MASS EFFECT 2 MASS EFFECT 3 --------------------------- Mass Effect Andromeda does not deserve to be on this list, Bioware have forgotten what made them one of the top game developers in the world it's now starting to get me worried the downward spiral they are taking When EA bought them out years ago pre Mass Effect 2KOTOR
KOTOR 2
JADE EMPIRE
DRAGON AGE ORIGINS
MASS EFFECT
MASS EFFECT 2
MASS EFFECT 3
---------------------------

Mass Effect Andromeda does not deserve to be on this list, Bioware have forgotten what made them one of the top game developers in the world it's now starting to get me worried the downward spiral they are taking

When EA bought them out years ago pre Mass Effect 2 people were worried they would ruin the series but it seems peoples fears have become true eventually with both of their biggest series falling flat with bland and clique storylines and characters that do not connect with the audience.

I hoped Dragon Age Inquisition was just a bump in the road and that it was all in my imagination that you ripped off the Mass Effect storyline, but sadly it seems you have fallen from grace just for cheap P2P content and **** online modes nobody asked or wanted at the cost of the single player mode that should have been your only priority.

Buck your ideas up Bioware, tell EA to stay out of it and stop trying to make this into the next FIFA or Madden NFL sports game in space. Go back to your roots of KOTOR and what made you into the gaming powerhouse you are today, I used to say 'Bioware never makes a bad game' sadly that has changed.

Mass Effect and Dragon Age will not survive the direction you are going, you **** up, so fire the people in charge and go back to the drawing board and listen to your fanbase before its too late.… Expand

josei1985

Apr 17, 2017

6

Vaya por delante que no he jugado a la trilogía original.

Estamos ante un buen juego en cuanto a jugabilidad y con un final de historia realmente bueno. La verdad que lo mejor de este juego es cuando iniciamos una misión principal o de lealtad, nos ponemos en situación y empezamos pegar tiros. La sensación de diversión es inmediata y muy satisfactoria. El jetpack es una bendición paraVaya por delante que no he jugado a la trilogía original.

Estamos ante un buen juego en cuanto a jugabilidad y con un final de historia realmente bueno. La verdad que lo mejor de este juego es cuando iniciamos una misión principal o de lealtad, nos ponemos en situación y empezamos pegar tiros. La sensación de diversión es inmediata y muy satisfactoria. El jetpack es una bendición para evitar los disparos del enemigo o ascender por el escenario. El juego se hará más disfrutable según vayamos investigando y desarrollando armas con más daño. La IA enemiga sin ser excelente es bastante buena, te intentará flanquear o rodearte atacándote por detrás. Hay un evidente reciclaje de bosses finales, como arquitectos relictos y jefes kett. No habrá demasiados problemas por conseguir munición y vida en el tiroteo.

La historia principal va de menos a más con un final muy bueno. Del contenido secundario solo se salvan las misiones de lealtad y alguna suelta, el resto es otro ejemplo de mundo abierto con decenas de misiones de relleno que no aportan absolutamente nada y son totalmente prescindibles.

Gráficos,rendimiento y optimización: Los gráficos son buenos pero nada que nos sorprenda salvo en los exteriores, donde más de una vez admiraremos la belleza de lo que tenemos en pantalla. El juego tiene una pésima optimización, necesitaremos un pc de alta gama para jugar a todo en ultra, especialmente en resoluciones superiores a 1080p y si buscamos los 60ps. Con un i5 6600 y una gtx 980 lo jugado en 1080p60fps con la mayoría de opciones en ultra bajando otras. En 20k60fps solo era posible con todo en bajo.

El juego cuenta con unos bugs que arruinan la experiencia. Los hay de todo todo aunque han sido más frecuentes la primera mitad del juego, después, quién sabe si como consecuencia del parche, han sido bastante menores, pero los hay. Ejemplo:

- De vez en cuando te encuentras enemigos suspendidos en el aire
- Usando el francotirador a unos 200 metros, puedes cargarte un pelotón entero sin que nadie reaccione siempre y cuando mueran de un solo tiro. Cuando se trata de enemigos que necesitan más de un disparo (o lo falles) será cuando reaccionen.
- En ocasiones, tras morir una vez, el juego parece cambiar la dificultad, pues notas que con el mismo arma, a la misma distancia y mismo enemigo, el daño que haces es mucho menor que en condiciones normales.
- En las escenas en que la nave aterriza en un planeta (y no se puede emitir), la pantalla petardea cambiando a varios colores (azul, verde y rojo) cuando el planeta está en la oscuridad o hay nieve.
- Brusquedad en el paso del gameplay a cinemáticas o a escena de diálogo, ocurren cosas raras, desaparecen personajes o estos hacen gestos extraños.
- En los diálogos, especialmente con personajes muy secundarios, la cámara no enfoca bien a nuestro interlocutor, saldrá cortado o estaremos mirando una pared. .

Guión/Diálogo. Apartado decepcionante. No en todo el juego pero sí ves que flojea en algunos momentos. No se ve aquello que ha encumbrado a esta saga. Da la sensación que nuestras decisiones apenas afectan al juego.

Exploración. Salvo al principio, va a llegar un punto en que no querrás explorar ni profundizar en su mundo, pues hay cierta sensación de mundo abierto vacío. Los minerales los irás recolectando según se crucen en tu camino pero nunca porque vayas expresamente a buscarlos. Llegarás a cada planeta nuevo y buscarás activar lo antes posible las cápsulas de viaje rápido.

Es un juego que ha salido a la venta prematuramente, ME Andromeda pedía a gritos más meses para ser pulido. Actualmente es un juego que aprobaría de milagro, gracias a su excelente jugabilidad pero con constantes fallos y contenido secundario de cuarta regional que le restan bastante. Totalmente arreglado quizá llegaría a un 7,5, pero no será jamás un juego de sobresaliente.

En resumidas cuentas, no puedo recomendar a día de hoy ME Andromeda. Cierto que Bioware ha sacado y seguirá sacando parches, por ello aconsejo esperar unos meses o a que salga edición goty y a un precio no mayor a 20-25€.

Posiblemente el primer fiasco de 2017 en cuanto Triple A.

Vaya, no he dicho nada de las expresiones faciales. No se equivoquen, no es el mayor problema de este videojuego y con el parche de abril, menos.… Expand

Voltron89

Mar 21, 2017

6

Big game, but sadly empty and without good quality content. Quantity over quality... The game is one huge waste potential. There are some extremely good features but also some extremely bad. Let's get to it.

GOOD: - Vast, new Galaxy to explore with aswesome new planets and places to see. - Some interesting side-characters and team mates (sadly, not level of trilogy crew). -Big game, but sadly empty and without good quality content. Quantity over quality... The game is one huge waste potential. There are some extremely good features but also some extremely bad. Let's get to it.

GOOD:
- Vast, new Galaxy to explore with aswesome new planets and places to see.
- Some interesting side-characters and team mates (sadly, not level of trilogy crew).
- Absolutely great combat system, dynamic, fluid, smooth. Good balance between risk and cover combat at higher difficulties.
- 3 new interesting spieces.
- Exploration is done much better than in DA:I
- A lot of dialogues and side quest
- Quite long game
- Very good overall visuals of everything but character faces.

BAD:
- Generic, boring story. Same scheme for everything. There is nothing deep or ambitious here. Bioware played it 100% safe, no controversy, no emotions, nothing memorable.
- Many sides quests, but quality is low. Many quests are simple "track, kill, pick up, deliver" or "scan the hell out of this area". More story side-quests are also mostly generic and boring, not even one memorable quest with some sort of plot twist. BioWare should learn from Witcher 3 story quests.
- Your team mates are shallow, cliche and many times irritating (PeeBee...god...). I din't want to romance anyone in the end, since your right hand seems more interesting and sexy than any of NPCs.
- Animations are tragedy. This could be forgiven 5 years ago. But we have 2017 and animations are immersion-breaking. Dialogues which suppose to sound tough, emotional, serious are being destroyed by stupid eye rolls, creepy facial espressions and smiles that arre totally oposite to the voice and scene tone. Absolutely garbage. This is RPG game and belive me- you will spend A HELL LOT OF TIME speaking with many different NPCs. Animations will make you skip and speed trough them just to not see this crap.
- Character Creation is easy the worst in any AAA RPG I have ever played. Why did BioWare just not include DA:I CC? I have no idea. It's like they want to force you to play their "child faces" twins...
- Faces are awufull. Textures are low res even on 2K on Ultra, lightning is tragedy, as characters many times look like plastic dolls, not living beings.
- Exploration, while better than in DA:I is till just a time waste and it just try to force you into beliving that game is longer and has more content than it really has. Jumping puzzles, scanning everything is boring, boring, boring. And why our new car does not have Cannon like Mako had? I have no idea....
- Combat- ther variety of skills is great but you can only equip 3...that is a joke, especially on PC, where you could easy have 5-6 of them. 3 makes combat not as complex as it could be with more active skills.
- Crafting is useless feature, again it is just to force you to play longer (grind for materials).
- Music is just average. Not as good as in ME1 or ME2 by a long shot.
- Game just feels rushed, unpolished, unfinished. If you focus while you play you can see that many thing were not finished.
- Last but not least- main protagonists are absolutely joke and in many situations they seem like sort of "space teens power rangers" that try hard to be serious and mature. You can't even compare them to Shepard.

Overall, let me sum this up:
Game is big, but this is illusion, like DA:I was. Empty maps with useless activities, improved exploration which sadly gets boring after first 10-15 hours. Everything feels unfinished, rushed, beta stage. Story is cliche, boring and without any good plot-twists. Honestly - I can hardly remember it after beating it. Nothing memorable really happened. Combat is great but why so limited with active skills? Animations are great in combat and absolutely garbage B-grade outside of it- expresions, walking, lipsync- just bleh.

Very average game, but touching a little "good game" territory. As a great ME fan (over 1000h in trilogy and 450h in ME3 MP) I am very dissapointed what has become of my favourite RPG universe.

6/10, for combat mostly and planets/areas.

BioWare- you should be ashamed. But you won't since it's all about money. There is not good people left there and no passion for gaming.

Try to be like CD Project Red Please. Try again to create game with love.… Expand

Urtext

Mar 21, 2017

6

It’s hard not to be emotional about Mass Effect: Andromeda. You can see this from the huge number of negative user reviews. This actually says something about the strength of the Mass Effect universe. Although Mass Effect 2 did not live up to the sci fi chops of Mass Effect 1, and Mass Effect 3 did not live up to the intensely personal and emotionally engaging Mass Effect 2, the originalIt’s hard not to be emotional about Mass Effect: Andromeda. You can see this from the huge number of negative user reviews. This actually says something about the strength of the Mass Effect universe. Although Mass Effect 2 did not live up to the sci fi chops of Mass Effect 1, and Mass Effect 3 did not live up to the intensely personal and emotionally engaging Mass Effect 2, the original trilogy remains a landmark Bioware effort. Expectations were high.

The 0-10 scale is obviously flawed. But I cannot bring myself to review this game anything lower than a 6. It has its problems, but within the American grading system, 0-5 signifies a failing (non)effort. Despite some noticeable bugs, I did not encounter any game-breaking ones (your mileage may vary). ME: A was rushed, but it is not a literally broken game.

This is not high praise. In fact, ME: A is a bad game, and if you value your time, you should not play it. When I play an RPG, first and foremost I expect some engagement with the story and the characters. An RPG is not only about its systems; its about role-playing within the given constraints of the game. And I cannot role-play with ME: A’s clichéd, uninteresting plot and terrible, forgettable cast. Even if you look over the problems with animation (it’s truly horrible, watch on Youtube for entertainment) and voice-work (the talent were phoning it in); the writing itself is untenable. There is no forward momentum. The gameplay systems function in a workmanship manner independent of context: combat is fine, the quest system sets up an addictive gameplay loop. But there is no soul to the game that makes you want to engage with these systems. And that is ME: A’s major sin.… Expand

JoshWobbles

Mar 22, 2017

6

The environmental graphics are frigging gorgeous, and the performance holds up great on my 1060 with over 50fps with settings maxes on a 21:9 monitor (so I dont know what all the trolls saying they have issues on their 1080ti are talking about). But with all the talk about poor character modeling and rigging, its easy to brush that aside until you are smack dab in one of Mass Effect'sThe environmental graphics are frigging gorgeous, and the performance holds up great on my 1060 with over 50fps with settings maxes on a 21:9 monitor (so I dont know what all the trolls saying they have issues on their 1080ti are talking about). But with all the talk about poor character modeling and rigging, its easy to brush that aside until you are smack dab in one of Mass Effect's signature cinematic cut-scenes with the awesome music and them BAM there's a cut scene of a pale mannequin giving you the Forest Whitaker eye.... Maybe if I hadn't heard so much about it before going into the game it wouldn't have been so noticeable, but it absolutely does detract from some of my favorite parts of the game so far; the cinematic cut scenes. I will also add that all the skill trees and profiles and yada yada yada are just too damn much for me... A little bit of skill progression is good, but the constant logistical micromanaging is something else that takes away from the fun parts.… Expand

Spiritandi

Mar 22, 2017

6

Анимации отвратительные, редактор персонажей отвратителен, Техническая сторона отвратительная, Судоку - заебали, кататься по планете 2 часа - пиздец как интересно, Стрельба хуже чем в 3 части. 6 из 10 только за то, что я фанат. Если решите купить, только по распродаже.Анимации отвратительные, редактор персонажей отвратителен, Техническая сторона отвратительная, Судоку - заебали, кататься по планете 2 часа - пиздец как интересно, Стрельба хуже чем в 3 части. 6 из 10 только за то, что я фанат. Если решите купить, только по распродаже.

ihavacoolname

Mar 22, 2017

6

I started playing at launch, and I was bored within 30 minutes of character creation.

I was disappointed 28 minutes before that. The writing is bad. I will break the game's pros and cons down so that you can get a feel for it and for the lens that I'm using to make my statements about this game, but that's the short version of why this game is borderline unplayable. Here is theI started playing at launch, and I was bored within 30 minutes of character creation.

I was disappointed 28 minutes before that.

The writing is bad. I will break the game's pros and cons down so that you can get a feel for it and for the lens that I'm using to make my statements about this game, but that's the short version of why this game is borderline unplayable.

Here is the long version, starting with the writing's issues.

There are too few pieces to the plot and too little depth to those pieces, so the game doesn't impart any particular feeling of grandiosity or mystery. This is partly because of how the game paces its reveal of the plot elements, giving too much away and expecting the player to immerse themself with minimal assistance from the game. This is to say that immersion feels more like an exercise in role-playing than a rewarding dive into an living narrative.

In other Mass Effect games, the rich and varied perspectives that characters shared with you engage you emotionally and get you thinking about what is happening in the game for reasons other than your first-hand experience of the story. You had a character interaction for its own sake; you gained an incisive perspective on the narrative as a side effect, which gave your enjoyment of the game new layers. In this game, however, there isn't a single character that a reasonable person above the age of fifteen would find compelling. Without exaggerating, I can say that they all come across as unintelligent and, in some cases, affected to the point that they are not believable as characters. This includes the protagonist, Ryder.

That is the main issue with the game. Everything that follows could have been overlooked if the writing was good. I'll even say some nice things below; almost tragically, there are a lot of good things about this game that hardly matter because of the writing and the pointless mess of a UI. These things are so good that, if the UI were good, too, I would play this game for the action and non-story RPG elements.

Alright. You have probably heard that the game's facial animation is bad. It's true; the animation is worse than it was in the first Mass Effect. The conversations are about halfway between interactive movie and visual novel because of it. As you might guess based on that, facial animations often sync up especially poorly with player-designed faces. This effectively limits your options for appearance-customization. That's nothing new to Mass Effect, but if, like me, you are profoundly unimpressed with the default appearances for Ryder, you're not going to be satisfied with how your character looks at any time that you can see their face.

When the face is out of view, safely enshrouded in the 'helmet always on' setting or whatever your solution is, the armor's pretty good. In fact, the game is visually stunning overall if you can disregard its hitches. On my high-end build, the only graphical issues I have are choppy cuts between shots and a strangely flat look to the world, the latter of which I am now realizing is partly a projection of my lack of desire to move forward in this game's 3D space.

For others, the game has serious performance issues that I won't go into here. Just sniff around for a few minutes; you'll find them, especially for console (even though you're in the wrong review section for that, you hasty clicker you).

Combat is decent for three main reasons. The first is the graphics, the second is Ryder's maneuverability, which includes vertical movement, and the third is Ryder's leveling and ability progression. You don't select a class; you choose from all of the game's available powers when spending points gained from level-up. This means that you can approach combat the way that you want; Ryder almost feels like he/she is yours in combat because of just how much you can personalize your combat style. Almost every time you use your powers looks and feels special because of the graphical quality and the ways that enemies are affected by your attacks; those animations and effects are interesting and believable. Together with fairly good hitboxes, this means that intense observation of and adjustment to your enemy mid-firefight is more rewarding. Knowing that paying attention to the details in the beautiful graphics yields rewards in gameplay enhances my enjoyment both in combat and in exploration.

If you want to know about exploration and side quests, just look up Dragon Age: Inquisition. Essentially, side-quests are too random to care about and exploration is too time-consuming to be worth it, even though you gather resources for weapons and armor by exploring. The successful integration of the side content into the game only injects dead periods into the already questionably paced main story.

BioWare, if you've suffered through this, just get your gameplay elements into a tighter flow and smack whomever was in charge of your writers' direction. By the way, 5k.… Expand

camjd19

Mar 22, 2017

6

Sure, there are many glitches and issues with animation but the developer stated that he's going to do what he can to make it a better experience. The multiplayer is amazing and I continue to play it even with all the lag. The story is solid and the dialogue is still better than average. The exploration is a blast but one of the biggest complaints was that the story has huge ups and downsSure, there are many glitches and issues with animation but the developer stated that he's going to do what he can to make it a better experience. The multiplayer is amazing and I continue to play it even with all the lag. The story is solid and the dialogue is still better than average. The exploration is a blast but one of the biggest complaints was that the story has huge ups and downs and that side-quests are just boring, which has been put out of proportion. This game is going to be one of the best of 2017 with a few patches and it's such a huge game with tons of interesting characters. The reviews for the game aren't the best but it depends on what you like. If you like mass effect or sci-fi games in general, this game is going to be an excellent experience well worth your time. It just takes some patience.… Expand

GuerrerosdelPc

Mar 22, 2017

6

Hi,first I have ME Trilogy and I dislike,That : animations fos this specs lack work, more when I played many time in conversations that's annyoning. My partners,I can't customize and I can't do it combined attacks. The menus to works may be can confused.The multi player The multiplayer are poor performance.I like the combat mode are fine except bugs in animations.The story don't wantHi,first I have ME Trilogy and I dislike,That : animations fos this specs lack work, more when I played many time in conversations that's annyoning. My partners,I can't customize and I can't do it combined attacks. The menus to works may be can confused.The multi player The multiplayer are poor performance.I like the combat mode are fine except bugs in animations.The story don't want sympathy with player. My score 6/10 for Bioware ,they run for launch without finished job.Sad… Expand

Kremish

Apr 8, 2017

6

Imo you should ignore all the 0s, you should also ignore all the 10s though as well. This game isn't bad exactly, it could even be even called good. There's plenty wrong from a technical standpoint, there'll probably be something story-wise based on your preferences. This however is not a VERY good game either. This could be good starting point for any future games set in this galaxy.Imo you should ignore all the 0s, you should also ignore all the 10s though as well. This game isn't bad exactly, it could even be even called good. There's plenty wrong from a technical standpoint, there'll probably be something story-wise based on your preferences. This however is not a VERY good game either. This could be good starting point for any future games set in this galaxy.

This really seems to come down to your expectations. If you're a hardcore ME fan you may very well not like it (and there's nothing wrong with that). If this is your 1st ME game, it's a pretty good introduction, even if it's not the strongest in the history of gaming.

While I kind of enjoyed it, It definitely didn't live up to my expectations in terms of story. Maybe that's just because of my fondness for the OT, maybe not.

So yh, while not a bad game, I can't say this is a good game either. I'd recommend to someone who hasn't played the OT and doesn't mind some bugs, and some pretty sub-par but at times hilarious animations.

I don't think I'd recommend to a casual ME fan though, only the hardcore so to speak.

But meh, this is just some idiots opinion.… Expand

Twombler

Mar 24, 2017

6

Mass Effect and its sequels were the first games that really gave an experience where Sci-Fi-movie met 3rd person shooter and RPG with well developed storyline. As you played with the main protagonist you really felt that every NPC and squad mates had a background and personal motivations which were revealed through well written dialogue. Actual game-play was functional enough (thoughMass Effect and its sequels were the first games that really gave an experience where Sci-Fi-movie met 3rd person shooter and RPG with well developed storyline. As you played with the main protagonist you really felt that every NPC and squad mates had a background and personal motivations which were revealed through well written dialogue. Actual game-play was functional enough (though restrictive) but I saw it only a way to forward the story. Antagonists felt like a real threat and they had their individual motivations to fight against the player. Afterwards I've imagined that Saren and Illusive Man would work fine as a playable characters in their own separate games.

ME: Andromeda stumble at crucial points but here's the biggest issue: Weak narrative. In ME-trilogy dialogue was there to push the story forward. If it wasn't then the dialogue built the characters and gave an insight to their background and motives for the player.

Andromeda fails the narrative and there is a reason for this which is weak directing by Mac Walters. He is a great writer (no doubt about that) but doesn't seems to know how to enliven written to a game world properly. It's a pity because the story, characters and dialogue has a huge promising which is never used properly.

After the poorly delivered story there is only a 3rd person shooter-RPG which is great but repetitive. Visuals are also great but unpolished from time to time. I had not game breaking bugs but a lot minor ones mostly with animations and scripting errors.

Summary: A huge disappointment for a Mass Effect fan but a decent shooter-RPG for a newcomer.… Expand

Killoran

Mar 24, 2017

6

The Bad:
Dialog is boring, characters are boring. I find myself skipping though majority of conversations because the voice acting is dull and monotone and the scripting is so awkward some of the things that are said are just plain bizarre. Conversations have so much filler in them they drag out too long and take too long to get to the point. there are allot of people to talk to I justThe Bad:
Dialog is boring, characters are boring. I find myself skipping though majority of conversations because the voice acting is dull and monotone and the scripting is so awkward some of the things that are said are just plain bizarre. Conversations have so much filler in them they drag out too long and take too long to get to the point. there are allot of people to talk to I just don't want to it feels like a chore. And I'm the sort of person who would go around talk to everyone and stop to listen to every random npc dialogue even when they just saying the same stuff to each other. The character creation is a joke much worse than previous ME titles. Then the facial animations are unacceptable for the price of the game. Random FPS drops during cutscenes I get constant 60 fps all though the game then at really weird points during cutscenes it will drop to 24 or less for a second or 2

The good:
The combat is fun and fluid, The planets look good. Exploring the planets is enjoyable. The weapon and armour crafting system is a nice addition. Nomad is fun and fluid to drive around in.… Expand

Causese

Apr 4, 2017

6

Pros:
- Graphics are amazing.
- Mainquests / Sidequests related to "important characters" are fun. (except remnant vaults, quite repetitive) - Cutscenes are good - Combat is fun but it lacks the necessity to interact with squadmates. (even on insanity difficulty) Cons: - "wait is that it?" kind of ending. - Dialogues are lackluster. - 90% of the time you are fighting the samePros:
- Graphics are amazing.
- Mainquests / Sidequests related to "important characters" are fun. (except remnant vaults, quite repetitive)
- Cutscenes are good
- Combat is fun but it lacks the necessity to interact with squadmates. (even on insanity difficulty)

Cons:
- "wait is that it?" kind of ending.
- Dialogues are lackluster.
- 90% of the time you are fighting the same species. makes the game feel repetitive
- same/very similar creatures appear on various planets/clusters.
- sidequests from locals are incredibly boring.
- flying to planets is really slow and awkward. it's so bad that you want to alt tab inbetween. you notice that it's just a camera going from a to b, then awkwardly zooming out.
- Crew sucks. There's not a single interesting person on the crew
- open world objectives are't engaging
- inventory/research/crafting is a mess. not engaging
- new aliens you meet are too human. they lack something. making them look alien is not enough.… Expand

nilart

Mar 27, 2017

6

Ok, after all that is going on with this game I feel like I have to add my review. I can understand the anger from some people as this was a very expected title and the quality standards have not been met.

The first launch of the game rendered a black screen, which after some research discovered it was a bug that could be fixed by going into windows mode. Ok, not a good start but fairOk, after all that is going on with this game I feel like I have to add my review. I can understand the anger from some people as this was a very expected title and the quality standards have not been met.

The first launch of the game rendered a black screen, which after some research discovered it was a bug that could be fixed by going into windows mode. Ok, not a good start but fair enough.

First animations... Yes, they are not polished. ME1-3 had far less facial expressions (barely non-existant) but while in MEA they are technically better (faces actually can move in the same way a real face would do), they fail to mimic real expressions with awkward movements and, most of times, wrong ones. This, however, didn't break the experience for me as I play with helmets on most of the time :D

Story... ok, average. It's not bad, it keeps you engaged, but fails to impress. If it was a book or movie it'd be a boring one. It has the components (mystery, tension, drama) but follows too many cliches from other games and characters seem to be a bit less intense/important than previous ME.

Conversations seem to be a bit weak. I remember in ME that I loved the options to speak and would laugh at the outcome. Here most times I struggle to find an option I don't dislike. And some times you pick just one and it has undesired unexpected consequences. It's like the conversation paths were created by different people and then merged together.

Gameplay is nice, it feels like others ME. It has some annoying things like maps, bad management (IMHO) of inventory, and the damn boring scanning which feels like that component you add to a game so that people it takes players longer to finish the game but doesn't actually add anything to it.

When it comes to the exploration it seems they went back to the scheme of ME:1, with the player having to spend plenty of time on land with the Nomad trying to find places. Not my cup of tea but might work for some.

Same goes for crafting, it feels like it's another thing I have to spend plenty of time with in order to enjoy the game. Some people might like this, but to me, having to spend time in front of a menu so that I can have a new weapon is boring.

The game definitely feels weaker than previous series in terms of polishment and general value / quality, but if you enjoyed the previous ME and you are not in hate mode you will definitely enjoy this one but if you have high expectations there is a chance it might disappoint you.

Overall it feels like they did rush the game and didn't actually test it on real (not part of the development team) testers to get feedback before release.… Expand

Kurtman

Mar 27, 2017

6

I love the Mass Effect series. Spent countless hours finishing the games more than once. I love to explore, do all side quests. Love the differences and quirks between cross species relations. I am 30 hours into Andromeda. The one word to describe this game would be unpolished. On the surface it seems to offer you a lot but it is a shallow unrewarding experience. You can see there was aI love the Mass Effect series. Spent countless hours finishing the games more than once. I love to explore, do all side quests. Love the differences and quirks between cross species relations. I am 30 hours into Andromeda. The one word to describe this game would be unpolished. On the surface it seems to offer you a lot but it is a shallow unrewarding experience. You can see there was a lot of work put into the game but without the a good core story and well written characters, it fails to pull me into it or let alone even care about it. The writing is so painful, I avoid conversations with my main crew members. I feel no connection to them unlike the previous titles, which I would make every effort to get everyone on board. With the story, if feels so off the cuff, matter of fact, when you just met a new offworld species. It is not convincing and throws you off. Are there any bad choices? I feel like there is no real importance to any decisions you make. Your just "following the trigger script" to progress the game. The question is, should a person invest 100+ hours playing something, just because or should I continue playing, just to finish it. There are extremes reviews of flat out bashing or outright praising. I think the review sites are fair at saying this is a 6/10. You can see there was allot of work put into it but it is way, WAY over-reaching, as far as what really matters to make this a fun game to play or even care about.… Expand

Mordin

Mar 29, 2017

6

I've sunk almost 60 hours into this game because I'm a completionist and honestly, this game is enjoyable, but not enough that I would recommend buying it without it being heavily on sale. Like, a half off sort of sale.

For some reason they've decided to shift the focus of a RPG game HINGED on story telling and characters to combat and exploration. Exploration isn't a bad thing andI've sunk almost 60 hours into this game because I'm a completionist and honestly, this game is enjoyable, but not enough that I would recommend buying it without it being heavily on sale. Like, a half off sort of sale.

For some reason they've decided to shift the focus of a RPG game HINGED on story telling and characters to combat and exploration. Exploration isn't a bad thing and neither is combat, but when the MOST energy goes into those things and are still glitchy and bugged even after patches, it makes the game empty on a level the original series never dropped to.

DIALOGUE - There are some really good moments, but theyre drenched in amateurish writing made even worse by lackluster voice acting that sounds like each person was sat in a room, given no context to anything and told to read off all their lines in one day. Too many conversations sound truly off. I'd say Jaal, Drac, and Peebee probably have the best acting and sounded like they tried. Which is sad.

CHARACTERS - It takes WAAAY too long to get a feel for other characters. Its honestly sad that the most interesting conversations and revalation of personalities are hidden in side quests, emails, when you walk around the Tempest and happen to hear your crew interacting, and the codex. The **** codex. I was excited to go talk to all of them when I got on the tempest, but only a few of them really interested me.

QUESTS - Honestly, some of the quests are rather fun and make you feel like you're really making a difference and doing something. Like there are certain quests that are just so **** satisfying. But, the majority are busy work or seemingly heavy/important quests ruined by lackluster acting/writing. For instance, there's a mission where you need to save people within a certain time period. If you fail, only one person survives. You don't suffer any consequences. The remaining scientist is vaguely thankful and runs off. It seems meaningless.

Another good example is during a main quest for the main plot. You have to make a tough decision. Save one person versus a group of people that one of your crewmates have an attachment to. If you decide not to save the group of people, it feels meaningless. Your crew member is angry at you when you try to talk to them (ONLY ONCE THO) but it feels so flat, because the next time you talk to them they're calling you kid and gungho to follow you. THAT and it makes it seem integral to your enemies next move. But its NOT.

TL;DR: they basically took the feeling you got from encountering the end of ME3 and spread it out through the whole **** game.

COMBAT - This is one of my favorite parts. Which is sad. It can get repetitive but it's dynamic, exciting, and I mostly look forward to fighting new enemies.

PLANETS - They're suuuper pretty for the most part. However, you can tell it's half assed. The same animals are found in literally every planet you visit, but with switched color palettes. Like, what's the point of making highly different enviroments if the animals and problems are all essentially the same on each planet.

PLOT - Could've been better for sure. Again, it seemed like it fell to the wayside. They pushed the political and dire situations (which are the MAIN situations) to the side, and just sort of focused on the Archon, the main villain and beating him to his endgame. The game makes sure to point out how obsessed with Remnant tech the Archon is, but honestly this game is JUST as obsessed. Instead of focusing on how you and your other main cast are trying to navigate salvaging and coming through successful in a very dire situation, really immersing in the things that have gone wrong and pulling through, your REAL goal seems to be to kill the Archon. Right off the bat. While you're heavily crippled all around.

The very beginning mission where your father dies is sort of unbelievable and set the ton for a very sloppily written plot.

honestly, this might have been a bit harsh, as I'm still playing this game and do feel myself getting immersed and lost in it, but that's because I'm **** disappointed at how lack luster this game is compared to even ME3 which was arguably the worst one of the trilogy (not including the ending of course).… Expand

ChrisAKAPiefish

Mar 30, 2017

6

Mass Effect Andromeda isn't as bad as people are saying. Personally I'd this is the third best game, the worst being the first game. I personally think the gameplay is great and there are some genuinely funny moments and well written pieces. It's however let down by god awful facial animations, unskippable cutscenes every time you navigate the galaxy map, hellish UI, a slow as hell firstMass Effect Andromeda isn't as bad as people are saying. Personally I'd this is the third best game, the worst being the first game. I personally think the gameplay is great and there are some genuinely funny moments and well written pieces. It's however let down by god awful facial animations, unskippable cutscenes every time you navigate the galaxy map, hellish UI, a slow as hell first half of the game and whilst most of the writing is fine, there are some awful lines in this game. This game is stuffed full of content however, 53 hours in and I've still not finished however 53 hours in and I've only just gotten the Villains motives which is far too late into the game.
In all honesty, if Mass Effect games are going to be like this from now on then I'd be happy if this is the last one. Whilst it's a nice reminder of what the previous games had to offer and whilst there are some good bits to this game, it's not something I'd want to play again. If Bioware are to learn anything from this, it is that they can't rush out these games. Again personally I feel it's not as bad as people are saying, there is some good in this game but it is a very flawed game.… Expand

stoogel

Mar 30, 2017

6

I'm not one of the sexually frustrated gamers here angry over the lack of cute space waifus. The models are bloated however and the facial animations are not expressive. Also ran into several glitches. I understand Bioware will patch these issues later, but what does that do for those who have bought the game and experienced it at release? Was there no time for polish in the five years ofI'm not one of the sexually frustrated gamers here angry over the lack of cute space waifus. The models are bloated however and the facial animations are not expressive. Also ran into several glitches. I understand Bioware will patch these issues later, but what does that do for those who have bought the game and experienced it at release? Was there no time for polish in the five years of development? I enjoyed the game but this trend among big name developers is disturbing.… Expand

Explofion

Apr 4, 2017

6

I loved the first trilogy and this Mass Effect is a complete different kind of game and this is good. The only problem for me is every things they made differently is bad or boring.

-Animation: First when you start the game you are welcomed with broken animation everywhere, but this is just a minor problem, it can be fixed and this is Mass Effect it should be good even with that.I loved the first trilogy and this Mass Effect is a complete different kind of game and this is good. The only problem for me is every things they made differently is bad or boring.

-Animation:
First when you start the game you are welcomed with broken animation everywhere, but this is just a minor problem, it can be fixed and this is Mass Effect it should be good even with that.

-Game play
Next step, Gunfight. I really don't understand why we cannot stop the fight to control our partners actions. All is very very action, I don't like the new system where you can't equip more than 2 powers but have to switch to different profile. The fight are always dashing everywhere trying to cover.
Some gunfight are difficult, boss fights where nicely organized.
So for the gameplay I don't liked it but it's not bad it is just my personal feeling about it.

Exploration:
The exploration is good, a mixed between Mass Effect 1 for the Mako and Dragon Age inquisiton (I loved it) for the out post system and the tower to activate to find a final cave or whatever secret thing. The system with the five (I think) planet to colonized is rewarding because you can feel the evolution of it talking to people in the main Hub and by destroying the threat it will became (almost) peaceful place to live on.

Story and characters:
This point was the most important and I'm very very very very disappointed about it. No spoiler ahead but the story is boring af, the end was terribly... Average. I almost feel like every characters on the Tempest were cliché (Good point for the Sera from Dragon Age disguised in Asari).
I tried to do a maximum side quest possible before the main quest but I was blocked waiting to receive mail from my team mates to continue their side quests. Like seriously? And then I did one mission and everybody sent me mail so I was submerged with side quest all of a sudden..
I'm going to start a New Game + but I'm not as excited has I'm still am when I start again the first trilogy or even a Dragon Age game.

Conclusion: Returning into the Mass Effect universe feels good. The Andromeda initiative is a good concept for a game, the main story of exploring planet and the exploration itself is nicely done. The gunfights are what they are you like it or not but you can't say it's bad. But thanks to a lot of bug and a poor story telling I cannot say I'm happy with this game and I'm very sad of it.
But your opinion will be the best so try the game if you never played any Mass Effect you can start here and you will discover one of the biggest and best universe of the video game history.

Final Point: I personally don't think that the open world fit well here and really don't know why because I liked it with Dragon age inquisition. But a good linear game is better than an average open world one.

Sorry for bad English.… Expand

Twiggithy

Apr 4, 2017

6

Finished the game. About 80ish hours. Did all of the quests with the exception of a few of the less relevant and boring "tasks." This isn't a bad game, but it isn't a great game either. It isn't worth $60. $25 tops. Falls very short of it's predecessors legacy, even the third one. Poor animations, especially facial ones as I'm sure others have noted. It's very distracting. CombatFinished the game. About 80ish hours. Did all of the quests with the exception of a few of the less relevant and boring "tasks." This isn't a bad game, but it isn't a great game either. It isn't worth $60. $25 tops. Falls very short of it's predecessors legacy, even the third one. Poor animations, especially facial ones as I'm sure others have noted. It's very distracting. Combat was good, but only 3 powers can be allocated to quick use although you can switch profiles. I'd rather not be able to switch profiles, but instead by able to allocate more powers for quick use. Very buggy to the point where it will kill you or get you stuck. The inventory system is pretty convoluted, but I got the hang of it after awhile. The worst part of this game for me is the story and characters. It's pretty straight forward. No real twists or huge developments. The best part of the story comes from a side quest that doesn't relate to the main quests and I think they missed an opportunity not pursuing it more. They may address them in future games, but they failed to hook me into buying them with this one. LONG animations going between systems and planets too.

They say they're fixing a lot of the animation issues and more in an upcoming patch, but the story is what really knocked it down for me and that's something they can't patch.… Expand

Nightlife

Apr 4, 2017

6

Huge ME fan here, loved the original trilogy. New game: great combat, subpar story and characters. Looks pretty and is visually striking. I just didn't care about what I was doing though, due to the low stakes in the story. Really hope they get new writers to improved the squel.

McGarder

Apr 5, 2017

6

I disagree to an extent I've enjoyed some of the companions and some of the other characters the pathfinder meets, but the writing was very sloppy. With myself being able to predict a majority of the plot twist. Only one surprised me with it being slightly off my prediction. However Andromeda has laid down a baseline that could have some seriously good story behind it that could pan out toI disagree to an extent I've enjoyed some of the companions and some of the other characters the pathfinder meets, but the writing was very sloppy. With myself being able to predict a majority of the plot twist. Only one surprised me with it being slightly off my prediction. However Andromeda has laid down a baseline that could have some seriously good story behind it that could pan out to be a good addition to the franchise if properly executed this time. My thoughts on how the series will move forward are that the Kett are not going away but will not play a big role in the next game, allowing for hopefully a more realized and interesting threat. Remember the Helius Cluster is a small part of Andromeda and there is much more to explore like what has happened to the Quarian ark that left late. Now I know this sounds like I'm being a fan boy and to an extent I am. However as a community we all should be very skeptical of the next release and hold off on pre-purchases and voice our opinions to have a better story and not a better multiplayer Mass effect is a story game driven by player choice there is a good base for game play mechanics. Let hope the next one is not such a let down.… Expand

Stronin

Apr 30, 2017

6

I just finished crit path + most of the side content for a total of 67 hours at 95% content complete. Yes that’s quite a bit longer than the previous games, at least versus my usual playtimes.
Concluding thoughts, for those who are curious:
I was originally critical of the quality of the animation in the game, and I still am, but at least Bioware released a patch which helps somewhat inI just finished crit path + most of the side content for a total of 67 hours at 95% content complete. Yes that’s quite a bit longer than the previous games, at least versus my usual playtimes.
Concluding thoughts, for those who are curious:
I was originally critical of the quality of the animation in the game, and I still am, but at least Bioware released a patch which helps somewhat in this regard…somewhat. It’s still apparent the game needed several more polish passes, but I’m guessing that was another year’s worth of work they couldn’t afford, which is a shame.
The writing in this never quite gets past being mediocre. Depending on your personal tastes a couple of your teammates will be fun to get to know, but it’s real hard to avoid noticing how green the writing team was on this, versus the previous ones.
The combat systems allow for a much higher degree of customization than any of the previous titles did, which is neat. If you wanted an ME with better combat, then this’ll probably scratch that itch. Personally, I don’t play ME for the combat, but, yeah that’s a thing.
The high-level concept of getting to colonize new worlds seems super cool...until you realize how tedious and time consuming said process is, thanks to 1001 fetch/alien killing quests, and it becomes especially soul crushing with the realization that most of the habitable worlds you land on will require the same tedious process all over again, and again…and again.
If there’s any advice I can give you, it’s to try and avoid getting too caught up in ground missions, you do not have to finish all of them before completing the main story, especially the ones labeled as tasks, and if you try to complete all of them before finishing the main plot you will likely die of utter boredom because omg, they get so painful to finish after a while. So…you’re welcome.
Which brings me to the next point, the game doesn’t end after the main plot is finished. I like this quite a lot. You can then go back and shoot as many generic npc baddies as you like to finish the god-forsaken busy work they want you to do. Or, or not…
I like the ending, and it almost validates the 2 million times I had to scan things with my hand scanner. Not quite, but more so than I expected at least? Ties into the previous games a bit better than I expected initially too. (Make sure to complete the locked memories quests!)
So, in conclusion, if you’re an avid fan of the franchise, there’s...almost...enough story content here that it might be worth the trouble. Clearly I did finish it, but only because I love the series enough to bare through a heck of a lot of tedium and buggy cutscenes to complete it. I would not recommend it for casual fans of the previous games.
With that said, I think the ending of this game set the stage for what could be a legitimately good sequel. I think they could have done that in 30 hours instead of 60+ but still, there is that at least.
So, here’s to hoping they learn from the mistakes of this release and focus on a more polished, less tedious, story driven 5th game. Also if I never have to see my hand scanner or the nomad off-road vehicle again I’d be perfectly happy with that, that would be fine…please do that Bioware.… Expand

sawer82

May 2, 2017

6

First off, the reviews giving this a 0 or a 3 are a little bit harsh, on the other hand, reviews giving this a 10 are absolutly delusional. I am very sorry for the people that put so much effort into this game, mostly grapgic designers because the game enviroments looks simply breathtaking.
This game is basically killed by lack of talent, mostly writers and game designers (not all ofFirst off, the reviews giving this a 0 or a 3 are a little bit harsh, on the other hand, reviews giving this a 10 are absolutly delusional. I am very sorry for the people that put so much effort into this game, mostly grapgic designers because the game enviroments looks simply breathtaking.
This game is basically killed by lack of talent, mostly writers and game designers (not all of them) and the Bioware management, who i believe was the force that release it in its sorry state.

It is obvious the game is not finished, many bugs asside, the game has issues with its mechanics, most obvious being the animation system (i believe that animations problems are not generally caused by bad animations, but the system that manages and triggers them), but you can see that collision detection, enemies hitboxes and notably NPC pathfinding has issues as well. It would be silly to think Bioware had no QA, and even more stupid that these things were not pointed out by the QA team. They were either ignored or there was no time to fix that. This is the main reason that for me its a 6/10 game, if these things would be fixed in the initial release, it would be a 7/10 game.

Now, giving this a single digit number is a difficult task, its not a bad game, its not a good game, more likely, it can be really good, and it can be really bad at times. The first 10 hours are, well dissapointing at least. For an epic scifi opera, it's not very epic, it does not really explains its mechanics and it feels a bit stupid (okay, there is a huge structure under this planet with a button, so let's press the button and see what it does). The next 20-30 hours, the game pick up pace and the mechanics are starting to show promise, thats until you realize that's it. This is all that is in the game, the rest of the game is just repeat over and over what you have done with slight to none alteration. You would think, okay so its time for the final push, the endgame and the final confrontation. Ehm, nope, the game continues for tens of hours and hits the floor really bad, there is no real content to support the length of the game, its get repetetive very fast, and you have to force yourself to finish it, because it looses the main aspect why someone actually buys a game, to have fun. There is a problem with the balance of difficulty, weapons and armor as you progress as well, while going from lvl1 to lvl10 feels like upgrade from a mouse to a tiger, progress from lvl 10 to lvl 40 feels like upgrade from tiger to a tiger with slightly more fur. You can take down pretty much everything in this game with a lvl 15 with not much more difficulty then with a lvl 40.

Now what breaks the game for me really bad, is the character of Ryder sibblings, i would really love to play as their dad, because that was the only really interesting character. First off, they are stupid and their dialogues are writen as of someone who really lacks inteligence, is immature and does not really care about the events that unfold. At times it even feels like a 1980 teen opera adding more characters to the mix. It seems main character is 12-15 years old on a roadtrip. You would not want give him/her a task to look out for a pet, not to mention the role of pathfinder and the responsibility for the whole mission. There are ex spectres in the crew for god sake... (the whole pathfinder role does not really make sense when you planning a trip to another galaxy].

Let me end this by the worst Ryder quote ever:
Jaal: We should be careful, many have been lost in these caves.
Sara: Me ? Lost ? Neeeveeeer.… 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

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

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

toxyk

Jun 3, 2019

6

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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 .

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

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

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»

CriticalMass

Mar 28, 2017

5

In short: I could forgive the game's many technical, world- and gamedesign flaws if the writing wasn't the worst of the worst. The original games had me interested from the get-go and kept me interested untill the end. With Andromeda, I was reluctantly playing the game, enduring irritating characters, boring story and mindnumbingly dumb dialogue because I kept hoping it would become a trueIn short: I could forgive the game's many technical, world- and gamedesign flaws if the writing wasn't the worst of the worst. The original games had me interested from the get-go and kept me interested untill the end. With Andromeda, I was reluctantly playing the game, enduring irritating characters, boring story and mindnumbingly dumb dialogue because I kept hoping it would become a true Mass Effect game 'just around the corner'. It didn't, it absolutely did not.

The good things: the combat is good fun, nothing new, but fun. The graphics on PC are great, IF you have a high end machine. But there are so many games that do the entire package better, both old and new.… Expand

FormerHuman

Apr 22, 2017

5

I played all three original Mass Effect games over and over again, and I like each of those games for it's individual merits, including the third game, which I felt had some of the best narrative strokes of the trilogy (ending notwithstanding, but then I see the whole game as an ending, and not a happy one at that - and that's what I like about it). With Andromeda, I was looking forI played all three original Mass Effect games over and over again, and I like each of those games for it's individual merits, including the third game, which I felt had some of the best narrative strokes of the trilogy (ending notwithstanding, but then I see the whole game as an ending, and not a happy one at that - and that's what I like about it). With Andromeda, I was looking for something of a more open blend of the best elements of the original trilogy. I have to say, though, that you should be careful what you wish for. Bioware have made the combat more dynamic, but most of the weapons feel insubstantial and the enemy selection is a serious weak point, with way too much repetition, especially compared the heightened variety of encounters in ME2 and ME3. The inventory system is a return to the systems of ME1 in the worst ways - it is convoluted, dull and unclear. Narratively the game simply doesn't have the urgency or the character development to keep you engaged through what is admittedly a fairly long campaign, which gets off to a slow start and continues to drag through a series of dreary Halo-esque cyber-caves, conveniently respawning encampments of bandits that result in firefights that are over in seconds. The new enemy, the Kett, come across as ultimately very generic, and the new friendly alien species lack any real charisma or interesting backstory. This is definitely more Star Trek: Nemesis than Wrath of Khan.

In the end, it would seem the game's troubled development caught up with it. The writing is inconsistent at best, trite at worst, something that really wasn't such an issue in the original trilogy. There are flashes of brilliance in there, and some amusing dialogue, but the selection of squadmates is uninspiring for the most part. The game tends to veer into feeling like a slog that, although occasionally striking visually, strangely also shows it's age despite sharing the same engine as Star Wars Battlefront. As is notorious by this point, the games character animations don't appear to have improved at all since the last trilogy, which in itself was driven by an aging Unreal Engine 3. It's inexplicable that the game simply doesn't have better visuals in this department, and it's jarring with the otherwise decent fidelity on offer. The game simply doesn't have the sense of urgency that the last games had, especially by ME3. Bioware have gone too far to provide lip service to fans of the original game, at the expense of the narrative and pacing lessons of ME2 and ME3. ME1 was a very flawed game that had a special atmosphere that persisted beyond it's faults. Andromeda doesn't really have any excuse by this stage.… 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

Newfr

Mar 27, 2017

5

So let me put it straight - I never counted ME as an RPG game. It's a TPS like Zero Dawn, Far Cry and so on. So i'll judge it as such. For example i don't give a **** about dialog wheel and no alignment (or how you prefer to call this paragon/renegade system from past MEs). And anyway it's better than what i saw in Fallout 4 (worst one ever). And I don’t see ME as a great game also. ItSo let me put it straight - I never counted ME as an RPG game. It's a TPS like Zero Dawn, Far Cry and so on. So i'll judge it as such. For example i don't give a **** about dialog wheel and no alignment (or how you prefer to call this paragon/renegade system from past MEs). And anyway it's better than what i saw in Fallout 4 (worst one ever). And I don’t see ME as a great game also. It was good, no questions here, but first game had its share of tech issues (on a level of Andromeda or near it), second one was a very weak game overall and plot of the third one was like one big “f*ck you guys”.
So let's start. If you ask me to describe Andromeda in a few words i'll say "Improved Dragon Age: Inquisition". So first of all this game is not for all. It’s all about exploration, one main goal (like closing all rifts in DA:I) and little side quests here and there. And in-game characters can’t stop saying you that. So if you don’t fill like “oh I wonder what’s going on in this cave” in games like Skyrim, Horizon or Zelda this game isn’t your cup of tea and that’s ok. As for that “Improved” part. Side quests in DA:I was bad, “bring me 10 rat tails” bad. In Andromeda thing are better. No, quests like find 16 minerals still there (like cups, metal flowers and so on in Horizon) but it’s all up to you if you want to do so. I see this in every open world game lately so I guess there are people who like collection quests like that. Anyway most quests are solid side quests now. A lot of people complain that it’s MMO-like. Nope. It’s “open world game”-like. Sorry but if you expected Andromeda to be something else it’s not this game fault.
Graphics strangely enough is good and awful at the same time. How is that possible? Well you probably saw a lot of gifs about character animation. Sadly that’s all true. Characters in this game look like **** Not only animation is weird (it’s less obvious while you playing rather than watching but still), but skin textures, some glitches. Overall characters don’t look like humans/aliens and more like plastic dolls. On the other hand maps are looking good. First planet with all that lightning strikes, flying rocks and mantas was a very good first impression. Not breathtaking but still really good.
As per plot it’s ok so far, but there a lot of holes in lore and weird moments overall. Don’t know how much of that is legit and how much just me not reading something where it was explained. For example how we became human Pathfinder. Like screw everything you are a boss now. Or how ships are flying without mass relays? That weird tunnel like thing in cutscene, what is that? Well, space crafts could fly between star systems in previous ME games, but not like it was fast and it required a lot of fuel (remember that fuel stations?). How small shuttles could fly all over the place (in one side quest we are chasing this tiny thing almost all over the map)? How this whole thing is even possible (even Reapers needed mass relays)?
Now to gameplay. Sadly almost nothing changed here since other MEs. It’s still the weakest part of the whole game as I see it. Difficulty level is all about making enemies into bullet sponges (and ramping up their damage too). I started playing Andromeda as stealthy sniper keeping in mind open world thing. That was a mistake. Why? Because enemies have two reactions on your shots: they just stand there (if you further than some mystical invisible line) or they start shooting back from machine pistols/assault rifle/machineguns with accuracy of my sniper rifle. Is it fun? Nope. But also there are mission fights when you start in CQC on some arena like area and that sucks too. Because you fragile, your weapon rate of fire is awful and you forced into CQC. I thought about taking tanky party members. That didn’t help a thing. Friendly AI is awful. It shooting walls, standing there doing nothing or whatever. And there are no taunts or something. And enemies are like “why risking with this huge armored krogan, get that skinny humie with sniper rifle”. So they will go after you anyway. So I guess class balance is still not there after 4 games. Add to that no quick saves or checkpoints! Only manual saves (not always available) or autosave. Get into 3 stage fight with gigantic robot and got killed on 3rd stage? Start over from 10 minutes before that fight. What a joy! So I don’t see any points in playing above easiest difficulty because it’s just pointless and frustrating.
So Andromeda isn’t an awful game like a lot of people trying to picture it. It’s an ok game that could be about 6 or 7 out 10 but it riddled with lots of technical problems. Not game braking ones, but still. So now it’s just 5 out of 10. If you’re thinking about buying Andromeda – I’ll say don’t do that now. Wait a bit for EA to fix some issues and for price to drop.… 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

BrutalJones

Mar 29, 2017

5

Solid game with some serious flaws. Loyalty quests, Ark quests, and main story quests are generally quite good, but what they populate the rest of the game with is fairly ho-hum at best and, at worst, outright monotonous and frustrating (looking at you, Remnant vaults).

Animations are definitely bad and some of the dialogue writing is questionable. But the gameplay is very fun, easilySolid game with some serious flaws. Loyalty quests, Ark quests, and main story quests are generally quite good, but what they populate the rest of the game with is fairly ho-hum at best and, at worst, outright monotonous and frustrating (looking at you, Remnant vaults).

Animations are definitely bad and some of the dialogue writing is questionable. But the gameplay is very fun, easily the best in the series, although I dislike losing control of my squadmates' abilities and the lack of manual saves during "Priority Missions" is a puzzling design choice and needs to be rectified with a patch.

The ambient music is excellent but the OST itself is an uninspired, generic blend of John Williams-meets-Martin O'Donnell. This game badly needs Jack Wall back; his scores for ME1 and (especially) ME2 were jaw-dropping.

All-in-all, I really like the game. It has its moments, but it definitely has some serious flaws as well.… Expand

MRItech1211

Apr 5, 2017

5

60 hours in so far....The story is unoriginal, there is no sense of urgency. The planets are essentially a list of chores to do. The combat is good, but not good enough to make up for the rest of the games shortcomings. Environments are very nice. Human and Asari character models are horrendous, but most people know that already. There is enough bugs to make Bethesda cringe, most of which60 hours in so far....The story is unoriginal, there is no sense of urgency. The planets are essentially a list of chores to do. The combat is good, but not good enough to make up for the rest of the games shortcomings. Environments are very nice. Human and Asari character models are horrendous, but most people know that already. There is enough bugs to make Bethesda cringe, most of which are not game breaking, but on several occasions, made me lose progress and have to backtrack through a broken quest. I have encountered other game breaking bugs such as endless loading screens. The game has some redeeming qualities, but it falls way way short of what I expected from a 2017 game, after playing games like the Witcher 3, horizon zero dawn, this feels like a complete let down. The writing flat out sucks overall. There's a few moments where it shines, but there are way more moments that make you wonder what the heck the writers were thinking. In short, if you're a die hard mass effect fan, get it when it goes on sale for half off, and its been patched up. If you're a newcomer to the series, go play Horizon Zero Dawn. Way better sci-fi action RPG for the price tag.… Expand

Thylbanus

Mar 21, 2017

5

Take this for what it is worth, but I cannot finish this game. It's not engaging enough. Take anything I say with a grain of salt. You have a pretty shallow story that is interspersed with nothing but mission grinds. The voice acting is 75% bad and there is absolutely no reason to find any relation with your companions. The later ones are a bit more interesting, but you don't have anyTake this for what it is worth, but I cannot finish this game. It's not engaging enough. Take anything I say with a grain of salt. You have a pretty shallow story that is interspersed with nothing but mission grinds. The voice acting is 75% bad and there is absolutely no reason to find any relation with your companions. The later ones are a bit more interesting, but you don't have any Morden's sings moments. You can't have any agonizing decisions to make. DUDE, your decisions have as much meaning as the RGB ending of ME3! (*flashback eyetwitch*) You don't have... FUN!

I shouldn't go off about the negative without some positives. Other than the horrible human wax dolls, the rest of the environment is QUITE pretty. The worlds, while limited in quantity, are still large enough to be interesting, but small enough to remember where you are going, as long as the mission doesn't unknowingly update. (Sorry, I said I'd try to be positive).

The scope is quite nice for a game of this age. The crafting is lackluster, but having the modding back is nice. The combat is SUPER fun, but I'd rather have them spent the energy in the story and deal with the old system if there were a trade off. Has many hours of content.

All in all, this probably would have been a higher score if this didn't have the Mass Effect label, but as it does it loses points for not living up to the legacy.… Expand

Edelgul

Apr 10, 2017

5

It's an ok game. Not as good, as ME2, but somewhere on the level of ME3.
I think the biggest problem of this game is that there is nothing new, no evolution, while the industry has changed in the past five years raising the bar for our expectations.
Graphics are visibly outdated and animations could definitely use some improvements. Story could be more detailed and less generic. VoiceIt's an ok game. Not as good, as ME2, but somewhere on the level of ME3.
I think the biggest problem of this game is that there is nothing new, no evolution, while the industry has changed in the past five years raising the bar for our expectations.
Graphics are visibly outdated and animations could definitely use some improvements.
Story could be more detailed and less generic. Voice casting is ok, but characters are either bland, or too schematic/over the top type.
Indeed it is repetitive and there is a number of fetch/bring quests. It might be worth giving the game a try, but probably wait for it to become discounter, or purchase it second hand.… Expand

Rikalonius

Mar 21, 2017

5

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have to be fair, there were some well done portions of this game, but I cannot, in good conscience give it a good score. I can sum it up in one word. Derivative.

Spoilers:

To start with, we have to accept a huge amount of retcon in this game. A human lead initiative to go to another Galaxy started barely a decade after the first contact war? This would be like Columbus saying, "I've found a new land, now I'm going to go to Mars." I won't bother getting into all that, because retcon aside, the game still stinks.

As everyone has rightly pointed out, the animations and character textures are sub par. Double Bogey sub-par. So, strike one. The dialog is juvenile. It just reeks of dialog of that was quickly written out and never spoken aloud and refined to see if this is how intelligent beings speak to each other. Strike 2. The characters are awful, and one dimensional cutouts. They each have "their" role to the game and they don't stray from it. And more often than not, they are annoying, especially the support crew members. Strike 3.

While the environments are beautiful, and a lot of work went into the aesthetics of the planets, it can only do so much to distract you from the poor story and the hackneyed characters. New batter, strike 1. The story is, as I said, derivative. The original story may have been a Lovecraft esque Eldritch horror in which the hero almost literally punches Cthulhu, but its execution was so good you barely noticed. But at last ME1 was different. ME:A is an attempt to reboot the franchise away from the large looming shadow of Commander Shepard, and they don't succeed. You can go to another galaxy, but you'll never be better than Commander Shepard. Strike 2 again. So, lastly, the final out, is the Ryder twins. They exude zero credibility, and zero gravitas. Alec Ryder, for his very short existence, could have been a great character, but's like a Green Beret dies and his teenage son and daughter join the squad. They tell me with their badly animated mouths that they received training, but they act like they are in the cast of some prime drama for women.

Sorry, but this feels like a poorly executed attempt to overwrite the franchise, and it fell flat on its face in my opinion.… Expand

Signatus

Apr 9, 2017

5

Andromeda is mostly mediocre and only a pale comparison to its predecessors on many levels.

The combat is the strongest part of the game and largely very enjoyable. The addition of jump jets works and stays fun even though there are not that many enemy types in the gigantic worlds. Very customisable weapons and armour are also great. Unfortunately one can only equip three active powersAndromeda is mostly mediocre and only a pale comparison to its predecessors on many levels.

The combat is the strongest part of the game and largely very enjoyable. The addition of jump jets works and stays fun even though there are not that many enemy types in the gigantic worlds. Very customisable weapons and armour are also great. Unfortunately one can only equip three active powers at a time and switching mid combat is always a bit annoying. The squad mate system is a huge downgrade compared to the older games, it's not longer possible to control what powers/weapons squad members are using. In the old games I carefully built my squad around my own character, in Andromeda I mostly didn't care what toys the bad team AI had to play with.

Bioware went for another open world experience and many of them look quite impressive actually. Driving the Nomad around the place is fun enough but an abundance of stupid fetch quests and other completely forgettable side quests don't really help bringing those places to live. This game will have you occupied with an overflowing quest log at all times (it doesn't help that the menu UI is really terrible) but apart from some missions that got a lot of love (i.e. loyalty missions) most of it is just mindless busywork.

Compelling writing and building interesting characters, once considered a trademark of Bioware fall short by a long shot in Andromeda. Dialogue can vary from very good to cringe-worthy stuff that feels like ME fan-fiction made by a teenager. Sadly there is a lot of the latter. It doesn't help at all that facial animations for Humans and Asari look awful at times (after patch 1.05 still), which is at odds with how good the game looks in general.

As of this review the game is still filled with bugs, which range from minor graphical glitches (i.e. characters being stuck in default T pose) to breaking quests and dead end save files. I had to redo hours of content because I ended up with saves that were too broken (i.e. being stuck on an empty spot of the galmap, falling through my ship to an endless death spiral or quests that should have been completed but didn't trigger their stages properly). For a game of this size quest acting up are (unfortunately) not unusual, but in comparison to other bug fests (like your usual Bethesda game) the console function in ME:A is not capable of "repairing" quests to allow you to progress without having to redo the same stuff again. Oh also there are no manual saves during priority missions and no quicksave function, who thought that was a good idea?

Altogether this game offers a competent 3rd person open world shooter but delivers a rather disappointing RPG experience further diminished by what feels like a too early bugged release.… Expand

mike299

Mar 22, 2017

5

nice combat system, buggy and unpolished, kinda repetitive, dialog wheel not representative of what the character says, soundtrack is average, all and all a typical Bioware game. Nothing Memorable about the characters or story. Haven't try multiplayer yet

Olrikus

Apr 29, 2017

5

This is a disaster with occasional good parts you will find from time to time.

I made a few weeks pass to cool my head but I am really disappointed with this game. It's flawed in each and every way and looks like Bioware tried to make their typical game but Witcher 3 happened and EA said - we want bigger. And Bioware made it bigger at the cost of content quality. I am not talkingThis is a disaster with occasional good parts you will find from time to time.

I made a few weeks pass to cool my head but I am really disappointed with this game.
It's flawed in each and every way and looks like Bioware tried to make their typical game but Witcher 3 happened and EA said - we want bigger. And Bioware made it bigger at the cost of content quality.
I am not talking about technical problems and poor face animations (which are still present in 1.05 patch). Technical problems can be fixed with patches. Story and writing are much more expensive to fix and I can bet BW wouldn't fix inconsistent writing and disjointed dialogues.
All paid reviewers said that the beginning of the game is bad and later on situation would improve... And it was a trap. I played Habitat 7 part bearing in mind I would refund the game if it is that terrible, but I found Habitat 7 and arrival to Nexus a nice and really enjoyable part. My thought was - if it is the worst part of the game then I am totally okay with it, I couldn't have been more wrong.
Eos, extremely repetitive vaults, boring sudoku, one copy-pasted boss inspired by Matrix film, unimaginative aliens, two radiation/hot desert planets, one ice desert planet, one asteroid, one small jungle area and one sulfur springs planet... Whole story around Ketts looks like an inflated Voss side-quest from SWTOR. And companions... Aside from few lines it is a total disaster. I forced myself to finish this game in a desperate hope to find more good parts hidden somewhere and this can describe my verdict for a game.… 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

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

NogStomper

Mar 30, 2017

5

It is apparent that Casey Hudson was truly the heart and soul behind Mass Effect. This felt more like Dragon Age: Inquisition than Mass Effect (They even had dragons - Remnant Architects). I was and still am a huge fan of the Mass Effect Universe but this installment just broke my heart after 5 years of waiting.
After completing the game 100%, sinking 75 hours, and acquiring level 130 - IIt is apparent that Casey Hudson was truly the heart and soul behind Mass Effect. This felt more like Dragon Age: Inquisition than Mass Effect (They even had dragons - Remnant Architects). I was and still am a huge fan of the Mass Effect Universe but this installment just broke my heart after 5 years of waiting.
After completing the game 100%, sinking 75 hours, and acquiring level 130 - I have created these notes:

Good:
- Interesting story, overall.
- Brought back and greatly improved the weapon customization from ME1.
- Vehicular exploration with the Nomad (unarmed Mako) was somewhat entertaining.
- Jump jets and evades were interesting changes to combat.
- Alec changes appearance based on customized siblings.

Bad:
- MMO-style missions (kill X number of Y) which make you run around and re-kill respawning mobs for hours.
- Horrible and ultra-dry humor which is constantly crammed down your throat during almost every interaction (British humor).
- Overboard politically correctness with the dialogue and the ability to **** every living being in order to satisfy the pan-sexual demi-queer foxkin bloggers.
- WEAK conventional weapons. Compared to the powers, the weapons are almost useless or just used to suppress enemies while recharging abilities. You could unload full mags into generic enemy heads without killing them.
- Lack of emotion in the voice acting. Male Ryder is a MASSIVE **** I get it, he isn't a soldier like Shepard.. However, Ryder encounters a **** of combat and plays a major leadership role for the entire Initiative - his personality should change and reflect that.
- Multiplayer is a recycled version of the ME3 multiplayer.
- Unable to micromanage or customize squadmates like in the trilogy - making them godawful during combat.
-Uninteresting squadmates. They have bland backgrounds and are restricted from being controversial. They all remind me of Jacob from ME2.. Boring as ****

Ugly:
- Major animation and movement bugs, causing people to get stuck or fall through the floor. Suvi would never stand during some animations and would move around as if she was still sitting down.
- Recycled graphics and animations which are not put together very well.
- Horrible soundtrack compared to the original trilogy which lacks immersion and excitement (think ME2 during the Suicide Mission).

I really hope BioWare addresses these issues before the sequel. BRING BACK CASEY HUDSON!… Expand

SpecH82

Mar 27, 2017

5

Simply not worth full price.
Partly bad animations. Bad graphics on characters (npc's) in-game while you walk around the nexus. Haircuts and hair colours on said npc's look like s**t.
Lipsync is bad Npc's look almost the same in high. Looks, sizes and so forth. Side-content are lackluster and boring. Mostly fetch quests (wow 3.0). Orchestra isn't good. Voice acting isSimply not worth full price.
Partly bad animations. Bad graphics on characters (npc's) in-game while you walk around the nexus. Haircuts and hair colours on said npc's look like s**t.

Lipsync is bad

Npc's look almost the same in high. Looks, sizes and so forth.

Side-content are lackluster and boring. Mostly fetch quests (wow 3.0).

Orchestra isn't good. Voice acting is bad/boring, without any feeling/emotion in parts where there should be some.

The characters don't stand still when you speak with them. Had a chat with the team's krogan. His arms are jumping everywhere.

To name a few bad things with this game. Frankly bioware go play witcher 3. Perhaps you'll learn something. And stop catering to sjw/feminists. Perhaps if you do that. You'll be able to make good games again.

Now to something positive. The landscapes/environments are beautiful.… Expand

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.

stavrosperi

Mar 22, 2017

5

It hurts me that they use the mass effect name-my favorite video game trilogy ever-for this game.It is mediocre at best.The official reviews are quite forgiving and if it wasn't called mass effect the scores would be even lower.

So what's wrong with the game?It has lots of problems, but the most important is that It lacks soul and it lacks love.The things that the trilogy had and dragonIt hurts me that they use the mass effect name-my favorite video game trilogy ever-for this game.It is mediocre at best.The official reviews are quite forgiving and if it wasn't called mass effect the scores would be even lower.

So what's wrong with the game?It has lots of problems, but the most important is that It lacks soul and it lacks love.The things that the trilogy had and dragon origins had, while inquisition and Adromeda don't have.It feels like the games development was just a job that had to be done.

Bioware is done.It's another company now, it's just the name that's the same.The same thing applies to this game compared to the trilogy.Sad but true.

What is very good imo is that 2017 had the best start as far as gaming is conserned since many a year.Persona 5,Nioh, Nier Automata, Horizon dawn, Breath of the wild..These are rare gems. Very very strong opening for 2017, hope that this continuous, the industry was plugged by playing safe,take no risks ,no innovation,no love games like Andromeda.

Whatever great games are released though, mass effect will always remain the series that a developed the strongest emotional attachment to.… 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

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.

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