Mass Effect: Andromeda

 PlayStation 4
User Score
5.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 4128 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,607 out of 4128
  2. Mixed: 660 out of 4128
  3. Negative: 1,861 out of 4128
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  1. MistyFalls
    Mar 27, 2017
    5
    Mass Effect Andromeda made me realize that a game can't just solely depend on a single element to be a good game. MEA has fantastic combat however it is hinder with its atrocious writing and ugly animations. For an RPG like Mass Effect, immersion is very important. Many times that immersion is ruined because of how laughable the animations are. For example the fighting sequences in theMass Effect Andromeda made me realize that a game can't just solely depend on a single element to be a good game. MEA has fantastic combat however it is hinder with its atrocious writing and ugly animations. For an RPG like Mass Effect, immersion is very important. Many times that immersion is ruined because of how laughable the animations are. For example the fighting sequences in the cutscenes look very ugly and unpolished. It's sad that Bioware didn't thoroughly checked the game's quality before release. Or maybe they thought the quality is already sufficient. After 5 years since ME3, this feels very underwhelming. If we ever see ME5, I hope Bioware would be humble and learn from this grim mistake.… Expand
  2. chenson87
    Mar 29, 2017
    5
    Fun at first with a lot of promise but ultimate a bug filled mess that should not be called a AAA game. Buggy save system and the autosaves make you repeat long portions of fights. I fight with the aiming system more than i fight with the enemies. Not much payoff for trying to do side quests. This game could have easily been an 8/10 however the bugs and terrible controls hold it way back.Fun at first with a lot of promise but ultimate a bug filled mess that should not be called a AAA game. Buggy save system and the autosaves make you repeat long portions of fights. I fight with the aiming system more than i fight with the enemies. Not much payoff for trying to do side quests. This game could have easily been an 8/10 however the bugs and terrible controls hold it way back. It never should have been released in this state.… Expand
  3. METROSLAYER
    Mar 21, 2017
    5
    Game developed without "heart" and a thousand production problems.

    The members of the old Bioware are gone,and it shows.

    (PS: not EVER buy on day one)
  4. MaXiMuS_54
    Mar 23, 2017
    5
    Not much is original in this whack-a-mole. A series once liked for its story is ruined by meh acting, and terrible animations. Also -9000pts for misusing Natalie Dormer.
  5. GameGuru
    Mar 21, 2017
    5
    The first 3 games weren't any good, and this game is easily the worst of the bunch. I have never been so bored playing a game that I stopped early and deleted it. Bioware has let down gamers.
  6. Voodoo123
    May 27, 2019
    5
    +fun shooting sequences
    +Superb performances from the cast
    -Awful gltches/frame rate issues )on my ps4 pro
    -Predictable fetch quest missions bring nothing new
  7. 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 dragon    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 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
  8. MrAptronym
    Mar 31, 2017
    5
    There is a fun gameplay core somewhere in Andromeda, but it is buried by a by-the-numbers plot, an awful user interface, terrible writing (really spectacularly bad at times), numerous glitches, and a structure that is mostly time-wasting filler.

    As the game opens up over time you end up facing the same enemies and doing the same tasks, just with even more transport and downtime in    There is a fun gameplay core somewhere in Andromeda, but it is buried by a by-the-numbers plot, an awful user interface, terrible writing (really spectacularly bad at times), numerous glitches, and a structure that is mostly time-wasting filler.

    As the game opens up over time you end up facing the same enemies and doing the same tasks, just with even more transport and downtime in between them. The entire game feels like meaningless padding around small moments of actual fun combat. Eventually even combat loses its thrill though, as you quickly figure out an optimum strategy for your build and will never be challenged to change it.

    I think worst of all, the game completely fails to capture the spirit of exploration that I had hoped for. Universal translators, computer interfaces and even currencies carry over just fine between galaxies apparently, making very little actually seem new. Just as bad, most of the worlds you survey receive a single bland sentence as a descriptor. There is no joy in exploring the Helios cluster, only tedium.    … Expand
  9. akoahi
    Nov 8, 2019
    5
    As a fan of the series, this is a big disappointment. But I am not radical in my assessment and i am maximally objective. The combat system stepped forward, it’s interesting to shoot in the game. The study of the world, location for the most part is tiresome, but some landscapes are impressive in design. The story is boring and primitive, the characters are not interesting. The technicalAs a fan of the series, this is a big disappointment. But I am not radical in my assessment and i am maximally objective. The combat system stepped forward, it’s interesting to shoot in the game. The study of the world, location for the most part is tiresome, but some landscapes are impressive in design. The story is boring and primitive, the characters are not interesting. The technical part is lame. I don’t want to end the game, but to someone less biased, the game may be pleasant.… Expand
  10. Perxoda
    Mar 23, 2017
    5
    What a goddamn joke. I personally can overlook all of the poor dialogue and animation. I'm a player that goes in for gameplay, but the combat system and balancing are just a joke.

    When playing on any difficulty higher than normal the enemies become bullet spunges. The fun part is that they're still overly aggresive and just keep walking towards you while insta-blasting your shields. As    What a goddamn joke. I personally can overlook all of the poor dialogue and animation. I'm a player that goes in for gameplay, but the combat system and balancing are just a joke.

    When playing on any difficulty higher than normal the enemies become bullet spunges. The fun part is that they're still overly aggresive and just keep walking towards you while insta-blasting your shields. As the AI of your allies is about as good as having a twig to back you up, you're mostly fighting alone. This meens you'll be seeing a lot of checkpoints.

    Yes, checkpoints.... And they're at some unbelievable poor places. I can't count all the times I had to go over the same four or five minutes or walking/driving to get back to the point I was. When I got there I basically got shot down by an overwhelming amount of enemies yet again. This is just the most lazy kind of combat design I've seen in years. Add to that faults that should have not been close to a released game like enemies moving through objects (still being able to hit you, but not vice verse) and mistakes the average steam greenlight developer would even cringe at.

    If you're thinking of buying this game for the gameplay: leave it.
    If you're thinking of buying this game for the graphics: hahahahahahahaha, nope.
    If you're thinking of buying this game for the story: look elsewhere.

    It's a shame that the ME title got put onto this dirthole of a game.    … Expand
  11. Cervant
    Mar 31, 2017
    5
    So much bugs, animation is horrible, story so-so...

    I don't know if it's a bug, but there's about no Music going on, when walking in the Nexus or anywhere it's mostly silent. There's no background sounds or only a little. The game play is very cool, though. But there isn't much of fight, probably 80% of searching for a quest that is unclear. Oh and the cut-scene before entering a    So much bugs, animation is horrible, story so-so...

    I don't know if it's a bug, but there's about no Music going on, when walking in the Nexus or anywhere it's mostly silent. There's no background sounds or only a little.

    The game play is very cool, though. But there isn't much of fight, probably 80% of searching for a quest that is unclear.

    Oh and the cut-scene before entering a planet or anything that required a cut-scene to get there, are awful, probably add a good 20 hours of that for completing the game.

    It's a real let down, really disappointed.

    Played 70 hours/66% completion. There's a lot of side quests.

    EDIT : Change my note from 4 to 6/10. Because it gives a lot play time, i must give that and a bunch of good laugh (animations).

    Finished the game now and I lowered to 5/10. 80 hours / 96% completion.

    Romance are not worked, there's no scene like in the past, even if it's a Rated M. I have the feeling they didn't bother to give more depth in the relationship of the characters.

    It's a good 3rd person shooter. Not a story telling game. Well, I did not feel involved, no hard choice in the end.    … Expand
  12. AnimeKing
    Mar 31, 2017
    5
    It's an amazing experience of a turd sandwich.

    Graphics, of course we all have heard the faces look really bad, which they are, but it looks great the Andromeda galaxy looks so good. Until you start playing it. I've had a couple of times someone on my team went into 'T' pose, the rocks and flowers would remain flat on the ground. These are just a few that I can remember. Sound, It    It's an amazing experience of a turd sandwich.

    Graphics, of course we all have heard the faces look really bad, which they are, but it looks great the Andromeda galaxy looks so good. Until you start playing it. I've had a couple of times someone on my team went into 'T' pose, the rocks and flowers would remain flat on the ground.
    These are just a few that I can remember.

    Sound, It can be good but nothing that pops out at me just background noise, Until you play it for a while. The music cuts out so all I here is the sound effects for about 30sec. to 1min at a time, Voices don't match up a lot of the time with the text, and sometimes all sound is lost for a period at a time.

    Gameplay, This is what kept me coming back wanting to finish it instead of quiting. some people say it plays like Mass Effect 1 I think it plays like Mass Effect 3 but whatever, It's a cover based 3rd person shoot. The ability to choose what you want to be then level abilities of your own choice instead of like the old ones where you chose a class then get stuck with whatever you chose. I played as an engineer using the turret and keeping the overload ability. I was an Assault Rifle user, who switched to the P.A.W. which is an AR but shoots a beam, and used Sniper Rifles.
    But just like the others there are problems, and a lot of them. I've fell through the floor, got stuck in the floor, fell through the floor survived with no health and got stuck down there, for some reason my game would stutter as if I was lagging even when I wasn't online, my jumps didn't want to work all the time I either wouldn't jump or I would jump slightly and fall to my death, sometimes when they threw grenades and I hit the dodge button twice I'd still get hit even when not in range, towards the end all of these became way more frequent.
    I put out my comments on the game and some people have never seen most or any of these issues, I feel like I just got 1 of the **** copies.

    Story, Isn't bad but nor was it good it's milky way galaxy jumping to a new galaxy to inhabit, really that's it. make outposts here and there, mutiny happened , make new friends, and do just about the same stuff you did in the other Mass Effect games.

    Multiplayer, I played 2 matches, it's like Mas Effect 3 it's just hoard mode, need to get points from matches to get new better gear to go back into the matches and kill easier. In each match their are objectives like, kill everything, hack the objective, etc. it's ok but the microtransactions are way more expensive then ME3. The highest loot crate is worth 100,000 points if you buy it with money it's worth $100 just for 5 random rare items and a chance to get an ultra-rare.

    Overall, Gameplay is worth it I'd definitely say play it if you can but atleast with my experience on it, it's not worth $60 more of a $40 game.
    It's a 5/10 because you can play and these issues can be fixed it's just not worth the $60, if you really want to play it borrow it from a friend or rent it.    … Expand
  13. sefrabu
    May 10, 2017
    5
    Mass Effect Andromeda is yet another game released in the recent months that made me question myself if my playing computer games is actually a form of the Stockholm Syndrome, a sentiment from the past I cling to, without any actual joy.

    I won't even start with the technical issues, everyone knows what went wrong here. But go past the uninteresting premise, the lackluster protagonist    Mass Effect Andromeda is yet another game released in the recent months that made me question myself if my playing computer games is actually a form of the Stockholm Syndrome, a sentiment from the past I cling to, without any actual joy.

    I won't even start with the technical issues, everyone knows what went wrong here. But go past the uninteresting premise, the lackluster protagonist and their equally bland companions, ignore the writing on the level of a medicore fanfiction and the wasted potential of the story which goes nowhere near to the original trilogy - basically take no heed in any Bioware staples, and you will have a game which seems like something experimental that was released before (yes, before) an already not-so-perfect Dragon Age Inquisition, which so desperately wants to be a very typical free-to-play MMO with no multiplayer option, full of dull fetch quests, vast and empty spaces and absolutely no reason to play beyond the 21-hour final mission mark.

    I have absolutely no idea what happened here (save for the multi-corporation mess which seem to gradually strangle every good franchise as soon as it gets a few dollars above a certain threshold), but what suprises me the most are the user reviews giving this mess of a product a score higher than 7. I just can't understand this, understanding as I usually am. By doing this we, players, give the gamedevs premission to continue producing worse and worse games. Please. Stop.

    (My score is a bit higher than it should be due to the multiplayer matches, which are the only aspect of this game which is not broken. If you don't care about the multiplayer, feel free to substract 2 points from the score.)    … Expand
  14. Djursner
    Mar 28, 2017
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Okay, so I have now completed the game and I am sad to say that this is the worst Mass Effect title so far. What happened this time is that I did not complete the game 100% before moving onto the epilogue, but left out a few planet systems and small tasks. This has never happened before to me. I would always take great pride in finishing every little bit of Bioware’s games.

    I knew about the character animations being joked about when I started, and I had my experiences with it as well. I do not know why, but the human animations and faces were much poorer than the aliens'. Further, the human human female faces were horrible compared to human males' faces.

    I do not know if this plays onto the Bioware SJW problem or if Bioware's animators are just terrible at designing humans but good at designing aliens. Also, romance is a big deal of Bioware’s games and I found it quite weird and dangerous to speak with my companions. I had to watch out so much not to end up in a gay relationship with some of my male companions. Maybe add gay/bisexual modifier in the options? None of the female companions were attractive, and the only human female which was heterosexual, Cora, looked like a lesbian.

    Okay back to the game. The game started off with amazement. Everything was new, and you had a whole galaxy to explore... Then... Slowly... It became the same, over and over. You began hating all of the travelling time between planets and systems in Andromeda. Goddamn unescapable cut scenes for every flight, which made exploring planets unnecessarily tedious. Make the cut scenes skippable when you are done loading!!!

    Andromeda was big, but it was just a big load of the same materials used over and over. Bioware had focused too much on quantity and too little on quality. Now, Andromeda is NO way as big as the Witcher 3. Andromeda feels big because there are so many planets to visit but you can only visit 4-5 planets in total. Every other Bioware game actually felt bigger than Andromeda, they felt bigger due to the quality they had.

    And then there are the options in your dialogues. You cannot be evil in Mass Effect Andromeda. The Angarans fear that you come as conquerors, but you can never act like one. It is all about appeasement and creating a social circle. You thought sacrificing the Council in ME1 was evil? Well… Here you can sacrifice… Nobody, and nobody important is at the risk of dying.

    Lastly, the epilogue. Without too many spoilers, I would say that it was the least fist-pumping moment. It was more built to lead up to the next Mass Effect game, but had nowhere the same vibe that Mass Effect 1 had.

    I am not sure if Bioware is the Bioware that was capable of creating Dragon Age Origins and ME1 and 2. They have lost of a lot of the old employees and seem more focused on diversity of characters and sexuality, and quantity over quality.

    One last topic. Bugs. They exist and some of them made me go crazy. It is the kind of bugs that force you to load over to a previous save because a quest is broken.

    They had 5 years since ME3 and 3 years since DAI to create this game. They went the wrong way. The game is not worth its price. I would advise you to save your money until it is patched and the price has dropped.

    I repeat. The game is not worth it with its current price and its current state. Try it in a year.    … Expand
  15. artimis
    Mar 22, 2017
    5
    Theirs a load of problems with this title but its still tolerable. Just needs some more polishing then I believe it will be worthy of a 7/10. Its not the best, but its also not the worst. Some parts are really injoyable then get ruined by the poor voice acting or animations. the beginning is really bad then it picks up a tad about 8 hours in. Best to probably pick it up on sale. SpendTheirs a load of problems with this title but its still tolerable. Just needs some more polishing then I believe it will be worthy of a 7/10. Its not the best, but its also not the worst. Some parts are really injoyable then get ruined by the poor voice acting or animations. the beginning is really bad then it picks up a tad about 8 hours in. Best to probably pick it up on sale. Spend you're 60$ on something else like Breath of the wild, Nier automata, or horizon zero dawn, (all 10/10 games)

    Cons:
    -Poor animations
    -poor voice acting
    -game freezes way to much. sometimes when im not even doing anything.
    -boring story
    -boring characters
    -extremely glitchy (floating raptors, weird morphing faces, fell through stairs, hair failed to load in.)
    -repititive
    -sidequests
    -typical villain. Not really enteresting either.

    Pros:
    Exploration
    multiplayer is fun
    combat is fun.
    atmosphere (some areas, then usually gets ruined fast)    … Expand
  16. metadubrev2
    Mar 28, 2017
    5
    huge ME fan but this game is a let down. stupid dialogue and way too much farming and wandering around with horrible maps. few action parts are fun but in trying to make gameplay more fluid developers sacrificed choices. you have only 3 readily accessible powers and squad has little ability to be directed. loads are horrendously long. i'd wait til goes on deep sale and only play the mainhuge ME fan but this game is a let down. stupid dialogue and way too much farming and wandering around with horrible maps. few action parts are fun but in trying to make gameplay more fluid developers sacrificed choices. you have only 3 readily accessible powers and squad has little ability to be directed. loads are horrendously long. i'd wait til goes on deep sale and only play the main mission ignoring all the side stories as only rare ones are anything but tedious.… Expand
  17. mamalikesmambo
    Mar 22, 2017
    5
    I rarely ever pre-order games, only when I trust a developer after releasing multiple games where they were very good. I don't expect perfection, don't mind a few bugs as modern RPG's are huge. I do expect a certain level of polish however, and ME: Andromeda has broken my trust with the Bioware name. I figured that EA wouldn't allow a franchise as golden as Mass Effect to go downhill or beI rarely ever pre-order games, only when I trust a developer after releasing multiple games where they were very good. I don't expect perfection, don't mind a few bugs as modern RPG's are huge. I do expect a certain level of polish however, and ME: Andromeda has broken my trust with the Bioware name. I figured that EA wouldn't allow a franchise as golden as Mass Effect to go downhill or be rushed, especially after Dragon Age: Inquisition, but I was wrong. I had forgot that this wasn't the same team that did ME 1,2 3 and it shows. This barely feels like those games in overall feeling, which saddens me

    First thing I noticed is the character creation section is lame. You are given all these very light hair colors but unable to create a very light skinned person, so that your skintone doesnt match the hair color. The lightest skin tone is terrible for a strawberry blonde or platinum blonde or very light skinned brunette. The hair styles are lame, no long haired styles at all, very boring and almost gender neutral. I had to start a new character because my first try looked good at the character setup but in game looked terrible with the amazingly bad and terrible facial and eye animations. My character was so unappealing I had to start the first hour over after realizing I couldnt stand looking at her.

    The games atmospheres are beautiful as are the level design, and thats where the seemed to spend their performance points, because the animations for body and faces, and even voice acting is so bad at times. It's hard to really get immersed into a game when your character looks and behaves awkwardly even if the game makes amazing screenshots and wallpapers. The voice acting is so wooden at times, and the voices chosen for certain characters make you wonder what they were thinking. I felt there was some political SJW warrior stuff in this game where their shouldnt be as well.

    I'm giving this game a 5 because its not terrible overall but the quality of the game could have been so much more. You look at Ashley or Miranda in ME and then any of the females in this game and its amazing that a game series which last had an entry in 2012 (ME3) looks better and more human like in performance and animations than a 2017 game, 5 years later.    … Expand
  18. Skyline_RJ
    Mar 21, 2017
    5
    I was a huge fan of ME3 multiplayer mode. I´ve created too much expectation waiting for a superb new outstanding multiplayer for this new generation. And suddenly everything is gone... forever...
  19. matrixasiseefit
    Apr 5, 2017
    5
    [Disclosure: Yes, I am a Mass Effect Franchise fan and have played over a thousand hours in Mass Effect 1-3 combined. Yes, I do own the game. I bought and reviewed the game with Best Buy, which anyone reading this can confirm for themselves as I posted the same review as i posted here. No, I didn't create this account just to crap on your favorite game]

    The Good: Planet exploration and    [Disclosure: Yes, I am a Mass Effect Franchise fan and have played over a thousand hours in Mass Effect 1-3 combined. Yes, I do own the game. I bought and reviewed the game with Best Buy, which anyone reading this can confirm for themselves as I posted the same review as i posted here. No, I didn't create this account just to crap on your favorite game]

    The Good: Planet exploration and the single-player combat action has taken a considerable jump forward from the previous Mass Effects. I find myself wanting to go from planet to planet, seeing what treasures and dangers await me in these gorgeous new worlds.

    The Bad: The writing in my opinion is fairly poor, but I do understand how some will find it enjoyable. It's not that I don't like campy dialog here and there, but Mass Effect seems to be very tone-deaf at times where the character dialog and responses do not match the situation. The absence of Renegade or Paragon responses made the character dialog feel very limited most times. What made the previous games special to me is that I could add many aspects of my own personality to Shepard through the vast dialog options. In Andromeda I feel like I'm locked into being either nice or snarky and it's very predictable and sometimes straight-out boring.

    The Really Ugly: The character animations and in-game bugs are the worst of any AAA game I have purchased in last 5 years. I don't even have room to write the large list of bugs I have encountered in Andromeda that has cost me hours of gameplay. Some players are willing to give Bioware and EA a "pass" on these issues - I absolutely will not.

    ** If you are on the fence about purchasing this game and reading my review, I highly suggest you wait and see what Bioware does to address these issues. If you love Bioware and don't care about bugs or terrible character animations you probably already own this game. LOL.    … Expand
  20. Protodeus
    Apr 1, 2017
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Wide as an ocean, but as deep as a puddle. That's how I would describe ME: Andromeda. There is a dizzying amount of content in this game, but very little of it is rewarding, fun or challenging. I absolutely adore the original trilogy, and it is probably one of my favorite game series of all time, and I really wanted to like Andromeda. But after 60+ hrs of gameplay, I just felt bored, uninterested and ultimately angry, because this didn't feel like a Mass Effect game at all. It felt like some bro-ey, fan fiction that tried and failed to replicate what made the original trilogy so amazing.

    And this is ultimately where Andromeda falls flat on its face. The writing. The writing is, for lack of a better word, lackluster. The story is bland and uninspired, with boring two dimensional villains, a backstory that receives little to no further explanation, and characters who are completely forgettable. Near the end of the game I was actually skipping over cut-scenes because I was so thoroughly uninterested in the characters and their motivations. Your "choices" have little to no impact on the direction of the story, and there is no emotional weight behind anything that happens in Andromeda simply because it's hard to find any of it all that interesting. The loyalty missions are forgettable as well. The game also tries way too hard to be funny, and was way too generous with levity. Yes, there was humor in the original trilogy, but this was complemented by some very serious and emotional moments. It feels like nothing is taken seriously in Andromeda, so why do we care when anything important happens? The script is riddled with sarcasm that doesn't work. For instance, there is a pretty important moment near the beginning where Ryder loses a family member, and 2 minutes later he's making jokes and pretending like nothing bad happened. That is bad writing.

    That is to say nothing of the horrendous character animations, the fact that all the alien races looking exactly the same (all of the asari and salarians have exactly the same faces, with different facial markings), and the subpar voice acting. I will give the game credit for its planet environments, which are stunningly gorgeous. Elaaden and Havarl in particular are incredibly beautiful. i also love the Tempest and how you can now look out the windows to see where you are in the galaxy. But exploration soon becomes tedious and repetitive, since you basically do exactly the same thing with every planet. The UI is also terrible. The gunplay is fun and fluid, and I definitely thought it was a step up from the original trilogy.

    Unfortunately everything about this game reeks of laziness and lack of polish. It's like Bioware had no idea what made the original games so beloved, and tried to make a cheap imitation that has neither the soul or the depth. There are no amazing moments like Virmire, Tuchanka, Rannoch or the Suicide Mission. There are no moments where you have to reflect on your decisions. And because of this, the player has no emotional investment in the story or its characters. I got so bored near the end that I began skipping cut-scenes just to finish, because I didn't care anymore.

    It's really unfortunate that Andromeda is so mediocre. EA was given an IP with so much potential, and they squandered it. Is Andromeda a bad game? Not necessarily. There is still some fun to be had, and I enjoyed exploring the galaxy in a way. But if you're a fan of the original games, you will probably be disappointed because this game fails to match up to them in almost every way. An RPG with a bad story and uninteresting characters is going to fall apart, and that's exactly what has happened here. Just going back and playing the original Mass Effect, listening to Vigil speak on Ilos... there just is nothing in Andromeda that matches it. It's hollow, cheaply made, uninspired, bland and revels in its own mediocrity.

    What an absolute shame.    … Expand
  21. Prrgangsta
    Mar 21, 2017
    5
    Wow I did not expect the user score to be so low but i guess this was just that disappointing to some users.

    Anyway after playing for several hours i feel that is time to give my own opinion. The new installment of the Mass Effect series is fun during combat and exploration but that is really all it has going for it. The combat flows well and the abilities you have are useful in each    Wow I did not expect the user score to be so low but i guess this was just that disappointing to some users.

    Anyway after playing for several hours i feel that is time to give my own opinion. The new installment of the Mass Effect series is fun during combat and exploration but that is really all it has going for it. The combat flows well and the abilities you have are useful in each situation even though some are more limited than others, like combat abilities such as grenades and the flak cannon. The planets you visit are vast and full of sidequests, yet feel empty and lifeless most of the time.

    Now to the cons of the game. The facial animations are so bad you can never tell how your human comrades feel unless they tell you. The frame rate drops in certain scenes making it look it is a stop motion film. The voice acting is horrendous as if the actors just wanted to say their parts then leave the studio with the check. Research and development is boring and unrewarding, it feels with its **** gear but hopefully I will find more ultra rare blueprints to create better gear for my character. Finally are the dialogue choices which dont feel like they make much of a difference in a conversation no matter how you reply.

    I have sent strike teams out for missions and they seem to have trouble completing missions but hopefully they will gain experience and be able to succeed future missions. I have yet to do multiplayer but i hope it treats me better than the main story has.    … Expand
  22. Greysteel
    Mar 23, 2017
    5
    An ugly mis-step in a franchise I once enjoyed so much. Hideous animation bugs all but ruin any sense of immersion or connection to the plot. For a game that talks so much it rarely has anything interesting to say. And in a galaxy so big it rarely has anything worth finding. The bones of a sci-fi epic melodrama are there, with a curt selection of star crew along for the journey, howeverAn ugly mis-step in a franchise I once enjoyed so much. Hideous animation bugs all but ruin any sense of immersion or connection to the plot. For a game that talks so much it rarely has anything interesting to say. And in a galaxy so big it rarely has anything worth finding. The bones of a sci-fi epic melodrama are there, with a curt selection of star crew along for the journey, however this will be remembered as a dour note in Bioware's new space symphony.… Expand
  23. Dolosais
    Apr 2, 2017
    5
    The combat actually pretty good, and the storyline is pretty much decent,but when it comes to the animation the cutscene feels a bit off dead expression maybe doesn't really matters but actually it doess, it's unfinished
  24. ByYuxiSs
    Mar 21, 2017
    5
    The end of a big franchise regrettably.
    This game I did not like at all its history for the moment does not finish convincing me, some scenarios not so well designed and for my opinion the end of this saga that was already declining a little with his third game.

    It is not a bad game but I also did not finish giving its true potential to which we had been promised 5/10
  25. REUBENATRIX
    Mar 23, 2017
    5
    It's not fair to write a review without playing the game, but I don't think I can continue. I'd rather play Horizon or Wildlands again than keep going through this sesspool. There is nothing to hold my attention in this game. Plus I had a quite attractive looking custom character painstakingly created to perfection, and now in game her mouth is the only moving part... like a goldfish. IIt's not fair to write a review without playing the game, but I don't think I can continue. I'd rather play Horizon or Wildlands again than keep going through this sesspool. There is nothing to hold my attention in this game. Plus I had a quite attractive looking custom character painstakingly created to perfection, and now in game her mouth is the only moving part... like a goldfish. I feel bad for those lazy ass devs, they are going to get hauled over the coals for this flop. Our local store has zero launch marketing. I though I had the launch date wrong. I'm taking it back to swap for pretty much anything else. Probably put a pre-order on prey or pickup dishonoured 2.… Expand
  26. AsmodeusML
    Mar 21, 2017
    5
    Honestly, this game is such a huge letdown for me as a big fan of Mass Effect trilogy. After 20 hours in any of Bioware's trademark features (strong cast, voiceover, amazing design) are nowhere to be found. I wanted to give it a 1 but i realize that it's just the emotions speaking from huge disappointment i sense right now playing this, in fact i am so disappointed that this is the firstHonestly, this game is such a huge letdown for me as a big fan of Mass Effect trilogy. After 20 hours in any of Bioware's trademark features (strong cast, voiceover, amazing design) are nowhere to be found. I wanted to give it a 1 but i realize that it's just the emotions speaking from huge disappointment i sense right now playing this, in fact i am so disappointed that this is the first time i actually felt like rating something here. Rest in peace, BioWare. See you on the other side… Expand
  27. psomaster437
    Mar 21, 2017
    5
    The multiplayer is/was fun sure, but the single-player is FAR more like dragon age inq in the terms of open world and story, and that kind of story telling is fine, but having to gather 5k resources ON FOOT is not my thing and then having a finite amount of them so you can't craft all the things or experiment without TONS of farming. I did not get through the 2nd mission at nearly 7 hoursThe multiplayer is/was fun sure, but the single-player is FAR more like dragon age inq in the terms of open world and story, and that kind of story telling is fine, but having to gather 5k resources ON FOOT is not my thing and then having a finite amount of them so you can't craft all the things or experiment without TONS of farming. I did not get through the 2nd mission at nearly 7 hours into the story!

    That is what made me quit playing the dragon age INQ, it just kept GOING with VERY little story progression, and if you did a side mission/quest it would rope you into side dungeons/events you COULD NOT LEAVE without spending another hour or something in them. Sure ME1-2-3 did that kind of thing, but it was FAR more linear with FAR more choices and impacts while this style of open world only results in a FEW choices mattering and any of those choices only effect what a few chars say to you not their entire character. IE in ME1-2-3 and dragon age 1-2 you could make someone hate you or disrespect them and it would effect their combat skills or unlock/lock skills, in this, just, nothing, they change a few key words of dialog.

    They also severally limited gameplay in terms of combat this time. No letting you use health-kits like in ME1-2-3, having to find ammo from crates in preset spots with only 4 ammo reloads, each gun takes up a refill so if you restock 2 guns with ammo 2 of the 4 refills are used, instead of dropped ammo from enemies.

    Limited use of abilities by saying it uses a power cell, weapons start out SUPER weak unless you have difficulty set down, you can't rez a teammate from a distance because you have to run up to them out of cover and hold to rez, your limited to ONLY 3 ABILITIES unless you hot-swap to another PRESET set of abilities which then sets those new abilities on a COOL-DOWN when swapped to even if your abilities were fully ready. IE see dropship dropping tons of grunts, swap to AOE power set as you enter combat, OOOPS to bad, you now have to wait 30-40 seconds to use your abilities now....

    And don't get me started on the animations. I just replayed through the series and watched others stream it on twitch A LOT recently. The fact they could not import/adapt even just the facial motions etc from the first 3 games is VERY sad. I mean wasn't Dragon Age INQ using the same engine? Could they not use the same assets/code for facial animations? Those were at-least far better and it was in the same engine with likely only SOME code needing to be redone to get it to fit on the models right.

    Overall I am giving it a lower score of 5 until the issues are fixed. As which point I will redo my review.    … Expand
  28. XV-02
    Mar 21, 2017
    5
    The first chunk of the game, through the first major mission, is very enjoyable. It's different from previous installments, but not bad.
    However, the first main-line mission after that signals the beginning of what can thus far only be called a tremendously uncoordinated mess. There is enjoyable game-play in here, and unlike many, I like the return to ME1 facets, but there are serious    The first chunk of the game, through the first major mission, is very enjoyable. It's different from previous installments, but not bad.
    However, the first main-line mission after that signals the beginning of what can thus far only be called a tremendously uncoordinated mess. There is enjoyable game-play in here, and unlike many, I like the return to ME1 facets, but there are serious structural issues whose origin lie at Bioware's feet.
    Most problematic is a complete lack of cohesiveness. There are emails referencing a character you can't have met before the end of the first mission. You meet one group, and, despite the characterization of that group as initially untrusting, there is no evidence of it there after. Now, It may just be that this event occurs at a rough bridge in the narrative, a poor section needed to facilitate larger things to come, but I doubt it somehow. Over all, there seems a lack of direction. The game needed a focus, and it sorely lacks that, being torn between the enjoyable notions of establishing a foothold for the people's of the Milky Way in Andromeda, and a larger narrative that would be better served by being set on the back-burner and allowed to build for future installments

    There are also, already, a number of glaring story-telling holes:

    -At one point, you speak with a member of an adversarial force while your ship deals with a navigation issue. The Ship-board computer informs you that it will need time to re-establish navigation, but instead of using that opportunity to talk with the adversary, and to expand the story, it's squandered, making an opportunity for a moment like meeting Sovereign on Virmire wasted.
    -The Player Character has a lot of background knowledge that the player isn't privy to. This leads to big questions that are unanswered, save outside of lip-service in the codex or in ham-fisted conversations.
    -Additionally, for a series which, by all rights, should be focusing on continuity, the sudden creation of a galaxy wide colonization effort that was entirely unmentioned in the original trilogy, but which took place at the same time is ridiculous, and there is little reason that this story couldn't have its roots post-ME3, leaving the reason for the colonization effort up in the air, instead of shoe-horning it in to the existing timeline.
    -Overall, from 13 hours of play, I'm not at all confident in the ability of the story to resolve its key issues, nor to satisfactorily move from plot point to plot point, which is frankly unacceptable when there are clear avenues for the narrative to follow. I suspect that there was too little in the way of sharing the game for feedback. Or at least, not a rigorous enough approach to plotting in the writing room.

    With regards to the Characters, separate from the larger story:

    -Your crew mates are hit and miss, with uneven characterization. While accusations of one-dimensional-ness are false, it seems not to be for want of trying by the writing team. If you accept that Shepard had some of the galaxy's best around them during the Original Trilogy, the flawed nature of Ryder's crew, and their slightly scruffier aesthetic is acceptable, and its nice not to surrounded by wunderkind and characters who would be the hero if the Player Character wasn't there. Their flaws are in some regards, a welcome addition. That said, they are often too leaned on for characterization. Additionally, while its nice that some characters don't have backgrounds rooted in established Mass Effect organizations like C-Sec, they have an annoying tendency to be the "I do what I think it right, and don't play by the rules" types, or the one exception, a starched shirt with poorly written abandonment issues, who's motivating scars in life don't fit with established cannon.

    And, moving on due to dwindling character count:

    -The Galaxy map is poorly designed, taking too long to do anything, for too little reward.
    -The non-menu UI is at times fine, but is often too imprecise, or actively obstructive (Try selecting different locations on the main colonization hub),
    -The removal of the power wheel is a poor design decision, as they provide nothing to allow for situational awareness in its place, making combat more about looking around and covering your own backside than fighting.
    -The Menus are counter productive, and too deeply layered in places, and lack obvious features like the ability to compare items when looking to buy new gear from in-game merchants.
    -At the very least, outfit customization is a mess, with it seemingly not working on PC, and with the location you select armour pieces miles away from where you choose your colours, requiring you to drop out of the menu, run through your ship, and switch out parts before running back if you wish to make a change.

    Over all, I am disappointed, not in the game, because I love the world and series, but at the seeming incompetence of execution by Bioware and EA. They have no excuses.    … Expand
  29. Czaste
    Mar 23, 2017
    5
    We now have insight into the mass departure of staff from Bioware Montreal a few years back on this AAA.

    Technically they've pushed the Frostbite engine to glorious extremes (landscapes, objects, textures, animations other than facial, etc.). But it would seem that the 'treatment' for the story, which had so much potential, lost its way in the details. After 50+ hours of play, it pains    We now have insight into the mass departure of staff from Bioware Montreal a few years back on this AAA.

    Technically they've pushed the Frostbite engine to glorious extremes (landscapes, objects, textures, animations other than facial, etc.). But it would seem that the 'treatment' for the story, which had so much potential, lost its way in the details. After 50+ hours of play, it pains me to listen to dialogue that could have been written by and for a Jr. High drama production, to spend hours on fetch quests that have absolutely nothing to do with the overall plot, and. have no arc to what should have been an excellent story/adventure/experience.

    Bioware dropped the ball, and it evades me now how they can possibly make up for it. As the folks here stated, the game will make money (at the very least its development and marketing budget, which is no small feat), but my faith in the shop overall to build a game that is based on intelligent, insightful story-telling is hopelessly lost. This was Bioware's relm, their key selling point for anything they brought to market. Now rebuilding that 'brand' has come into question.

    Like many other things in these crazy, ridiculous times, we have lost something - another small piece of our lives that by itself is not critical, but when added up with the rest of the pieces that seem to be disappearing on a daily basis, makes our lives 'less'.    … Expand
  30. Eyeless_Pilot
    Apr 1, 2017
    5
    It has it's problems, people have probably covered them at length already, facial animations, some of the character models (I happen to really like the default female Ryder though, puts me in the minority I think)... I personally don't think these detract from the experience too much. I have found the combat to be great fun and the multiplayer to be pretty strong. The charactersIt has it's problems, people have probably covered them at length already, facial animations, some of the character models (I happen to really like the default female Ryder though, puts me in the minority I think)... I personally don't think these detract from the experience too much. I have found the combat to be great fun and the multiplayer to be pretty strong. The characters abilities have been much improved from the previous games, biotics actually seem powerful now! I'm 15 hours in so can't comment on the story too much, as I haven't seen much of it.

    My biggest problem with the game are awful design decisions. For example, if I want to change my loadout (including what armour I wear) I have to do it in a room just off the bridge of the Tempest (Ryder's ship), or as I deploy on a mission; if I want to change the colour of the armour , I have to go to her quarters on the Tempest... It's a minor annoyance that can become extremely aggravating, especially when you combine it with things like pressing one button to open a menu and another to close it.

    Not sure where all the zero scores are coming from, the game works and looks good for the most part which should earn at least a point or two! It's certainly not the disappointment that Dragon Age Inquisition was.

    Edit: I'm now about thirty hours in and I have reduced the score a bit more. The locations remind me a lot of dragon age inquisition, they don't feel like open worlds to explore (for example you are in space suits that can resist radiation and poisonous gases but not go in water?). You can die from falling from height (despite having a jet pack AND despite it happening in one of the opening cut scenes, during which Ryder uses said jet pack to prevent death), areas just feel like an arbitrary are that has been built for a few fetch quests. The pockets of kett or remnant held areas are fortifications that you can attack, however the areas around them are often completely open providing you with no cover and them all the cover they need. The land vehicle has no weapons, which makes it a load of arse and you can't run people over, so you are forced into full frontal assaults (unless you have the tactical cloak)... The more I play, the more these spurious design decisions show their faces and reduce my enjoyment. Almost every mission requires you to scan something, oh look a meteorite, let's scan it, now it makes aliens attack, lets hold Y to stop that happening. "Hello pathfinder..." How do you know I am a pathfinder? You are an alien race I have only just encountered for the first time an hour ago, on a different planet and you are a prisoner of the Kett?

    Combat is till generally fun though very easy, even on insanity, will it keep me playing long enough to finish? I doubt it but we shall see.

    second edit: Sudoku to unlock terminals!?! Radiation or cold to limit your exploration?!? An omni-tool on your wrist that can interface with alien technology, turn into a melee weapon and conjure automated turrets... But I have to go back to my cabin and desktop computer to get my emails or send out strike teams!!!! What the **** were the designers thinking, I can check my emails on my mobile phone!!! The design decisions in this game work against it in every way. Imagine that Friends episode, where Monica declares "the rules control the fun" except here they don't control, they limit. It's getting tiresome, I'm really struggling to give a flying **** about the story because of so many of the awful game mechanics. The more I play, the more I see of Dragon Age Inquisition and the more I dislike it

    Score reduced to 5, after 31 hours.    … Expand
Page:

Awards & Rankings

3
#3 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2017
5
#5 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 61 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 61
  2. Mixed: 30 out of 61
  3. Negative: 1 out of 61
  1. Power Unlimited
    Oct 19, 2017
    78
    It might be the biggest, most complex and action packed game in the franchise, but Mass Effect: Andromeda is also the least convincing one. The dated facial animations, the inconsistent writing quality and the regularly occurring bugs take you out of the experience too often. On top of that, BioWare has not used the concept of a whole new universe to its full potential, which often makes it feel like Mass Effect: Andromeda has not left our Milky Way at all.
    Read full review
  2. Playstation Official Magazine Australia
    Jul 7, 2017
    70
    While it’s underwhelming in places, there’s a lot to like as you venture into the weirder parts of Andromeda. Frequent technical issues hamper the experience a bit, as does an uninspiring main story. [June 2017, p66]
  3. Games Master UK
    Jun 6, 2017
    81
    A welcome, if slightly patch return for Mass Effect. The script has problems, but combat is bloody brilliant. [May 2017, p.62]
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