Mass Effect: Andromeda

 Xbox One
User Score
5.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1225 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 548 out of 1225
  2. Mixed: 154 out of 1225
  3. Negative: 523 out of 1225
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  1. Derangedxzombie
    Jun 17, 2023
    0
    One of the worst games ever made, EVERYTHING about it is bad. Broken, buggy, nightmarish looking faces and animations, awful voice acting and wokeness, bad dialog. Belongs on a trash heap.
  2. tdebug
    Mar 15, 2021
    1
    First of all, this is not a Mass Effect game by any means - not by story, not by gameplay.
    It has a very weird look and feel, like low quality free-to-play MMO from 10-15 years back or so. Planets with "open world" are just mostly blank with annoying navigation and unclear nav points. Many content seems was just added to have a checkbox "added" and not because it contributes to anything.    First of all, this is not a Mass Effect game by any means - not by story, not by gameplay.
    It has a very weird look and feel, like low quality free-to-play MMO from 10-15 years back or so. Planets with "open world" are just mostly blank with annoying navigation and unclear nav points. Many content seems was just added to have a checkbox "added" and not because it contributes to anything. Sidequests like "find 10 missing drones" to get some exp points, complex system of mining, research and development that looks just redundant in many ways and many other things which make the game blank and unengaging. Even combat is meant to be played on a PC with keyboard and mouse and not suitable for controllers.    … Expand
  3. Nerevarinho
    Jan 3, 2021
    3
    Missing italian voice acting! Intro that makes blah blah before forcing you to read a text in a limited time.. why not doing also here blah blah? Very good first impression.. Weird animations. Uninstall.
  4. MattKingsbury
    Jun 20, 2020
    4
    "Disappointing" is the only way I can describe Andromeda. Being such a big fan of the original trilogy, I was highly excited to play the latest addition...and it's a massive step backwards. The biggest flaw is its plot and characters: the plot is not original and the "twist" can be seen from miles away. The characters range from tolerable to utterly unbearable. The writing is poor and the"Disappointing" is the only way I can describe Andromeda. Being such a big fan of the original trilogy, I was highly excited to play the latest addition...and it's a massive step backwards. The biggest flaw is its plot and characters: the plot is not original and the "twist" can be seen from miles away. The characters range from tolerable to utterly unbearable. The writing is poor and the dialogue is cringeworthy at times. Facial animations when I played made it impossible to empathise with the characters. The score is solely based on the graphics, combat and some of the music from the score, which when combined together provide for a small glimmer of light in this black void of a game. Back to the drawing board for BioWare.… Expand
  5. poppershnoz
    Jun 7, 2020
    1
    As Someone who played the game and Preordered the special edition and even beat the game on Insanity Difficulty.
    1. The Game looks Amazing visually.
    2. Facial Animations were terrible but you can look past them. 3. There was no sense of direction throughout the Game. What planet to go to first, if you went to one planet first, would the outcome be different? Everything seems like an    As Someone who played the game and Preordered the special edition and even beat the game on Insanity Difficulty.
    1. The Game looks Amazing visually.
    2. Facial Animations were terrible but you can look past them.
    3. There was no sense of direction throughout the Game. What planet to go to first, if you went to one planet first, would the outcome be different?
    Everything seems like an Odd Job side Quest.
    4. It's repetitive af...
    After clearing the second Dungeon on any planet your just already done with it.... And the Puzzles needed to get into them.
    5. I didnt give a crap about any of the Characters...
    It shoved their back stories in your face first without establishing a history so that you care about them.
    6. The ending was the worst of any RPG Ive ever played...
    Ever...
    You dont even get the satisfaction of killing the final boss. All you do is kill waves of bad guys then flip a switch.... Boom... Boss is dead...
    And after that, your put into a room where you can "Make a toast" to all the "friends" you made along the way that you dont care about because you dont bond with them outside hearing their corny banter in the Mako...
    The writing was simply terrible...
    Dumb, corny as hell, cheaply assembled writing that would've made the Story lines in any Call of Duty Campaign look good.
    7. The multiplayer was Broken on release.
    When the servers were up and running, it was actually fun.
    But then EA effed it up with Pay to win mechanics and gambling.
    Overall... Terrible game...
    1/10 For the Graphics alone.    … Expand
  6. Gray_Geist
    May 18, 2020
    1
    So why a score of One but not Zero? Because I think this game earned the One in tricking me into playing it until the very end. Beware of this game, it has almost no originality to it and the so called "good combat" everyone talks about is really just middling. How did this game "trick" me into playing it until the end? Well it didn't truly but what it does do is capture you in with aboutSo why a score of One but not Zero? Because I think this game earned the One in tricking me into playing it until the very end. Beware of this game, it has almost no originality to it and the so called "good combat" everyone talks about is really just middling. How did this game "trick" me into playing it until the end? Well it didn't truly but what it does do is capture you in with about a dozen hours of interesting game play and story only to never rise to anything.

    And the bugs, they are e v e r y w h e r e. Don't let Reddit or the reviews here trick you. The bugs are everywhere. I was playing on the Xbox One and they were numerous and occurred during every play. Some were minor and some broke the game and required a SYSTEM (not a game) restart. The notorious facial animations? Oh they're still there and honestly, at first they were sort of funny but in the end you just find yourself asking how they even released this game.

    The worst of all of it? The ending doesn't even exist. It ends with the most pathetic whimper you'll ever experience.

    STAY AWAY from this game, it is a waste of your time compared to most anything else.    … Expand
  7. sendrr1
    Nov 2, 2019
    3
    It is sooo boring and illogical game :)

    Graphics (world, trees, rocks) - just amazing
    Story
    - 10% ok
    - 40% was written by 2 yo kid
    - 50% blah-blah-blah (pointless)
    Multiplayer - some joke

    And every time I see asari while playing my disappointment level raises up
    (they are ALL identical, copy->paste)
  8. Telin
    Sep 6, 2019
    0
    Incomplete game. Rushed. EA should not have forced them onto a new engine and then rush a game out when they aren't used to it.

    And why are the main character(s) only shown as white in all the media??
  9. SirBruce
    Aug 27, 2019
    2
    As a big fan of original Mass Effect and Kotor, but more of the former, I love the sagas. But Andromeda is so irregular and exposes so less inspiration that I couldn't enjoy it. Only some moments and places have the quality level I expected. MEA is like many empty and boring ideas fixed with a not very good quality glue. I prayed for the game to finish, but it didn't after many hours thatAs a big fan of original Mass Effect and Kotor, but more of the former, I love the sagas. But Andromeda is so irregular and exposes so less inspiration that I couldn't enjoy it. Only some moments and places have the quality level I expected. MEA is like many empty and boring ideas fixed with a not very good quality glue. I prayed for the game to finish, but it didn't after many hours that I fell lost time. If only I could go back in time to play the moments I liked... But now, I don't have any hope for the sagas. It should have a so big investment in talent for stories, art and technology that I don't think EA or Bioware are up to the task.
    About the game, it starts with an idea of reborn. Like if the third one was a finish for everything. But, after playing some time, you realise that many things have travelled from Milky Way to Andromeda... Not the good ones, for the most part.
    Planets design goes from impressive to unispired in a mad way. Game mechanics are old or bad copied from other games. Online options... well... I didn't ask for them in that way. So I finished using the companion app to get missions done and get some resources... yes, my fault. Because it makes the game more and more easy as time goes.
    With nothing to remember about the script or characters, I feel that I played a repetition of something I lived before. But without the fresh air of other games.
    I don't recommend this game if you enjoyed the trilogy... But, if you find it on EA Access or Origin and you want to test it, be free to do it. Maybe you like it and you go back for the first, second and maybe third Mass Effect games. Old games, with many old mechanics, but great stories to be told by impressive characters.    … Expand
  10. 80sChild
    Mar 2, 2019
    3
    Updating to a 3, because in retrospect, its better than Anthem. Having recently played through it again... its still awful.

    This is not Mass Effect. This is Dragon Age Inquisition in space. Bugs galore, even after the patch, constantly pulling you out of the (boring) story. Graphical bugs, animation bugs, save bugs, rendering bugs, everywhere and all the time. Texture fade-in from    Updating to a 3, because in retrospect, its better than Anthem. Having recently played through it again... its still awful.

    This is not Mass Effect. This is Dragon Age Inquisition in space. Bugs galore, even after the patch, constantly pulling you out of the (boring) story. Graphical bugs, animation bugs, save bugs, rendering bugs, everywhere and all the time.

    Texture fade-in from Unreal Engine 2/3 still present on Frostbite for some reason and faces/textures often look muddy. Ugly female characters (not as bad as DA:I), everybody is gay or bi because the SJW mentality is strong at Bioware, apparently. Nobody disagrees, holds different opinions, challenges different opinions, yells or does anything that might develop a personality (good or bad). The characters and universe are flat and boring. Paragon and Renegade options are gone and so is any semblance of control over your characters personality.

    Tons of filler that may or may not be considered "content" by players. The closest Andromeda ever gets to being a Mass Effect game is during loyalty missions, apart from that its exactly like Dragon Age Inquisition.

    Combat is decent, feels similar to ME1 but with added mobility. It's not perfect or amazing but it gets the job done. Clunky UI and crafting systems, multiple currencies in both campaign and multiplayer. Micro transactions. Tons of planets but only a handful of them are explorable.

    I don't know what happened at Bioware but this is not Mass Effect. It's not what the fans deserved, its not the leap forward the series deserved, it's most certainly not a finished product and its not worthy of the Mass Effect name. Rest in peace Mass Effect.    … Expand
  11. ES-Sidders
    Feb 19, 2018
    1
    This game is poor on so many levels its not the mass effect some of us grew to love. Its a buggy mess, the story is poor and it just doesn't feel like mass effect. I'm a long time fan of the series and I hope a poor end and a dreadful game isn't the final nail in the coffin for the amazing series.
  12. Young_Nacho
    Dec 11, 2017
    4
    This is just a mess all around. The writing is painfully uneven, with good moments being overshadowed by cringeworthy dialogue. The story is bland, and the characters are the most uninteresting group of **** ever. The gameplay is passable but not good, and the animations are as bad as everyone says. This is not the game fans deserved.
  13. camilams
    Dec 3, 2017
    0
    Bioware's old games used to shine for five reasons: Great characters, great history, great writing, great dialogue and a beautiful living world to explore. Unfortunately, Andromeda lacks everything of these.
  14. Needles
    Nov 24, 2017
    0
    Stop supporting this horrible company. They keep making bad games until you stop buying them. EA symbolizes everything that is wrong with the video game industry.
  15. BeiNeludei
    Oct 30, 2017
    0
    This game is a glitchy mess and the animations are still HORRIBLE. Yes even post-patch.

    The people who say that it's just a minor issues that people making a big deal over are straight up in denial.
  16. Arteck
    Oct 28, 2017
    0
    я могу простить все,но пока они не вернут себе адекватных сценаристов,так и будут продолжать клепать подобное гмо типо андромеды и даи,70% заданий принеси-подай,сюжет для 5 летних детей,2 новые расы и обе человека подобные (прям полет мысли зашкаливает),дохерище картинок различных планет,которые ПРОСТО НЕ НУЖНЫ,вы там ничего не можете сделать,даже в 1 me больше планет где можноя могу простить все,но пока они не вернут себе адекватных сценаристов,так и будут продолжать клепать подобное гмо типо андромеды и даи,70% заданий принеси-подай,сюжет для 5 летних детей,2 новые расы и обе человека подобные (прям полет мысли зашкаливает),дохерище картинок различных планет,которые ПРОСТО НЕ НУЖНЫ,вы там ничего не можете сделать,даже в 1 me больше планет где можно высадиться,А ВЫ ТУТ ПЕРВОПРОХОДЕЦ,тупость всех персонажей,абсолютно всех,одна Пиби адекватная в какой то степени,в общем это и игрой назвать нельзя,хотя те кто любит книжки от данцовой и подобных "великих писателей",явно оценят этот шлак… Expand
  17. Buthomar
    Oct 28, 2017
    0
    Если ставить 5 баллов за такое, то это значит, что игра просто посредственная. Никакая. Но она ведь ужасна! За сюжет - 1, за главных героев - 1, за напарников - 1, за саундтрек - 1, за атмосферу - 1, анимацию, дизайн уровней и персонажей и так далее... С такими темпами оценка уйдет в минус. И это вполне заслуженно. Это отвратительная игра, созданная для человека, который живет в пустойЕсли ставить 5 баллов за такое, то это значит, что игра просто посредственная. Никакая. Но она ведь ужасна! За сюжет - 1, за главных героев - 1, за напарников - 1, за саундтрек - 1, за атмосферу - 1, анимацию, дизайн уровней и персонажей и так далее... С такими темпами оценка уйдет в минус. И это вполне заслуженно. Это отвратительная игра, созданная для человека, который живет в пустой комнате и ему реально нечем убить свое время. А фанату ME к такому дну даже близко не следует подходить, иначе у него инфаркт случится. Самое обидное, что все ведь могло получиться. Бабки были, медийность и фанбаза были. Не было умных сценаристов, толковых дизайнеров и тех, кто вообще любил бы эту серию всей душой. Вспоминая музыку на Цитадели из первой части, эту таинственность и непостижимость в одной только мелодии... аж кошки на душе скребут. Я поставлю 0.5, только чтобы общий рейтинг понизить.… Expand
  18. Koristo
    Oct 27, 2017
    0
    0 out of 10. Which to me is bland. IOt's not terrible, the combat saves that. But the story is poor, the animations terrible, the character customization is weak.The quest system is like WoW which is in a genre where bad quests are sorted expected...that's like 20 years old now. The exploration would be nice, but since the maps are mostly empty and the quest softly bland the visual becomea0 out of 10. Which to me is bland. IOt's not terrible, the combat saves that. But the story is poor, the animations terrible, the character customization is weak.The quest system is like WoW which is in a genre where bad quests are sorted expected...that's like 20 years old now. The exploration would be nice, but since the maps are mostly empty and the quest softly bland the visual becomea as appealing as a well painted empty hallway.

    I'd say buy it when its 20 bucks. A huge step back for the series, and arguably the worst Bioware game to date. At least DA 2 had a few solid characters and some eye candy. In this game the characters are as stale as they are repulsive. I don't mind you making all females in your game looking like they were smacked with an ugly stick for days. If you can make them funny, witty, engaging. I loved tali and I never saw her face. After DAI and MEA Bioware has lost alot of respect in my eyes as a consumer and gamer.    … Expand
  19. rodericrinehart
    Jun 24, 2017
    3
    Loved the first 3, would put the trilogy in my top 10 series ever. Mass Effect Andromeda is BORING and POORLY DESIGNED above all else. Poor animations, empty areas, pointless fetch quests, and just no respect for the time of the player. Finished it despite really not liking it. Probably done with the series now. Lost a loyal fan and customer Bioware/EA.
  20. peabuddie
    May 25, 2017
    4
    Let's all just agree that Shepard is a hard act to follow. Any thought of going into this thinking that it's going to be like the trilogy is unrealistic. It IS Mass Effect but in a way we haven't seen before.Having completed the game I have lowered my score from a 7 to a 4. It is just that bad.
    So first the negative:
    I'm with the rest when it comes to the menus, they are a mess and not    Let's all just agree that Shepard is a hard act to follow. Any thought of going into this thinking that it's going to be like the trilogy is unrealistic. It IS Mass Effect but in a way we haven't seen before.Having completed the game I have lowered my score from a 7 to a 4. It is just that bad.
    So first the negative:
    I'm with the rest when it comes to the menus, they are a mess and not very intuitive. There are WAY too many menus, It's ridiculous.
    Planet scanning: there are 4 steps of fancy graphics just to scan the planet. Why? When will publishers learn to quit wasting our time. YOLO and I don't want to spend it going through 4 stages to scan a planet. Also apparantly there are anomalies detected even after I've scanned the entire system and found every thing and scanned every planet. If there is still something out there where is it? How did such a simple mechanic become so cumbersome?
    Remember how you could set up your team's load out? Well, if you still can I haven't been able to figure out how. 20 hours in and I don't even know what weapons my team is using.
    Again too much talk, I'm still trying to get past simply competent when it comes to combat because I've experienced so little of it.

    Graphical problems yes, they are there but I don't really care that much.
    Character models, expressions ( there aren't any they are all blank faced models), horrible, but whatever.
    When not in combat I can't get away from the feeling that I'm playing an electronic barbie house. It's too much Mass Effect the Social Game for me. Way beyond anything in the trilogy.

    It doesn't give clear enough information on how to do basic things. Healing is completely different as an example, but I don't recall ever being told how to heal. I just ended up figuring it out after x amount of hours. Considering the difference, it's rather important strategic information when your in the middle of a fire fight. And that's just one example that extends to crafting, resources, etc.

    Too me the resource gathering and crafting is a slow and painful process. I have found no joy in it thus far. It's frustrating. The separation of research and crafting uhhg ain't nobody got time for that. Does Bioware think that we live and breath their creations? so much of this game seems so self-involved of the devs. Like they live in a world where everyone has 20 hours to figure out their cumbersome systems for doing things and we're supposed to like it. Games are meant to be fun, not tiresome.
    It seems that EVERYTHING is way more complicated and time consuming than is necessary.
    .
    The creative decisions above and many more are mind boggling. They just make no sense.
    The writing is the worst writing of any bioware game ever. It is amateurish, immature and boring. Absolutely nothing about Andromeda's mission makes any logical sense on any level.

    There is plenty to do (way too much actually) and much of it may keep your attention. There are interesting worlds and situations and pretty environments. The combat IS fun, I just can't get enough of it.
    The ships are cool, the Nexus is cool as far as concepts go and there is plenty to see and explore. There is some fun to be had here.

    If you want to try this game out, first say your goodbyes to ME as you know it. Let Shepard rest and enter a new world in the ME universe. The cheaper, more amateurish, emptier universe. A universe that exploits the once mighty name of ME and Bioware.    … Expand
  21. Shiranui
    May 22, 2017
    0
    This game has dragged Bioware's name through the mud. An absolutely broken mess with absolutely awful story writing and you still dare to charge people micro transactions for this... EA you ought to be absolutely ashamed of yourself.
  22. FlailingPotat0
    May 15, 2017
    0
    Mass Effect Andromeda isn't a game, it's a meme. Play the original trilogy before you play Andromeda if you want to truly understand how terrible this entry is. Bioware/EA took the lazy way out: first, by giving a beloved franchise to their "B" Team in Bioware Montreal, then by stripping away everything that defined Mass Effect as a series. This was a cash grab by EA and Bioware, using theMass Effect Andromeda isn't a game, it's a meme. Play the original trilogy before you play Andromeda if you want to truly understand how terrible this entry is. Bioware/EA took the lazy way out: first, by giving a beloved franchise to their "B" Team in Bioware Montreal, then by stripping away everything that defined Mass Effect as a series. This was a cash grab by EA and Bioware, using the fans love for the series to sell it.

    Paragon and Renegade? Gone, replace by a vague "emotional" dialogue wheel with some of the worst lines in gaming history. You have no control over your characters personality, although no one else in this game has one either so why should your character?

    Important story altering decisions? Gone as well. There might be 1 or 2 designed to give the illusion of this but neither choice affects the story in any way apart from 1 or 2 lines of dialogue.

    Great story telling? Gone. Instead of the focused and exciting 30hr+ narratives woven through various planets, locations and side missions we get... about 6-8 hours of actual story content with about 25 hours of boring, monotonous and unrelated side-quests scattered over the "open" worlds. The typical side quest is something like "NPC needs heat lamp, traverse map to get one". It's like baby's first RPG in terms of design. Hope you like driving because its 2/3rds of the game.

    Everything is a rehash of ME1, from characters to story arc only much worse. The Archon (basically this games Sovereign) is so non-threatening its hilarious. If Mass Effect 1,2 and 3 were wide release summer blockbusters, ME:A is the direct to dvd sequel that no one asked for. Did I mention it takes place 600 years in the future in a new galaxy? Bioware Montreal took the lazy way out in terms of writing. Of all the different and interesting ways they could have gone and expanded the lore and universe (Leviathan species? Indoctrination theory?), they chose the most boring, cookie-cutter and lazy way out. And it shows. (First contact with a new species? Prepare to be underwhelmed. Neither side acts like its a big deal).

    Interesting locations? Sort of. They're interesting when you first land but you quickly realize they're all lifeless and empty. Although every planet has the exact same Dinosaur/Monster creatures. Every. Single. Planet. That's how lazy Bioware was. The same life forms on every single planet. Even some that are different colors (were these the devs from Grandma's Boy?)

    Epic music? Nope. As far as epic music to set the tone for the action/story: there is none. None that is memorable anyways. Remember the music from the Collector Base? Leaving Earth under Reaper attack? Meeting Vigil on Illos? Saving the Krogan? There is nothing like that in Andromeda. Nothing. At any point.

    Interesting characters? Nope. All of them are re-skins of ME1 characters, just way less interesting. You will never, ever be conflicted about who to bring with you on a mission (the way most people were with ME1-3). Also this game has odd character models. They all look too short, like kids running around in a theme park. I can't figure out if the camera angle is too wide of the modeler had no clue what he/she was doing.

    Graphics? Lol. Mass Effect 3 still looks better. Muddy textures on close ups and cartoony looking open worlds. It has its moments where it looks amazing but its wildly inconsistent.

    Multiplayer? That's not why people buy Mass Effect. Moving on.

    The combat? There's good and bad. Very fluid and dynamic, but you lose the ability to direct/control squad abilities as well as only having 3 abilities active at any one time. Apart from movement, its a downgrade.

    Overall? It's a tremendously boring and stale story, filled with flat, uninteresting characters, no memorable musical score, echoes the story beats of the first game (though poorly), loaded to the brim with boring, unrelated "filler" side quests scattered across vast, empty, lifeless worlds.

    I'm a huge Mass Effect fan. You don't have to believe me. But the game has been on sale since it released, EA has put the franchise on "hiatus" and Bioware Montreal is being demoted to a support studio. This game is trash and the evidence for that gets stronger every day.    … Expand
  23. GsPlayer
    May 15, 2017
    4
    As the 810 reviewer, I understand this wont get read much. But the game was such a disappointment, I couldn't help but put a review in.

    The tone of the game is just terrible. Travelling to a new galaxy should bring high levels of excitement and 'fear of the unknown' to the characters. Instead, it's self-consumed whinny wimps, asking for you to make them feel better everywhere you    As the 810 reviewer, I understand this wont get read much. But the game was such a disappointment, I couldn't help but put a review in.

    The tone of the game is just terrible. Travelling to a new galaxy should bring high levels of excitement and 'fear of the unknown' to the characters. Instead, it's self-consumed whinny wimps, asking for you to make them feel better everywhere you turn.

    Ryder talks like a civilian and lacks any true leadership skills or toughness, although he/she is a good smart ass at times.

    Driving around in the future's worst off road vehicle is just brutal. And made three times worse given you have to listen to your team member's P@ssy Whinny Wimpy Self Absorbed banter the whole time.

    Gameplay is long and tedious, and outside of a handful of good battles the shooting is easy and repetative.

    Im just finishing the game in hope of the next game being better, and to see if any of my choices actually matter to the ultimate outcome.    … Expand
  24. HunterCZE
    May 2, 2017
    3
    One big disappointment. Everything I have loved with the original trilogy has been just thrown to the garbage. I had big expectations from this title but it turned out to be a massive let down.

    - very poor main story line - terrible animations - absolutely disgusting characters (ME 1 characters were created far way better and that!s a decade ago) - zero impact with the choices made    One big disappointment. Everything I have loved with the original trilogy has been just thrown to the garbage. I had big expectations from this title but it turned out to be a massive let down.

    - very poor main story line
    - terrible animations
    - absolutely disgusting characters (ME 1 characters were created far way better and that!s a decade ago)
    - zero impact with the choices made during the gameplay
    - very limited conversation options
    - voice acting is hilarious and very bad
    - totally boring multiplayer (it's just a waste of time)

    + worlds look so amazing
    + buildings and ships are beautifully made
    + planet exploring is very interesting
    + loyalty missions and side quests are enjoyable

    In the state the game is (even with the latest patch) it's just a poorly made game. Not worthy of the money and the time. Every single ME game made you to want to play it again in a different way. Here unfortunately you don't get this kind of feeling at all.

    ME Andromeda had such a potential was completely squandered. Makes me wonder how the official reviewers can give this such a high score ... it appears they played a completely different game than the normal players got.    … Expand
  25. cobwil
    Apr 30, 2017
    0
    This is the first time I've ever breathed a SIGH OF RELIEF upon finishing a game. I was glad it was over. The entire thing was a grind. Had it been any other game I'd have returned it many hours prior, but this was Mass Freakin' Effect, so I stayed with it, hoping that at some point there would be SOMETHING in it that would validate the hours I was putting in. Never happened. Here's why:This is the first time I've ever breathed a SIGH OF RELIEF upon finishing a game. I was glad it was over. The entire thing was a grind. Had it been any other game I'd have returned it many hours prior, but this was Mass Freakin' Effect, so I stayed with it, hoping that at some point there would be SOMETHING in it that would validate the hours I was putting in. Never happened. Here's why:

    THE CHARACTERS: As boring as they are unpleasant to look at. It's as if designers deliberately went out of their way to create mannish facial features (PeeBee), gross hair (Cora), or just overall unattractiveness (Vetra). None of them had much of interest to say; I found myself pressing /x/ to skip through dialogue A LOT (which I typically never do in rpg's of any sort, much less BioWare games). The bland dialogue is typical of everything else: I just wanted it to be over.

    THE COMBAT: Solid, if not particularly memorable, for two reasons. First (and this may not bother anyone else), they've removed the time-slow mechanic for snipers, making playing as a stealth-sniper much less satisfying. Why? I had similar problems with the way they neutered mages in D.A: Inquisition, taking away a lot of impressive offensive spells (particularly the AoE variety) and making them more dependent on defensive ones. For whatever reason they seem intent on scaling back their most powerful (and fun) playstyles. Secondly...

    THE VILLAIN: I won't look back fondly on the combat in this game because I was so unengaged by the enemy I was fighting. The Kett were never very threatening (unlike Superman's "Doomsday", who they seem to be modeled after) or interesting; I realize not every enemy can be something on par with the Reapers, but how about the level of Saren or The Illusive Man or the Shadow Broker? Granted, the Archon finally gets a BIT more sinister toward the end, but it's too little too late... capped by a yawner of a "climax".

    THE SIDE QUESTS: Talk to this guy, go here, fetch this, then fetch two more, go back to guy, he sends you to another guy, fight some more humdrum kett... blah! In between each step, you're trying to figure out frustratingly placed nav points, and you end up doing a lot of running-in-circles-around-landform and jumping-repeated-alongside-landform attempting to access things or get to certain places, because the maps are so vague and inadequate. Now someone might say, "Well in real life an explorer would face those challenges so it's realistic!" I agree. In real life, explorers also have to stop to go to the bathroom occasionally, but I certainly don't want THAT experience incorporated into my video game either. When your game consists of 75% uninteresting fetch quests, and you then make the fetching as frustrating as possible with misleading nav points, you're not winning points for the realism.

    THE ENVIRONMENTS: THIS they got right. The game LOOKS gorgeous (with the exception of every romanceable female character).

    THE SJW FACTOR: We all know it exists, but most of us are afraid to comment on it because if we do, angry trolls label us as hatemongers and bigots. So we tiptoe around it. But look... nobody's being fooled here. Certainly, humanity's diversity must be reflected in games (as BioWare has always done well), but they're now going so overboard with it that it's no longer an accurate reflection of the population. And when you hire angry bigots to oversee the development of your games, that's going to happen.

    PUT IT ALL TOGETHER, and it adds up to the biggest disappointment I've had since the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man.    … Expand
  26. Mustakrakysh
    Apr 28, 2017
    1
    This game is a disgrace to the Mass Effect series. The writing is TERRIBLE. The Story makes no sense. This game is such a disappointment that even a lazy person like me who never writes reviews felt I had to. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. Let Mass Effect be over with the original series. This game will ruin Mass Effect for you.
  27. EggShen
    Apr 25, 2017
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is not Mass Effect, this is Dragon Age: Inquisition in space, right down to the "dragon" boss encounters on each world. Something has gone horribly wrong at Bioware. For a series that was built on engaging choice driven stories, interesting characters, well written dialogue and a sci-fi world with characters and lore to become invested in... none of that is present in ME Andromeda.

    Very little about this game is memorable. I've reached 100% completion and can barely remember anything about this experience that stands out, at least in a positive way. The writing is poor by any standard but its almost unforgivably so for a Bioware game, you'll be hard pressed to take anything this crew says seriously without shaking your head at how cringe worthy the dialogue is.

    The story is a poor rehash of ME1: Ancient and absent technologically advanced species left behind tech that humanity can use. Oh and apparently only humanity can use it and does so immediately after arriving in a completely new galaxy. The Kett are the bad guys and are as generic as they come and even have a process that echoes indoctrination from the original trilogy. You're crewmates are also pale rip offs of the previous games. Jaal = Garrus, PeeBee = Liara, Chora = Ash, Drak = Wrex, Liam = Kaiden and Vetra is literally a female Garrus. Vetra and Jaal come the closest to being interesting.

    The Archon is the stand-in for Sovereign, voice and all, but unlike Sovereign before him the Archon is about as menacing and threatening as a muppet. You don't even get to fight him in the stories climax (unlike Saren 10 years ago).

    You're the Pathfinder and that means instead of using sensors or science teams to determine planetary viability, they send you because: video game. The entire Andromeda Initiative literally waits on one boring guy to give the okay on habitable worlds. Luckily Ryder and his crew gets along with everyone in the Universe save the Kett. Not one argument, not one disagreement, not one raised voice, not a shred of personality can I remember in this game. They're the most agreeable bunch in the entire universe.

    The plot is forgettable, like everything else. The Archon wants control of Remnant technology to convert the galaxy to Kett... or something. The Kett can only reproduce through "Exaltation", even though exalting the Andomeda galaxy would basically mean there's no one left to exalt and continue the species.

    Then there's The Scourge and The Remnant. The Remnant were at war with... something that left the Scourge behind as a weapon against the Remnant, who themselves vanished for an unknown reason and now the Kett are trying to conquer the Angara but lucky for them humanity is here to do in days what they couldn't in decades... The plot manages to be boring, confusing, unoriginal and nonsensical all at the same time. Oh and first contact with the Angara? Forget about that being an epic moment. Luckily they all speak fluent English, right after the game establishes that they don't.

    Combat is an improvement for the series but pales when stacked up against any other modern shooter. The controls are clunky and while the dash ability is handy, the game is too glitchy (especially multiplayer) for this to be anything other than passable. Its good, not great. Enemy encounters quickly get repetitive.

    2/3rds of the game is driving around boring empty "open worlds" with tons of unrelated side quests. Actual story content is probably between 8-12 hrs with the rest being filler side quests.

    Its not a Mass Effect game. This has nothing in common with the series apart from the art design. This was a cash grab from EA and Bioware using the series name to sell it. You're still better off playing the original trilogy    … Expand
  28. sdwillie
    Apr 18, 2017
    0
    It's broken garbage.

    The multiplayer isn't fun to start with, and quickly becomes boring. The campaign was dull until it locked up on an autosave, causing me to force quit. That led to the game failing to load, with the stupid ring in the corner spinning endlessly. For some reason this also caused EA Access to do the same, endlessly trying to connect to their servers. I guess I have    It's broken garbage.

    The multiplayer isn't fun to start with, and quickly becomes boring. The campaign was dull until it locked up on an autosave, causing me to force quit. That led to the game failing to load, with the stupid ring in the corner spinning endlessly. For some reason this also caused EA Access to do the same, endlessly trying to connect to their servers. I guess I have to take them at their word that they fixed some of the creepy faces.    … Expand
  29. SpartacusNZ
    Apr 13, 2017
    0
    You greedy ar__holes Bioware. Sort out your **** with EA - stand up to them and delay release until testing AND corrections are finished. This is full of bugs and looks appalling. Get is right! You had an amazing franchise and you let greed get in the way.
  30. CTDave
    Apr 10, 2017
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. ******MILD SPOILERS******

    I was a huge fan of the original trilogy, though I was critical of the final 20 minutes of the ME3 to the point where I stopped playing the games entirely until the ending got patched up.

    I went into playing this game with some expectations, as BioWare had done an awesome job on Dragon Age: Inquisition and had seemingly redeemed themselves in my eyes, and thus, I relinquished $90 for the deluxe edition of Andromeda. I sincerely wish I hadn't. I should have waited until Black Friday to scoop the game up on sale.

    The game is unoriginal and liberally borrows/steals from the original trilogy. Essentially, this is Mass Effect, just with: slightly upgunned graphics; a slightly new galaxy (where it seems physics really took a holiday); gender swapped, carbon copies of old squad mates; even the new enemies, the Kett, are essentialy dumbed down Reapers.

    It was a tough to slog through the first 8 hours, where I'd give the game a 3/10, but then the game opens up and BAM! 7/10. The next 30 hours were a delight to sit through...

    But then, 80 hours and far too many fetch quests later, the game has left too many threads open for the sequel rather than wrapping things up. After 80 hours, you begin to really see that the graphics were not where they should be with the current power of consoles, with too much texture pop-in, frame rate drop, and weird animation glitches. The game beat me down via poor design.

    They had 5 years and $40 million to get this done. They relied far too heavily on name recognition to get them through, and have lost me as a day 1 buyer. I will wait until their new titles go on sale before laying down my hard earned cash on them again.

    My final score is 4/10. Sad given that I really wanted to like this game.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

83
#83 Best Xbox One Game of 2017
2
#2 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2017
4
#4 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 35 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 35
  3. Negative: 0 out of 35
  1. games(TM)
    Jun 14, 2017
    50
    A new low for the Mass Effect series. [Issue#186, p.71]
  2. Gamers' Temple
    Apr 20, 2017
    82
    Overall, despite its shortcomings Mass Effect: Andromeda was an enjoyable experience for me. The first few hours feel like a grind, but you will be rewarded for sticking with it. The game is dragged down a bit by all of the reading that must be done and some overly long conversations, but this is rather typical for the genre. The game really shines when you're exploring an alien world and battling the local fauna, and when you get down to it that's what you really want out of a space-based RPG.
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  3. Official Xbox Magazine UK
    Apr 15, 2017
    80
    It can't match up to its predecessors, but Andromeda is a thrilling adventure nonetheless. [May 2017, p.73]
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