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. al0324
    Mar 22, 2017
    5
    Game plays like Dragon age Inquisition, which isn't the history of how Mass Effect trilogy plays. The ME trilogy sets the tone that you're already an elite soldier, carving your way thru space to save it. The writing is simple but fun. The mechanics, again, simple, but fun. It eventually evolves into a much more action packed game with story elements cut through it. The camera angles,Game plays like Dragon age Inquisition, which isn't the history of how Mass Effect trilogy plays. The ME trilogy sets the tone that you're already an elite soldier, carving your way thru space to save it. The writing is simple but fun. The mechanics, again, simple, but fun. It eventually evolves into a much more action packed game with story elements cut through it. The camera angles, story, and protagonist really makes ME what it is.

    But ME:A... really plays like DA:I, with open worlds, tons of crafting, kind of docile characters and character development. It drops you in very "ho'hum" - not as much buildup as ME1, ME2, or ME3 intros. It's a very long drawn out intro/tutorial that i couldnt first put my finger on it, but once it dropped me into open world, made me realize it's DA:I but in space.    … Expand
  2. Kubasa_Undead
    Jul 3, 2017
    6
    First of all I wanna say that I'm a die-hard fan of Mass Effect's franchise and that fact makes it very hard for me. So. let's start with saying that this game definitely did not live up to my expectations. It still is a solid game but there are a lot of things missing or made completely wrong. It's very sad because I was really waiting for this release for a long time. But let's get toFirst of all I wanna say that I'm a die-hard fan of Mass Effect's franchise and that fact makes it very hard for me. So. let's start with saying that this game definitely did not live up to my expectations. It still is a solid game but there are a lot of things missing or made completely wrong. It's very sad because I was really waiting for this release for a long time. But let's get to the game itself, it's as I said- solid. It has most of the modern open-world game mechanics and it works pretty good. My overall experience was great, I've had fun playing it. I just think that it shouldn't be called Mass Effect because it doesn't feel like it.… Expand
  3. tom974
    Sep 30, 2019
    7
    Good game, lacking the aura of the original trilogy but it still is damn good to go back to this universe.
  4. star_nerdy
    Apr 1, 2017
    6
    Overall, the game was ok. What bugged me the most were easily correctable things that people didn’t think through. Here are some of the things that I think would have made the game better:

    1. Get to the planet faster. Once a system has been explored 100%, we should go straight to the planet. The animations of going from planet to planet are pretty, but it’s something that demos    Overall, the game was ok. What bugged me the most were easily correctable things that people didn’t think through. Here are some of the things that I think would have made the game better:

    1. Get to the planet faster. Once a system has been explored 100%, we should go straight to the planet. The animations of going from planet to planet are pretty, but it’s something that demos really well, but in practice it gets tiresome.

    I’ve explored the system, there is nothing new, so why should I have to click on a system, then click on a planet and then click on a landing spot? That’s 3 clicks that could be minimized into 1.

    2. Universal shop. I get it, all these planets have different shops with different things to offer. That’s cute. How about all the shops have the same stuff, except things cost more at certain shops because they have to pay extra to have it shipped?

    I hate having to run around the universe to find element zero or maybe find a mod. One stop shopping would be nice. In the real world, these shops would be talking, so they should talk in the game.

    3. Targets for every mission. Some missions have targets and some have you run around guessing and trying to uncover things. I’m sorry, I finished the story mode and am going for 100%. I hate having to go on forums and try to find where everything is.

    Maybe you can buy maps with everything on it on those planets. IDK how it’s done, but guidance on where to go next for every mission item is ideal. Running around scanning things gets super old super fast.

    4. Where are things. To piggy back on #3, some missions say find a tablet or something random. That’s fine, but it won’t tell me what planet I got the mission on. So now I don’t know the location or even planet the mission was assigned on. This gets annoying when all you have are tasks left and can’t remember where to go.

    5. Glitches. Forget animations, when you arrive on planets you arrive without a helmet and then the screen goes black and reloads with your helmet. Some planets have doors to places you need to go that won’t open. I expect glitches week 1. I just hope this is short term not long.

    6. Shorter conversations. Less is more.

    7. In the future, have actors record together! It’s super annoying to hear actors argue as part of the story and you can almost hear where audio was cut and spliced together. If they interact on script, they should record together. Audio spliced together is lazy and sucks.

    8. Character writing. Some characters do grow on you. But some…yikes. Some of the scripts are bad. The words on paper seem ok (which means heavy editing is needed), but besides that they are emotionless.

    This is a preference thing, but I would have preferred Cora didn’t have the whole Asari arc. In fact, I would have swapped Cora and Vetra’s stories. I also would have made the Krogan female, the doctor human and male and I would have made the loyalty missions more fun.

    9. Slow down! Some parts of the story were rushed. I would have appreciated if certain parts were slowed down. Getting to know Ryder and his father more, get to know the crew more, understanding the universe, how dire things are, why some people are on the planet and out of stasis and others aren’t, etc. The story should have been slower.

    I had to purposefully slow myself down because you can gun through the story in 10 hours if you’re not careful.

    10. Make simple what you can. I think the game was too busy trying to be too much. A simple story about everyone being stranded and lost, trying to get everyone united, terraforming planets, but finding out there are reasons why your scientists were wrong on the planet would have been nice.

    So many good missions could have been made with this. You could have had western style missions bringing order to outposts. You could have had missions where you’re connecting outposts. You could have seen outposts grow due to connectivity and taking down Kett bases. Then, you find out there are alien things in the grown you can unlock and then you find out they can fix the planet. You do this on one planet and then your dad dies. Then, being the only one that knew what he did, you are tasked with helping other planets.

    Overall:
    There was potential and there still is potential. I’d argue that Mass Effect Andromeda would benefit greatly from better writers. I’d happily write or help plot what happens next. There’s plenty of potential, but you have to keep things simple.

    Also, stupid running around missions are super old and annoying. Don’t have me run around to scan things to then tell someone what I found. That’s super lazy and cheap. Make it mean something.    … Expand
  5. Knightley
    Mar 28, 2017
    7
    Mass Effect Andromeda is a game that I was honestly looking forward to in 2017. Although my worries appeared after the memes of the game's animation surfaced. Despite all of the backlash, I thought I'd get it and judge for myself (thank god for prime savings).
    Starting off i must admit that yes the game isn't the best to look at, it's covered in bugs, and overall lacks polish. The game    Mass Effect Andromeda is a game that I was honestly looking forward to in 2017. Although my worries appeared after the memes of the game's animation surfaced. Despite all of the backlash, I thought I'd get it and judge for myself (thank god for prime savings).
    Starting off i must admit that yes the game isn't the best to look at, it's covered in bugs, and overall lacks polish. The game itself feels like it's still in beta and didn't get put through any worthwhile QA testing. Even through all of this, I feel I had one of the better experiences with only minor framerate drops and certain characters popping in and out of locations. In addition, I got my Ryders to look somewhat decent. In spite of all this, most of the aliens manage to look pretty good while most of the humans look like plastic dolls.
    The story and writing of Andromeda is honestly not very good. As new players are thrown into a giant pile of exposition. Ryder makes way too many jokes all the time (most not funny), taking barely anything in the entire game even slightly seriously. The romances that Bioware has become so well known for are rather disappointing, as most of them happen late game or barely happen at all.
    By far the best part of the experience was the combat. There's an added layer of mobility with the new jump jets. No more class restrictions or level caps (that I know of) give a feeling of freedom that wasn't really in previous games. It may start off slow when you have nothing unlocked but it only gets better as you progress
    There's also multiplayer but I couldn't even be bothered to try it as it's pretty much horde mode with microtransactions. The menus are also confusing to navigate. There's a crafting system that is just plain not fun. I enjoyed the crafting in Dragon Age: Inquisition, so i'm curious as to why they didn't just carry over that system instead of this mess.
    Despite all of it's flaws, I did enjoy the game. In it's current state it deserves more of a 6.5 but it gets a 7 because I was feeling generous, and because of my better experience with the game. In the end it feels more like a Dragon Age game with a Mass Effect paint job.    … Expand
  6. Alecj
    Apr 19, 2017
    7
    Mass Effect Andromeda is a good game with too much expectation and pedigree to allow that to be enough. It should have been better. It seems like corners were cut. Why? The tech issues it has are inexplicable. The lack of focus leaves you prone to meandering through the open worlds lacking that feeling of purpose the previous games in the franchise gave you.

    BUT- purely as a space    Mass Effect Andromeda is a good game with too much expectation and pedigree to allow that to be enough. It should have been better. It seems like corners were cut. Why? The tech issues it has are inexplicable. The lack of focus leaves you prone to meandering through the open worlds lacking that feeling of purpose the previous games in the franchise gave you.

    BUT- purely as a space adventure, on the merit of its combat and expansive worlds to discover, ME:A is still a fun friggin game.

    The multiplayer is exactly the same as it was in ME3 which seems, like one of several missed opportunities for the franchise to innovate much like its predecessors. Its a good enough system, but why not try some new ideas or attempt to make it even better. It truly seems like a straight remaking of a MP component that is over 5 years old.

    The characters are not as strong as the previous trilogy but i have a few favorites.

    Overall, it isnt a bad game when judged on its own merit, but place it next to the paradigm change caused by the original Trilogy, and it seems a bit middling.

    Also after a long, well funded development cycle in the care of Bioware, it should have been better.

    I still have enjoyed my 60 hours with Mass Effect Andromeda, and plan on continuing for a couple dozen more. Just dont go in with inflated expectations and you may come away having enjoyed your time with ME:A    … Expand
  7. Achtlos
    May 7, 2017
    7
    We all know this game has unforgivable technical faults, considering it's the 4th instalment in a series, running on much better hardware than the previous games. I picked this up and started playing more recently, commencing after some of the patches. (I did play the preview hours last month). The game is undeniably fun. The graphics work well presenting great vistas, just the animationsWe all know this game has unforgivable technical faults, considering it's the 4th instalment in a series, running on much better hardware than the previous games. I picked this up and started playing more recently, commencing after some of the patches. (I did play the preview hours last month). The game is undeniably fun. The graphics work well presenting great vistas, just the animations are poor at times. The dialogue choices can often feel like there's no distinction between two opposite paths. The open world "go to point A then B" is falling into the Ubisoft "Map or markers" trap. All that said, the game is engaging and the Sci Fi plot, although clichéd is very fun.… Expand
  8. jimjim101
    Mar 26, 2017
    7
    If you're not giving it a rage-score and you're not giving it a fan-score, this Mass Effect sequel is a firm 7. It's a good game, but not a great game - and with very noticeable flaws. In its current state, you can expect to see inconsistent texture quality, pop-in, the map looking like garbage for half a second every time you go to it, rough level geometry, and bad camera positioning (inIf you're not giving it a rage-score and you're not giving it a fan-score, this Mass Effect sequel is a firm 7. It's a good game, but not a great game - and with very noticeable flaws. In its current state, you can expect to see inconsistent texture quality, pop-in, the map looking like garbage for half a second every time you go to it, rough level geometry, and bad camera positioning (in conversations). Some people see this as "rushed", but the fact is that the quality is there - the models and textures for example are better than any previous Mass Effect game - but there's a lack of polish which speaks to an overwhelming push for features.

    What about those features? It has the usual Mass Effect/Bioware explore/fight/quest loop that keeps you moving forward until you suddenly realise that eight hours have passed. That one-more-objective addictiveness is propelled by good-quality story and cutscenes, different for the Mass Effect universe (no Reapers here, it seems!) but with a lot of influences from other sci-fi sources. It's a new galaxy with new characters, and ME3's "galactic readiness" activities have segued into basic colony-building, a vastly less boring result. There's more involved crafting than before, but the only benefits relate to combat.

    The best summary of its shortcomings is that after the publisher/developer logos come up, the first thing you see (with a complete install) is... a loading screen, not even the game splash because that's what it's loading. The combat is in the normal vein for the series: completely serviceable but not really exciting or interesting, and it keeps throwing you into it. The RPG elements are the very traditional run-here-do-that-talk-to-npc loop that you've seen a million times. It's as if the Mass Effect team suddenly forgot everything they've learned about making games (tech aside) since Mass Effect 1; or, as if the guys who made the Star Trek reboot tie-in game in 2013 had been given a heap of money to try their hands at Mass Effect.

    We'll probably look back at this as a good one that was overshadowed by a bad launch and unfortunate timing in being released so close to the well-loved Breath of the Wild. For me, it's a notch below Mass Effect 2: I'll play it, I'll finish it, then I'll never go back.    … Expand
  9. VgilAntikz
    Apr 14, 2017
    5
    If you love Mass Effect...don't buy this game at full price, wait until it hits the 15 to $20 range so that way you won't get too disappointed when you play it, definitely not for your collection, and feels like that time you wake up in bed with the result of some very bad choices when you went out and got pissed drunk the night before.
  10. Noiseblock
    Mar 21, 2017
    7
    The vast emptiness of space.

    To say it right from the start: Andromeda is not a bad game. It´s disappointing in ways it should not be, it is technically flawed in a couple of places and it is not aware of how badly it is lacking a sense of wonder. But it is not bad. However, "not bad" is simply a huge disappointment after five long years of waiting and a whole Triple-A-studio with    The vast emptiness of space.

    To say it right from the start: Andromeda is not a bad game. It´s disappointing in ways it should not be, it is technically flawed in a couple of places and it is not aware of how badly it is lacking a sense of wonder. But it is not bad. However, "not bad" is simply a huge disappointment after five long years of waiting and a whole Triple-A-studio with experience and an enormous budget working on it. Yet first of all, the positive things should be mentioned; and there are quite some important ones, even though the current hate-train is steaming away (and not entirely without reason, even though the dimensions are disproportionate).

    Combat: Let´s start with the easy plus. Combat is tremendous fun and reminiscent of Mass Effect 3, which had the most frantic, yet also the most challenging and tactical gameplay of the original series. There is a vast variety of different tools and skills to experiment with and it feels natural, simple and still challenging. The camera and perspective during these fights is also great and it helps to bring out that there actually is a diverse cast of enemies this time around; icy land-sharks, huge pitbull-looking behemoths, floating robots and a bunch of different humanoids make combat flexible, exhilarating and quite rewarding.

    Characters: This is basically the saving grace of the whole game. The characters are for the most part deep and satisfyingly written, especially the thoughtful, reclusive Vetra, and the devoted, yet seeminly unstable Liam. Bioware has managed to assemble a colorful cast of characters who beautifully bring out the strengths of each other when the writing and mission-design is on point, which it is more often then not. Generally, the characters are good and some even great, the only real misshappen one being the Krogan Drack who feels like a tired, forgettable retread of Wrex. Strangely enough, even though the characters manage to save the game to quite some extent, none except said Liam and Vetra reach the tremendous standards of the original trilogy, and even these two can´t measure up to the likes of Garrus or Mordin. (To be fair, though, none of them are the snooze-fest that was Jacob Taylor.)

    Story: The story was also not a letdown for me. While it follows the same old tracks of established, popular scifi-tropes, the depth of the quite intriguing main antagonist and the underlying sense of mystery helps to make it feel alive and gripping. It is not without fault, though, since the game actively seems to try and work against the player as it constantly bombards him/her with meaningless sidequests, distrubing the pace of the narrative. Why was such a decision made?

    Dialogue: Hit and miss, sadly, even though there is more hit than miss. It is baffeling how a game can feel like it´s written by both an experienced storyteller and an adult desperately trying to sound "hip and cool". The interpersonal dialogue is mostly good when 2 or 3 characters are having a discussion and can play to each other´s strengths, but once more are involved, it slips surprisingly fast in tiresome, often cheesy and simply bad dialogue. Imagine if the Guardians of the Galaxy were just endlessly bumbling on about trivial stuff without ever really being funny.

    Technical blunders: The facial animations (yes, this topic) just slip into "oh God, why?"-territory all too often, the walking-animations are stilted and awkward, weapon-sounds sometimes cue in too late and the pop-in is honestly atrocious in densely populated areas. Strangely enough, for all these weaknesses, the game steadily upheld its framerate, which makes this a bit more forgivable. Bioware, it is still not really acceptable with that budget.

    Sidequests: "Oh God, why?" once again. I titled this "review" the vast emptiness of space because this is what Andromeda feels like for the most part. It´s vast, it seem to be ambitious, it got hours aplenty to play through, yet there is no incentive to do that because everything feels repetitive and the planets ARE empty. Quests revolve around fetching stuff I do not want to collect for people I do not care about for goals which are abstract or feel non-crucial to literally everything. EVERY story-driven openworld I played in the last years handled its sidequests better. The Witcher 3 created whole storythreads, AC Syndicate (which is surprisingly great, btw) gave background to every assassination-target and wove every activety neatly into the plot, Zero Dawn rewards you with insight into the intriguing story etc. Andromeda does none of that. It´s like someone created this huge playground and then left it without anything to play with.

    In the end, an exiting story and neat characters helped me push through, but after five years, great predecessors and this budget, I´m not entirely satisfied with a product with so many rough edges and little genuinely exiting activities. Solid, but deeply flawed. 6-7/10    … Expand
  11. Garren
    Mar 22, 2017
    5
    the game suffers from very bad facial animations that kinda ruin the emotions in the game. I hate seeing a big emotional speech coming from a guy who's just dead in the eyes and shows no emotion at all. For a game that has over 1200 speaking charecters that's pretty bad. Another problem seems to be the new galaxy map ..... sometimes you spend a good ten seconds just traveling to planetthe game suffers from very bad facial animations that kinda ruin the emotions in the game. I hate seeing a big emotional speech coming from a guy who's just dead in the eyes and shows no emotion at all. For a game that has over 1200 speaking charecters that's pretty bad. Another problem seems to be the new galaxy map ..... sometimes you spend a good ten seconds just traveling to planet that end up having nothing to do but look at it which quickly gets you praying their is a anomaly on it so you can scan it and launch a probe so you can't at least say you got 4 seconds of actually doing something besides just looking at a planet with no anomaly....... then their is the epic amount of side quests, not a bad thing I guess but again the emotionless charecters really make you wonder why you should care. I haven't seen too many bugs but this is a big game so they are definitely there but these can be patched ..... the facial animations not so easily. In the end it feels like bioware rushed this out the gate instead of delaying it again to finish everything right. I personally have enjoyed the main story so far with a bit of weak writing but still the story is still good in my opinion and yes I will probably play it again when they hopefully fix everything… Expand
  12. fubenalvo
    Apr 3, 2017
    7
    I don't care about the animations, it's okay I think. But I have bugged in unfinishable quests on two planets from two. Yep, I'm still playing and I will finish the game because I love the game and the universe. Anyway... this is a public beta now with floating AI-s 5meter above the ground, and terrible camera handling with random dialogues with NPC-s. Meh... There will be any fixes forI don't care about the animations, it's okay I think. But I have bugged in unfinishable quests on two planets from two. Yep, I'm still playing and I will finish the game because I love the game and the universe. Anyway... this is a public beta now with floating AI-s 5meter above the ground, and terrible camera handling with random dialogues with NPC-s. Meh... There will be any fixes for these? Should I wait for them? :/

    Oh and... SUDOKU? Why? Why? :(    … Expand
  13. sw980
    Mar 22, 2017
    5
    Bioware,Bioware,Bioware.......
    Mass Effect Andromeda has just released,and the community already has negative things to say about the game.
    The Frames per second are even worse than ME3. And what have you done to the animations? Look on the internet what funny GIFS you can find about the animations. And the story..... it get's to repetitive! I know this is a short review, but also    Bioware,Bioware,Bioware.......
    Mass Effect Andromeda has just released,and the community already has negative things to say about the game.
    The Frames per second are even worse than ME3.
    And what have you done to the animations?
    Look on the internet what funny GIFS you can find about the animations.
    And the story..... it get's to repetitive!

    I know this is a short review, but also based on my personal experiences, i have no choice but to turn MEA down and give it a 5.    … Expand
  14. Jecht_342
    Mar 23, 2017
    6
    This game is interesting, beautiful, and fun, when it works. However, it rarely works. It has crashed on me 12 times in 12 hours, and objects are constantly popping in and out of existence. I'm also getting an error where the map is showing the Hyperion while I'm on Eos. Crew members are talking to party members that I haven't recruited yet. Plus, I'll activate the same line ofThis game is interesting, beautiful, and fun, when it works. However, it rarely works. It has crashed on me 12 times in 12 hours, and objects are constantly popping in and out of existence. I'm also getting an error where the map is showing the Hyperion while I'm on Eos. Crew members are talking to party members that I haven't recruited yet. Plus, I'll activate the same line of dialogue many times when out in the world, and sometimes characters just stop talking out of nowhere. I know that a lot of people aren't having the same errors I am, but this is the buggiest experience in gaming I've had in years.… Expand
  15. 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
  16. DukeJon
    Apr 4, 2017
    6
    Good

    - combat
    - world exploration
    - scope

    Bad

    - facial anims
    - glitches and bugs
    - dull characters
    - lousy dialogue
    - ugly faces on characters
    - unable to play as a white person. racist bigot for a game designer. SJW handprints everywhere.
  17. Ozimandeus
    Mar 29, 2017
    7
    The facial animations and cheesy dialogue aside, there is a good game here. But you need to be very patient to get to it. It could have been a top drawer title. It isn't but it's ok.
  18. Zuganug
    Apr 4, 2017
    6
    Excepting the horrible ending of ME3, I played and loved ME1, 2 and 3. I took a chance pre-ordering this new installment, and I don't think the gamble paid off. Let me say that I'm evaluating the game based on meeting a pretty high bar set by the previous games. That being said, the previous games sold around 14 million copies, or something like $700 million in gross sales. That, combinedExcepting the horrible ending of ME3, I played and loved ME1, 2 and 3. I took a chance pre-ordering this new installment, and I don't think the gamble paid off. Let me say that I'm evaluating the game based on meeting a pretty high bar set by the previous games. That being said, the previous games sold around 14 million copies, or something like $700 million in gross sales. That, combined with several years to work on this, should lead customers to accept nothing less than an outstanding title. This isn't it.

    I do think they kept the great ME 'feel' and some of the visuals are great. I'm NOT going to get into the many bugs with the game, as many others have already elaborated in great detail, except again to say that several years of lead time combined with the incredible profits of the last series IMHO should absolutely mean no significant bugs.

    So let me say that I feel like this game tried to figure out what to be and instead of coming out with something innovative, seems to have just copied features from other games. The Vaults and robots in the first planet are straight up ripoffs of Borderlands, all the way down to some of the visual elements.

    There are actually, IMHO, far too many options for combat, tech, and biotic powers. Plus the weapons and augment slots, and now crafting, this game seems like it's just trying to be like other games.

    As good as some of the visuals are, the overall look, stories, voice acting, and animations already fall far short of Witcher 3, which was done FAR better by FAR smaller studio with, I'm sure , a FAR smaller budget.

    I had high hopes for this, but this game falls far short.    … Expand
  19. TheQuietGamer
    Jun 3, 2017
    7
    Andromeda seeks to take Mass Effect in a new direction. It does so by taking some elements from the very first game and putting the emphasis on being a new face an unfamiliar world. Exploration, discovery, and new beginnings are at the heart of the experience. All of this certainly showed a lot of promise. While it succeeds at being a new start, shoddy development and uneven execution ofAndromeda seeks to take Mass Effect in a new direction. It does so by taking some elements from the very first game and putting the emphasis on being a new face an unfamiliar world. Exploration, discovery, and new beginnings are at the heart of the experience. All of this certainly showed a lot of promise. While it succeeds at being a new start, shoddy development and uneven execution of it's many intricacies and lofty ideas make it something of a disappointment as well.

    It is likely that the reason Andromeda isn't all it could be is because it was developed by BioWare Montreal and not by the more experienced studio, Edmonton. Their technical experience is noticeably lacking. The graphics are all over the place. The game can be strikingly beautiful one moment and hideous the next as textures fail to load among other things. The character models and animations are just as bad as you've likely already heard at this point. There are also a myriad assortment of bugs, glitches, and other technical issues to worry about. Nothing game breaking, but still annoying and far to frequent, especially after all these patches. It feels like the work of an inexperienced team who didn't polish things up before release.

    The writing and characters are far from BioWare's best. The plot is a touch weak until it's final hours. Outside of those last few main story missions there's no sense of urgency. It's still a great concept, but it rarely feels like anything is at stake. Your character, team, and vast majority of people (and aliens) you meet are really laid back. With a few exceptions everybody is sarcastic and always cracking jokes. Never mind that they just traveled to another galaxy and their very existence is at stake. At least it can be a pretty funny game. Not as funny as some of the other BioWare games, but still. Plus we get that warm, happy ending we didn't receive in Mass Effect 3. There also heart-warming moments of family and friendship that are very enjoyable. The characters you'll be surrounded by are a bit bland at first and all feel like the exact same wise-cracking archetype, but as the game progresses you'll learn more of their individual traits and most of them grow on you. Still, don't be surprised if there are one or two in your squad that you don't check in with that often. The acting that brings them all to life is pretty great, even if what they're saying isn't always very well-written ("my face is tired"). I do have to give the writers credit for providing several moments of genuinely tough decision making. The removal of the paragon/renegade from the previous games actually works to Andromeda's advantage. The morally gray choices did make me pause to think.

    The gameplay side of things is one part progression and one part throwback. It's where the game harkens back the very first Mass Effect the most. For example there's the return of vehicular exploration, scanning planets is encouraged, and even the combat system is more in line with that game's offerings. I feel like the gameplay side of things fares a bit better than the writing, even if it suffers from the same fate of showing promise, delivering here and there, but falling short of what one would reasonably expect from Mass Effect. The change to a more open-world structure similar to that of Dragon Age: Inquisition has allowed the game to come with a lot of content. Each planet and hub world is filled with side-quests and other distractions. You can spend countless hours with the game and there is quite a bit of depth in it's many systems. Not all of it is all that interesting though. It's hard to care about everyone you meet due to the previously mention writing flaws and the fact that the vast majority of the people you encounter don't stick around after you complete their quest(s). A lot of the time I found myself just going through the motions, checking thing off my ever-growing to do list without investing in the events themselves.

    The combat is a particular highlight. You're given genuinely cool powers and weapons. Fights are exciting, especially during the scripted story missions. Auto-cover shouldn't have come back though. Loot collecting is held back due to a restrictive, crowded inventory system and no cache to store items. Space exploration is outright botched, but still kind of fun. Travelling cutscenes are unnecessary and make the process overly long. It's obvious that they're just loading screens. It also kind of sucks to sit through them only to end up at one of the sadly numerous barren planets which you unfortunately have to go to in order to get 100% done. Multiplayer is a big letdown. The maps are too small for the zoomed-in camera.

    While things turned out mostly fine, Andromeda serves as a perfect example of why the B-team shouldn't be given the bigger jobs. In the end I liked it, but for me this is BioWare's first real letdown. Montreal just couldn't do Mass Effect the true justice it deserved.    … Expand
  20. sebassbruu
    Mar 26, 2017
    5
    Horrible experiencia de juego. Una lastima, por que el sistema de combate me habia interesado.
    Y la historia? apenas me llama la atencion
    (y mejor ni hablo de la cantidad de bugs y el horrendo trabajo de diseño y animaciones)
    En fin, otro juego mediocre hecho por una empresa triple A.
  21. Explofion
    Apr 4, 2017
    6
    I loved the first trilogy and this Mass Effect is a complete different kind of game and this is good. The only problem for me is every things they made differently is bad or boring.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Sorry for bad English.    … Expand
  22. CarmenWillow
    Apr 10, 2017
    7
    This game is like a book that has a slow beginning. Often, you can't get through the first three chapters and you put it back on the shelf. This game is like that, but if you can stick with it through the boring opening, it does get better. I actually would rate this game higher but for one glaring reason: story.
    Bioware's success with the Mass Effect series was based on its compelling    This game is like a book that has a slow beginning. Often, you can't get through the first three chapters and you put it back on the shelf. This game is like that, but if you can stick with it through the boring opening, it does get better. I actually would rate this game higher but for one glaring reason: story.
    Bioware's success with the Mass Effect series was based on its compelling story and fine characterizations. Andromeda, while not bad, simply does not live up to the writing and to the characters that we saw in the first series. The game is particularly lacking in proper pacing and dialogue for their romance arcs. There's no tension there, no sense of overwhelming attraction between characters to make the romance fun. I think Bioware got so wrapped up in being politically correct that they forgot what makes a romance a good romance.
    Gameplay was very difficult until the patch, now perhaps they dumbed it down a little too far, but better that than what we had. In addition, the creators of this game fell in love with their jump jets and created what I like to call "the revenge of the shards." (If you played Dragon Age: Inquisition, you KNOW what I mean.) And the puzzles, oh please why so many puzzles so many different ways? The game should be fun, instead it literally gives me a stomach ache at times from the frustration of the puzzles and the jump jets. Bioware, I don't understand. Your forte is story, characters, plot. Why oh why did you forgo that for the lure of the "open world"? It was okay in DA:I, but here, it doesn't serve you well.    … Expand
  23. SupR_G
    Aug 28, 2017
    7
    Played this game after the last patch was issued which fixed most of the bugs and animation issues that plagued it on day one. So none of that will be in my review. It is by far the worst of the Mass Effect games, but worth the low price the game sells for now. Graphics are good. Story is okay. Characters are mostly uninteresting. It was fun exploring and discovering new places, quests andPlayed this game after the last patch was issued which fixed most of the bugs and animation issues that plagued it on day one. So none of that will be in my review. It is by far the worst of the Mass Effect games, but worth the low price the game sells for now. Graphics are good. Story is okay. Characters are mostly uninteresting. It was fun exploring and discovering new places, quests and situations, but didn't quite have the depth you'd expect from a more traditional open-world RPG. The game is very easy, so I recommend to play on a harder difficulty for a better overall experience. Not interested in playing multiplayer. Bioware has abandoned the game and will not release any additional content, making decisions much less important at the end of the game. All in all, worth a play if you can get it in the Walmart discount bin.… Expand
  24. Nataraja
    Aug 31, 2018
    6
    The game is seriously mediocre. Shooting is okay, graphics are marginally better than Mass Effect 3 and the character models out of armor are just poorly done and this is after the major patch job done to resolve the many issue it had at launch, It has bloated content and side missions are terribly dull and poorly implemented. Bioware should be ashamed of this title - Dragon Age 2 wasThe game is seriously mediocre. Shooting is okay, graphics are marginally better than Mass Effect 3 and the character models out of armor are just poorly done and this is after the major patch job done to resolve the many issue it had at launch, It has bloated content and side missions are terribly dull and poorly implemented. Bioware should be ashamed of this title - Dragon Age 2 was actually better than this game and didn't waste nearly as much of my time.

    I just hope that Anthem is not a train wreck and that there are actual stories of interest in the game. If Bioware can go back to telling great stories with plenty of tension and action then Anthem may be what Destiny should have been. But if it resembles Andromeda in terms of story, it will be another let down.    … Expand
  25. TheWaffle
    Apr 9, 2017
    6
    Andromeda starts with a promising concept: explore a new galaxy, start afresh, establish new colonies. But it fails to deliver on a number of fronts. The most galling development is that the menus and interface have somehow gotten worse. The combat system is much more clunky than it was in ME3, and you can't even coordinate your abilities with your teammates. Despite venturing to a wholeAndromeda starts with a promising concept: explore a new galaxy, start afresh, establish new colonies. But it fails to deliver on a number of fronts. The most galling development is that the menus and interface have somehow gotten worse. The combat system is much more clunky than it was in ME3, and you can't even coordinate your abilities with your teammates. Despite venturing to a whole new galaxy, the alien design is about as generic as you could imagine: humanoids carrying rifles. They're basically just humans with a bad skin condition. And the characters are as vanilla as they come. Through the first two hours of gameplay I honestly could not have told you the name of a single team member that was following me around. Everyone's motivations are bland and the character development is a far cry from Garrus, Wrex, Ashley, Tali, Liara, and all the other original cast. The scene and sound editing has sequences trampling over one another and there are a slew of minor bugs that add up to a substantial annoyance. Andromeda is a decent enough open-world game, but it's nowhere close to what I would have expected from the Mass Effect franchise. I loved the entire trilogy (warts and all), and I was even excited to see them take a chance with a whole new storyline and cast of characters. Unfortunately, Andromeda is just a buggier ME3 with worse characters.… Expand
  26. crusher351
    Sep 4, 2018
    5
    Mass Effect Andromeda; a game that caught a lot of flack to bad technical glitches when released. Now, to be clear, I started playing this game after the last patch was released, so a lot of the glitches were taken care of. After putting almost 50 hours into the game over the last few months, I can safely say that it's better than people give it credit for, but comes nowhere close to theMass Effect Andromeda; a game that caught a lot of flack to bad technical glitches when released. Now, to be clear, I started playing this game after the last patch was released, so a lot of the glitches were taken care of. After putting almost 50 hours into the game over the last few months, I can safely say that it's better than people give it credit for, but comes nowhere close to the original trilogy.
    One of the improvements to the game play is the combat. It is much quicker and very fluid. The characters are kind of a double edged sword. They have some depth but they never get to the same level as the characters from the trilogy do in terms of engrossing you and making you want to learn more. There is honestly not much more to write about the characters because they are so bland. The whole idea of the research and development of weapons, armor, and mods is good in theory, but its still much easier to just buy the equipment from vendors in game. One of the best features was that you didn't have to pick a certain character type to play as, but could choose between combat, biotic, and tech powers at will. Some things that were not so great included the somewhat long loading screens and freezes that happened. The freezes were most frequent when driving the Tempest, which besides that, is fun to do. Of course you can't talk about a Bioware product without talking about the story and the quests. The main story is pretty good, but doesn't have the same depth as you would hope. It all feels very generic in a way, and that can be disengaging for a player. The big problem when talking about the quests, are the sheer amount of fetch side quests throughout the game. Some add to the story, but most are a waist of time. I know open world gaming is the future, but I would have liked them to have done more with it. There are so many worlds when you look at the galaxy map, but you can really only explore six or so worlds.
    Overall, this game is fun to enjoy for one story play through, but it really doesn't have the replayability of the original games. Since they are not going to release any DLC for this game, there are a lot of questions that may never be answered.    … Expand
  27. DrZomboid
    Jan 29, 2022
    6
    Played it on Series X. Still not polished, bad face acting, dull combat, ok story.
  28. banda89
    Jul 15, 2017
    7
    Boy do people love to hate this game! Bought it the first week, only played the beginning, do to work issues couldnt play it till 2 months later!

    But here it goes. As a massive fan of the first trilogy I was hyped for thise game. It delivered in some instances and in others it was just average. The story: what is an integral part of a mass effect game? the story, right? well in    Boy do people love to hate this game! Bought it the first week, only played the beginning, do to work issues couldnt play it till 2 months later!

    But here it goes. As a massive fan of the first trilogy I was hyped for thise game. It delivered in some instances and in others it was just average.

    The story: what is an integral part of a mass effect game? the story, right? well in andromeda they seemed incapable of laying aninteresting story, All we got was a boring, uncreative story filled with not so good jokes. seriously, is this a marvel movie? too many jokes, TOO MANY UNFUNNY JOKES!!!

    Characters: I had mixed reactions with them, while I cared for some, mostly all of them irritared me. Specially Ryder. That for me was my main problem with this game, could never get behind ryder, he is not a credible leader, wouldve been better controlling his dad instead. And seriously. why the jokes? i felt i was watching goddamned avengers while listening to the conversations, too many, forced jokes upon us!! Drack I liked, Cora I liked and Peebee I liked. The rest of them where just there. Hated Liam specially.

    Gameplay is ok, wouldve liked to stop time and manage and order around your squadmates, more customizable assets on your team. at leas could we change the color of Liam's armor?

    Final thoughts? Its an Ok game. Nothing special, but not worthy of a 5 or a 4 that most people are giving it. Hell most of the people here if an eye bugs out but the rest of the game was a masterpiece they'd give it a 0 out of 10 just because that one time the eye bugged out.    … Expand
  29. Technoraze
    Mar 30, 2017
    5
    First mass effect game ive played and initially i was hooked. Great story but the gameplay is pretty much like all ea games, not very well programmed. Movement is not fluid like in some of the high end games. Quite a few technical issues here. I loved the whole concept of the game but sadly its been let down. My biggest issue is the way ea have to use this stupid card/box system in allFirst mass effect game ive played and initially i was hooked. Great story but the gameplay is pretty much like all ea games, not very well programmed. Movement is not fluid like in some of the high end games. Quite a few technical issues here. I loved the whole concept of the game but sadly its been let down. My biggest issue is the way ea have to use this stupid card/box system in all their games. It sort of works for Fifa with fut cards but in games like this and battlefield, no. Game is overly complicated and they should take a leaf out of massive entertainments book with weapon upgrades/modding (the division).
    Overall i did like the game but only as a budget game as i feel it lacks too much to warrant an A game rating.    … Expand
  30. Drachmalius
    May 3, 2017
    5
    Right in the middle of the scoreboard. Nothing too terrible, and nothing to make it stand out. You play through it, find some things enjoyable, but it's overall meaningless. There's a lack of polish that I normally wouldn't mind, but the writing and characters are so unremarkable that it needed something to redeem it.

    If you're a die-hard Mass Effect fan, pick this up at $20 or less or    Right in the middle of the scoreboard. Nothing too terrible, and nothing to make it stand out. You play through it, find some things enjoyable, but it's overall meaningless. There's a lack of polish that I normally wouldn't mind, but the writing and characters are so unremarkable that it needed something to redeem it.

    If you're a die-hard Mass Effect fan, pick this up at $20 or less or get it from Gamefly for a weekend if that's your jam. If you're a newcomer to the series, don't start with this one. You'll get a bad first impression of the series. I'd only recommend this if you really want to play through it and be ready for when Bioware hopefully releases another good game in the series...basically out of obligation to a game series that used to be great.    … 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.
    Read full review
  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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