Way before the Mass Effect: Andromeda launch, when there was still very little information and footage of the new game, not to mention the complete lack of original soundtrack music, I wrote a composition inspired by the E3 trailer of the upcoming sequel.
You can download this song from Bandcamp
There is one thing that sets Andromeda apart from other Mass Effect games for me and that’s gameplay. In my opinion what they did to gameplay in the new installment is miles ahead of what we had in 2 and 3. Disclaimer: I’m a huge fan of the first ME and not so much of the sequels.
So, they brought back the elements from the original game and made them optional so that those who liked them would be able to use them, and those who didn’t, simply didn’t have to. For instance, overheating guns instead of thermal clips, the ground transport, several worlds open for exploration, a decent inventory. They added crafting which was again completely optional. They made the actual combat a lot more engaging and now you had to maneuver and use every skill and gun you had. You could still play the game ME3 style but why do that, when you can soar above the battlefield, shooting all your biotic powers at the enemies, then take cover quickly and snipe what remains of them? And you don’t even have to choose your class permanently for the rest of the game - you can become anything by using one of the combat profiles.
Lots of side activities for those who like exploration with random enemy encounters. Lots of armor pieces/guns/upgrades all of which belong to their niche and are indeed needed. All of this I really liked and considered it a step in the right direction (as a ME1 fan).
However, when it comes to storytelling, the pacing complaint might be among the most frequent ones. I also would like to add that I love the general direction of the story, especially at the end of the game and I absolutely despise everything character related. Those attempts at humor (sometimes the jokes are pretty good, but most of the time just awkward and lame), those vague options in the dialogue wheel that trick you into choosing the least relatable phrase possible, those faceless, flat characters most of whom we’ve seen a million times. On the plus side – you don’t have to talk to them if you don’t like them. I beat this game while completely ignoring one of the characters.
Another downside in my opinion is that the writers make you deal with the death of your relative early on in the plot when you feel absolutely nothing towards that person and try to make up for it through flashbacks. It doesn’t work this way. Actions of characters, their motivation - all of that feels as if it’s some sort of a weekend cartoon, especially at the beginning - the beginning feels as if it was written by kids, the middle portion was written by teenagers but the ending was staged by gods of screenwriting, action direction and game design. Everything about that ending was amazing in my opinion, and I believe one simply cannot judge the game without beating it first. It is especially sad as now we may never know what happens next, never meet the aliens who built this amazing world. But it is what it is I guess.
At least you can see the devs really wanted to make up for the poor ending of the original trilogy and turn the gameplay into something more engaging. The game should’ve just been called Andromeda and released only after all the bugs would have been fixed. And it's a shame because all in all I loved exploring the new part of this extensive universe a lot.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr
