REVIEW - Mass Effect Andromeda: In Space, No One Can Hear You Scan for Minerals

Mass Effect Andromeda has you playing as Pathfinder [Insert Dick Joke Here] Ryder. Male or female, you're set with the task of setting up the Heleus Cluster as the new home for you and most of the other alien races you met in the original trilogy. (By "most" I mean most of the important ones #SpaceRacist) During that process, you come across a few new species. They're a mixed bag. Some are friendly, most are not. The big bad is reasonably big and suitably bad. Plot wise that's all there really is without giving too much away.

One of the greatest pleasures in a game like Mass Effect comes in the first 30-45 minutes. The ability to tweak every detail until you've got your characters face just right is a blessed thing.

Brow depth is crucial!

Then you cover it with a helmet or stare at the back of their head as they run around for 90% of the game. You go through this experience when shaping your hero, Ryder. It only took me 10 minutes to "masterfully" craft my Ryder. Nothing I did made him look right. At best he looks like "generic male hero #3". I actually had to quit out of the character creation first time round because the preset face I was trying to customise had ridiculously huge eyes. (And apparently, the developers didn't think a slider on "eye size" was a good idea) I gave him a scar, as you do, but again I felt like I was giving him the best of a bad bunch. It kind of looks like someone kerb stomped him. Needless to say, I started my adventure unhappy with the way I looked. (Much like an average day back in high school) Also, just as an aside; WHY CAN'T I PLAY AS A TURIAN OR KROGAN? Ahem. What's so great about being human?

Aside from this bitchin' face tattoo... eh

Now a few eagle-eyed people might have noticed a certain amount of controversy concerning the animations in ME: A. Right before the patch that fixed it (which came out about two weeks after launch) it was difficult having a conversation with anyone. Their eyes were all over the fucking place. Seriously, some would be going to the shops while the other was coming back with change. It wasn't game breaking but when you want to be immersed in a game, especially a game with the scope of Mass Effect, you don't want everyone making stupid faces at you when you're talking to them. Textures can be a little rough around the edges making the game look previous gen at its worst. (Which isn't really that big of a deal for me really)

It's okay, sand, render when you're ready

Luckily there is a flip-side to that complaint. Some of the environments in the game are gorgeous to look at. Alien worlds can be cliche at times; desert planet, ice planet, forest planet. We've seen multiple iterations of these in various games and movies. ME: A does these very planets. But they are very nice to look at and traverse. Words don't really do them justice. Here are some holiday snaps I took while out and about.

Speaking of being out and about, getting around isn't the shitshow it was in the original Mass Effect. Gone is the clunky, jack-in-the-box suspension Mako. Enter the Nomad. It gets you from A to B on most of the planets you touch down on and isn't a complete pig to drive. You can even purchase upgrades for it, one of which improves the handling on slippery surfaces which I thought was a nice touch. There are no weapons on the vehicle but that's to encourage you to get out and get involved in the combat and explore.

I'm actually pretty fond of this beauty

To get you around the Cluster itself you have the Tempest. It's also where you'll interact with your team on a more personal level, gaining their trust. Strangely, it's the only place you can check your emails. (I'm currently experiencing a glitch where Your computer constantly says "Pathfinder, you have new email" despite if I do or not, it gets old) The majority of these are just flavour text for events or actions you've done but some of them are mission requirements. This means if you're out in the world blasting fools and scanning for those sweet sweet minerals you'll occasionally get a prompt to go back to your ship (which results in an unskippable cutscene of it taking off every time) to check said email only then to leave your ship again. (Which, you guessed it, results in another cutscene) There are missions where this can happen 4-5 times depending on how many places you have to visit. It feels it needlessly padded out what turned out to be a 60-65 hour game.

Expect to see this a lot during the game

Like you would expect in an adventure game from Bioware there is a fair amount of dialogue. ME: A has moved away from the series Paragon/Renegade (good/evil) system, opting to create a more natural dialogue system. Choices are broken down into emotional or technical, professional or casual. While this can be interesting at times and also take conversations in directions you wouldn't think it is also quite bland for the most part. I can have a conversation regarding a mission with an NPC or squad mate and just not feel any chemistry at all. (Disconcerting if the saviour of the galaxy is phoning it in) Delivery isn't all bad when driving around in the Nomad whoever you have in your team will talk amongst themselves which, if you have the right squad, can be quite entertaining. (The right squad being Vetra and Drack, no question)

About to head out to da club with my homies

Drack during one of his little jokes

You can be my (space) wingman, anytime

Quests! Those are what you're wanting on an epic space adventure. Fear not, ME: A has more quests in it than the average krogan has battle scars. Ryder will be sent to deal with scavengers, defuse bombs, settle debts, find missing people and, yup, scan stuff. Those are your run-of-the-mill missions. Some extra care and attention have been put into the story and crew loyalty missions. This is where the gameplay shines for me as it seems to work with more of a focus rather than trying to fill its expansive maps with stuff to do. Some of the side quests can be interesting but a lot of them are "go to the location, scan, fight". It can be fun for a while but it can grind a bit. (If you've got a friend or loved one who likes to watch you play games have them next to you for some of it)

While we're on the subject (several paragraphs ago) let's look at the combat. It can take you a while to get into the rhythm of the combat but once you find a skill set you're happy with it becomes pretty fun. I played as pure biotic. (Think Jedi without a trademark issue) Initially, I had to rely on guns to wear down an enemy shield to get to their health bar. However, if you focus on one skill tree the bonuses you receive are pretty excellent. I got to a point I barely used my guns at all. I would be throwing small groups of enemies into other enemies. It was glorious! The only drawback is you can only equip 3 powers at any one time. A little limiting considering they are what really make the combat great but you can make it work once you find the abilities that suit you.

I have no idea what just happened, I think I won

The enemies in the game seem relatively smart. Some of them dodge your powers/projectiles, they can flank you if you're not paying attention and if it's a heavier unit they'll walk right up to you, firing their weapon to pin you down. When there's enough of them on screen it can seem a little overwhelming. With all the explosions going off and powers flying around you can lose track of how you're doing. I've seen the Mission Failed screen more than a few times as a result of not knowing what the hell was going on.

I've witnessed some seriously stupid deaths

And if you're playing a mission let's hope there was a checkpoint right after that last fight. I've been in the final section of an assault on an enemy base, picked up all the extra stuff along the way, fought through countless enemies and had to do it all over again as the checkpoint was at the entrance to the base. As it's happened a few times I can only surmise that the checkpoint system needs an overall improvement in regards to what activates it.

Would I recommend Mass Effect: Andromeda to you? When ME: A wants you to have fun, you're going to have fun. Sometimes it's nice to just drive about and take in some of the great views. There are the constant loading transactions (understandable in a game this size) but I've seen bigger done better. I'm sure down the line patches can be put in place to fix a lot with what I've pointed out I think is wrong with the game. I will recommend this game, but only if you have the patience for the problems I pointed out.

TLDR? This picture sums up how I feel perfectly

Mass Effect Andromeda is available to buy or download for PS4, Xbox1 and PC (Prices vary wildly in some cases so shop around)