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8.4.2017

Long review! I'll try to keep this as spoiler free as possible!Sadly, I'm somewhat disappointed. I'm an avid fan of the original trilogy, like seriously, I love all three games and I've got an array of merch and comics, so obviously when I heard there was going to be a fourth addition to my favourite universe, I was fizzing and pre-ordered three months in advance without a second thought. I didn't come here wanting or expecting a game that was, 'a previous game remake'; I wanted a new game and a new plot, and delighted in the news that Andromeda would be totally separate. I got that, we all did, and for almost all of us, it's not what we wanted.I assumed Andromeda would be as good as the previous games,if not better, and it is...or, it is visually...which is to be expected...because it's been five years.I was left underwhelmed with Andromeda. I finished it just yesterday and decided to write this review to tell potential buyers what I wish I'd known before I went all guns blazing into this game. First things first, it's NOT bad. It's also not great. It's buggy and has glitches but it's barely been around for a fortnight yet. This game had a hell of a lot to live up to, and frankly, compared to the other Mass Effect games, it's verging on embarrassing- but that's in comparison, not generally. Generally, Andromeda is alright. Sticking 'Mass Effect' in front of it is where this all went wrong.I'll start with what's good (what unfortunately little there is):The graphics are very nice, lovely to look at with vivid colours and hair that doesn't look like plastic, finally! The animation is realistic and the way your character moves feels, weighted, if you will. I love the addition of the jetpack things, jumpjets or whatever, they're a great way to explore the vast worlds you're given to wander about in, and make the planets feel very three dimensional and realistic. The graphics however are not enough to make you want to play a game, and Andromeda doesn't offer a hell of a lot else.I'm loving the crafting aspect of the game. It's a tiny bit complicated to navigate on your first go, but very easy to work with after you've wrapped your head around it. Crafting, while not strictly essential, allows you to build armours and weapons according to your playstyle, you can mix and match pieces to create, for example, armour that offers damage protection and tech construct damage. You'll find yourself in desperate need of resources to craft equipment, however, which I'll go into in the 'negatives' section.Character designs are nice, as they always have been! There are six team mates, I personally liked and cared about three of them, thought two were alright and one I cannot abide (I mention this because I feel like there's a hell of a lot of care for the characters and relation to them in Bioware games).The team mates have good varied personalities, they converse around the ship and some get along and some don't, which adds to the immersiveness. They're not on the same levels as Tali and Garrus and Wrex, but hey, how could they be? The Tempest (your ship) is shaped like the Normandy on the outside, and is rather basic on the inside (I think this is because they wanted to avoid loading screens as you navigate your ship, which is fair enough). Your team hang around in various places, each has their own 'they're probably in here' room, as I referred to it as I was playing, you have a little kitchen where you can snoop through the pantry and see what's inside, if you're into that. There are boxes of cereal everywhere too for whatever reason.The storyline was good. I found the ending to be quite abrupt, but I won't say anything about any of that so I'm not ruining it for anyone. Each team member has a loyalty mission, most of which contribute to your resources (think the war assets in ME3, except with less fatal consequences and sweating in panic as you wonder if you've DONE ENOUGH), and benifit you in the game. The antagonist (the 'Archon', I think he's called, I've no idea how to spell it) felt a bit underdeveloped and generic, he lacks the motives and emotions that The Illusive Man and Saren had. I know I keep comparing to the previous games but that was the standard I was expecting, as many of us were, I think.The planets, constructions, environments and levels are very well designed, with the added classic RPG theme of checking every door that the quest marker isn't pointing to, to make sure you're looting out properly. The nature of the open world theme Andromeda offers is, put simply, the Mako missions and planet exploring of ME1, but on a larger scale.This brings me to the negatives, of which there are many.Perhaps my second most hated aspect of Andromeda is the dialogue and writing in general; it's childish, saturated with often poor humour, and feels like 'a bro game', as I heard a youtuber describe it as. A majority of the characters have dialogue that makes them seem immature and years younger than they're supposed to be. Excluding Vetra, Suvi, Drack and Jaal, it's like being on a space boat with a pack of kids or teenagers that have no idea what they're doing. The good intention was that your team (especially Ryder, apparently) are supposed to be less experienced than Shepard and crew, but it's not executed in a charming and endearing way, more a 'Christ almighty, the cringe' kind of way. It gets worse and makes less sense given the backstories of some characters; they'd have been forced to fend for themselves and others and learn survival skills and how to respond in critical situations, so the whole inexperienced youth thing doesn't really fit. You'd have to play the game to see the extent of how poor the writing is, but I assure you it's bad. I felt like I was reading a 14yr old fanboy/girl's 'XD' laden fanfiction. If that analogy doesn't make sense to you, basically it's unbearable.My personal most despised aspect of Andromeda was planet scanning. I'd pull out my phone and watch a video while the game played the same mundane, twenty second long animation every time I selected another planet that might not even have any damn rewards on it. You don't often get resources or materials from planet scanning; you have to go to the planet and wander on the surface until you can deploy a mining probe and rob what little there is. There are a lot of planets to scan and this means you'll have probably spent over half an hour suffering through the same cutscene that adds no reality nor particularly pleasing aesthetic. I'm not going to describe it any further because if you've played it or are yet to play it, you'll soon know what I mean.For me, Andromeda lasted over 90 hours. I did a lot of side quests and went for a 100% complete playthrough, which I by some miracle managed to achieve. It's a miracle because the bulk of Andromeda can become so utterly f-----g boring, and the worst part is, a good deal of it is necessary if you want good results when it's all over. What must have been seventy-eighty of my ninety hours were literally one huge Mako mission, except it's not the Mako anymore, it's something far worse and it comes in a Nomad shaped package. The Nomad is the most insufferable vehicle I've ever had the 'pleasure' of piloting in a videogame. Maybe it's not that bad for some people but I just really, really hate it; when you're going to be spending at the very least fifty hours driving around, it helps to have a vehicle that can go up hills. Even when you use its 'six wheel drive' function, it still crawls and struggles.Something else I don't like is the complete lack of squadmate control and equipping. You can't give them weapons, or direct them to use powers on enemies. The extent of your control is choosing who you take with you, telling them where to stand (where they'll stay until you're like 10 metres from them, then they'll come scuttling after you) and telling them who to attack. Takes the strategy out of the game, when there was nothing wrong with the mechanics used in the previous games.More negative team mate aspects are personal to the characters: some of them have some quite contradictory traits- Cora, an adult and very capable woman, takes over five main missions to get over the fact that she (slight spoiler) isn't a pathfinder. Her near constant petulant remarks and conversations consist of her complaining about a position that she didn't and never will achieve, which is kind of annoying considering she's mature and easy going about literally everything until and after that point. Peebee was my most disliked until I'd completed her loyalty missions, and thereafter I came to appreciate her. She had an air of selfishness and acted like the world owed her something for the majority, and didn't feel like a dedicated and invested team member. Eventually though she improves considerably. Liam is something else entirely.There's more I could say but I'm probably boring anyone who made it this far at this point.The reason I've rated four stars despite all this, if because for some reason, I kept wanting to play Andromeda. Even though I got bored, something kept me going. The story fed me enough good stuff for me to keep striving toward it, and the romance choice I made was another good motivator. I loved what I loved, but there just wasn't enough to love. I thoroughly enjoyed the parts of the game that weren't as tedious and slow moving as dragging your body through a swimming pool full of setting custard, but the main problem with Andromeda is that there's too much custard.
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9.4.2017

Creating a new entry in a well-loved series is undoubtedly a difficult and risky move. This is particularly the case when the new entry is a spin-off or begins a brand new story arc in a different galaxy. And this is particularly the case when it comes to Mass Effect, one of the single most beloved game series of the last decade. The series has always been wrapped in a spiral of praise and controversy, from the highly-documented alien 'romance' scenes of Mass Effect to the much-debated ending to Mass Effect 3. It seems that wherever Mass Effect goes, it will always be accompanied by both critical acclaim and criticism. Take the first entry for example; an engaging and exciting plot,with a rich world and action-combat gameplay to carry it - but (arguably) tedious dialogue, a vehicle which handles about as well as a shopping trolley with only three wheels (sorry Mako!) and an inventory and skill point system that is so complicated that it seems out of place.It should have come as no surprise when Mass Effect Andromeda launched and the complaints started flooding in about poor character models, dodgy animations, bland characters and repetitive sidemissions (as though the series has EVER been known for its character animations or sidemissions).In Mass Effect Andromeda, you play as Ryder (male or female), who is a member of the human team of the Andromeda Initiative - a mission put together by various Milky Way species to leave behind the Milky Way and try to find new life in our neighbouring galaxy. Without going into spoiler territory, you find yourself in quite an important role within the Initiative, and it basically falls to you (and you alone) to search the Andromeda Galaxy for potential new planets to settle on. This is done through a series of gunfights (shoot first), diplomatic conversations (ask questions later), using ancient vaults to terrorform planets and driving from one point to another. Let's examine each of those in a little more detail:Firstly, the combat. Mass Effect's combat has been constantly evolving since the first installment, and continues to do so in a big way this time round. You use a large arsenal of guns (assault rifles, pistols, SMGs, shotguns and sniper rifles) to wage war against various types of enemies in a whole host of different locations. Your arsenal is complemented by a range of different abilities, from simply improving your gun and melee skills, to using tech to freeze, burn or electrocute your enemies, or using biotics to telekinetically lift your enemies into the air, knock them back with a shockwave, or propel yourself towards them with immense force. Andromeda introduces a brand new system whereby you can select any class of ability when you level up, rather than being locked in to a small group of abilities. This helps you to customise the way you wish to play, without over-complicating the level system. Additionally, guns, melee weapons and armor can be crafted, modded and adjusted to suit your own way of playing - from upping the damage or reload speed to altering the ammo type so it now shoots a laser from its barrel.Combat itself is very fluid. It seems a lot has been learned from the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, and in almost every way, this seems to be for the better. Most noticeable is the lack of power wheel. In previous games, you were able to pause the action at any time to take in your environment, select powers and targets, then un-pause to unleash those powers. This has been scrapped in Andromeda, replaced by the ability to equip three different powers to the shoulder buttons (one activated by pressing each shoulder button separately, one activated by pressing both together). You can switch between four custom loadouts of powers and perks at any time during combat through the weapon-wheel (although doing so causes you to suffer a brief cooldown, during which you can't use any powers). This makes for a much faster-paced and exciting method of combat, albeit with the disappointing loss of the ability to direct your squadmates' abilities.Speaking of squadmates, there are only six this time around. In true Mass Effect style, you start the game with two human companions; Liam - who is a little dull as far as characters go, but not quite Kaiden Alenko levels of dull - and Cora - who despite being human, seems to be a bit of a closet Asari. You quickly meet the other companions, including an adorably annoying Asari called Peebee, a rather rebellious female Turian named Vetra, Drack - a somewhat geriatric, but still formidable Krogan - and Jaal, a member of one of the species native to Andromeda. All six characters, plus the other members of your crew, have varying levels of interesting personalities, and it will be interesting to see their characters develop in possible sequels.Conversations remain relatively unchanged, with only one major difference. Instead of the binary paragon/renegade system that was such a major part of previous games, Andromeda removes any sense of measurable morality, replacing it instead with a range of different possible responses in conversation, roughly categorised as 'casual', 'professional', 'logical' and 'emotional'. These do not fall into the typical 'good' and 'bad' categories that dominate so many conversations in games. For example, 'casual' may come across as laid back and familiar with your crewmates, but at the wrong time can come across as immature. Sometimes an emotional response may cause Ryder to speak his or her mind when it is not really appropriate, whereas a logical response would allow him/her to point out something relevant and important. At other times, 'logical' may seem cold and heartless. This forces the player to think carefully about how they want to respond, rather than just voting for the top options on the dialogue wheel because those are the 'typically paragon' choices.Perhaps the most concerning addition to Andromeda is the inclusion of the Nomad, which shares more than a passing resemblance to the Mako from the first Mass Effect. And while the Nomad's purpose is somewhat identical to that of the Mako (minus any form of weaponry, being an exploration vehicle rather than a combat vehicle), the driving sections in Andromeda are far less frustrating. The areas open for you to drive around are large and expansive, with great variety and plenty of sidemissions to complete along the way. The Nomad handles relatively well, and each planet presents its own challenges (including rocky mountains, slippery ice, acidic lakes and radiation) that make exploration interesting and varied.Each planet you visit contains a vault, which allows Ryder to 'fix' the weather and environment on that planet to better support life. These vaults contain dangers such as platforming sections (using Ryder's ability to jump - something which Shepard never learnt in his training with the Alliance), battles against ancient robots, puzzles and sudoku (yes, sudoku). Again, a lot of variety, and a good amount of challenge.All in all, Andromeda is a very familiar, yet very new entry in the series. If - like me - you have fond memories of the first Mass Effect, but find the structure of that game a little outdated compared to its successors, then Mass Effect Andromeda should fill that particular space-exploration-shaped hole. Andromeda is as much a direct sequel to the first Mass Effect as it is a spin-off of the series, as so much of what made the first game unique returns here. Andromeda takes the features that should have been groundbreaking in that first game but ended up being a little lacklustre, and makes a whole new game out of them, complete with a fantastic new cast of characters (no Quarians, though!), a range of new environments to explore, and an incredibly versatile customisation system. Yes, there are a few glitches (the majority of which have been fixed by the recent 1.05 patch, although one very frustrating bug still exists which can cause your most recent saves to become corrupt), but all-in-all, Andromeda is a fresh, bold and exciting new entry in the Mass Effect series.
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1.5.2017

Big fan of the last trio of ME games, this has a bit of slow start but soon opens in terms of narrative, main changes from previous games are:1-You can choose any power from tech, soldier and biotic, in the last ME games, you choose a specialist role and leveled up/learnt new skills based in the speciality. In ME Andromeda you spend skill points in any speciality class for Ryder, so you can have skills from any tree which makes your character a bit more versatile, instead as your spend points in each class you develop 'profiles' what boost different skills, so if you invest mostly into the solder tree, you will keep leveling up their skills themselves (boosting their effectiveness as in the previous games)and the profile will keep leveling up also the more points you invest in the soldier skills and the combat spec boost grow greater the more the profile levels up, there is a profile for each skill tree and there are hybrid profiles for a mix of skills from each tree such as the 'vanguard' profile which grows as you level up soldier and biotic skills.2-you can only map 3 skills at a time to Ryder, the combat is faster so you no longer have the power wheel like in the last ME games, you change powers before missions and at forward stations which are dotted around the map.3-You companions are now fully AI in that you can no longer command them to use specific skills which I feel is a steo backwards from the last games.4-you can't change you companions weapons or armour.5 - you CAN change Ryders weapons and armour.7- There is a new crafting element for weapons and armour, so as your explore new worlds you can research weapons and armour and better versions of these, their are tons of weapons and armours to research and develop, although you can buy them and find them easily enough, the advantage of crafting your own is that you can odd permanent behavior augments to the weapons and armour such as boosting the amount of armour damage a weapons does or making it shoot different projectiles (such as bolas, electricity/energy beams, grenades) or in the case of armours you can add effects such as each time you boost/dodge you can disperse shield draining energy which effects enemies surrounding you. There are dozens of combos you can add to each weapon and armour pieces (helmet, chest, arms and leg).8 in addition to augmenting weapons you can also odd mods to each weapon (like in ME3) which do things such as boost projectile damage, melee damage, magazine size, stability etc, so if you augment a weapon with permanent augments and then odd detachable weapon mods your own crafted guns will be much better than just using weapons that you find or buy.9 You have a land vehicle called the 'Nomad (' like the Mako from ME1) to get around each world as the maps are massive, as your drive around you will be able to obtain resources from mining bots you can deploy in the land to mine resources (which you also find when exploring).10-enemies drop items, credits, weapons,armours which you can equip on ryder or dismantle for resources used for crafting.11-You can also research upgrade to the nomad.12- You end up with all your companions quite quickly in the game so you're not having to wait as long to get new team mates.13 The maps for each world are massive and as your explore you will find buildings, missions, npcs, enemies and other things to investigate, as your drive or walk around you can reach points in each map where a forward station will automatically land which acts as a fast travel point, as well as restocking ammo and letting you change Ryder's Weapons/armour/power/and team mates.14.You will get a lot of missions from each world, as your complete more more missions and make each world safer, you make the world more 'viable' which gives your points to spend on bonuses such as letting you get regular shipments of credits/resources/ more xp for completing various tasks, (again there is a lot of choice).15-when you complete all missions on each world, new missions will open up at certain points in the game so that you can travel back to each world.16 -Loyalty mission make a return and the missions themselves are often split into multiple parts/missions.17- NO renegade or paragon options, instead a screen prompt will appear during certain cut scenes which you can select (if you want to) which will change the outcome of the scene.18- Your characters responses are similar to the style used in fallout 4, often what Ryder says is a bit different to what actually comes out of their mouth after choosing the response instead your options are more like the choices from Dragon Age games (also from the same developer) where you have a general mood/response type (a logical/sarcastic/emotional response etc)19 There is the equivalent of the the citadel, it's called the Nexus your can retrun here frequently a will to progress parts of the stry and pick up new main and side missions.20- You can customise Ryders armour colours and patterns like in ME3.21- When in space you scan for resources and launch probes like in ME2.22- The game is huge, although you can make it to each world quickly (within about 15-20 hours) when you start doing the side missions and unlocking each vault on each planet, the amount of play time stacks up so far I've clocked up about 47 hours and I'm still not near the end.23- You meet 2 new aliens races- The Angara are mostly friendly and you end up with one called Jaal as a permanent team member early (in addition to your 2 human, 1 Krogan, 1 Asari and 1 Turian team mate, sadly no Salarian squad member fights along side you).24 Optional multiplayer- These are called APEX mission, you can send strikes teams you recruit in game to do missions automatically for you against different mission parameters which will be completed or failed after a set amount of time. as these teams do missions they will level up and increase their chances of completing higher difficulty missions, as they complete missions they will bring you back intel, weapons and resources to use in game, you boost their equipment by spending mission points (a kind of APEX only currency to improve the squad's load outs or you can recruit more strike teams, which means you can send more teams out to increase your yield of rewards.25 You can also play the multiplayer missions yourself from on board The Tempest (the new Normandy)26 Each world has a different environment and hazards that you need to overcome.27-..and that's all I can think of!
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28.3.2017

Firstly, I’m a HUGE Mass Effect fan, and had been looking forward to Andromeda literally for years. So of course this level of expectation and anticipation would affect my opinion of the game compared to someone who hasn’t played the original trilogy and just felt like trying something new.Story – disappointing so far. The whole idea of Andromeda is such a good premise for a game, and they could have done so much more with it. As one professional reviewer said though, you are very quickly shoved the title of “Pathfinder”, basically just told you’re now the chosen saviour of mankind and the game quickly degenerates into just shooting more evil space aliens (the insectoid Kett rather than the Geth this time).It’s generic and disappointing, but it does get a bit deeper and more intriguing as you progress into the game further.Graphics – I won’t go into detail on the atrocious facial animations which so many people have already said are an utter joke. Seriously, I can’t understand how they actually look worse than the original Mass Effect, a 10 year old game! It’s everything- the expressions, skin; eye movements… it just looks terrible, especially compared with the beautiful Witcher 3 engine or even Bioware’s own 3 year old Dragon Age Inquisition! Characters aside, the environments are a mixed bag: Habitat 7 (the tutorial planet) and Eos (first main colonisation mission) look pretty drab in my opinion, Hakarl looks a bit better but still not up to what I’d expect, but I’m now on Voeld- a huge open world ice planet which does actually look fantastic and is lots of fun exploring in the Nomad. The Nexus (the new citadel) also looks pretty good too which helps, as you visit the station a lot in the opening hours.Combat – Pretty good, but again, could have been better. It desperately needs a manual cover button for a start, as the automatic take cover thing is very hit and miss (pun not intended, lol). The enemy AI is a bit weak and a lot of the powers seem very ‘samey’. It is mostly fun though, just not as good as the excellent combat system from Mass Effect 3 which was the best of the original trilogy IMO. Biotic blast combos are still just as awesome as they always were though, sending helpless foes flying in all directions with a huge “shaaa-booom!”Characters – I’m sorry to say that I generally find most of them boring and / or annoying. The worst people so far that I can’t stand talking to are Liam, Gil the engineer, SAM (your permanently connected AI), Peebee (stupid name too), Suvi and Addison who all seem like dull cookie-cutter stereotypes. I quite like Cora, all the Salarians so far, and Drack the Krogan is pretty awesome. To be fair, I found quite a few of the Inquisition characters equally annoying and very rarely talked with Sera or Cole, for example. Also, the voice acting quality is a bit up and down, but I must say that female Ryder is very well voice acted, which is obviously pretty crucial. Her serious, sarcastic or jokey attitude and replies are all really well portrayed.Menus – A real mess, especially the inventory, crafting and quest log journals which are an absolute nightmare to try and organise. I’ve pretty much given up on researching / crafting anything as it’s so much easier to just buy gear from the Nexus vendors, or to equip scavenged items that you find randomly in the field. Looking for and tracking a particular quest is a similarly convoluted headache, so I tend to just click on the quest icons on the map to track the objective I’m interested in (as long at the next objective is on my current region map, that is). Managing your inventory is also very messy, and all this fiddling, comparing hundreds of tiny weapon and armour stats, etc detracts from your enjoyment of the game and breaks up the story’s flow.Overall – All of these complaints aside, I am actually really enjoying the game, hence the 4 star review despite all these issues I have (though I would probably give it 3.5 stars if I could). And there are some things that I really love, like charging across the glaciers and snow drifts of bleak ice world Voeld in my new ATV, stopping to investigate ruins, monoliths or just to biotic blast a Kett landing party for fun. Or gazing out of my private quarters on the Tempest at whichever spectacular planet, moon or gas giant I was investigating before exiting the Galactic Map. The focus on exploration and discovery is also a nice change overall from the pressure and responsibility of your desperate struggle against extinction vs the Reapers. Finally, wandering the beautiful Nexus station whilst picking up side quests, browsing the local shops for new gear to spend my hard earned credits on, or just chatting to random members of the Initiative about their experience and dreams in Andromeda is exactly how I hoped it would be (I just look like a bit of an ugly freak in most of the dialogue scenes). Also, it’s big; much bigger than the original trilogy titles were. I finished most of the PS3 games in 40 to 50 hours, and I’m already at 30 hours in Andromeda and would estimate that I’m not even halfway through yet (my completion stat just hit 25% in fact).It’s not as good as it should have been, and doesn’t live up to the fantastic quality of the original trilogy, but it is still a good Mass Effect experience if you can get past all of the issues detailed above.
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11.4.2017

Okay, I'm going to start off by saying this game is "nearly flawless". I say this because, yes it is a fantastic game produced by a brilliant team, it does come with a certain few flaws which come along with most big game releases now-a-days. The first thing I will move onto is the flaws of this game so you can decide well and truly whether it is worth it.The first flaw you will notice (I'm sure you have seen in the social media or other reviews) is that the characters, in particular the main character (you) has horrific facial expressions. So imagine, you have just brutally made revenge on an enemy that has done you and your team horrifically wrong...your character reacts with a straight face.Imagine your loved one has died...our character decides to whack out that straight faced look again. Or......you have just completed an exhausting...yet amazing filled with beautiful views of uncharted lands and incrediblh weather systems unknown to man...your character decices to???...whack out that emotion filled straight face again, and possibly an addition of derpy eyes (semi-fixed after patch 1.05 - a 2gb update made on the 7th April). Flaw one, done.Flaw 2, often when you are travelling with your 2 squad pals, there is excellent banter, or emotional story-telling about their pasts and it only occurs once.....during the whole playthrough. They are triggered by surroundings or whoever else you have with you on your trip etc. However, whislt you are absorbed into these conversations, there is a possibility of other voices to occur due to your quest or another important thing nearby, so say for example, your driving along in your NOMAD (ATV Space vehicle) and you are hearing the deepest and darkest secret of your favourite beloved companion and you drive past a cave at the same time...the conversation will abruptly end and be replaced with your AI saying "THERE IS A CAVE NEARBY PATHFINDER"...that's it, the end of the conversation. Never to be heard again. This could be ammended by making it so the conversation repeats afterwards or it memorises where the conversation got up to because it is quite gutting. I could get past it happening once, twice or thrice, however it happens actually quite regularly.Third flaw. Unfortunately, due to the absolutely humungous amount of things to do, quite a large quantity of the quests are similar (travel here and collect this, travel here and kill this, travel here and travel....). This can be easily overlooked if you just enjoy your surroundings as you follow out these quests and really take into accoutn how much work has been placed into the game and world.That's the end to the bad parts. Three flaws, none of them game-breaking and compared to the positive parts of the game, the ratio of good to bad is probably 97:3Positive point 1. The worlds in this game are absoluely incredible. The visual graphics for each and every individual world throughout Andromeda is simpy breathtaking, on-par with or maybe even better than the best graphics I have ever seen. Rich colours, diverse worlds and creatures/enemies. Amazing. To get to these worlds it consists of using the galaxy map like previous MASS EFFECT titles, however it has a revamped interface where you pick the planet or system you want to travel to and you move along in space like you're looking through a camera (like forge in halo when you are playing as the monitor??). This gives off an incredible view of the galaxy and neighbouring planets. Not only this, space feels so much more alive. You can encounter comets flying through space at blistering speeds that contain required materials needed to build weapons and armor etc. It is all so much fun.Positive point 2. Alongisde the humungous worlds is the humungous content. Main story missions. Loyalty missions to your companions. Missions to improve your alliance with different alien species. Missions to gain materials and loot from enemies. Missions to mine for resources on uncharted planets. A free world when you land on the different planets to allow you to drive around in your vehicle, which is very fun due to it being equipped with a boost and jump ability. Traversing landscapes is super fun due to the heer quality of the world graphically and the design of the topography as well.Positive point 3. Alongside the incredible amount of missions and gameplay you can take part in weaponry and armour crafting with resources and minerals you discover on planets or throughout space. You can use your pathfinder scan tool to acquire research points that allow you to unlcok developments like new weapons and armour, upgrades for your vehicle, mods for your weapons and armour and special items required for the story and other odd jobs. There really is a lot to do.I am currently 57% through and have spent a good 50 hours in the game. This is far better than a lot of games released and it was a hugely fun time. I'm sure I will put nother 50 hours in when I replay it afterwards on a harder difficulty.Side note - I haven't taken part i the Multiplayer yet.
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29.3.2017

Looking at the Star scoring – I see 5 stars is ‘I love it’ 4 stars ‘I like it’ 3 It’s ok’.I’ve given it 4 stars (previous Mass Effect games are easily 5 stars), as this game is much, much better than a ‘it’s ok’ rating but to give it 5 stars it would have needed the graphics to be exceptional.Overall feel:-Mass Effect Andromeda, keeps the feel of the other ME games, in that it very much feels like you are playing a movie. The story is compelling and you truly do want to find out what happens next. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but the chemistry between characters (computer characters I know) seems to be not as strong as the original games and the conversations can very much feel like ticking the questions off a list.This may be because the voice acting is not as strong (played as male Ryder). Because of this, at times going through conversations can feel a bit of a chore – which is something I never felt with the old games. Its still early days in gameplay for me and maybe the bond with characters will grow.Gameplay feel:-This is where MEA really does deserve credit. I never had problems with the gameplay in the originals and when I heard about adjustments in this new game (especially the cover system) I was worried. But I must say the combat, moving round and driving is very, very fluid. The jump jet is a great feature and I’m usually not a fan of these sort of gimmicky things. The cover system works very well and it doesn’t affect game play at all. Also, simple things like climbing over obstacles and jumping makes roaming and exploring a joy!The planets and levels are huge! I spent nearly two hours (in multiple sittings) on the opening planet, and they were so many extra things to find – that while not essential, does at meat on the bones of the story. This is a game not to be rushed, but explored and enjoyed.In game level ups and upgrades:-Now, this is a disappointment. If you are a single person, with no job who has hours to burn, then this won’t bother you. If you are a family man who gets a few hours in the week to play….. then this will annoy you. The upgrades & level ups look extensive and looks like there are some great options. But I cannot for the life of me get my head round it. I seriously need to spend 30mins sometime soon just properly reading up on what the heck I have to do to get upgrades. Even something as simple as assigning a new weapon took a little bit of working out. Also the in game wheel that existed in the original games and that worked brilliantly has been removed for something that takes you away from the live action and spoils the ‘in the moment’ feel. Sometimes, simplicity is genius – and this new system is just too complicated.Graphics:-Cut scenes, levels and planets the graphics are beautiful. Facial expressions……..So disappointing. It’s worth noting that if you customise your characters face, this also has an effect on how good/bad it looks. My first creation was so horrific that I restarted the game and did a different look. This improved it. But I am stunned that they released the game with the faces looking like this – despite me refusing to write off the game purely because of the facial graphics, it does detract from the game and blocks you from getting fully immersed! Starting with the eyes…. They fly around your eye sockets like you’re in REM sleep mode whilst chatting away. The lip sync is poor and some of the facial expressions you and other characters pull is just plain odd! Also, some of the people I walk past I’ve literally stopped in my tracks and gone back to look at these people……..they are horrendously ugly with weird hair and massive chins?!?!? Also a quick mention on the hair…yes hair. I have light brown hair – wanted to make character look a little like me…….the texture and graphics on hair is PS2 quality. If choosing a hair colour – stick to a light grey or just go for one of the stupid colours. The Facial graphics in the original games (especially Mass Effect 3) is streets ahead of this game. I think if they’d pushed the launch date back to fix the facial graphics - then I’m convinced that this game would be a smash hit.Summary: If you are a fan of the 1st three, then you’re buying this game whatever I say, and I’m convinced that you’ll enjoy it. If your enjoyment of a game relies on graphics, then I’d say youtube some examples of facial expressions and see if they bother you enough to put you off the story.If you like games like Call of Duty that is thin of story and big on shooting everything – don’t buy this game, and I pity you!
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12.7.2017

I've just about finished the game now and I, like many others, have slightly mixed views. I'll try to keep this mostly spoiler free.The game is good. Great even. It has some minutes that will take your breath away, moments that have you in stitches on the floor and most importantly, minutes that have you fall in love with the game. The planets you visit are beautiful and absolutely jam-packed full of life. I'm not 100% sold on the fully open-world aspect but driving over cascading sand dunes or racing through a wet and windy jungle really do immerse you in this new galaxy. The combat is absolutely on-point - I would go so far as to say the best combat in any game ever.You can head into battles playing to your strengths, charging in headfirst with an upgraded plasma shotgun and a biotic smash or holding back and picking off enemies one-by-one. It leads to some wonderful varied battles that once finished leave you marvelling at how they could have got this part of the game so right.The characters are likeable, for the most part. Drack will be a fan favourite for his typical-Krogan lack of subtlety, but Turian Vetra and newcomer Jaal are also welcome additions to the crew. I am a fan of Liam for his honesty and emotional complexity but he won't float everybody's boat and he arguably suffers from the worst of the voice acting at times. Peebee the Asari and Cora are less endearing than the others, but this is only personal opinion. The voice acting ranges from very good to absolutely, cringe-inducingly, appalling. There are moments when I've shuddered following a conversation, but try not to dwell on them for too long and they are soon forgotten.The villain is ... okay. The Archon lacks a little bit of character development but he comes across as a threat to be taken seriously and his cold arrogance leads to an effective bad guy. The Kett as a species are a little faceless but you do grow to dislike them when you learn of their plans, something which helps give more weight when you're mowing down footsoldier after footsoldier. You need a reason to want to kill them, in my eyes and this is provided after a decent length of time. The Angara are a little soft for my liking, compared to the old days of Drell, Volus, Hanar etc, but they fulfill a role and you should come to sympathise with them. Each planet also has a boss, but they're all the same, not that challenging and very boring to be honest.The story is good but with so many missions to complete it can become a little overwhelming. I had a two or three week break from the game before I went back and continued and the break did me some good - I'm now hooked again and actually want to keep going. I'm a bit annoyed to see generic find-and-gather missions and some of them seem extremely tedious at times but on the whole they are okay. The loyalty missions again fluctuate - some are very good and add a whole new dimension to some of the characters and some are slog-fests you just want to complete and move on.There are plenty of references to the original trilogy, some of which are nice surprises and some of which feel a little unnecessary but as a fanboy I don't mind a bit of lip-service. You can play this game without having played the originals but honestly, without an emotional connection to the universe of Mass Effect, I guess many people would find it hard to care about this game.Bearing in mind we are now on v1.09 and the appalling facial animations have been mostly fixed, I'd say that this a four-star game. Maybe 4 and a half to be fair. 90% of the time it is very enjoyable, with the other 10% being tedious missions and awkward moments that are soon forgotten about. I do not recommend this for people who have not played the originals, as for a game this size, you need a love of the universe to want to keep playing. Let's see what the future holds for this game series!Summary:Pros: Combat // Some very likeable characters // Some meaningful and emotional moments // Graphics are beautiful.Cons: Appalling voice acting at times // crafting is a bit fiddly // new races are not as good as they could be.
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5.9.2017

So I was extremely hesitant about buying this after reading so many bad reviews about it. But after playing I have one thing to say - don't listen to a dam word of it and play this game!Does it have it's flaws? YES. Does it glitch sometimes? YES. But I was always eager to play and continue the story. Too many are comparing it to the original trilogy when if you look objectively, the original series wasn't perfect either. Not by a long shot! So can we just see this as a new frontier in the mass effect series with some truly wonderful easter eggs in it?This draws a lot of parallels with the first mass effect in that it's all about exploration and building foundations for relationships.There are lots of optional missions but I actually really enjoyed doing them. Yes some can be a little tedious, but as we know, they all contribute to the end game.As far as gameplay goes, it was a little glitchy at times, and I must admit I didn't really get the whole research and development part when it came to weaponry, armour and mods. I felt it was a bit unnecessary. I just want to buy my equipment and be done with it.One thing I did feel was a little bit lacking too was the banter with the crew. It took me a little while to warm up to some of my companions (admittedly I couldn't help but compare to the original crew) but I grew fond of most of them. Particularly Drack who was just as good as Wrex. A character I really wanted gone was Peebee though. Seriously... Most annoying character ever. Didn't even want to do her loyalty mission and when I did it made me hate her even more. I warmed up to everyone else though, except Liam as he was also a colossal pain in the ass. And in truth, one of my favourites became our symbiotic AI - SAM. You truly hear him develop more consciousness, empathy and understanding.Our main hitter species returned - Turian, Asari, Salarian and Krogan with new ones the Kett and Angara. There are also the Remnant who I believe are actually tech developed by the Jardaan who we never actually see. The Kett were worthy opponents on the whole and are parasitic like in how they actually evolve but I really grew fond of the Angara. It was nice to have that initial contact moment with an entirely new species.What impressed me most about Andromeda though was the detail. We still get a whole codex of information regarding species, worlds and tech. There are various terminals with emails you can read and datapads with messages and logs. The worlds were beautiful. Especially Veold, one of the Angaran homeworlds which was an ice planet. Listen out for the whale like animals under the ice they revere. You don't ever fully see them, just lights under the water which I'm assuming is reflections on their skin; but for me details like that make these sorts of games stand out. That takes A LOT of work. There was also a plethora of easter eggs including a mention of Shepherd's initiation as a Spectre and a throwback to project overlord. We even get a mention of our favourite Turian.All-in-all I loved playing Andromeda as much as I loved playing Shepherd's trilogy and I encourage everyone to give it a chance. This is a NEW story with NEW characters but has enough of a thread of the original to make it familiar. I truly hope they turn this into another trilogy and don't give up on it because it's too good a story to waste.
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27.3.2017

Playtime: 12+ HoursThe criticsm levelled at Andromeda’s animation has been largely exaggerated and is mostly unwarranted. It’s easy to find fault, cut specific scenes into a youtube, and say it is representative of the whole game, but this is far from true. Are the animations perfect throughout the game? No, but you’ll hardly notice the flaws unless you’re actually looking for something to find fault with.The Mass Effect games have always had two separate types of gameplay; there is the combat missions, where you battle various enemies who have shields/armour/biotic powers/tech powers, and the roleplay sections, where you wander around the hub or planet (The Citadel or Nexus)interacting with people and pursuing various tasks and questlines. Andromeda is no different and, like ME2 and ME3, some of those minor questlines task you with exploring the wider galaxy to locate items or people for the folk back on the Nexus. Personally, this is more fitting in Andromeda than it was in any of the previous ME titles. You are the Pathfinder, the main explorer of the Andromeda Iniative; they have limited resources, and it’s your job to locate these resources and bolster the chances of survival for the initiative. While some are mundane fetch quests, they do reinforce Ryder’s responsibility.Characters are interesting and diverse; There are 6 or so active crew members you can recruit (combat members) and half a dozen other crew members who are the support staff of your ship. The combat members consist of your usual assortment of aliens; A Turian, Asari, a soldier human, a biotic human, a Krogan, and one of a new species, the Angara. Each has an interesting back-story and some quirks, and personally I’ve made sure Ryder has talked to them all to learn about them. If you find this irksome, then you’re under no obligation to talk to people (You can skip most dialogue if you want to] but to me, learning about the characters and their perspectives is part of what makes a Mass Effect game.Combat is on par with ME2 and ME3 though at this stage I’ve yet to encounter anything particularly challenging apart from some giant beasts (Fiends) but I expect I will as the game progresses. Andromeda introduces more flexibility than ME3; In ME3 you chose a “class” (Vanguard/engineer/adept/soldier) and that determined your skill-set. In Andromeda, you can choose from any skills (combat/biotic/tech) and switch between “classes” whenever you wish. Each class provides some passive bonuses, and a unique skill or effect. This allows you to adjust to combat encounters on the fly, adapting your skill-set and tactics to counter the enemy.I’m barely on the third world of Mass Effect, and feel like there is a vast amount more to explore and uncover, and this is what a space RPG game should feel like.Overall, Andromeda takes Mass Effect in an exciting new direction and is highly recommended to anyone who enjoyed previous Mass Effect games. It’s not perfect but it’s really not that far off.Edit: The game shifts from good to remarkable shortly after you reach Kaldara. Kaldara introduces some darker elements into the story, has some really entertaining side quests (with a nice nod to ME2 and the Lazarus Project) and improves the game substantially. If I could give more than 5 stars I would do so.
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27.3.2017

Fantastic experience that captures the core of the Mass Effect experience whilst treading new ground.Plot wise the game is pretty great, though the story starts out a little slow. Once you hit your first open planet however, things strat to pick up pace and just get better from there. Without spoilers, the ending sequence is pretty fantastic, perhaps the best in the series in my opinion. The cast are pretty great, though certainly not the familiar faces we know and love from the Shepard trilogy. I don't think the Tempest's (your ship this time round) crew is as interesting as that of the Normandy, but they're still great characters that I got to love getting to know.The game's full of little moments between your squad and crew that make the experience come to life. The loyalty missions are a particualr treat. Some argue that the dialogue is awkward and just plain bad. Having played through the game, I don't see this other than with a handful of moments. I'd say that Andromeda doesn't take itself too seriously, it's certainly a much lighter game in tone than any of the previous ME games. The awkward flirting moments or jokes might get under some people's skin, but for me they add a lot of charm. I guess it's all up to personal preference.A lot of noise has been made about technical issues and facial animations. It's certainly true that the game lacks the level of polish that most would expect from AAA releases, however after an hour or two of playing I found myself not caring. To be honest I thought that the facial animations were fine throughout 95% of the game. The most frustrating issues I faced were 3-4 crashes which forced me to restart the console, but given the size of the game and the amount of time you spend 'crash-free', this was a minor issue. Overall I don't think that the technical issues are much of an issue, but if you can't loo past the odd bizare expression or people walking through furniture, then perhaps wait a while for patches to come into (mass) effect.Gameplay is probably the most flawless part of the game, being the most versatile, fast paced and fun in the whole series. The addition of jump jets really makes a difference to fights that almost brings to mind a Titanfall sense of movement. The open worlds are beautiful without fail, and filled with activities to do. Thankfully, for Dragon Age: Inquisition veterans, the majority of Andromeda's side content is more like proper side quests rather than constant 'MMO-esque' fetch quests that plagued Inquisition. That kind of quest is still in Andromeda, but they're easy to ignore unless you have the impulse to complete everything. Overall I'd say that Andromeda is a tighter, leaner experience from Inquisition, and is all the better for it.Overall, I'd recommend Andromeda, particularly to long time Mass Effect fans. There are plenty of nods and references to the original trilogy, though not enough that should put off new players. The game stumbles in some areas sure, but is generally a solid step in a new direction for the series. If like me, you manage to gel with the new crew and enjoy the wonderful worlds out there, then Andromeda is a sure buy.
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16.4.2017

The good stuff -The main story. By the end of the game you get a clearer picture of where the settings going. It gets more interesting the more you play.Combat and movement. The strongest part of the game. Even more so if you play on insanity mode. It feels like mass effect was designed to be played on higher difficulties.Exploration. The worlds you come across are great to travel and explore. Plenty of side quests to do. Some are good especially the combat driven ones.Loyalty missions. Then strongest side quests you can get, as they lock you into a level. A bit more like the original mass effect Triology.Remnant vaults. Part of the game I liked because it added mystery to the overall story.Plus the vaults look pretty good. Only downside being they are similar to one another but that's probably the point.The not so good stuff.Squad mates. Not as bad as some have made out to be. My favorites were Drack, Vetra and Cora. All 3 were well acted and had really good back histories and dialouge. The rest, including the rest of the team on the Tempest aren't so good. Flat delivery, forgetable stories. Suvi and Gil are far by the worst. Both have bad animations and they look like there were designed on the ps3.The Tempest. It's no Normandy. One thing that really irked me throughout the whole story was that it's an unarmed spacecraft. That includes the arks as well. Why would you travel to a far distant galaxy undefended? Especially after all the problems in the milky way? That was one thing that bothered me the most.Techincal issues. It's ok to patch the game post release, but after 5 years of development should the game be stuttering all over the place? Walking around the tempest, the angaran homework Aya and the Nexus I had issues where the frame rate would drop so low that it was like walking through quicksand. Not only that, sometimes characters would face the wrong way or hang in midair or dissappear completely.A new galaxy but only a few new races. The more you play the more the game hints at a wider array of races you may meet in the future. But the ones your given in the base game are limited to the Angaran, Kettand the Synthetic Remant who you don't interact with. I found it hard to like the Angaran. I found that on a technical level they moved like there legs are made out of matchsticks. Yet on the other hand I thought that their eyes looked fantastic. The main issue for me was that there are far more interesting races in the milky way. Batarian, Quarian, Prothean just to name a few. But hopefully this will be expanded on in the future.It's a great game just a shame that it's got so many bugs. That said it's still fun to play. I am on my second playthrough and it's far better the second time around on a higher difficulty. However, it's still buggy and that's the issue with the whole game. As much as I like it I can't help but feel slightly let down that a mass effect game was released in this state.
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17.4.2020

Got this game the other day for about £7.00 from the Playstation store and after the approximately 45GB game and 12GB update patch version 1.10 seems that it must of been chaotic. There’s loads to do in Andromeda and even though your there to find a new home as everywhere you go looks like a right hell hole or things trying to kill you at every turn it’s what makes it best for its massive game.Graphics:There not bad, not great but somewhere in the middle. The cutscenes have been improved in the patch there’s times where the character is still dull and won’t suck you into the game like mass effect 1 - 3 which is a shame as you don’t get that same feeling what actions you take within andromeda.Whileon graphics I found on the settings to turn these off for better performance and visuals.Film Grain = OFF (it’s not a zombie game or haunted house and just dusts the screen with particles which makes it look bad.)Chromatic Aberration = OFF (It’s another filter of texture on characters I think and made it look a tad off.)Motion Blur = OFF (your mainly notice this when spinning round in circles and driving the nomad vehicle, it’s down to preference of watching blur through the side of eyesight but I found turning this off actually helped the frame rate of game.)Depth Of Field Quality = ON (I left this on as apparently background/distance of level design looked better but only slightly.)Audio:The music score isn’t as inviting as the other mass effect games but there are scenes and moments where it’s actually quite good. Shame it’s used repeatedly throughout the game like a CD on loop with hardly any tracks.Menus:It’s actually quite a mess, they have put a lot into it which is good but kind of wished it was more simplified. You basically have options like researching guns and armour through a console with research points but there are about 5 levels for that top tier and then you need to develop. It’s all well and good but you do find minerals are easy to find but not a lot in quantity and then getting ripped off buying from a seller. A tip, when you get to special operations where you can send a task force out to recover loot and research points use that every time you play your game it helps.Combat:Works actually quite well, doesn’t seem to lag but now and again does. There was a point where I was at these mountains and there was a lot of enemy activity and it slowed down to the point I had to try and save then reload my game. This has happened only once to me.Story:Apart from the cutscenes being similar where they rock side to side and characters are emotionless the story isn’t that bad and I haven’t even finished it yet as I’ve been doing side missions which are also good to level up your character.It’s not in depth as mass effect 1 - 3 and was made by BioWares B-team but it’s not the worse game I’ve played and for a great price you get loads of content.
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20.5.2017

Still playing through my first play through so I will update it as I progress.Andromeda is a good game and even though it is a Mass Effect game, it is a different entity from the original trilogy. Loved the first 3 games and miss the original characters but this is an all new galaxy and new characters.Graphics are good but there are glitches. Thankfully i started playing when most patches were released so I avoided most of them.Combat is the most fluid and fast paced so far. You are able to build profiles with power builds. They take the usual classes and give them their own class specific boosts. Combat, tech and biotic powers are all open to characters you can pick and choose what you want as you level up.My first build had singularity, shield drain and grenade.Still getting to know the characters but there is plenty of dialogue. You have your ship the tempest with your own crew to get to know. But there is also the angara occupied planets, the nexus and other settlements with characters to get to know too.The story is interesting. There are a lot of side missions so it is easy to get distracted. Some are very repeqtitive though and are mostly there to help you level up.The karma system is gone now. Just left with decisions and how you want to tackle them and as with mass effect games, the consequences will follow later on. Had a couple of moments where I was left sitting with my controller for ages not knowing what to do.As a pathfinder you have to make planets viable for colonies also. Once colonised, side missions will open up as well. You can level up your nexus level too, meaning you can unlock more colonists and decide what perks to take advantage of. There is also an R&D element too where you create blueprints to craft weapons, mods and armour.I am enjoying the game however recent developments have put future story content on indefinite hold with game and multiplayer maintenance and support continuing. Was hoping there would be some dlc to expand upon the game and provide extra content for future releases too but as the game seems to underperform with fans and critics it has all been put on hold for other projects. From playing andromeda so far it is clear it was the start of another series so hopefully Bioware and EA decide to release more content and come back stronger next time.For me the game loses a star for glitches, the awkward inventory system, how you cannot command squads use of powers.
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15.9.2018

It's not like the other Mass Effect games but it is still Mass Effect and it is thoroughly enjoyable. The graphics are stunning and all the problems that other people have had with it, I have not had. The locations are stunning and the open world concept is a nice introduction to a new idea for Mass Effect. Character customisation is more creative. You can either have the standard Ryder twins or create entirely new twins. Great action sequences and the romance options are plenty. A couple of the romance scenes have been upped a little. But all are great. Nice character designs on the enemies and your allies. Voice acting is good. The only thing that could have been improved is the script for the game.In some areas it lacks, but it brings out the story and character development still. It's an odd crew that you have but hey it is Mass Effect after all. Planet scanning is a lot easier than the 2nd Mass Effect. Each play through is different as always, all conversation options have consequences. You also have a lot of options for your weaponry and I personally have a favourite weapon. (No spoilers don't worry) and you also get to choose different profiles so each combat experience is different with each profile. (Again no spoilers) I've played it over 5 times and I have never got bored of it. The car handles more smoothly than the Mako (Mass Effect 1) and has more options for the car. For example, you can upgrade your car so it handles all environments. The ship that you acquire is obviously not like the Normandy SR-1 but it is a nice ship with an elevator that has more haste than the 1st game and you get to know your way around easy. You also get to research other weapons outside of the Heleus Cluster. The only problem once you have researched your weapon, is you have to reach a certain level to add more research. For example, say you want to research your weapon when YOU the player reaches level 10, you have to keep levelling up until you can research it at level 20 and so on. It didn't deserve all the backlash from critics and fans. I am a big fan of the Mass Effect universe and I can say in my opinion that it is a Mass Effect game but on a slightly different scale. I would recommend to anyone that is a fan of Mass Effect and can forgive that it is slightly different and that is has plenty of action, gun fights and a lot of side-quests. I hope you enjoy the game as much as I did. Thank you for reading this.
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27.3.2017

Ok, so before we start, I'm a Mass Effect fan who was disappointed with the 3 flavours of vanilla ending to ME3, I'd seen a few comments about MEA having some dodgy animation issues and I almost cancelled my pre-order; but I stuck with it.I haven't completed the game yet (hopes for a good ending) but I've sunk in a good number of hours over the weekend.Whilst the simplified squad mate system can seem basic at times is it does make combat (with the jump pack) a lot more fluid. Some of the comments about cover recognition are fair but that didn't overly impact on my own play style. The crafting system is straightforward enough but it does appear to have an odd curve to it.I went from having very little and working to get any upgrades to be overflowing with materials; maybe I just went scanner mad. Picking up Reconnaissance may have helped there! I'm happy with the change to the decision-making element of the franchise; when there is no obviously good/evil choice it does make you think about your choices more and maybe there is no "right answer" in a scenario.Elephant in the room: There are animation issues and bug issues. The more alien races are done pretty well; it definitely feels like whoever was behind the human/more humanoid aliens just don’t get naturalism and it makes it jarring. Whites of eyes are too white, people appear to be looking off to the side during conversations, NPC get stuck in odd behaviours and your casual running animation looks like you’re riding an invisible bike. I’ve had a few crashes, squad-mate “man down icon” being stuck on screen, flicker of scene/cut to black/back to scene/character without helmet/suddenly helmet appears, popping animations etc. It certainly does feel a bit unfinished. Some of these happen a lot; and your enjoyment may be marred if these get to you.Nevertheless, I’m still enjoying the game; the combat is fun, the environments are interesting, the Nomad driving is a lot better than previous, the story is still ongoing for me but no major issues so far and the setup of establishing a foothold in another galaxy and actually investing your time to increase the viability of your settlements for your Milky Way compatriots is an interesting idea.Patch the bugs, darken some of the pure white eyeballs, overhaul the face builder and we’ve got a reasonable start to a new Mass Effect adventure.
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