Mass Effect: Andromeda

Mass Effect: Andromeda
Developer(s)	BioWare
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Director(s)	Mac Walters[1]
Producer(s)	Fabrice Condominas Mike Gamble
Designer(s)	Ian Frazier
Artist(s)	Joel MacMillan
Series	Mass Effect
Engine	Frostbite 3
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 4 Xbox One
Release date(s)	Q1 2017[2]
Genre(s)	Action role-playing, third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Mass Effect: Andromeda is an upcoming action role-playing third-person shooter video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.^[3][4][5] A successor to 2012's Mass Effect 3, Mass Effect: Andromeda is the first game in the series to feature an open world environment. The game was officially announced on June 15, 2015, during the Electronic Arts press conference at E3 2015.

Gameplay

Mass Effect: Andromeda is an action role-playing game in which the player takes control of either Sara or Scott Ryder from a third-person perspective.^[6] Unlike previous installments in the Mass Effect series, where players began each new game by choosing from six different character classes that each had their own unique set of skills, players instead have free rein to assign any skills that they want and build towards a specialty over the course of the game.^[7] Points assigned to each skill can be constantly reallocated so that players can experiment with multiple gameplay approaches without having to restart their games and build up their skills from scratch again.^[8]

The game features an open world environment, which is a departure from its predecessors. Players are able to play as either a male or female human character. Players will be able to pilot the reintroduced and customizable six-wheeled buggy-type vehicle, Nomad, to explore the new planets featured in the game. The E3 2016 trailer revealed that, much like the Normandy from the predecessor series, a space ship named the Tempest will be under the player character's command. The game features various planets for players to explore, with each having their own characteristics. Similar to its predecessors, the game features a dialogue tree, choices, romantic relationships with companions, and cooperative multiplayer.^[9]

Plot

The game takes place 600 years after the events of the first three Mass Effect games,^[10] in the Andromeda Galaxy. The player character's intergalactic journey began during the time in which Mass Effect 2 takes place, separating the new setting from the events of the third game.^[11] Players choose from either a male or a female sibling with the other continuing to feature in the story. They are the children of Alec Ryder – an N7 special forces soldier – and designated as a Pathfinder, an operative tasked with discovering new planets for the Human species to colonize. They will explore an open world galaxy aboard the starship Tempest.

Development

Andromeda was announced on Twitter by former BioWare Edmonton executive producer Casey Hudson in November 2012. He asked, "We're in early stages of designing a completely new Mass Effect game. What would you want to see in it?"^[12] On November 12, 2012, BioWare confirmed that they are working on a new Mass Effect project and that it would use DICE's Frostbite 3 engine, much like Dragon Age: Inquisition.^[13] In March 2013, Hudson revealed at PAX East that BioWare was beginning work on the next installment in the franchise. The video game was officially announced to be under development at E3 2014 on June 9, 2014, where Andromeda was briefly shown with early conceptual footage and information.^[14] According to then BioWare community manager Chris Priestly, BioWare does not want people to refer to the next game as Mass Effect 4. This statement was followed up by BioWare Edmonton chief Yanick Roy, emphasizing that the original trilogy was concluded and they are focusing on a new story in the Mass Effect universe. On January 19, 2015, it was revealed that the next installment involved 200 developers.^[15] It was suggested that the title would not be Mass Effect 4 and that the Mako, a six-wheeled vehicle used in the first Mass Effect, would make a return in the fourth installment.^[16] A multiplayer component was also confirmed.^[17]

Mass Effect: Andromeda was revealed on June 15, 2015, during Electronic Arts' press conference at E3 2015 in the form of a trailer; it was subsequently uploaded to the Mass Effect YouTube channel on the same day.^[18] A teaser trailer was uploaded to the channel on "N7 Day", November 7, 2015, featuring the voice of Jennifer Hale as Commander Shepard.^[19]

During EA Play, an event held by Electronic Arts in conjunction with E3 2016, a third trailer was released. This trailer contained several scenes that leaked in early April, confirming the legitimacy of those scenes and possibly of the others released along with it.

Speaking during Morgan Stanley's Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on March 2, 2016, EA chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen stated that Mass Effect: Andromeda's release had been delayed from its original Q4 2016 date, and will now release in Q1 2017.^[2]

According to BioWare, the game will feature an open world this time around, stating that "A big open world is the big thing the team is trying to embrace, and that's expressed through those amazing looking planets."^[20]

Ian S. Frazier, lead designer of Mass Effect: Andromeda, revealed on Twitter that the game is developed by BioWare studios: Montreal, Edmonton, and Austin.^[21]

Accolades

References

External links

• Mass Effect official website