Mass Effect: Andromeda

Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away... I've always wanted to start a review like that, and this seemed very much an appropriate time to do so. Back to the game at hand, Mass Effect. This is the fourth game in the Mass Effect series and those familiar with the previous game can testify to the brilliance and absolute immersion into the story, the same way Mass Effect 3 did.

The original trilogy is set in the Milky Way galaxy, close to the end of the 22nd century. It all started with the humans discovering the ruins of ancient alien technology on Mars. These aliens were known as the Protheans. They had abandoned a very important artifact a few millennia ago. The humans activate this artifact known as a Mass Rely, which enables near-instantaneous travel to one of many other mass relays scattered throughout the galaxy, this is also know as creating a mass effect. This allows humanity to come into contact with the Citadel Council, a galactic community of species, of which mankind is the newest to join. The end events of the third game are quite catastrophic, and I would rather not spoil it for you if you have not played that yet. So for obvious reasons this new title is set between the second and third game.

"The next few hours will decide the fate of everyone in the galaxy. Every mother. Every son. Every unborn child. They're trusting you. Depending on you to win them their future. A future free from the threat of the Reapers!" - Commander Shepard

Andromeda begins in the year 2185, when the Citadel Council makes the decision to populate new home worlds in the Andromeda Galaxy as part of a strategy called the Andromeda Initiative. They send 20,000 of each of the four races on a one-way 634-year journey into the unknown, with each race on board their own migration ships called an Ark.

The saga begins with your character, Ryder, who awakes from a very long cryogenic sleep, on board the Ark Hyperion, the name of the human Ark. The Hyperion then strikes a dark energy cloud called the Scourge, temporarily knocking out its power and sending Ryder's sibling into a coma.

Things go from bad to worse when the initiative Pathfinder, who also happens to be your father, Alec Ryder, informs you that the planet which was scouted a few 600 years ago, may no longer be viable for colonization. Then to just add that extra bit of problems to your already full bag, there seems to be no trace of the other three Arks. They are missing and you need to find them. The first thing to do is to go down to what used to be a habitable planet to find out what has happened. This my friends, is where your story starts. Your mission is to help build the Nexus, a space station that serves as a center of government in this new world.

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The main character you play, depending on your choice of gender, is either Scott or Sara Ryder, voiced by Tom Taylorson or Fryda Wolff, respectively. The Ryder twins are inexperienced recruits who stay part of the game's main plot regardless of which one of the siblings you pick to play with. They become better, more experienced leaders and fighters as you progress though the game completing main missions as well as endless side quests. The character creation at the start is pretty fun and you can get lost for hours adding the finer tweaks to your avatar.

Unlike previous installments in the series, where players could choose different character classes, players instead have free reign to assign experience points to any skills that they want and build towards a specialty over the course of the game.

One of the really great parts of this game that the developers have kept from the previous games, is your own star ship called the Tempest, which is used to travel throughout the Andromeda system finding new planets, in the hopes of finding a habitable home. The Tempest has all the luxuries that a star ship can have, a bridge, boardroom, crew quarters, cargo bay and your very own private captain's apartment.

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Another backbone of the Mass Effect series that we have all come to love, is the very heavy reliance on the interaction between all the people you meet. The decisions you make may have either a good or sometimes even a catastrophic out come, depending on how you approach things.

Then there are your squad mates who you meet as you progress through the game. These companions join you on your quest as you explore the vast regions of space. They serve a very important role when it comes to battle, every planetary exploration allows you to take along two squad mates, who are vital in those sticky situations where they only solution is a blaster.

This is one of the biggest open worlds in the Mass Effect series, and thankfully they have provided you and your crew with a very nifty six-wheeled, all-terrain vehicle, called the Nomad. This bad boy allows you to scan the terrain as you drive around for very valuable resources throughout you travel. These resources are used to upgrade pretty much everything in the game, from weapons to armor. They even assist with added upgrades to exploration and combat.

The multiplayer games have been incorporated in a very interesting way, and it almost feels part of the main story, as you access the multiplayer from a console on board your ship. The multiplayer functions as a strike team missions, and feels very much like a side quest you can play with friends or anyone else.

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Mass Effect: Andromeda is what's known as an action role playing game, developed by BioWare. If you have been following the game series here, I recently reviewed an upcoming game by them called Anthem, and they also made Star Wars: The Old Republic. It's available on the usual suspects, PlayStation, PC and Xbox, and has been out since March this year. So chances are you will probably be able to pick this up for a little less than the launch price.

This will give you hours of play time, I have probably put in a good full month on this game, and yes, some parts do start feeling a bit repetitive at this stage, but I feel I'm close to the end. The game unfortunately didn't get the best reception from the die hard fans, and all in all I would give this game a 7/10.

The length of the game and repetition of doing more or less the same thing everywhere you go gets a bit tedious after a while. Then there is the dialog, so much talking, you eventually find yourself skipping loads of it, but apart from the above a great game.