New Mass Effect?!

[Vertigo 7]

https://www.dualshockers.com/mass-effec ... t-bioware/

Despite EA, I loooooovvvveee Mass Effect. We must has!

[red assassin]

Oh man. I was so excited about Andromeda, and there was the ghost of a good game in it, but I'm not sure I can cope if they release another one that doesn't hold up to the original trilogy. But I love the originals so much that I'm gonna get excited about this one anyway...

[Vertigo 7]

I rather enjoyed Andromeda. I know it was different, but it still felt like Mass Effect to me... just without the jump gates. I got really into digging around at all of the encyclopedia entries into the early indicators of the reaper invasion before the ships were launched from the Milky Way. Tons of innuendo towards the Shadow Broker's involvement in getting the ships launched and a highly classified recognition that they may very well be all that remains of the advanced sentient races of the Milky Way if the Reaper threat was as bad as they thought it would be. Even beyond that, I just flat enjoyed the game and the mechanics that were introduced.

[red assassin]

I liked the new gameplay mechanics in general, it was gorgeous in places, and bits of the world and the story were super interesting. But it felt like an unfinished draft - the villain was laughable, the crew were a really mixed bag, and there were big stretches of story that fell flat. I definitely still enjoyed playing it, but I've never felt compelled to go back, whereas I've played the original trilogy *mumble* times.

[Masterbagger]

No Shepard no buy. Done with that franchise if that condition is not met. Marauder Shields tried to save me. I learned from Mass Effect that you can't always recognize a hero until after the fact. Marauder Shields was a hero. I honor his sacrifice.

[Vertigo 7]

I liked the new gameplay mechanics in general, it was gorgeous in places, and bits of the world and the story were super interesting. But it felt like an unfinished draft - the villain was laughable, the crew were a really mixed bag, and there were big stretches of story that fell flat. I definitely still enjoyed playing it, but I've never felt compelled to go back, whereas I've played the original trilogy *mumble* times.

Well, to be fair, they intended to expand on the story and I'm quite sure had they been given the opportunity, a lot of the unanswered plot points would have been made clear. Maybe we'll see something in ME5 related to that... I mean we don't have an idea of what the story will be or who the main characters will be so who knows.

Even in ME1, with no context of ME2 or 3, just that portion of the over arcing story alone seemed to take you in one direction but ultimately went somewhere else completely with the release of DLC and the sequels. I think, you know, that's something BioWare has excelled at over it's history of production of video games. Really just telling a compelling story. I mean, I want to know what was occurring with those terraformers, who built them and why, and why were they seeming to malfunction and make local space uninhabitable.

As far as the enemy being somewhat generic, just my theory, but I have a feeling they weren't ultimately going to be the true threat in Andromeda. If I recall, they were rewriting DNA of other sentients in order to reproduce, albeit a bit dispassionately and with regard for other races as inferior beings whose purpose is to serve them. I felt like the story hinted at something greater lurking in the shadows.

[Axeface]

I cant find any enthusiasm for this news to be honest. I am a massive fan of mass effect, its my favourite franchise and has played a really big role in my life - as strange as that is to say, but Andromeda was 'pretty ok' for me, and I gave it my all, finishing it twice. Mediocre or passable just isnt good enough for Mass Effect and I think Bioware have completely lost their spark.

[Ketraar]

I'm glad there is hope for another 3rd person shooter/space adventure. I liked Andromeda, even if it was a grind, especially in the last 3rd of the story (fly to a planet, talk to a person, then fly to another planet, scan a thing and fly back to the first planet to talk to the same person to then go to a third place to finally conclude a mission got really annoying towards the end).

I'm not as invested as many and all I want is good games, if it has Shepard or not I dont really care. Nice levels and some good shooting opportunities are a good start, if it has good story even better. (Story of all ME is a bit meh so not sure why people are as nostalgic for the first trilogy wrt to story, except maybe ME1).

MFG

Ketraar

PS.: I got it discounted later on and some bugs fixed, which is true for all ME games and wont be different for this one for me.

[RegisterMe]

I'm not as invested as many and all I want is good games

+1

[Jericho]

Mass Effect isn't about a character, it's about the feel of the universe. The music is what makes half the game.

Andromeda didn't feel like Mass Effect to me because of stupid reasons:
1) The crispness of the graphics: I missed the warm-woolly feeling of the trilogy.
2) The music: It just didn't feel like Mass Effect. (Like I said, to me Mass Effect is a feeling).
3) The openworld was crap: Every time I pass a spot, the same enemies spawn in the same way.
4) The UI was just terrible.

Before Andromeda came out, myself and many fans assumed that Cora Harper was going to be the Illusive Man's daughter, on account of her name being Harper, and she was the right age, it would have made sense for him to have a backup plan. The game was allegedly written by Mass Effect fans... Yet after playing the game, I think they just didn't know his name was Harper and it was a coincidence. That kind of made me feel that they didn't give a crap about the game they were making.

I did say I hated it for stupid reasons.

Also, the recorded messages from Liara that you can unlock were bizarre. They sounded like she was reading the script 1 line at a time from her phone, without knowing if she'd come to the end of a sentence until she'd scrolled.

"Hello, my. Name is. Doctor. Liara T'Soni" etc etc. Like they pieced her dialogue together from random old clips.


Casey Hudson told us last year that they were making a new Mass Effect. He said he loved working on Mass Effect, then took a loooong drink from his mug while looking at the camera, his eyes saying "Yes, you know I'm writing it right now."


Just hope they survive the inevitable 'live-service' Dragon Age 4...

Maybe "Anthem-Next" will boost their company...

[chew-ie]

Hopefully they'll expand on ME Andromeda - there are still DLCs missing. Packing everything into ME Andromeda 2 would work for me, too.

Other then that, Bioware really has to deliver a game again. Not a coop-gaas-whatever-cheap-money-making abomination. (guess it's too late for DA 4 not going that route though)

[Vertigo 7]

They need EA to stay out of it. Honestly, I wish they would just end their business relationship with EA.

[pjknibbs]

They need EA to stay out of it. Honestly, I wish they would just end their business relationship with EA.

The only way that particular business relationship ends is with Bioware being taken out the back and a single gunshot being heard. Bioware is a wholly owned subsidiary of EA, and they don't just randomly allow those to go off on their own.

[Vertigo 7]

Well EA bought them in 2007, around when ME1 was released. I'm just saying I hate EA and wish they weren't involved with BW what so ever.

[Axeface]

ME2 and 3 had loads of great stuff, but its difficult to say who were responsible for them - EA are definately to blame for Andromeda though. They gave the game to a secondary studio and put the Mass Effect studio and team on smegging Anthem. Totally stupid, shortsighted and damaging decision. I can guarantee some suits in EA's offices were like 'Mass Effect is a guaranteed hit, lets just put the skeleton crew on it' and pump all the money into this new cash cow, and we know how thats turned out.
I hate them for it and I wish that the old bioware could split and be salvaged, but the damage is done and bioware is too far gone now.


As for Andromeda. I think it should just die and be forgotten. So much about it is just mediocre. For example, why the Andromeda plot at all? The milky way is pretty big... and they didnt even capitalise on the game being in Andromeda anyway. Everything in it could pass as being from the milky way, the excitement of seeing a new galaxy literally fades in the prologue, and past that you start to realise that the Milky Way has much more alien and weird stuff in it. All the characters are utterly forgettable aswell.

[Jericho]

I've read that a lot of the Bioware recent issues are down to Bioware.

True, EA forced the Frostbyte engine on them. The idea being that everyone can share their knowledge... But the Andromeda team never received that hard-won RPG system knowledge from the Dragon Age Inquisition team. So they had to start from scratch.
Then, the Anthem team didn't want to hear anything out of the Andromeda people, for the simple reason that the Anthem team were the Bioware A-team, while the Andromeda team were the B-team (at best. More like the C-team).

It was EA's intervention that made them have the flying in Anthem, i.e. the 1 thing that the game does good. Bioware took it out. So you'd run to every location.


Everyone seems to be obsessed with the Quarian Ark... Since when did people care about the Quarians? I'd much rather find out about the murder of Jen and the real reasons behind the Initiative. That was the unresolved stuff that I want to know about.

The whole idea that the pathfinders would arrive 12 months AFTER everyone else, is just stupid. All they had to do was make it that there was some engine issue so they got there late or something. But instead they wrote it so the pathfinders arrived AFTER everyone else, instead of BEFORE them. So you weren't finding paths or blazing a trail, like your job-title implies. Instead you were visiting failed colonies. Madness.

One of my biggest gripes about the game is the disconnect between the writers and the people that designed the maps:

I came across a water-filtration building and and some dead bodies. I found the datapads saying the humans had arrived in this 'town' and killed them for the water. TOWN! 2 buildings! It was like that all the way through. Finding an Andromeda Initiative escape-pod complete with SOS written on the side... And it's supposed to be a Kett escape pod. And the other way around. A broken Angaran shuttle, and it is supposed to be initiative. The hundreds of destroyed shuttles covering the planets. The thousands of humans and turians I killed (How many outcasts were there? The book implied maybe 100).

It was just a horrible mess, with some good combat and good biotics.

[Golden_Gonads]

Hopefully they'll expand on ME Andromeda - there are still DLCs missing. Packing everything into ME Andromeda 2 would work for me, too.

They finished off Andromeda with a book or a comic, I can't remember which.

[Axeface]

Everyone seems to be obsessed with the Quarian Ark... Since when did people care about the Quarians? I'd much rather find out about the murder of Jen and the real reasons behind the Initiative. That was the unresolved stuff that I want to know about.

For my part, I would say that the Quarian story is one of the most memorable of the entire series. So theres me that cares about it a lot. I dont know why but I just think they are so emotive and also enigmatic, could it be the base of an entire game? Dont think so, I think any mass effect game has to be human-centric.

It was just a horrible mess, with some good combat and good biotics.

Yep pretty much. The combat, when the stars aligned, was rather good. But Mass Effect 3 absolutely nailed the experience and balance of combat already, it felt important and impactful - i'm not sure whether adding open world to the mix worked.

[chew-ie]

Everyone seems to be obsessed with the Quarian Ark... Since when did people care about the Quarians? I'd much rather find out about the murder of Jen and the real reasons behind the Initiative. That was the unresolved stuff that I want to know about.

For my part, I would say that the Quarian story is one of the most memorable of the entire series. So theres me that cares about it a lot. I dont know why but I just think they are so emotive and also enigmatic, could it be the base of an entire game? Dont think so, I think any mass effect game has to be human-centric.

Same here - might have something to do with the fate of Tali and her people being developed over all 3 games which makes it a true epic story arc.

Hopefully they'll expand on ME Andromeda - there are still DLCs missing. Packing everything into ME Andromeda 2 would work for me, too.

They finished off Andromeda with a book or a comic, I can't remember which.

Good try on their side - but we are talking about video games here. A comic might be able to tell some side stories but can never be a substitute for the real thing.

No, ME Andromeda 2 with full closure to all open story arcs of the first part please.