E3 2016: Mass Effect Andromeda Will Give Players More Freedom Than Any Other Mass Effect Game

During the Electronic Arts E3 showcase yesterday, Bioware’s upcoming Mass Effect title shed new light on what players can expect in their fourth instalment. When Andromeda was officially revealed at last year’s E3 conference, the developers promised that it will be unlike any other Mass Effect game that we’ve seen so far, however the new title recaptures the first game’s wonder.

BioWare general manager Aaryn Flynn during the conference spoke briefly about how the new adventure will be taking place in “a galaxy where you are the alien” as well as being set “far away from and long after the events of the original trilogy.”

This Mass Effect is also the first to be built using the Frostbite engine, and it is gorgeous to say the least. We even got to see a familiar face of what looked like a smiling Asari and Krogan characters.

During the EA gaming showcase yesterday, Mac Walters told Kotaku, “If you go back to the original Mass Effect, there was that sort of awe of going to a new galaxy and meeting all these aliens for the first time – new races, new cultures, new civilisations.”

BioWare described that the plot for the new title takes our protagonist out to the Milky Way to find a new home whilst the game will have “more freedom than we’ve ever given players in a BioWare game.” Walters commented “the twist we are putting on it is that this isn’t your home. Here, everybody is looking at you and going ‘Who are you?’ as well.”

Andromeda is reportedly slated to be released in early 2017 on Xbox One, PS4 and PC after it was pushed back from it’s original 2016 release date confirmed by BioWare last month in a blog post.

The delay most likely has something to do with the departure of Halo 4 writer Chris Schlerf who was attached to the project as the lead writer, however left earlier this year to join developer Bungie on Destiny. 

Schlerf unfortunately wasn’t the first to leave the project, as senior development director Chris Wynne announced his departure from the company back in December last year without any official reasoning.

In the blog post, BioWare general manager Aaryn Flynn wrote that they wanted the Mass Effect projects to meet internal quality standards.

“As we’ve been playing the game at the studio recently, it’s showing us that we’re taking the game in the right direction,” he said.

“But we also know we need the right amount of time to make sure we deliver everything the game can and should be – that’s our commitment from all of us to all of you. Because of that, Mass Effect: Andromeda will now ship early 2017.”

Andromeda also features a new Shepard called Rider or Ryder, alluding to whilst also paying homage to Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, which parallels Commander Shepard who was also named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space.

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