I’ll keep this one short and sweet, unlike the game itself.
I’m a fairly large fan of the Mass Effect trilogy. Not so big a fan as to own the comics and novels or anything, but a big enough fan that I defend the third game (post-Extended Cut DLC and stuff, anyhow). I don’t say and would never posit that the game(s) are perfect, but that as an experience that moved from game to game, this was a solid series of titles and I was happy while I experienced them and, even still, happy when I think back on them.
I wasn’t happy playing Andromeda and I don’t think I’ll look back on this game with any feeling. Not because the game is terrible, but because it is unmemorable. That’s the real kicker. Say what you will about ME3 and the color choices at the end and blah blah blah, but that game likely sticks with you. Possibly because of its spot in a greater whole of the franchise, but probably because of the decisions you made with the Genophage, with the Geth, and the relationships you got to advance with your crew, present and past.
Mass Effect Andromeda has nothing of note to remember because anything that COULD be interesting has either been streamlined, poorly written, or executed in a way that its over before you even got a chance to really digest it.
Let’s get the positives out of the way first, though.
Off the top, the game looks great. Forget what you’ve read from anyone saying the game looks worse or – at best – the same as the first games in the series: they’re full of it. Andromda takes a faulty, aging looking art aesthetic and brings it to the modern age. Granted, I played this game after months of extensive patching so I never saw the stone faces, the awkward running glitches, or any of that. When I played the game over the last month it was just fine. The planets, space, the layout of interiors, everything was very good looking. Uninspired and limited at times, but good enough for me. The new species, the Kett and the… selkath? What was Jaal? Well, we’ll cover this in a bit. But they are very, very uninteresting. I like the original species and most of the character models on everyone are unique enough to differentiate them from afar.
The sound design and music are just fine. Boosting the speed on the ground vehicle, after you’ve gotten the upgrades on it to let it really take off, is a thrill each time. This is a better version of the Mako in better playgrounds for you to explore. Thumbs up.
The combat is actually really great. I like hopping into the air with a sniper rifle and just blowing people away, even if the act makes me a huge target. I don’t care. While the leveling system is a bit too simplistic for my taste (if I’m being honest, though, it is much better than ME2 and 3’s systems), it allows for pretty easy management of skills, equipment, and powers. You’ll never be bored of your options. And although some portions of the game feel like your bog-standard Gears of War-style cover shooter, its usually fine because you have about 20 dudes coming your way, sometimes multiple factions at once. This can create some tension, though I never really worried about health or the health of my teammates throughout the campaign.
And… that’s about it for quality things to discuss.
Negatives? Again, it was fairly boring. I like that the story seems less “end of the known universe”-y, but it still seems fairly pedestrian. I don’t like the Ryder family, I don’t like that my dialogue choices are all lame and lacking in any real development for my character, and I REALLY don’t like the party members you can collect along the way, with the exception of Drack because that guy is basically just an older Wrex and Wrex was awesome.
This game has been out for a good long while now, so I won’t get into specific story beats because you’ve either played it or read enough reviews that cover it, but the Archon (the game’s main antagonist) is lame, the hunt for a new home seems boring, and the narrative dissonance that runs rampant through the 60-hour (or less if you don’t care about side-missions) story is too thick. There is an emergency distress call from one of my outposts? Better hurry and finish this mission about getting snacks for a movie night. Oh, snap. I got those snacks and someone else wants different snacks. Hope that outpost can hold out for another few days while I zip around the galaxy for a bit.
I know it isn’t fair to dock points from an open world RPG when it has silly quests for character development and team building, but when I don’t care about my crew before these types of things and I REALLY don’t care after them, spending hours upon hours on side quests to raise viability on a planet before seeing to a distress call seems… extremely artificial.
And the loyalty missions? Mostly just the same thing over and over again. Go here, kill a room of goons, flip a switch, kill a room of goons, see the crew member’s nemesis, kill a room of goons, cutscene. These quests are not memorable and, like I said about the name of Jaal’s race, most of the game suffers from a lack of memorable bits and/or pieces. I know, now, that they are called the Angara, but I had to look that up. I knew all the races of the first game before I’d gotten half way because I listened to the codex entries and they were memorable species. Also, where is the narrated codex? Man, I miss that.
By the end of the game I was tired of playing it. But I was so close to being done that I couldn’t just quit. I knew, before I started, that there was no DLC and a long wait for further Mass Effect adventures, so I went in open minded and with every intent to experience it for the game it is, not the game I wanted it to be. But I failed because the game just didn’t have enough “meat” for me to enjoy. Too many side-quests, too much back-and-forth quest tracking, lame party members, and an uninspired story lacking in any real stakes.
Sorry, Bioware. I won’t be buying your next game at launch. Probably not for a few months, if it gets solid reviews. I need those patches in place, guys.
SCORE: Uh, 6/10? I don’t know. Maybe a 7 if you factor in the interesting story beats that set up more game story in the future. If they ever wrap those threads up, anyhow.
Also, bonus .2 points for the first Architect fight I encountered. I hate that they weren’t unique per planet, but the first time one was flying in the background and I drove forward having no idea what to expect? Worth some of the hassle of playing the game. So, final score is 6.2/10.
Blech.
Added September 12, 2017
Updated the review with another image and to speak a bit more about the crew members and loyalty missions.
skylerbartels 