Mass Effect Andromeda: 10 New Gameplay Features That Will Change Everything
Discovery awaits in the Andromeda Galaxy.
It’s been five years since Mass Effect 3, was released. An outstanding third-person shooter/RPG hybrid for the most part, the game was let down by ten final minutes of absolute gibberish. A lot of people were disappointed that BioWare had failed in their admittedly arduous task of making three games-worth of branching decisions affect the trilogy’s ending, and some fans even committed themselves to boycotting it, getting publisher EA labelled 'The Worst Company in America' in a 2012 Consumerist poll.
Tempers have cooled somewhat since then, and with Mass Effect: Andromeda - a part-prequel, part-sequel set in a completely different galaxy - on the horizon, fans are approaching the game with a mixture of excitement, anticipation, and trepidation.
While BioWare have been fairly coy when it comes to revealing details about the game, they have recently announced a whole host of new features that will make Andromeda a very different beast to its predecessors.
It remains to be seen whether these features will be a blessing or a curse, but they’re guaranteed to change the way we play Mass Effect for good.
10. No More Classes
The core combat mechanics of Mass Effects 1 through 3 were built on a foundation of 'classes'; each of which utilised various combinations of combat, biotics (read: the Force) and tech abilities. It was a pretty foolproof system, one that allowed you to develop a unique character and then build your squad around them.
Andromeda is doing things slightly differently, by allowing players to break free from class restrictions and invest points into skills from each ability tree.
Specialisation will still be encouraged, as players who invest in one particular discipline will be able to unlock profiles that appear to be similar to the original trilogy’s starting classes. For example, a character who focuses on biotic skills will be given the opportunity to become an Adept, gaining bonus advantages within that field in the process.
This sounds like a robust yet flexible system, one that would allow a player to follow rigid specialisations, or be a complete jack-of-all-trades. At the very least, you could train in the necessary skills required to become a biotic god, without being locked out of the occasional auto-turret once in a while.