Mass Effect Andromeda Review: 3 Ups & 8 Downs

Ups

3. There Are Some Occasional Moments Of Excellent Writing

Remember how Mass Effect as a franchise was this wondrous combination of intergalactic alien wonder, planetary discovery and interracial space politics? Andromeda has all of those things, they're just buried and scattered amongst your inventory like specs of dust across the cosmos.

There's a great beat when you first get to Angara and realise that the Nexus (your hub ship) has set up a community messaging program, allowing Angaran citizens to voice their concerns about your presence as the first extra terrestrial they've ever met. The postings are 'human', for want of a better word, and more memorable moments come from Cora and Vetra's loyalty missions, which expertly highlight why we love Mass Effect - that ability to operate on a macro and micro scale simultaneously, pairing the scope and scale of sailing through the cosmos and saving the stars themselves with a contrasting tale of someone asking for help to find their sister.

These moments remind you immediately of everything the franchise once stood for and did better than literally everybody else.

It reminds you why Bioware were such a momentous name in the industry, and whilst I think this particular 'Up' is enough to overshadow almost all the other 'Downs' so far, the structure of Andromeda ensures hardly anyone will ever actually see this content.