Quick Look: Mass Effect Andromeda

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Hidden Gems Reviews

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Published on March 27, 2017 12:28:18 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1FWmiPL2yg

Game:

Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017)

Duration: 1:29

258 views

13

All of this footage was captured by me, so before you go off on how this is clearly pre-alpha footage or ripped off from anyone else, stop yourself now.
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Time Played: 12 hours
Difficulty: Hardcore
Finished: No

Andromeda is the biggest disappointment this year so far:

-Dull characters and story make for an uninteresting plot, even 10 hours in, with non-impactful choices that do nothing for its interesting premise and locales.
-Frustratingly horrible AI on both sides (I won most every gun fight just like you see it in the video. Enemies stop tracking you after a certain distance) and countless bugs and glitches make me see this as a huge bug with some game in it.
-Trite level design and dodgy exploration controls make traversing anywhere a drag, easily as bad as the Mako in Mass Effect 1 (And unlike that game, I can't mod it here).
-Repetitive dialogue for the most mundane things (If I have to hear "Pathfinder, this area can be mined for resources" one more time...)
-Horrifically bad lighting and textures for a game released in 2017, with the worst character customization I've seen since Black Ops III.

When Mass Effect Andromeda was announced years ago I met it with mixed criticism and held off on any opinions until I saw some actual gameplay. Despite Mass Effect 3's controversial ending I wanted a new game in the series, one that would fix any previous issues from the original trilogy and present a new, exciting galaxy to explore with new aliens and companions to meet, talk, and do the sex with.

Then BioWare held off on releasing any form of gameplay until mere months before the game got released. This didn't have me excited. It had me worried.

And my worries were not unfounded. There is no excuse for this AAA title to be in the sorry state that it was released on. 12 hours later and I can no longer work up the drive to continue playing after the bugs, awful writing, boring exploration with little reward, borked online features (every 5 minutes of playing it would let me know it disconnected from the Mass Effect servers), lacking soundtrack, and dozens of other issues.

The loading transitions between planets make me wonder if the developers actually played the game themselves because my idea of fun isn't sitting there waiting for the No Man's Sky zoom into each planet, get to the planet, then zoom out again. It's infuriating when you just want to go from one place to another.

I feel like ranting longer, but it would just be a waste of your time to explain why you shouldn't pick this up yet. Wait for the bugs to be ironed out and a nice price drop. This isn't the Mass Effect sequel you were waiting for. This feels like a budget title from a completely different company who didn't learn anything from the previous entries.

"BUT THOSE FACE ANIMATIONS, THO! ASS ERECT AND YO MAMMA IS A GOOD GAME EVEN WITH THE HORRIBLE FACE ANIMATIONS! I DON'T PLAY MASS EFFECT FOR ITS FACES!" -Every Mass Effect Fan Committed To Their $60 Pre-Order

Let me ask you this, then: Do you think this is a game you'll be able to play again a year from now? 5 years from now? 10 years from now? Do you think it'll be some timeless classic by then, or drowned in mediocrity from the slew of other great titles we've received so far this year?

You're only human, after all.
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