Is Mass Effect Andromeda at all worth getting now if you're a fan? - by Bucky Seifert
Bucky Seifert on 16/11/2017 at 06:43
I'm a big fan of the original Mass Effect trilogy and I was looking forward to Andromeda, but I decided to stay true to my philosophy of not pre-purchases anymore and it turned out that was the right choice. Even beyond the facial animations, I'm told the game is a serious let down. That being said, I still love Mass Effect and I know that patches have improved the game at least somewhat. So, even if simply to get more Mass Effect, is Andromeda at all worth getting, maybe when it's on sale for $20? Or would I really be better off just replaying the original Shepard trilogy?
PigLick on 16/11/2017 at 07:30
Yeh I second this. Is it any good in any way at all.
Starker on 16/11/2017 at 07:37
Depends. For me, it delivered, but it might not be what you're looking for in a Mass Effect game. It's more open-worldish and it's rough around the edges and you are playing a different character who's not quite a space hero.
Anyway, here's what I wrote in another thread as a conclusion:
Quote:
So, I finally finished the game, concluding the adventures of Mumen Ryder and the dysfunctional crew of the Tempest. It looks like I'm the only person who liked this game (or at least the complete opposite to everyone in this thread), which probably goes some ways towards explaining why the studio is getting gutted and the series is being put on ice, but I really feel that a lot of the hate the game receives is undeserved. I kept waiting to see the disaster that the game was supposed to be and it never happened. From a scale of 0-10 where 5 is average, 6 is above average and 7 is good, I think this game is a solid 6, verging on 7. For context, the first game would be a 7 and the second game would be a 5 in my book.
That is not to say that the game is without flaws:
* It lacks polish and occasionally there are bugs and glitches and poor animations and odd dialogue lines that show that the game was rushed out prematurely, but they are nowhere near as ubiquitous as the critics would have you believe.
* The story is more scattered thanks to having several open world sandbox levels. In a story focused game this is necessarily a trade-off, but on the other hand it does add some exploration that has been absent since the MAKO sections of the first game.
* The combat is the best I've seen in a Mass Effect game -- which is to say it's the least miserable. It seems that there really isn't much you can do to make cover-based shooting tolerable, but the added mobility and enemies that aggressively flush you out of cover do help make it somewhat more interesting. I guess Yahtzee was right and jetpacks really do make everything better.
* The interface is almost as bad as in the first game. Almost. And the first one was so outstandingly bad that they teach it in design classes.
What I liked about this game, though, was the space opera fantasy it delivers -- the over the top melodramatic kind where the fates of entire galaxies are on the line and that you rarely see in videogames, save the odd strategy game or space sim here and there. And Mass Effect Andromeda actually has a fair bit of it to offer, if you are willing to look. It's kind of like a season of Star Trek -- it might look a bit silly at times when the captain goes on a planet and fights a rubber monster, but it's the ideas that it conveys that count. For example, the Angara are in essence Star Trek aliens, who are essentially humans with some feature vastly exaggerated. Like Romulans are humans, but scheming and devious, the Angara are essentially humans, but emotional and dramatic, always larger than life. And there's a sense of overarching idealism and optimism that's very much Star Trek.
Also, I was impressed with some situations where you really had to consider your approach carefully, like the way the
Roekaar conflict was handled, the choice you had to make with
the Angaran AI, the choice you made with
the Asari pathfinder, etc. The game presented some interesting ethical dilemmas where had to seriously think about some of the choices and consider the implications. Would be too bad if there wasn't a follow-up to some of those in the form of a sequel.
icemann on 16/11/2017 at 08:25
The better analogy is - Is it the Phantom Menace to the original trilogies brilliance?
Phantom Menace being used, as the movie has good bits (the light saber battles, music, and the pod racing) but was an otherwise half half movie, where as the original trilogy were fantastic on all levels.
PigLick on 16/11/2017 at 08:38
hmm so for a fan of the series, worth picking up on sale then, as I really enjoyed the mako stuff from ME1
Starker on 16/11/2017 at 08:44
As I don't consider Mass Effect 2 or 3 to be all that brilliant, Andromeda is an improvement on the series for me. So it's more like The Force Awakens -- maybe not as good as the original, but still better than the previous sequels.
Bucky Seifert on 16/11/2017 at 08:45
Quote Posted by icemann
The better analogy is - Is it the Phantom Menace to the original trilogies brilliance?
What are you talking about The Phantom Menace is the best of the Star Wars movies. Jar Jar was the key to everything.
Starker on 16/11/2017 at 08:50
Yeah, it's poetry. Vogon poetry.
Bucky Seifert on 16/11/2017 at 09:20
Quote Posted by Starker
Yeah, it's poetry.
Vogon poetry.Catalyst is the key to all of this.
Dia on 18/2/2018 at 00:25
I just started playing ME: Andromeda and have to say that I'm seriously disappointed. I'm not a fan of 3rd person games at all, plus, I never liked the automatic saves that don't allow you to save whenever you choose. Graphics are about the same as the first three ME games, but this 3rd person gameplay is really annoying. Glad the game was on sale and I didn't have to pay $60 for it; I'll give it another try later since my character only just started moving around on the planet, but so far, as I said, I'm really disappointed.