We also got to see at least one "larger" engagement arena during the brief clips at the start, which was good to see.

I'm playing femshep right now for the first time and decided to go full biotic charge. It's sooooo fun. And very different from my usual "hang back and snipe everyone" playstyle. Loving it!

Good for you! Novaguard was my favorite thing ever. About to die? Better go kill something.

Yessss... I do love a positive feedback loop.

I'm playing femshep right now for the first time and decided to go full biotic charge. It's sooooo fun. And very different from my usual "hang back and snipe everyone" playstyle. Loving it!

Good for you! Novaguard was my favorite thing ever. About to die? Better go kill something.

• The power wheel is gone. It sounds like you'll have three powers on hot key at all times similar to Mass Effect 3's multiplayer.
  
• You can piece together and quickly swap between up to four "favorites" that group powers and (I think) weapons. So you could make a sniping favorite with cloak and a sniper rifle and long range crowd control abilities equipped then switch to a close range favorite that would give you better close range abilities and weapons.
  
• You can no longer order your squad to lay down a specific power but appear to be able to order them to go to a place and order them to attack a specific enemy. It sounds like they are supposed to be smart enough to prime an enemy with the right biotic or tech power or to use one of their powers to detonate whatever you set up.
  
• You can still freeze gameplay anytime you want by bringing up the weapon wheel menu.

All in all, I really liked the look of the updated gameplay, but it sounds like it will be a little more difficult for someone who doesn't play as many games. You won't be able to freeze time and hit a target with just the right power, for instance.

So, while ME3 didn't completely go back to ME1's level of an overwhelming multitude of options, it did greatly improve on ME2. And, in my opinion at least, it did a good job of making the options more important than ME1's near infinite rows of tiny % boosts and occasional skill unlocks.

Yep. Personally, I felt like ME2 streamlined things a bit TOO much in some areas, and 3 brought it back to where it should be.

Andromeda looks like it will probably do away with the concept of the core classes and let you mix and match powers a lot more. It might also let you build three or so presets you can swap between on the fly so you don't have to rebuild your entire upgrade tree when the situation changes. The powers themselves looks to me ME3 style where there are three or four this/that choices to make as you upgrade each power.

This all seems correct based on what I've seen, at least for the single player mode. I suspect the multiplayer will still have set character kits/classes, although that's just a theory at the moment - I don't think they've really said anything yet.

I hope you're right. My hope is that if there is no pause mechanic, that there is an easy setting.

To give you some perspective, in ME3 just before the ending, you make this full speed charge downhill, you get knocked out, you wake up with just a pistol a bunch of husk coming at you. It is near impossible to move the reticule in this scene, supposedly emulating the difficulty of the situation. I remember my wife being in nearly tears trying to do this scene over and over for an hour the first time. And I'm pretty certain this was just normal setting. She just couldn't move the guns that precisely. Hell, it took me a bunch of tries to get it and I'm relatively good at shooters. It was tough to see her that way, especially knowing how much she wanted to get to the ending after 80+ hours of work in the game.

Yeah, that bit was tough. I think it's worth noting that when you make your character in ME3, you're given the option of choosing between "action" mode where all cutscenes just play like movies and you're basically only fighting, "Role-Playing" mode where you do all of the fighting, but also choose dialogue, and "story" mode where the combat is made to be extremely simple but the dialogue options remain fully fleshed out. I know because I made a new character just today (ME:A hype has inspired me to play a fem-shep run, which I've never done before). It's my guess that similar options will exist in ME:A.

I fully expect this as well.

Also, Beard, I suspect in some way they will make "non-brawler" options viable. If they didn't, being a brawler wouldn't mean very much, would it?

Or, basically, why they still made the Engineer class for ME3 even though so few played it.

So this video is where people got the idea that there would be untold worlds:

There are certainly lines that would lead you down that path, without explicitly giving anything away. "Whole worlds, teeming with alien creatures and civilizations" "We've created a new galaxy for you to explore" etc.. There are also a few shots (Nomad driving over desert dunes, player cresting a hill) that make the world look free-roamish and quite large. Of course, we have no way of knowing if those are cutscenes or actual gameplay (probably cutscenes, given how early this video was released).

I'll again say: no wonder people are always disappointed. Someone who saw that video and made the leap to anything approaching No Man's Sky must live a life of constant disappointment. Those lines you called out could be used to accurately describe every Mass Effect game. It's very obvious marketing language that doesn't actually mean a whole lot. .

So I watched the trailer a few more times, and as excited as I am for this game, I want to point out a few things that are shown in the video which don't match the hype or advertising:

First: The big one. A "Massive" galaxy to explore. People have fan-theorized this would be like no man's sky. I want to squash that right now. If you look at the galactic map shown in the video, this "massive" galaxy has only 5 waypoints displayed. Now, the clip is super short, and only about 70% of the galaxy is shown, but 5 is not the same as 5 quintillion. It's not even close. I assume they'll release more information about how many explorable locations there are in the future, but based on that clip, I'm going to expect something more like ME3 and less like NMS.

Are there really people expecting infinite worlds like in No Man's Sky?! On what grounds?? There's been no promise of a procedural universe or anything like that.

Kids on the internet sounding off into the echo chamber of reddit, I figure.

There seem to be at least seven possible habitat worlds based on a couple of the most recent videos. Habitat 7 is mentioned specifically and one of the Andromeda Galaxy overviews pointed out a few waypoints or star systems also named with "Habitat #". I'd say, baring more info, seven worlds will be an upper limit. It may be significantly higher if there are less important worlds to drive around and fight minor battles on. Mass Effect 1 & 2 had a few like that. But for core, plot significant worlds... I'd guess seven or less.

This all sounds right to me.

So this video is where people got the idea that there would be untold worlds:

There are certainly lines that would lead you down that path, without explicitly giving anything away. "Whole worlds, teeming with alien creatures and civilizations" "We've created a new galaxy for you to explore" etc.. There are also a few shots (Nomad driving over desert dunes, player cresting a hill) that make the world look free-roamish and quite large. Of course, we have no way of knowing if those are cutscenes or actual gameplay (probably cutscenes, given how early this video was released).

Anyway, I believe most of the hype I read about came from wild and unsubstantiated speculation based purely on what was seen here.

Other stuff: The combat clips do show at least one ranged sniper kill, but for the most part the engagements appear to be in relatively small areas (smaller than ME3's multiplayer maps). Combined with the earlier "playable" trailer, I'm no longer expecting a wide open, free roam world (or series of worlds) to explore. It seems more likely that it will be like Destiny's maps, with very controlled areas you can visit, and the advertising is trying to say that even though the map is a big circle, the fact that you can navigate it in either direction means it's "free roam." Again, we know very very little about the map design, so this is just speculation based on what little we've seen.

It's really hard to tell. We don't know if we're looking at key battle choke points similar to those in seen in longer Mass Effect missions. Or if we're seeing fairly big "open worlds" that have detailed place to explore and fight at. My guess is some of both. Some areas have lots of what seems to be custom structures, like up in the cliffs and stuff, while other scenes looks a bit more Mass Effect 1 ish with little bases of reused geometry and boxes and stuff.

We do know that the mako (or a mako analogue) will return, which means the explorable areas are big enough to want a vehicle to navigate, but from what I've seen in videos, this appears to be more like the warthog sections of halo than like the open areas of ME1.

Double really hard to tell. Most of the shots of the Nomad driving around have been close ups that show very little about the size of layouts of the worlds. My current gut feeling is to expect something like better versions of Mass Effect 1's world size and exploration. Perhaps even ME1 crossed over with Destiny. But I highly doubt we're being dropped into one or more Skyrim or Witcher 3 style vast, highly detailed, highly populated worlds. That simply has not been promised or even hinted at. I do expect something more than a vehicle section in a Halo level, though.

This is a really good point. I can't recall if there have been any videos where the nomad is driving under player control. I feel like there was one, but I couldn't find it in a quick search. You definitely see the nomad as a set piece, used as cover in some of the combat clips just released.

For weapons and abilities, we've seen quite a bit, actually. Snipers give a first person reticle, there are 3 overall classes of weapon (plasma, energy, and ballistic), at least the same five categories within those classes (shotgun, sniper, Assault rifle, pistol, SMG), and multiple guns for each category. There are also grenades, and we've seen many of the abilities from ME3 make a return (biotic charge, singularity, nova, shockwave, all make a return) as well as at least one new power (ground slam a'la strikers), and the ability to jump and hover which opens up new playstyles.

Yep. Powers and combat fluidity looks fine so far.

First: The big one. A "Massive" galaxy to explore. People have fan-theorized this would be like no man's sky. I want to squash that right now. If you look at the galactic map shown in the video, this "massive" galaxy has only 5 waypoints displayed. Now, the clip is super short, and only about 70% of the galaxy is shown, but 5 is not the same as 5 quintillion. It's not even close. I assume they'll release more information about how many explorable locations there are in the future, but based on that clip, I'm going to expect something more like ME3 and less like NMS.

I don't know where this idea even came from. It's no wonder people are so disappointed by games all the time. Anyone who thinks that Andromeda is going to be anywhere near the size of No Man's Sky legitimately has to be an idiot. I fully expect it to be in line with what we've seen from the series before.

I agree that it's hogwash. Some people on reddit were going nuts about it when ME:A was first launched. If there's one thing we've learned from NMS, it's that people would rather have fewer, more distinct worlds than more, samey worlds, even when those same people keep clamouring for more more more worlds.

So I watched the trailer a few more times, and as excited as I am for this game, I want to point out a few things that are shown in the video which don't match the hype or advertising:

First: The big one. A "Massive" galaxy to explore. People have fan-theorized this would be like no man's sky. I want to squash that right now. If you look at the galactic map shown in the video, this "massive" galaxy has only 5 waypoints displayed. Now, the clip is super short, and only about 70% of the galaxy is shown, but 5 is not the same as 5 quintillion. It's not even close. I assume they'll release more information about how many explorable locations there are in the future, but based on that clip, I'm going to expect something more like ME3 and less like NMS.

Are there really people expecting infinite worlds like in No Man's Sky?! On what grounds?? There's been no promise of a procedural universe or anything like that.

There seem to be at least seven possible habitat worlds based on a couple of the most recent videos. Habitat 7 is mentioned specifically and one of the Andromeda Galaxy overviews pointed out a few waypoints or star systems also named with "Habitat #". I'd say, baring more info, seven worlds will be an upper limit. It may be significantly higher if there are less important worlds to drive around and fight minor battles on. Mass Effect 1 & 2 had a few like that. But for core, plot significant worlds... I'd guess seven or less.

Other stuff: The combat clips do show at least one ranged sniper kill, but for the most part the engagements appear to be in relatively small areas (smaller than ME3's multiplayer maps). Combined with the earlier "playable" trailer, I'm no longer expecting a wide open, free roam world (or series of worlds) to explore. It seems more likely that it will be like Destiny's maps, with very controlled areas you can visit, and the advertising is trying to say that even though the map is a big circle, the fact that you can navigate it in either direction means it's "free roam." Again, we know very very little about the map design, so this is just speculation based on what little we've seen.

It's really hard to tell. We don't know if we're looking at key battle choke points similar to those in seen in longer Mass Effect missions. Or if we're seeing fairly big "open worlds" that have detailed place to explore and fight at. My guess is some of both. Some areas have lots of what seems to be custom structures, like up in the cliffs and stuff, while other scenes looks a bit more Mass Effect 1 ish with little bases of reused geometry and boxes and stuff.

We do know that the mako (or a mako analogue) will return, which means the explorable areas are big enough to want a vehicle to navigate, but from what I've seen in videos, this appears to be more like the warthog sections of halo than like the open areas of ME1.

Double really hard to tell. Most of the shots of the Nomad driving around have been close ups that show very little about the size of layouts of the worlds. My current gut feeling is to expect something like better versions of Mass Effect 1's world size and exploration. Perhaps even ME1 crossed over with Destiny. But I highly doubt we're being dropped into one or more Skyrim or Witcher 3 style vast, highly detailed, highly populated worlds. That simply has not been promised or even hinted at. I do expect something more than a vehicle section in a Halo level, though.

For weapons and abilities, we've seen quite a bit, actually. Snipers give a first person reticle, there are 3 overall classes of weapon (plasma, energy, and ballistic), at least the same five categories within those classes (shotgun, sniper, Assault rifle, pistol, SMG), and multiple guns for each category. There are also grenades, and we've seen many of the abilities from ME3 make a return (biotic charge, singularity, nova, shockwave, all make a return) as well as at least one new power (ground slam a'la strikers), and the ability to jump and hover which opens up new playstyles.

Yep. Powers and combat fluidity looks fine so far.

First: The big one. A "Massive" galaxy to explore. People have fan-theorized this would be like no man's sky. I want to squash that right now. If you look at the galactic map shown in the video, this "massive" galaxy has only 5 waypoints displayed. Now, the clip is super short, and only about 70% of the galaxy is shown, but 5 is not the same as 5 quintillion. It's not even close. I assume they'll release more information about how many explorable locations there are in the future, but based on that clip, I'm going to expect something more like ME3 and less like NMS.

I don't know where this idea even came from. It's no wonder people are so disappointed by games all the time. Anyone who thinks that Andromeda is going to be anywhere near the size of No Man's Sky legitimately has to be an idiot. I fully expect it to be in line with what we've seen from the series before.

First: The big one. A "Massive" galaxy to explore. People have fan-theorized this would be like no man's sky. I want to squash that right now. If you look at the galactic map shown in the video, this "massive" galaxy has only 5 waypoints displayed. Now, the clip is super short, and only about 70% of the galaxy is shown, but 5 is not the same as 5 quintillion. It's not even close. I assume they'll release more information about how many explorable locations there are in the future, but based on that clip, I'm going to expect something more like ME3 and less like NMS.

Other stuff: The combat clips do show at least one ranged sniper kill, but for the most part the engagements appear to be in relatively small areas (smaller than ME3's multiplayer maps). Combined with the earlier "playable" trailer, I'm no longer expecting a wide open, free roam world (or series of worlds) to explore. It seems more likely that it will be like Destiny's maps, with very controlled areas you can visit, and the advertising is trying to say that even though the map is a big circle, the fact that you can navigate it in either direction means it's "free roam." Again, we know very very little about the map design, so this is just speculation based on what little we've seen.

We do know that the mako (or a mako analogue) will return, which means the explorable areas are big enough to want a vehicle to navigate, but from what I've seen in videos, this appears to be more like the warthog sections of halo than like the open areas of ME1.

For weapons and abilities, we've seen quite a bit, actually. Snipers give a first person reticle, there are 3 overall classes of weapon (plasma, energy, and ballistic), at least the same five categories within those classes (shotgun, sniper, Assault rifle, pistol, SMG), and multiple guns for each category. There are also grenades, and we've seen many of the abilities from ME3 make a return (biotic charge, singularity, nova, shockwave, all make a return) as well as at least one new power (ground slam a'la strikers), and the ability to jump and hover which opens up new playstyles.

All in all I'm really curious to see the new footage, and it certainly looks like this game fits nicely into the ME series. I just want to make sure the hype train doesn't get totally out of control as it has for so many games in the past.

I hope you're right. My hope is that if there is no pause mechanic, that there is an easy setting.

To give you some perspective, in ME3 just before the ending, you make this full speed charge downhill, you get knocked out, you wake up with just a pistol a bunch of husk coming at you. It is near impossible to move the reticule in this scene, supposedly emulating the difficulty of the situation. I remember my wife being in nearly tears trying to do this scene over and over for an hour the first time. And I'm pretty certain this was just normal setting. She just couldn't move the guns that precisely. Hell, it took me a bunch of tries to get it and I'm relatively good at shooters. It was tough to see her that way, especially knowing how much she wanted to get to the ending after 80+ hours of work in the game.

Yeah, that bit was tough. I think it's worth noting that when you make your character in ME3, you're given the option of choosing between "action" mode where all cutscenes just play like movies and you're basically only fighting, "Role-Playing" mode where you do all of the fighting, but also choose dialogue, and "story" mode where the combat is made to be extremely simple but the dialogue options remain fully fleshed out. I know because I made a new character just today (ME:A hype has inspired me to play a fem-shep run, which I've never done before). It's my guess that similar options will exist in ME:A.

To give you some perspective, in ME3 just before the ending, you make this full speed charge downhill, you get knocked out, you wake up with just a pistol a bunch of husk coming at you. It is near impossible to move the reticule in this scene, supposedly emulating the difficulty of the situation. I remember my wife being in nearly tears trying to do this scene over and over for an hour the first time. And I'm pretty certain this was just normal setting. She just couldn't move the guns that precisely. Hell, it took me a bunch of tries to get it and I'm relatively good at shooters. It was tough to see her that way, especially knowing how much she wanted to get to the ending after 80+ hours of work in the game.

Also, I'd love an isometric turn based Mass Effect strategy game.

This.

In a way it is weird that the Halo franchise gets a strategy game, and Mass Effect doesn't.

You might be right. I played Mass Effect 2 repeatedly and actually went back to it once after ME3 was out. I only played ME3 twice, and that was pretty close to back-to-back playthroughs. I don't remember it nearly as well as ME2.

I was actually having a problem remembering the upgrades in ME2. After looking it up, hte difference between the two games is pretty substantial.

In ME2:
- There were only a handful of guns. For instance there were only 6 Assualt Rifles in the game.
- There were very few armor pieces. Certainly less than 20. Maybe less than 10.
- Powers upgraded from Rank 1 to Rank 4 with Rank 4 giving you a choice between two alternate paths for the power's final evolution. Ranks 2 and 3 generally boosted the power's various stats by maybe ten or twenty percent and did nothing to change the way the power worked.
- For instance Incinerate had two minor boosts to damage/recharge time and the final option was a choice between more damage and a wider impact.

In ME3:
- There were several guns of each type. For instance there were 20 Assault Rifles alone. And they were highly varied from pinpoint accurate to chaingun bullet hoses. The other gun types (sniper rifles, smgs, heavy pistols) had similar numbers with similar wide variety of uses.
- There are several different armor pieces for the head, arms, chest, and leg slots. Perhaps not quite as many as the for the different weapon types, but still ten or more for each slot!
- You had access to more powers per class. Not quite as many as the page full you had in ME1, but several more per class than ME2. Plus, instead of having just four ranks per power, you had six. The first three boosted one or more aspects of the power (damage or recharge time usually) but ranks four, five and six each had two choices.
- Incinerate in ME 3 had its initial three one choice boosts then it had the choices of more damage/impact radius, then ongoing burning damage/faster recharge, and finally double damage to frozen targets/or +50% damage to armor

So, while ME3 didn't completely go back to ME1's level of an overwhelming multitude of options, it did greatly improve on ME2. And, in my opinion at least, it did a good job of making the options more important than ME1's near infinite rows of tiny % boosts and occasional skill unlocks.

Andromeda looks like it will probably do away with the concept of the core classes and let you mix and match powers a lot more. It might also let you build three or so presets you can swap between on the fly so you don't have to rebuild your entire upgrade tree when the situation changes. The powers themselves looks to me ME3 style where there are three or four this/that choices to make as you upgrade each power.