Yesterday was N7 Day, an annual celebration of all things Mass Effect, and this year was a little quieter than the last. In 2020, BioWare revealed they were working on a brand new game in the series, but this year they looked back on the Mass Effect trilogy remasters that came out in May. I thought that was all they had in store until the very end of the day when they tweeted a new teaser poster for Mass Effect 5, featuring a crater shaped like a giant geth head. Geth! Mass Effect trilogy villains! Get your goggles on, reader, it's time to investigate this pic.
]]>Recently I have been hoofing through Mass Effect Andromeda in my spare time. Like, properly hoofing - 10 hours at a time, like I'm back to being an adolescent with nothing to do except play video games and eat huge quantities of the short-lived early-noughties crisp spinoff Wotsits Wafflers. If anyone knows where I can source Wafflers, please get in touch.
Much like the Wafflers, Andromeda is probably not quite as good as I remember, but I still don't think it's bad. And actually, looking at it with fresh eyes, there's a lot in there that shows how really nearly almost great it is. In fact, I think it would have been much improved with the addition of more trees.
]]>Hello and welcome to the corner of the RPS Treehouse where we sit and chant, "Mass Effect! Mass Effect! Mass Effect!" to will news about BioWare's sci-fi series into being. This week, our dark magic has summoned three (3!) new images of some lovely artwork for the next Mass Effect game, which the developers revealed they were working on during their N7 Day celebrations.
Oooh but what can we decipher this time? Well, I already said it about the first teaser image, but I reckon these new ones even further suggest that Mass Effect 5 will be a sequel to Andromeda.
]]>Look at this official Mass Effect PC case. I love it, but I hate that it's a Mass Effect case. It's as though NZXT thought: "What would Commander Shepard herself play video games on?" But they should not have done that because - for as amazing as she is - Shepard clearly has boring taste.
Shep's casual clothes are like, what, an N7 logo hoodie, an N7 logo leather jacket, or *checks notes* an N7 logo bodycon dress. All stylish clothing items, obviously, but to follow that pattern for a PC? No! It should look like a spaceship.
]]>This weekend for N7 day, it was revealed that not only are we getting a remaster of the original Mass Effect Trilogy, but also a brand new Mass Effect game! We should take a moment here to acknowledge that Imogen is apparently able to will news into existence. Send her your requests for sequel announcements.
Imogen has also already analysed the images to build a compelling argument that this will be set after Mass Effect: Andromeda, fourth and most maligned entry in the series. It makes sense: bring out a remaster of the ones everyone loved to cleanse the memory of Andromeda, the one a lot of people hated. That being said, I would also like to remind you all at this early juncture that Andromeda wasn't even that bad.
]]>I called it. I bloody called it. On Friday I asked: "What if BioWare announced Mass Effect 5 this weekend?" So you'll imagine my surprise and delight when the devs revealed they're currently working on a new Mass Effect game. They didn't provide many details, it's all very early days. However, there is an image. A teaser image with some alien silhouettes that suggests to me Mass Effect 5 will be set after the events of Andromeda.
]]>Three years after Mass Effect: Andromeda failed to ignite a new sci-fi RPG saga, developers BioWare today announced they are working on "the next chapter of the Mass Effect universe." Huh! Sure, everyone expected them to announce remasters of the original trilogy today (because chat about them has been leaking for months) but this was a surprise bonus. BioWare give no hints about the new Mass Effect's plot, setting, or anything, simply saying they're in the "early stages" of development. While I imagine it's yonks away, I'm quite excited.
]]>N7 Day, or Mass Effect day as you might know it, is right around the corner. This Saturday, a couple of BioWare devs and a load of the original trilogy's voice cast are holding a "very special" panel to celebrate. Now, there are suspicions and whisperings of what may or may not be said at this panel - it would be baffling if all this fanfare wasn't to reveal the long-rumoured remasters of Commander Shepard's adventures. But what if! What if they threw a complete curveball and announced Mass Effect 5?
]]>The human race evolved the facial expression known as the “smile” because we needed a way to silently communicate satisfaction to other members of our species. So we decided to bare our teeth at one another and squint. This stuck, and now even the characters of your favourite digital storyderby are doing it. It’s sort of disgusting, and yet… you know what, I like it. Here are the 11 best smiles in PC games.
]]>I played Mass Effect 3's multiplayer mode for hundreds of hours. With my beloved Krogan, Klom, and my vastly overpowered Crusader shotgun, I would charge around the maps I'd come to know like the back of Klom's helmet, blasting and headbutting my way through Reapers and Geth and Collectors and whatever else the game threw at me. It was glorious.
I can't quite say that Mass Effect: Andromeda's multiplayer improved upon its predecessor in every way. But in every way that mattered, it was more of the same. And therefore it, too, is glorious.
]]>HDR on PC hasn't improved much in 2019. Despite there being more HDR gaming monitors than ever before, the very best gaming monitors for HDR continue to be quite expensive compared to non-HDR monitors, and the situation around Windows 10 support for it is still a bit of a mess. However, provided you're willing to fight through all that, then the next step on your path to high dynamic range glory is to get an HDR compatible graphics card.
Below, you'll find a complete list of all the Nvidia and AMD graphics cards that have built-in support for HDR, as well as everything you need to know about getting one that also supports Nvidia and AMD's own HDR standards, G-Sync Ultimate and FreeSync 2. I've also put together a list of all the PC games that support HDR as well, so you know exactly which PC games you can start playing in high dynamic range.
]]>The general manager of BioWare has said that not releasing story DLC for Mass Effect: Andromeda and leaving much-wanted tales untold was "a defining moment in refocusing BioWare's mission", which will inform Anthem. Casey Hudson talked up the importance of story and characters in a 'studio update' blog post yesterday. Given that I've forgotten almost everything I've heard of the action-RPG's story (it's on a spaceplanet and there are mechs and monsters?), I'll take some convincing yet.
]]>We've told you about the most overlooked games and what has us excited for next year, but we haven't had a good grump yet on the RPS podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show. So this week the team discuss the worst games they played in 2017. John thinks the misogyny of House Party puts it firmly in the bin, and Brendan is still wiping the red dust from his eyes after woeful survival game Rokh. But Matt can't bring himself to call any game terrible, not even Star Wars Battlefront 2.
It's not all negative vibes, however. We've also been smiling at pretty and poignant Gorogoa, climbing a mountain in Getting Over It, and shooting our way through Destiny 2's Curse of Osiris expansion. We're only a bit scroogey.
]]>Face still feeling tired after the whole Mass Effect: Andromeda debacle? Well, the earlier, better games haven't stopped existing, y'know. Maybe revisiting them with a slightly more 2017 look will scratch your itch. For instance, with these mods that add over 3,000 replacement, higher-res, 4K-friendly textures to Mass Effect 2 & 3.
]]>Mass Effect Andromeda was so tremendously dull -- just read John’s Andromeda review -- that it appears to have killed off a whole franchise (or at least put it in a coma). While I absolutely don’t think it earned a sequel, it is a shame that there are so many story threads left hanging. Like what the hell happened to all the other aliens from the Milky Way? Well, we may not be finding out in a game, but Mass Effect: Annihilation, a spin-off novel, will fill in some gaps when it appears in June next year.
]]>The singleplayer side of Mass Effect: Andromeda [official site] is now officially as done as it'll ever be, as BioWare have confirmed they have no plans for more singleplayer patches or any singleplayer DLC. Multiplayer additions and events will continue but Andromeda's singleplayer is complete. Given that it was a disapointing new start for the sci-fi RPG series, that doomsaying rumours have circulated for months, and that the studio which made Andromeda has since subsumed into another studio, this isn't much of a surprise. But as BioWare RPGs tend to receive a fair few story expansions, giving up on this isn't a good omen for the prospect of another Mass Effect game.
]]>Electronic Arts are merging BioWare Montreal, the spin-off studio who made Mass Effect: Andromeda, into Motive Studios. EA say that "more than ever, we're driving collaboration between studios on key projects". It seems that, after Andromeda, the folks of BioWare Montreal are being drafted to work on others' projects again. Motive, who are also in Montreal, are currently chipping in on Star Wars Battlefront 2 and we know they're working on something new -- supposedly an Assassin's Creed-ish open-world action game -- too.
]]>If you've been holding off on Mass Effect Andromeda [official site], which is entirely understandable whether you're a fan of the series or not, perhaps a ten hour free trial is just what you need to decide whether the trip is worth your time and money. Previously available to EA Access subscribers, the trial is now open to everyone. It gives you ten hours of play-time, which you can spend in singleplayer (up to the first planet) or multiplayer, and saves will carry over to the full game if you choose to buy it. You'll need Origin, EA's digital storefront, and post-trial, the game is currently £24.99.
]]>A new higher difficulty setting and, seemingly, batarian troops are coming to the cooperative multiplayer of Mass Effect: Andromeda in a future update. Unhelpfully, Electronic Arts don't have much to say about either at this point.
They don't have much to say about anything connected to Andromeda these days. Rumours are floating around that no follow-up is coming and that nor are any singleplayer expansions. That's all just rumour for now, mind. Anyway, check out ol' four-eyes here:
]]>It's Summer Games Done Quick time again! You know what that means. The final seal has been broken, the rivers are turning to blood, and High Dread Azagorath is free to destroy the land. But while people wait, they're doing speed-runs. And in celebration of that, I thought I'd take a dig through the archives for a few particularly impressive and interesting ones that take that whole idea of a fifty hour epic and beat it down so quickly, the hero's hometown doesn't even have time to finish smouldering.
]]>Men of space, soon you may hold, thrill, and kiss Jaal in Mass Effect: Andromeda [official site]. BioWare have announced the next patch for their boldly-going RPG, which will expand the character creator options, rework an awkwardly-written trans character, fix some bugs and balance bits, and make Jaal smoochable by both male and female Ryders. It won't fix Andromeda's broader boringness but hey, I never expected huge changes from patches.
]]>We are living in a golden age of big-budget PC games that offer us choice and freedom. Be they descendants of the System Shock model - finding a route around a meticulously-crafted, locked-down and hostile place, most recently seen in Prey [official site] - or the roleplaying games based around choice and consequence rather than action alone, they are legion. There are so many, even, that I'm not sure we can fully appreciate how good we've got it.
]]>It's a bloodbath in Old Gamestown today. Square Enix have tragically called a halt to Agent 47's Hitman career, despite his being at the peak of his powers, and meanwhile Kotaku report on rumours that EA has grounded the Mass Effect series in the wake of frowny reception to this year's Mass Effect Andromeda [official site]. Word is that the devs have been moved onto other projects instead of the second game in a planned new trilogy. It seems that the Pathfinder cannot find a way forwards after all.
]]>A new patch for Mass Effect: Andromeda [official site] has blasted off with performance improvements, a few tweaks to cinematics and animations, and plenty of bug fixes. Good news: your robopal has stopped lying about you having new e-mail. Bad news: you can no longer romance both Peebee and Cora or Vetra (not that Andromeda's romances are much cop). Update 1.06 is now live so let's go rummage in the patch notes.
]]>Previously in this column, somehow not taken up by the industry as of yet, I suggested that the word 'quest' was being somewhat damaged of late by the fact that it can be anything from 'Kill the Great Red Dragon' to 'bring me some orange juice.' I advocated a system where instead, tasks were split between two basic categories - what used to justifiably be called 'quests', and the more prosaic 'shit to do'. I realise now though that I missed an important third category, World Quests, named because scattering mostly pointless crap everywhere is much easier than actually filling an open world.
]]>Hannah just wanted to be a farmer. Not a male farmer. Not a female farmer. Just a farmer that didn't have to suffer NPC after NPC lumping them into one gender or the other. Hannah's hopes rose with the release of Stardew Valley, but after jumping into the farming sim they discovered it offered only male and female gender identities, with he/she pronouns to match. As someone who identifies as non-binary, Hannah couldn't help but be disappointed.
"I’ve almost come to expect little to no representation," says Hannah. "Being able to play a character that is different from myself is fun and interesting, but playing one true to myself I find is often more fun. It feels more real if you are in the world rather than just an observer playing a person in that world."
Unwilling to sit idly by, Hannah took it upon themselves to broaden Stardew Valley's gender diversity, modding the game so that NPCs referred to the protagonist with gender-neutral pronouns and replacing the gender symbols in the character creator with ungendered body-type indicators.
The response from other players was overwhelming.
]]>The first of several planned updates designed to address various criticisms of Mass Effect: Andromeda [official site] landed yesterday, and though it comprises 20 main fixes, one stands out above all else. If the eyes are the window to the soul, then the glassy sexbot stares of MEA's launch version certainly contributed to unfavourable impressions. The new v1.05 update's toned down the inhumanity of the game's human eyes, and, superficial as it might sound, it has me warming to the game a little more.
]]>I don't believe that Mass Effect: Andromeda [official site] is a train wreck. I do believe that it feels like a game made to spec, and is oddly soulless as a result. In singleplayer, this is to some extent disguised behind crusading dialogue and regular planet-hopping, but in multiplayer it is laid bare.
]]>In Mass Effect’s twin galaxies of the Milky Way and Andromeda, there’s a lot of smooching to be done, along with awkward flirting, saucy trysts and deep romantic connections with pretty alien boys and girls. BioWare’s been tinkering with its sexiest system for years, even before Mass Effect let us play out our embarrassing Kirk fantasies. And with Andromeda, they’ve promised even more junk-to-junk shenanigans, as well as deeper relationships.
Have they delivered? And, more importantly, can anything beat hooking up with Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Iron Bull and his infinite pecs? I’ve become a space Lothario to find out.
]]>Note: I had this post brewing in my head over the past week, while I was off on holiday, but the good folks at Waypoint ran something apparently similar before I could write it. No matter, as I'm yet to read that piece beyond the headline, I'll write something anyway, albeit briefer, in the hope it doesn't entirely replicate it.
Admittedly I'm 'only' twelve hours into Mass Effect Andromeda so far, and the main reason for not yet having made it further is that I haven't been much intrigued by its science-fiction.
]]>The first post-launch patch for Mass Effect: Andromeda [official site] will arrive on Thursday, April 6th, BioWare have announced. Patch 1.05 will include an option to skip those autopilot sequences on the galaxy map, balance tweaks, and improvements to facial animations and lip-syncing. Andromeda's faces are a small problem compared to its greater flaws, is Wot John Thinks says, but they are one of the more visible and meme-friendly issues. BioWare plan to follow up with more patches with changes including more character creator options and further improvements to Andromeda's animations and appearances.
]]>Newbie Mass Effect game Andromeda [official site] has proved to be the most controversial since, well, the last Mass Effect game. The fuss this time is not to do with convenient space magic endings and dangling plot threads, but instead a tri-gripe of its feeling somewhat routine, a shower of bugs and a feeling that its facial animations are a little bit Christmas panto.
Devs Bioware have been relatively quiet during the storm, but are now offering the first details on how they plan to get their new era for Mass Effect back on track.
]]>Given that hot takes, early access impressions, reviews, and (not very positive) Wot I Thinks have been flying for a week, it feels like Mass Effect: Andromeda [official site] has been out for days. Nope! Today is the official launch day of BioWare Montreal's sci-fi RPG, rolling out through Origin across... certain corners of the world. For some ludicrous reason, the European launch isn't for another day or so - even digitally. Wah wah. But much of the world can now blast off to explore a new galaxy with new spacechums. Here's the dramatic launch trailer:
]]>Since the original trailers, some players have had questions about Mass Effect Andromeda [official site] and some of its details. In the name of answers, we present this snippet from the official prequel novel. Available March 28th from all good bookshelves.
From where Director Tann stood, the curves of the Nexus stretched out like the wings of an angel, embracing Andromeda and all its potential. He winced at the thought. Human thought. Sentimental. Shameful. A thought most unbecoming of a salarian, who should have seen nothing but steel and forceshields, aluminium and plastic. The buzzer rang. Ah. Distraction. How welcome. "Send him in."
]]>Strap in. Mass Effect Andromeda [official site] is out on Tuesday in the US, and then because EA still lives in 1987, in Europe on Thursday. I've played it for over 70 hours, seen the main ending, and am entirely ready to tell you wot I think. It's well worth reading my previous piece on the first few hours, as there's much there that's relevant that I've not repeated below.
]]>I've experienced quite a few of the same issues John has with Mass Effect Andromeda [official site], but there's stuff I've been less bothered by, there's stuff I've appreciated, and there's also stuff Big J didn't mention yet that has made the nitpick zones of my brain light up like Mardi Gras.
I've played four or five hours of the Origin Access paid demo so, like John, I stress that all this may yet change later on. I'm going to break this into points, but my take-home feeling is that, though I certainly wouldn't call MEA awful, it is failing to grab me as much as I'd hoped it would and it thus far feels oddly generic in a way this fresh start for the series really shouldn't.
]]>I had, by purpose or distraction, not found out anything about Mass Effect Andromeda [official site] before playing its review build, beyond that it was set in a whole new galaxy. Ooh goody, I thought! A sci-fi RPG series I completely loved, but with a fresh start, baggage shed, and the extraordinary potential of a setting in a galaxy entirely unlike our own.
Yeah, about that. The first few hours of Andromeda are a gruesome trudge through the most trite bilge of the previous three games, smeared out in a setting that's horribly familiar, burdened with some outstandingly awful writing, buried beneath a UI that appears to have been designed to infuriate in every possible way.
I had gone in assuming this would be more BioWare pleasure. So far - and let's be clear, there's lots of room and time for it to pick up and turn things around - the first few hours have been just awful.
]]>As the marketing cannons volley and thunder to the left, right, and front to clear a path for the launch of Mass Effect Andromeda [official site] later this month, I'm trying to pick out the pertinent bits. Such as: for those who signed up for the multiplayer test, hoping to have a crack before launch, I bring bad news. BioWare have scrapped the planned 'multiplayer tech test' because reasons. In other Andromeda titbits, hey, the gang of the Ian Games Network have put out a 17-minute singleplayer gameplay video (with story bits edited out) but it's not too great.
]]>Now that Mass Effect: Andromeda [official site] has gone gold [for the benefit of younger readers: 'gone gold' is a reference to how developers would celebrate finishing a game by dancing around to Spandau Ballet's Gold -ed.], BioWare have confirmed its final system requirements. If Holly's recent preview has you interested in the new space adventure, hey, read on to discover how much power you'll need in your datadeck. Your rig. Your GamePig. Your gameslammer. Your roxxor boxxor. Your beast. Your neon demon. Your make-the-pictures-go machine. Your computer, yeah? Is it fast enough?
]]>It’s been five years since BioWare released the final part to their Mass Effect trilogy. Five years of very little information dispersed between huge fan anticipation and speculation. The ending to the trilogy meant a sequel was unlikely, and a prequel was rumoured for a while, but instead Mass Effect Andromeda [official site] has shaken off the shackles of the trilogy’s narrative by setting itself 634 years in the future and in the new galaxy of Andromeda.
After five hours of playing both the first mission and the fourth mission (which takes place roughly 3 hours into the game) of a preview build of Andromeda I’m able to share my experience.
]]>How can you kill a man? I don't mean, how can you manage to do it then live with it, with yourself and with what society thinks of you. More like, what cool weapons and special abilities can you use? A new trailer for Mass Effect Andromeda [official site] answers that question for BioWare's upcoming shoot-o-RPG. Demonstrating with gameplay snippets, it goes over how weapons from different places use different tech, how you're free to use every weapon and learn every skill, and how you can cower behind anything you please. Have a look:
]]>Mass Effect: Andromeda's [official site] trailers and pre-game bumf have thus far made me feel a bit like when you're trying to get in the mood for Christmas but you never quite get anything to feel magical. This latest cinematic trailer has been like when someone shoves a mug of mulled wine into your hands and the cinnamony, red winey scent gives you a glimpse of... something in the right ballpark, you know?
]]>Hello. I am OSTENSIBLY writing this news post to tell you that Mass Effect Andromeda [official site] will have dedicated melee weapon slots and you can craft and name weapons to put in those slots but SECRETLY* to let you know that IF I do deign to play Massdromeda there will DEFINITELY be a thing called a WARRHAMMER in my game.
]]>Did you see the video introducing Mass Effect Andromeda's [official site] Tempest? It's the upcoming game's version of the Normandy spaceship, plus you get a look at the Nomad which is the rover for pootling round on planets. I've been watching it and I wanted to a) share the basic video because I thought you might be interested and b) share an irritation about the marketing conceit they went with for said video.
]]>Lovers of intergalactic dating sim Mass Effect will be happy to learn that the newest game in the franchise, Mass Effect Andromeda [official site], will be coming out this spring. The United Statespeople will see it first on March 21, with Europeanfolk getting their alien booty call on March 23, according to an official statement from BioWare’s Aaryn Flynn. Isn’t life splendid?
]]>As Old Father Time grabs his sickle and prepares to take ailing 2016 around the back of the barn for a big sleep, we're looking to the future. The mewling pup that goes by the name 2017 will come into the world soon and we must prepare ourselves for its arrival. Here at RPS, our preparations come in the form of this enormous preview feature, which contains details on more than a hundred of the exciting games that are coming our way over the next twelve months. 2016 was a good one - in the world of games at least - but, ever the optimists, we're hoping next year will be even better.
]]>So... 2016. (FX: 'Urrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh....') It's not been the greatest of years, from just about every celebrity you might have loved deciding to peg it, to America electing the Curious Orange. As far as RPGs go, it's also been fairly quiet, thanks to lots of stuff deciding to stay in the oven for a few more months. That's not to say we've had nothing, not least Early Access versions of many of these games. Awards are coming later this month! But in terms of big, BIG, BIG releases, it's been kinda quiet. Next year though? Whoooo-boy, do we have a lot of awesome stuff on the way. Here are some of my picks for the games I'm most excited to get my hands on in 2017.
]]>I'm not going to pretend that I understand the setting of the Mass Effect games all that well, but even though I've only played bits of the first, you can't work in this job for long without learning all about the adventures of FemShep. That's how I know that Andromeda [official site] is about a new crew searching a new galaxy for a new home, because somebody left the taps running on Earth during the events of the original trilogy, and now the whole place smells of mildew.
A new, hefty trailer shows some adventuring, some chatting, some fighting and some gorgeous hub world wandering. Mass Effect may not be my thing, but good grief, this looks very much like it might be my main squeeze of Spring 2017.
]]>"You know Mass Effect, don't you?" asks Graham over IM, neatly ensuring that anything I remember about Mass Effect is instantly expunged from my brain bar the lone figure of Mordin singing I Am The Very Model Of A Scientist Salarian.
"Sure," I say.
"Did you see the Mass Effect: Andromeda multiplayer stuff?" he says, nudging me towards a news trap. "I've not played it so I thought you could take a look..."
CLANG, went the jaws of the trap, snapping round my leg with incredible force. "Graham don't leave me here! Where are you going???"
]]>I write this with the hesitation of someone who worries it might provoke someone else into starting an online petition. "Boycott Mass Effect Andromeda [official site] unless it has that one alien that looks like a space-cow made of jelly in it!" But, I am curious as to just how much of the existent Mass Effect universe the game they don't want to put a 4 after will cherry pick to remain.
Some familiar knobbly faces will return, others will not - not yet, anyway.
]]>BioWare bopped up a new trailer for Mass Effect Andromeda [official site] yesterday to celebrate their 'N7 Day' annual celebration but, in all the excitement, the big sillies forgot to say much of anything about the game. Thankfully, GameStop's magazine Game Informer managed to briefly catch their attention for a huge cover story getting into details like making character classes more freeform, doing away with binary 'Paragon vs. Renegade' morality, exploring planets, and sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g. Whew! BioWare would've felt mighty foolish if they'd gone the whole day without mentioning any of that.
]]>Mass Effect: Andromeda [official site] is boldly going where no Mass Effect has gone before, taking BioWare's sci-fi RPG series to a new galaxy, in the far future of the original trilogy's far future setting. Because of the N7 designation held by Mass Effect protagonists, November 7th is to Mass Effect what May 4th is to Star Wars, and today brought a new cinematic trailer showing some giant monstrosities, a bland default player character who you'll probably want to edit immediately, and some ominous voiceovers. Take a look.
]]>Space: one of the frontiers. These are the trailers of the videogame Mass Effect Andromeda [official site]. It’s mission: to explore strange new worlds, discover new lifeforms, and then have sex with them. As November 7 comes closer, a day which Bioware has stolen for itself during which they will likely reveal something important about the upcoming guns ‘n’ conversation game, the developers have decided to tease some plot in a brief moon-based video. Not much plot, but a little.
]]>BioWare are holding an open competition to find a voice actor for Mass Effect Andromeda [official site], releasing tidbits of story as they do it. They’re asking interested folks to read two audition scripts and send in either video or audio recordings of their best takes. The video below explains the competition exclusively via the medium of jokes, so this blog post about it may also be helpful. Before you enter - remember that Mass Effect games are known for their literate conversations and complex characters. Are you ready for your first scene? Okay, you are playing the role of Tough Mercenary.
]]>Sony just held a somewhat dry press conference about the release of their new PlayStation 4 models (a skinny one called the PS4 slim and a fat one called the PS4 Pro, if you’re interested) but the new Mass Effect Andromeda [official site] was also among the games they showed off. The footage is marked as a ‘tech demo’ to boast about the benefits of 4k, promising “crisper visuals, high dynamic range lighting... and some of the most lifelike characters we’ve ever created.” It’s also incredibly boring.
]]>Today, a little bit of heresy. I'm going to talk about adventure games. Specifically, about a thing I've always loved in them, when they offer the chance - that sense of being given a ship and a universe to explore. I get a shiver when I look at the star-map. I feel proud of my usually low-resolution, 256-colour VGA vessel. And yet, jump genres to something like RPG or strategy and the moment is just gone. Why does No Man's Sky, a game that actually supports that wanderlust, not give me anything close to the same thrill that something like Space Quest V still does, even knowing that Space Quest V is a) limited to a handful of worlds, each only a few screens in size, and b) makes your cool ship a garbage scow full of people who pretty much hate you?
I don't know, but I love this screen. This, more than any Galaxy Map, is a screen that whispers "You can go anywhere. Do anything. The universe is yours..."
]]>Last week I wrote about how Mass Effect: Andromeda [official site] wasn't chained by the choices you made at the end of Mass Effect 3, and how that left a lot of questions unanswered. Well, answers are coming next month in the first of four Mass Effect tie-in novels published by Titan Books that aim to bridge gaps between Andromeda and the events of our own Milky Way.
]]>There is a lot of questions floating around the big black hole of Mass Effect: Andromeda [official site]. Who is the lead character, Ryder? How did they get to a whole other galaxy? Can I romance the Mako? But perhaps an equally important question is what kind of impact the final decision of Mass Effect 3 might have on the story. According to an interview with Eurogamer, the answer is not a whole lot.
]]>Oh sure, Mass Effect's Mako is a janky little crapmobile, but isn't pootling around alien planets still delightful? I really dug that. So yes, absolutely I'm happy to see a wee bit of the new Mako in EA's E3 2016 trailer for Mass Effect Andromeda [official site]. It's a teaser-y thing with hints at grand scope, a few snippets of gameplay, and looks at 3D models pulling funny faces in editor, but ooh get a load of that zippy new Mako:
]]>Mass Effect Andromeda [official site] was officially due to launch towards the end of this year, though chatter from the moneymen made clear it'd be slipping into next. Now it's proper-super official: BioWare have announced that the sci-fi shooter-RPG will be blasting off to a new frontier in "early 2017." But hey, it sounds like they'll give us a peek at it during E3 next month. Fingers crossed for a hanar crewmate, gang!
]]>I can't tell you if the footage paraded around as snippets from Mass Effect Andromeda [official site], supposedly spotted in a BioWare FX artist's demo reel, are real. BioWare's next spacefaring RPG is due within the next twelve months but we still haven't seen or heard much of it, going mostly on scraps and leaks. If this footage is real, though, I can tell you that Andromeda has a jetpack, it has explosive barrels, and it may finally solve the mystery of why people use the aubergine/eggplant emoji so much.
]]>BioWare have been keeping a tight lid on Mass Effect: Andromeda's [official site] plot, but it seems some details have appeared in the form of a customer survey. Not the world's most reliable format, as these tend to be, "How would you feel about a game that featured a race of evil melons as the main antagonists?" before asking you about your mobile phone usage, but likely indicative of the direction in which the game is heading. So if you want all your news about the game to be carefully spoon-fed to you via the appropriate PR departments, look away now.
]]>Last time we talked about vague release windows for Mass Effect Andromeda [official site], you told me were planning to spawn a child in time for its launch. You told me you would name that child Ianlusive Manfred. Well, I'm not going to argue with you again, but I will tell you to wait a few months to to begin spawning. BioWare's RPG is now due in 2017, some time before the end of March.
If you're really desperate for scraps, hey, folks have dug up a better look at the guy from that trailer?
]]>We don't know very much about Mass Effect Andromeda, and the Titanfall sequel has only been heard of in whispers so dull that I don't think we've even mentioned it at RPS. However, we do now know a teensy bit more about both games: they're due to launch before the end of March 2017. A new Battlefield is coming soon too, unsurprisingly. I'm not sure what you'll intend to do with this information. Perhaps you're planning to have a baby in the next 14 months and might want to add some themed names to the list? Beautiful bouncing baby B3 Wingman.
]]>The holidays are now over, and it's time to get back to what matters - saving a million accident-prone fantasy realms from their own past mistakes, evil gods on the rampage, and all that pesky loot that they clearly don't have anything better to do with than stick it in barrels at the bottom of dungeons. This is why so many of them have no choice but to have bandit-driven economies. Shameful. Someone should Do Something There.
Here's some of the most exciting RPGs due in 2016. I suspect a couple may not actually make it to final release this year, but never mind - 'tis the season to be generous. In no particular order, then, some of the ones I'm looking forward to...
]]>Mass Effect won't be the same without Shepard, will it? All things pass, and all flesh is grass (or cybergrass), but I'll miss the old girl. Still, she has come back one last (?) time in a short video to say goodbye and hand over to... whoever the hero of Mass Effect Andromeda [official site] will be. Casting suggestion, BioWare: that there Jennifer Hale is great, isn't she?
]]>I have no flupping idea what to expect from Mass Effect Not-4, aka Andromeda [official site], given all signs point to it being a clean break from the Shepard saga. But the reveal that combat will be similar to Mass Effect 3's frantic shooty fare does start to make it a solid thing in my brain, rather than an entirely abstract concept with a few twinkly stars in it.
]]>Gamescom kicks off today, with the seeekrit press and trade business going on before the doors open to the dreadful public tomorrow. And that means EA are ready to show us trailers of their games set to the latest techno beats. We're expecting to see footage of Mass Effect: Andromeda, Mirror's Edge: Catalyst and Star Wars Battlefront in the mix. You can watch the stream live, from 9am, below - and then a recorded version of it when it's finished.
]]>Glory be! I can finally stop tutting as my colleagues casually refer to the next Mass Effect game as 'Mass Effect 4', which BioWare have been quite clear it wouldn't be. I'm a little insufferable as RPS news editor. But! Electronic Arts formally announced the game this evening with a trailer, a tiny handful of details, and a name: Mass Effect: Andromeda [official site].
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.png?width=1200&height=630&fit=crop&enable=upscale&auto=webp "שחרורו של Assassin's Creed Shadows נדחה למרץ כאשר מועצת המנהלים של Ubisoft שוקל מכירת חברה")
