Search icon

Tech

04th Apr 2017

Here’s what you need to know about Mass Effect: Andromeda

Eoin Ronayne

Brought to you by EA Games.

Journey to another galaxy.

EA have just released Mass Effect: Andromeda, the long-awaited new release in the series – and the first since 2012’s Mass Effect 3. With it comes a whole new plot and a new cast of characters. Here’s what you need to know.

The game takes place about 1,000 years in the future. You can choose to play as either Scott or Sara Ryder, an inexperienced military recruit who joins the Andromeda Initiative (a plan to populate our nearest galaxy) and wakes up in Andromeda following a 600-year journey. Just imagine how knackered you’d be. You’d be so sleepy, like. You’d be wrecked.

There’s no shortage of side missions.

There are loads. Honestly, loads.

In fact, you’ll probably have to learn to ignore some of the distracting side quests enticing you in, there’s just so many. It’s easy to sink an entire evening just catching up with the tonne of side quests.

It’s got comprehensive multiplayer.

It’s great to play this sci-fi world online with friends. You’ll all play as a special forces unit hunting down resources, hacking archives and stealing intel while under fire from one of the three enemy factions. It’s manic.

Watch out you don’t hop on it too quickly, even the menus in the multiplayer contain some spoilers for the game’s main plotline.

There’s plenty of upgrading to do with your skill trees.

Levelling up your profile by spending XP is a great way to add new abilities to your character. The huge amount of options here are ridiculous.  There are three categories of skills, and you can spend points on anything you want from the get go. Experimenting with skill combos is one of the best parts of the game.

The amount of dialogue is huge.

Fans of the series will be familiar with the dialogue wheel that allows you to interact with the various characters you’ll encounter throughout the story. The plethora of dialogue options are all there to be discovered, so don’t be afraid to interact with your crewmates to hear some of their tales and information.

Clip via Mass Effect

LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Conor Sketches | Tiger Woods loves Ger Loughnane and cosplaying as Charles LeClerc