Sunday’s EA Play press conference helped to kick off E3 2016 right, showcasing a number of hotly-anticipated games — one of the most notable of which is Mass Effect: Andromeda. BioWare has been tight-lipped with details on the newest entry in the popular spacefaring RPG series, and the game’s appearance Sunday followed in the same pattern, offering only a small glimpse into the action. However, what BioWare did showcase leaves a great deal to be excited about.
The trailer begins with real-world footage of a rocket boosting off from Earth, and then a view from an orbiting satellite (presumably the International Space Station). From there, the game world is introduced, while a voice representing the team helps to emphasize the ambitious nature that appears to be at the heart of Mass Effect: Andromeda:
Our survival as a species has always depended on our drive to seek out the undiscovered, push beyond our limits and expand the boundaries of our known world. With Mass Effect, we are going further than ever before…to Andromeda, to build a new home for humanity.
In the gameplay footage that follows, we are introduced to what will presumably serve as the game’s flagship — the Tempest, whose design is fairly similar to the Normandy SR-1 and Normandy SR-2 from the original trilogy, particularly with regards to the thruster design. We also get an idea of some of the different planetary environments featured in the Andromeda galaxy, including an arid desert planet (where the main character engages a large, lumbering beast similar to the Reaper “Brute” in Mass Effect 3) and large tropical forests.
The trailer also demonstrates the main character (whose last name, apparently, is Ryder) and introduces an as-of-yet-unnamed asari character. The new (and most likely improved) Mako is also briefly shown in action, driving over rough terrain with ease.
This newest look into the next chapter of the Mass Effect saga was all too brief — but nevertheless, many of the familiar elements that make the series so popular with fans were on display: an intense firefight (featuring Ryder and two squadmates, a formula taken from the other games in the series), beautiful alien worlds, and some particularly big, menacing alien enemies, to name a few. All of this leaves a desire to see as much of this game as possible, and BioWare is apparently planning to oblige by releasing more details this fall.
As of this week, Mass Effect: Andromeda is still on pace for release in “early 2017,” and when it does release, it seems there is a good chance that fans will echo the woman (probably a potential version of Ryder) who awakens from cryogenic sleep at the end of the trailer, who triumphantly whispers “we made it.”
What do you think? Leave a comment below with your favorite part of the trailer, or what you want to see from, or learn about the most in, Mass Effect: Andromeda.
