Mass Effect: Andromeda Deluxe Edition - PlayStation 4

If you are a fan of the original ME trilogy odds are you'll enjoy this game. That being said, it is a deeply flawed experience that leaves you scratching your head, wondering how such a reputable developer like Bioware could produce such a half-baked game. I'll start with the PROS: The combat - while at times sluggish, the combat here is the best it's ever been in the series and the ability to swap powers in-and-out on the fly is pretty awesome. You can really get creative with the mixing/matching of combat, biotic, and tech powers. This also extends to the multiplayer which is similar to ME3s (Gears Horde style gameplay where a squad defends against waves of enemies that get progressively harder). Also great is the feeling of space exploration that was magically captured in the original ME trilogy. Andromeda does not have the familiar celestial landmarks that our Milky Way galaxy did in the OT but Andromeda is still vast and fun to explore in the new space map. The CONS: the original ME trilogy put Bioware's finely polished role-playing sensibilities into a space setting with over-the-shoulder real-time shooting combat as a fun addition. Here, the combat is front and center and sadly the role-playing really does not live up to the previous game. Ryder is nowhere near as cool/fun as Shepard and the Renegade/Paragon system has been abandoned for a much less compelling emotional/logical/aggressive/empathetic response system that just doesn't leave you much room to be the badass that we all know we can be. Yes the facial animations are pretty lousy but honestly it's not that bothersome. Another flaw is the utterly convoluted inventory management system. Having just played Breath of the Wild (which manages inventory with the fluidity and grace of an iOS device) this game's inventory is like trying to manage a vast inventory system with an AS400/DOS style interface (and not in a fun/stylistically consistent way like Fallout manages to pull off). I'm exaggerating slightly there but the inventory system is completely cluttered and really could have been, and should have been much better given how long this game was in development. The supporting cast here is also very mediocre compared to the OT. Outside of the Krogan the rest of the crew is pretty bland. It really made me miss Garrus, Joker, Ashley, Wrex, the Illusive Man etc. All in all, if you were a casual fan of the OT, wait for a sale for this game. It's fun but you'll probably be disappointed if you pay full price for a game that got delayed twice and comes out feeling kind of half-assed. If you were a major fan of the series I'd say get the game, you'll enjoy it. If you aren't a fan of Bioware or over-the-shoulder shooters you can skip this.

I'm a longtime BioWare loyalist, and have been since the original KOTOR game came out for X-Box back in the day. There are numerous issues, including not being able to access their servers for any of the online/multiplayer aspects of the game, as well as some major bugs, though none have broken the game for me (yet). 3/4 of the way through the game, I feel I can weigh in. One, you need patience to get to the good stuff. Like 7 hours of gameplay level patience, at least for completionist explorers like myself. There are some amazingly well-done missions, and some horribly typical ones too. Despite all the many legitimate issues about this game, I love the format and I'm still having fun with it. To keep this brief, I'll bullet point the good and the bad. Positives -More of the same. If you like the way BioWare makes games there's still a lot to love, from exploration to some interesting characters to the (Suikoden-style, Inquisition-style) sense of building a coalition of allies against a large threat. -Best combat system in a Mass Effect game ever. -Some great characters, moments and decisions with no more "good/bad" "paragon/renegade" options.. in fact it feels more like the conversation choices from Alpha Protocol, which I loved. - There's still lots of game. I've been playing for 50+ hours as a completionist and still haven't finished it yet. Bad - Yes, the facial animations got hit with an ugly stick. It's a SERIOUS drop in quality from DA:I and even in some ways looks like the game came out in 2003. This is one of the bigger flaws, especially when compared to previous BioWare efforts. Yes, they've always had janky recycled body animations that they've been using forever and ever, but almost no effort has been put into the facial expressions this time around and it shows. -Buggy/unplayable multiplayer issues. -More of the same. This story doesn't feel new at all, despite the new galaxy setting. You still have your cloak and dagger element, the large galactic threat, the ancient alien civilization ruins that are technologically advanced, etc etc. It's easily the weakest story put out by BioWare yet (and I liked DA:2 to give perspective on that). Bottom Line Is it worth playing? Yes, if you're a fan of the BioWare formula and RPG gamestyle. And it might be worth waiting a few months or a year to buy/play it if you want to have them iron out all the major flaws of the game. After I finish my playthrough I don't intend to touch the game again until all this bull has been fixed.

If you're like me, a returning vet of the original Mass Effect trilogy: lower your expectations. On a technical level, the game is buggy, and the character animations really are wooden and unbelievable when they're not outright goofy. Landscapes and things like water look "next gen", but the characters' faces look worse than they did in the first Mass Effect. The Mass Effect games were gripping for their interesting stories and personae, and the shooty bits helped punctuate the story with tactical gameplay. In Mass Effect Andromeda, the story is weak, the characters all seem like fan fiction creations, and the acting (both VA and again, the character animations) is stiffer and drier than a high school play. The Multiplayer from 3 returns largely unchanged but for the addition of "jump packs", which do add verticality to the maps. However, even this mode feels half-baked: none of the maps are terribly impressive or memorable, and they all have weird areas that seem to serve no purpose other than being death traps for noobs who haven't learned to avoid their bizarre layouts. It's still fun enough to play, especially if you have friends... but when the multiplayer is easily more fun than the single player in a Mass Effect game, you know something's wrong. I just can't believe this game took five years to produce. I guess the folks at EA's Bioware today must've just focused on the wrong things, like making the game open world (why? so I can get caught on rocks driving around huge boring planets?) instead of embracing the things that made the first two games so memorable and unique, like cinema-quality story telling and gameplay that actually complements character development.

...I am currently enjoying the heck out of it. Its more like a 4.5 for me, but due to some issues (see below), I am going to round down to a 4. Yes, there are some glitch things and such, but overall it is a game worth trying, especially if you catch it on sale. I am about half way through campaign...the story is good, but the characters aren't as memorable as past ME games. The things that the internet has been fussing over the most (facial expressions, weird character and NPC movements, etc.) didn't really take away from my experience. I only wish EA had put more polish on it...oh what could have been. A few things to note. The single player campaign is the core of the game, but there is also a multiplayer component. Every time you load the game, it connect's to EA servers and stays connected. If you lose connection to the EA servers (lose internet, servers down, doesn't reconnect when PS4 comes out of rest mode), you run the risk of trophies not popping (even once you are reconnected). Try to make sure you are always connected to EA servers if you care about trophies. Also, I have experienced a couple of freezes while playing this game on my PS4 slim. During both occasions, I had to hard reset to get going again. I am not sure how widespread this issue is, but it's something to note. Lastly, I have been seeing some lagging as I have progressed further in the game, particularly when I am driving around in the Nomad or during some conversations. It's not enough to ruin the experience, but I did take note. Again, i am not sure how widespread this is. YMMV. One final thing...I would say that the extras that come with the deluxe edition are not a big deal, so save yourself a few bucks and get the standard edition.

Putting aside the controversial and somewhat quirky character animation (as it is not just limited to facial animations), this game feels good - though it does not feel entirely like the previous Mass Effect games, and it isn't a life-changer. There is a lot to do, and much of the story is very linear. The choices you make while playing the game do not seem apparent, but they become more meaningful as time goes on and the more time you put into the story. Exploration is not nearly as rewarding as it should be, but the open exploration worlds are beautiful - the scenery and the graphics are absolutely amazing. This, coupled with a PS4 Pro, makes the visuals captivating and worth stopping just to admire the time that it took to build - it is no easy task, and I speak from experience. There are a few minor issues that are not show stoppers, such as the battle system and the wonky aiming, but all in all, this game is really pretty good. Bioware is still one of my favorite developers, regardless of what people might say about this game; it is worth playing through at least once. Even still, I cannot speak to the nature of the multiplayer experience as I do not play online multiplayer games, and local-co-op games are practically extinct nowadays. There might be an element there that interests you - especially because the multiplayer ties right into the actual campaign. It is sort of interesting the way that it was set up. Bottom line: Mass Effect Andromeda is not worth full price, but it is worth purchasing. Just wait until it's on sale :)

Overall, this is a good game. With 5 years of anticipation and hype between ME:3 and ME:A, the expectations were unreal. Yes, as a software QA engineer, I find some of the bugs are inexcusable. However, such a massive project on 3 platforms will have some issues. These are resolvable and will be soon according to BioWare. It is a huge game. Part shooter, part RPG, part open world, with civ builder elements thrown in. Much more exploration based than ME:2 and ME:3, which were set in a universe assumed to be known to the player. Like a trilogy in any media (movie, book, etc), world-building takes some time in the beginning. It's trying to accommodate ME fan-boys like me who want to dive right in as well as people new to the series. There are some great visuals while exploring planets (even if character expressions are wonky), the characters are interesting (although it takes some time), and you can see the possibilities for where sequels might go. Despite being so vast and exploration based, the pacing doesn't seem slow. Sure, there are fetch quests, and players of Dragon Age Inquisition will see some painful similarities, but there's much less story-less grinding than in DA:I. The Nomad is light-years better than the Mako from ME:1. Combat controls are excellent, and true RPG fans will love the level of detail in character abilities, gear mods, etc. No two Ryders will be the same. Currently I give it 810. After the next major patch, 8.5/10 (assuming no new issues are introduced).

I strongly feel that in 10 or 15 years people will look back on this game and describe it as a great game. It's gotten a lot of flak and much of it is due to issues during it's so called rushed launch. However, this game is fantastic. It takes all the best features of the previous games and some of the best features of Knights of the Old Republic and combines them into one fantastic game. The worlds you travel to are phenomenal. The music is rich and appropriate for each mission, planet, and the like. Though some of the characters are interesting, they don't feel fleshed out. The skill tree is really unique compared to previous Mass Effect games, since it doesn't matter what you start with, you can learn almost everything. This is a great game, and though it's gotten a bad rep now, I really think people's minds will change... or at least when another generation picks this up --a generation that did not play the previous trilogy. Kingdom Hearts and Zelda: Windwaker also got a lot of bad reviews and flak when they first came out and now they are essential for many gamers. I don't know if this game will make that sort of come back, but it truly is much better than people have been describing it. I actually like this one more than the first one.

There's been a lot of negativity about this game, however I really enjoyed it and I'm a huge fan of the original Mass Effect trilogy. You play as Ryder, a leader in a Milky Way expedition to settle the various sentient species from the first games in a new galaxy. Naturally things don't go as planned and adventure follows as a result. I encountered a few bugs here and there and would recommend closing the game instead of sleeping it if playing on PS4 (sleeping the game tended to cause frame rate drops for me on my original PS4). The combat was fun. Ryder isn't limited to class-based skills in this game, but has the option to equip whichever skills you want. Multiplayer is just like ME3's which is a good thing, though rounds are only 7 waves long instead of 10 - makes things go a little faster which is good. I thought the story was good, and lays a good foundation for a follow-up game. The scope might not be as epic as "near-invincible machines are coming to wipe out the galaxy again", but it is about as epic as ME1. If you want a more polished experience, you may want to wait until the holiday season of 2017 so Bioware can release a couple more patches, but the game is quite good now too.