Mass Effect: Andromeda – All we know on how it ties into trilogy, the timeline, battle system and more
Ever since Mass Effect: Andromeda was announced, we’ve had a number of unanswered questions pertaining to how it would tie into the original trilogy. With today’s N7 day celebration, we finally got some answers regarding its timeline and other information. Most of it makes sense, but of course some things still need answers. Some right from EA, while others came from a hands on by Game Informer. According to EA and Bioware, Andromeda begins in the year 2185. Now, this is the year before Mass Effect 3 in 2186 and the same year as Mass Effect 2. According to EA, “Initiative’s mandate is to make a 600-year journey to the Andromeda galaxy in hopes of establishing a new home world. This impending galactic journey represents the most ambitious undertaking of any Milky Way race to date…” Based on this timeline, the official one by EA, this means that they had to have known about the reapers as it’s been going on for two years now since 2183 (Mass Effect one year) and are doing this in some last ditch, backup plan effort in case they lose to the reapers in order to save the human race. In the trailer released today, there will be four ships called arcs. One is Hyperion, the other is Nexus and the two remaining are currently unnamed. Each ship will carry a different species that is on Earth in the year 2185 (All those present in Mass Effect 2) on a 600 year journey to the outskirts of Andromeda. They will be in cryosleep during this time and awake near arrival. Each arc ship will land on a separate planet in the system in attempt to find a suitable home for the human race to rebuild/continue life from Earth. This also answers the question as to how Andromeda just happens to have the same races of people that are on Earth when the relays were destroyed in Mass Effect 3. Also, since Andromeda is 288 years away at light speed from the Milky Way galaxy, and humans do not yet possess the ability to travel at light speed in the original trilogy, this explains why it takes so much longer at 600 years to reach the Andromeda galaxy. The part of Andromeda that they will be reaching to is the Heleus Cluster. The Nexus ship is basically the Andromeda version of Normandy and the first ship to arrive in order to function as a trailblazer. The human arc, the Hyperion, is headed up by Alec Ryder, who is the father of Scott/Sara Ryder (our playable character). This ship will go missing on an incorrect location, losing contact with the other arcs, forcing a story setup to reinitiate contact. Humans are obviously a race, and Turians are shown in the trailer as well, so this leaves two other races that need to be confirmed. As far as the battle system goes, we’ve seen the jetpack already in previous trailers. You are able to hover in the air to scout your immediate area as well as order your companions to commit certain attacks/maneuvers. The combat wheel will not be used with instead attacks fast mapped to certain face buttons. The new enemy, obvious not the reapers, is called the Kett. They will be depicted, as noted in the trailer, as mainly protecting their homeland as the four races are technically “the aliens”. You’ll have to fight across multiple planets for missions or discover them on your own at your own discretion and travels. Planets will have enemy bases, huge bosses that may force you to come back when more powerful. Your accompanying companions, as shown in trailer, are called Liam and Peebee. Liam is a human, former cop and Peebee is the Asari (3rd race) Your ship is called the Tempest (Remember the Normandy is still in use at time of departure by Shepard). You’ll be able walk all through the ship and establish relationships with companions. Rather than simply bang your companion, can start a relationship, get nowhere or just bang if that’s what the person wants. There won’t be anymore Paragon or Renegade choices but instead we’ll have four choices in; Heart, Head, Professional, Casual. There won’t be any unintended circumstances like in previous games from our actions and it will allow us to try different categories. This means that there most likely won’t be multiple endings, which stinks because it’s the main, unique thing about Mass Effect. There will be multiplayer that will let you upgrade weapons, see benefits in single player and more. Bioware will also put our custom weapons and missions for certain special events. The ending will most definitely set up Mass Effect 5 or whatever they want to call it at that time as well. Hopefully we get to see more gameplay and The Game Awards is our first shot on December 1st. Not much else is known yet, but for now it seems that Bioware quelled some anxiety on how it would tie into the trilogy but created some new anxiety on not letting our choices count. Other things like raids and the MMO factors were not confirmed or denied. Mass Effect: Andromeda is set to release in the Spring of 2017, most likely March 21st, 2017
Mass Effect 1-3 added to EA Access Vault.
Major Nelson has announced, earlier today, Mass Effect trilogy was available to Xbox One gamers via backwards compatibility. On top of that, it’s also on EA Access program available free of charge for subscribers. Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 are coming to Xbox One Backward Compatibility today. #HappyN7Day https://t.co/qPMRNrLoTQ pic.twitter.com/7QhGCbrutd — Larry Hryb, Gamer Emeritus 📱⌨️🖱️🎮 (@majornelson) November 7, 2016 Source: Xbox One Reddit
Xbox Team isn't done this month with adding Backward Compatible titles.
Today has been a great day for Mass Effect and Xbox One users as Mass Effect 2 & 3 are now available on Xbox One via BC. Of course fans have questioned the Xbox boss, Phil Spencer on if there will be even more this month since it is a year that Xbox One introduced Backward Compatibility. Phil Spencer responded to a fan that was expressing his excitement and stated that they aren’t done with this month. Thanks and team isn't done this month. — Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) November 7, 2016 We can only guess what they will bring this month. Could it be Burnout Paradise? We will see.
Bioware releases Mass Effect Andromeda trailer
Happy N7 day! Bioware have released a brand new Mass Effect Andromeda trailer. The new trailer is a bit over 90 seconds long and it provides a lot of hype. Bioware will possibly announce the release date at The Game Awards and will have a gameplay reveal. The journey to Andromeda begins now. Navigate the uncharted reaches of the Andromeda Galaxy to unravel its mysteries, discover vivid alien worlds, and lead the charge to find a new home among the stars. How far will you go to become humanity’s hero? The official box art for the Deluxe and Standard Edition were also revealed earlier with new details including 4 player multiplayer mode as Mass Effect 3 only allowed 3 player multiplayer. Mass Effect 1-3 is now playable on Xbox One via BC.
Mass Effect: Andromeda Deluxe Edition up for pre-order
Update: Mass Effect Andromeda may release on March 21st according to this Xbox One digital code picture. It is N7 day in other words that means it is Mass Effect day in case you are wondering about that. We are expecting a new trailer for Mass Effect Andromeda, but it looks like we got the deluxe edition details and the official box art revealed thanks to a Best Buy listing. This listing did not leak the release date, we’ll wait on EA and Bioware to officially announce that. Here is what the cover art will look like: The Mass Effect Andromeda Deluxe Edition will cost $69.99 on either Xbox One/PS4 and here are the product features: Chart Your Own Course in a Dangerous New Galaxy Unravel the mysteries of the Andromeda galaxy as you discover rich, alien worlds in the search for humanity’s new home Lead the First Humans in Andromeda on a Desperate Search for our New Home In this new chapter of Mass Effect, meet and recruit all-new, interesting characters caught up in an epic space saga filled with mystery and galactic conflict Fight with your Pathfinder Team In Battle Against Terrifying Enemies and Creatures New additions like destructible environments, boosted jumps for added verticality, and all-new weapons and Biotics make combat more thrilling than ever Build a Formidable Hero With Amazing Weapons, Powers and Tech With a much more flexible skill and weapon progression tree, you can replicate your play style to make you unstoppable against new, powerful alien enemies For 1 player or up to 4 in multiplayer mode Keep up to date with us. This will be updated as we get more info through out the day!
Pokemon Sun and Moon have started leaking on 4Chan
Leak season is here and for Nintendo fans you could say it has begun. If you are excited for Pokemon Sun and Moon, but do not want any spoilers I advise you to stay off of NeoGAF, Reddit, etc as much as you can. Review copies have gone out and 4Chan have released some images of what it looks like in game. Here are 2 of them: Source
Akuma is coming to Street Fighter V
Akuma is joining the Street Fighter V roster, the DLC character addition will be playable for the first time at PlayStation Experience on December 3rd at the Anaheim Center, as part of this year’s Capcom Cup competition. There was a small tease before the official reveal during Red Bull’s Battle Grounds competition this weekend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3y7uJgFZU4 Some Akuma graphics were spotted as well, but this could still be a early concept art from a while ago:
Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare release day sales down 50% vs Black Ops 3 in the UK
UPDATE: More evidence that the Infinite Warfare has done well, it outsold Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2 in the UK combined A point of note is that COD: IW first week sales in the UK were higher than BF1 & TF2's first week sales combined Still technically bigger — Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) November 7, 2016 Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is now about 3 days old and the reviews aren’t too bad, and the player base seems to be big as usual. So it’s a bit surprising to see sales of Infinite Warfare in the UK are down 48.4% compared to last year’s Black Ops 3 launch. Let’s not forget that Black Ops 3 had PS3 and Xbox 360 sales to help the game as well. Accounting for the extra platforms, sales are still down by almost 44% according to GFK Chart Tracker. Infinite Warfare is still the biggest shooter to launch in 2016. “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is the #1 shooter/action game week one launch of 2016 in the U.K.” according to GFK. Now that Call of Duty has taken the top spot in the UK charts, Battlefield, Skyrim, and FIFA 17 have all dropped. Top 10 titles below: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Battlefield 1 FIFA 17 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition Titanfall 2 Football Manager 2017 Skylanders Imaginators Mafia 3 Grand Theft Auto 5 Forza Horizon 3