Set in the distance future of the year 2865, Mass Effect Andromeda tells the tale of Ryder – a member of the Andromeda Initiative. Taking place chronologically after the original trilogy of games, Andromeda’s narrative focuses on an ARK vessel sent to the Andromeda constellation with 20,000 souls ready to colonize “Habitat 7” in order to find a new home for mankind among the stars. As a member of the Pathfinding team – who are among the first setting foot on this new world – Ryder must help assess whether Habitat 7 is the right home for humanity and what the intentions of its habitants are.
Before Mass Effect Andromeda coming to PC, Xbox One and PS4 on Tuesday I’ve got the chance to sit down with the game for several extended play sessions before the games’ release thanks to the Origin Access Trial. Last night I captured the first hour of gameplay with no commentary so that our readers could get a chance to check out how Andromeda performs & the introduction of Ryder.
Watch it in the embedded player below and look out for more gameplay videos from Mass Effect Andromeda in the coming days as well as our full review on Tuesday.
Electronic Arts has released the official minimum and recommended specs for Bioware’s upcoming space epic Mass Effect Andromeda on their support website. It might seem that this information is hidden but it didn’t take the internet long to unearth what kind of rig we will need to experience Andromeda at 30FPS at 1080p.
Here is Andromeda’s minimum requirements:
Minimum Requirements
Predicted performance 30 FPS at 1280×720 on Low Settings
Operating System 64-bit Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10
Processor Intel Core i5 3570 or AMD FX-6350
Memory (RAM) 8 GB
Graphics Card GTX 660 2 GB
and here are the recommended specs:
Recommended
Predicted performance 30 FPS at 1920×1080 on High Settings
Operating System 64-bit Windows 10
Processor Intel Core i7-4790 or AMD FX-8350
Memory (RAM) 16 GB
Graphics Card GTX 1060 3 GB / RX 480 4 GB
So how are these specs? Well on the surface they do appear a bit on the higher end considering that these are targeting 30 FPS and not the 60 FPS that many dedicated PC gamers feel provide the superior experience. Also worth noting is the fact that these minimum / recommended specs do not mention 4K resolution at all, even though we know that Mass Effect: Andromeda will support the burgeoning resolution.
My personal gaming rig falls just above the recommended specs, so when it comes time to write up my impressions of Mass Effect: Andromeda – please don’t expect 4K Ultra screenshots, as that is probably not going to happen. As PC Gamer points out – both Andromeda and Battlefield 1 share the same Frostbite 3.0 engine and BF1 was fully playabale @ 1080 60FPS on Ultra settings. Perhaps the ‘high quality’ recommended settings are a typo on Electronic Arts part.
Mass Effect Andromeda will release in just 12 days – On March 21st for PC , Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
New gameplay footage from Bioware’s next space RPG adventure Mass Effect Andromeda will be shown at Nvidia’s Consumer Electronics Show keynote event on January 4th. The confirmation of a brand new gameplay trailer, which will reportedly focus on in-game environments, comes via the official Mass Effect Twitter account.
Here is the tweet that confirmed the brand new gameplay segment to be shown during CES:
Here is Nvidia’s official description of their upcoming keynote which will also be live-streamed:
“This January, NVIDIA will kick off CES and usher in a new year of technology innovation when co-founder and CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, takes the stage to give the preshow keynote address on January 4, 2017, 6:30 p.m. PST, of the industry’s most exciting tech unveilings in artificial intelligence (AI), self-driving cars, and gaming.”
We’ve known about the existence of Mass Effect: Andromeda for quite a while – with first word of the project coming over four years ago on “N7 Day” back in 2012. Since then EA & Bioware have been quite open about the development of the game, showcasing early engine technology and animation reels at E3 2014 before officially unveiling the game’s title at last year’s E3. More recently they released the first gameplay trailer from Andromeda, which you can watch below.
Mass Effect Andromeda is expected to be on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, Xbox One and Windows PC Via Origin.
We have known for a while that BioWare maker of beloved Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and yes Knights of the Old Republic, are working on a new IP. However, what we didnt know was that Alistair McNally BioWares’s senior director of creative development have revealed that project at GDC. However, he did it in such a clandestine that all of the media outlets (including our own) who were at GDC missed it. Take look at that tweet for full confirmation, but basically he said that he was walking around in a new T-shirt that had the IP on it.
Also it was fun to walk around GDC2016 in a t-shirt with our new IP on it and no one batted an eyelid.
Since Alistair has only about 5000 followers, even this tweet went mostly unnoticed. IGN dug it up this morning and now a large chunk of the internet is searching for images of Alistair at the convention, to try and analyze the shirt he is wearing.
So what do you hope the new IP is? Tell us on Facebook, or Twitter!
Chris Wrynn, Senior Development Director of Mass Effect:Andromeda announced today through a series of tweets that he will be moving on from Bioware and returning to the USA. It’s kind of a shock due to how long he’s been on the project. Chris hasn’t let on any details as to why he is leaving at this point in time, but I don’t see any reason why his leaving would have any impact on the final release. BioWare also haven’t released any information on a possible successor to Mr. Wrynn. Before his work with BioWare Montreal, Wrynn worked as a producer for companies such as Epic Games and Microsoft.
At this point fans are clamoring for any scrap of information on the upcoming title and recently a supposed leak detailed on AntarcticWildlifes YouTube channel has everyone brimming with conjecture. Also of note is the return of writer Drew Karpyshyn, known for his work on Mass Effect, Baldur’s Gate, and Knights of the Old Republic. Having a veteran onboard certainly bodes well.
I’ve gone ahead and inserted the relevant tweets below.
It is with a heavy heart today to say that I am moving on from BioWare and Mass Effect: Andromeda, and returning to the USA.
Dragon Age is another in a strong list of BioWare franchises that has a strong, loyal, and sometimes fierce following; when games in their franchises try to hit a massive audience outside of their core user base things often get kind of messy and, unfortunately, as a result, good standalone games and franchise entries get dragged through the dirt. Inquisition is one of those games and, in an effort to try and re-establish itself with that wider audience and show some loyalty to its core audience, BioWare releases a Game of the Year edition to give those who either haven’t played the game at all or haven’t engaged in any of the extra content that’s available for the game.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Like most AAA role playing games, the first twenty minutes is almost purely exposition and introduction to the setting, the characters, and the gameplay: what you’re getting and what you’re introduced to is a blending of the previous titles in the franchise and looks to wrap everything up. Even if you’re a newcomer to the series, there’s not a noticeable detriment to coming into the franchise as you have options; you can either work with the default world state or you can experiment on Dragon Age Keep, a website that ties into your Origin account and allows you to mess around with world states, which is really cool. Due to circumstances out of my control, Dragon Age Keep allowed me to recreate the world state in saves I had used in previous titles.
Introduction to combat doesn’t happen without too much hand-holding and it’s done within the narrative so it doesn’t feel as though it creates too much of a interruption in the experience. The first bit of this game is exactly what I expected to see from a BioWare title.
In my humble opinion, they took everything that succeeded in both of the former titles in the franchise and blended them together to provide the framework that this game is built around. BioWare knows that if they have a vision they know how to bring it to life and that’s something they’ve done for as long as I’ve known them and their role playing games have been spot-on for this. Inquisition is absolutely no different in this as it provides an experience that feels just as great at being a game as it is a wonderfully presented narrative.
One of the largest things that stand out for this game is that it was made with two ideals in mind: broad appeal and taking advantage of current generation technology. It’s very clear that they’re trying to create a singular type of experience and if you’re a fan of the franchise like I am, this is exactly what you want. I came in with a certain set of expectations and I feel that Inquisition hit every one of them. I feel that one could dive in as any kind of player and feel that you could be immersed relatively quickly.
The graphical and audio presentation is extremely satisfying – on current generation consoles, the game looks, feels, and sounds marvelous. Voice acting is very well done and, surprisingly so, the lip sync is actually done pretty well, most times. There’s rarely any slowdown.
Its greatest strength, however, is also its greatest failings: I feel that the experience does not transfer over in the same way into previous generation’s systems. The appeal is so broad that, at times, it feels watered down. It’s clear to me that Inquisition was tailored for a very specific experience and everyone else that has any different demands from the game gets to suffer.
There are trivial issues that I could list off that are nothing more than just pet peeves but there are enough of them to note that I feel they should not be featured in the game the way that they have been: the worst of all is the removal of mana and healing magics. This means that, between rest stops and reload points, you’re limited to a certain number of healing potions and that is it. That’s creating a false sense of difficulty and that’s a terribly lazy design choice. In previous generation systems, there are a massive amount of pathfinding and collision detection bugs that can break the experience of traveling between locales. Story progression happens in spurts and the spots in between those spurts really only cater to those who greatly enjoy the lore of the franchise.
While this defines me, gameplay and story progression only rewards those who greatly enjoy both. If you feel that one or the two are lacking, it will taint the other experience. This game would be awesome if only it were way more refined, smooth, and immersive.Read More
Bioware has stated the Mass Effect 4 narrative won’t be speaking anything of Shepard or the events that surrounded him, instead telling a story completely foreign from those events and persons. Read More
Update: Not that this one wasn’t obvious, but this was an April Fools joke. Fantasy worlds will eventually develop fast food franchises however. Just imagine the menus!
There’s no inquisition in the new Dragon Age game. However, there are dragons that the world just has nothing to do with. So what does a medieval fantasy world do with so much meat? Open a Quiznos of course! In Dragon Age 3 gamers will experience the thrill of owning their own franchise and serving up a bevvy of tasty treats to the games various characters! Now with the new Frostbite 3 engine you’ll be able to see your sandwich creations in stunning realisim! The world may always feel like it’s ending outside, but inside there’s a different meaning when we relate dragons to the words “Mmmm… Toasty!”
Remember that absolutely beautiful Battlefield 4 video we saw just last week? Well the general manager for Bioware Edmonton and Montreal Aaryn Flynn has confirmed Dragon Age 3 and the next Mass Effect will use the same engine!
This is definitely amazing news! The characters, details and realisim level in the Battlefield 4 video are stunning. Even the video itself was produced more like a short movie told from a first person perspective. Of course that doesn’t mean the other games will be first person, just that they’ll be potentially as beautiful. Hopefully this means other EA titles will be adding this wonderful engine to their games as well.
Previous reports revealed that Dragon Age 3 would be using Frostbite 2 by DICE, and it’s great to see this upgrade. Artists on DA3 were already impressed with switching to the earlier Frostbite, seeing what they come up with now should truly be amazing!
Editor’s note: Staff at Broken Joysticks will be sharing their top five games, or game related stories, from 2012 throughout the week. We’re continuing the feature with the top five from our editor, kashhoward.
For me, 2012 was a year with many games I anticipated releasing to great success, and some falling short due to various choices. Since I’m always playing fighters, it’s less common for me to purchase the newest games. While I had to omit some games that I never got to play from my list, here are my top five games of 2012.
Bioware and Electronic Arts have got a lot of press for the recently released free to play version of the Old Republic. Players in a galaxy far far away can expand their experience for a mere $20, or $10 if they’re a paying monthly subscriber. That doesn’t sound like such a bad deal, whether The Rise of the Hutt Cartel can bring the level of content players expect from a full expansion is unknown Bioware has revealed some details surrounding the add-on.
Rise of the Hutt Cartel brings high level players five new levels to experience with the new level 55 cap. On top of this is new story missions and a planet, Makeb, designed for the game’s most advanced characters. Aside from the new fully voiced story content Bioware haven’t revealed what new features this expansion will bring. Stay tuned for more!
Update 12/13/12: This is why we state it was a “mystery source” as now the Gamer Syndrome article that was posted was pulled today with the site stating:
“This interview has been removed. The information provided previously by the author of this post was deemed to be obtained from an inaccurate source and NOT an official Bioware or EA interview response. We apologize for the inconvinience.”
So there we have it folks. If new information comes into the light, we will be here to share it with you. At least we do know that Mass Effect 4 is in development now.
Original Story
An unnamed Bioware dev gave Gamer Syndrome an interesting update on what the status of Mass Effect 4. This mystery source states that:
“Fans can expect a similar style of choices and action that they’ve come to know in Mass Effect. Casey Hudson is very much involved in the new Mass Effect game, as well as many from Edmonton. BioWare Montreal is a great studio and they did fantastic with the multiplayer for Mass Effect 3, so fans should know the series is in good hands,” they said.
“You’ll hear more about the new Mass Effect game in 2013.”
So, we are pretty sure that this game will definitely be next-gen and almost 100% that it will run on the Frostbite 2 engine – which was created for Dragon Age 3.
I’m personally hoping that they let you pick from different races then have the storyline alter depending on what race you pick. I can dream, but regardless: I’m ready for Mass Effect 4, Dragon Age 3, and the next generation to get here! What would you all like to see implemented in the next iteration of Mass Effect? Please don’t say competitive multiplayer…please!
If you’re like me, you spent lots of time wandering the Sword Coast looking for whatever situations you could find and role playing through them. The quality of Baldurs Gate is timeless, with many of my friends replaying the games over the years. Now it comes to an entirely new generation with enhancements!
There’s bug fixes corrected from the original, new characters, and a new adventure in The Black Pits! The game also includes some of the mechanics of Baldurs Gate II such as extra classes. On top of that the enhanced edition includes the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion. There’s lots of goodies here and a great world to get immersed in. You can pick it up now for $20 on the games website BaldursGate.com.
A few hiccups have been noted on the games support forum, so you may want to check in and make sure you can run the game on your system.
Rumors, reported by Kotaku, state that Electronic Art’s next entry in the Dragon Age franchise, Dragon Age III, has shifted focused to the as unannounced Xbox 720 and PS4 rather this current generation of consoles. The source for this rumor is a LinkedIN profile for a former employee of Bioware who worked on the game as a level designer. This platform shift apparently will cause the game to be delayed from a late 2013 launch window to sometime in 2014.
Kotakue reports that the unnamed employee wrote on their social resume:
“Scope of the DAIII has been chaged [sic], which will target next gen platform [sic] and will be postpone [sic] to 2014.”
If DAIII was released two years from now would that spur your decision to jump into the next generation? Let us know in the comments below.
Noted as being the biggest expansion in the franchises history by our own Joshua Rust, the latest single player DLC for Mass Effect 3 focuses on Aria’s battle to reclaim Omega with Commander Shepards help. The announcement for the DLC asks “Forced to rely on Aria’s unique knowledge of the station and faced with her lust for revenge, how far will you go to retake Omega?” Read on for the launch trailer.Read More
