Mass Effect 4 - Andromeda [PC, PS4, XBone]

[Prey]

As the game dropped from £33 to £25 on CD KEYS I finally gave in and bought it. For a game of this complexity, size and scope I think that is more than a reasonable price no matter the failings many say it may have. Everything I've seen in videos tells me I will enjoy it, perhaps even really enjoy it.

If anyone would like to share some tips or hints as to how best to start a new character I'd more than appreciate it.

[Sly Boots]

You can respec once you've got your ship and swap powers in and out at the start of and between combat missions (ie you're not locked in to being a soldier using only soldier skills, or an engie using exclusively tech skills etc)... it's really flexible in terms of your build.

I'd say it's near-impossible to end up with a poor build, and part of the fun is experimenting with the different powers and finding ways to synergise (eg via combos) to play in a style that suits you.

If I have one observation, though, I would say that, for me, playing a vanguard build was both ridiculously fun and borderline overpowered by the end. Essentially you prime combos on enemies with a long-range power like singularity, then charge them from halfway across the map to detonate them. Fully specced, you can charge every couple of seconds, and in the final levels I was barely using my gun at all.

But, like I said, try to find the play-style that suits you best, if you think you've wasted your points you can always respec.

Also, be aware that you won't be able to max even half of the available active and passive powers, and it's better to be a specialist in, say, half a dozen of each than try to be a jack of all trades.

The profiles sound interesting in theory, but in honesty I barely ever swapped them in combat as I was enjoying vanguard too much and everything else felt underpowered in comparison.

[Sly Boots]

Also, you have two important moves available from the start that the game never tells you about.

The first is a mid-air dash. You have your jump-jets mapped to space, and there's a horizontal dash mapped to the middle mouse button by default, but what the game never tells you is you can chain them, so jump, then dash while in mid-air. I mapped the dash move to a more convenient thumb button, as I used it so much, not only in combat but just generally getting around.

Secondly, is your ground-pound. Basically, once you're in mid-air, hit your melee button (default f) to slam into the ground and damage everything in the vicinity. This is particularly useful against the enemies that crowd round you, or those shooting from behind cover. One of my favourite moves was to charge them from across the map, then follow up with the ground pound to finish them off.

Another tip - don't bother buying weapons, it's a waste of money as what you'll be crafting will be far, far better than anything the stores sell. Also, invest some time getting familiar with the crafting system, you'll be both researching and building a lot of stuff.

There's a system introduced reasonably early on whereby you can send out teams to undertake missions in real-time and bring you back resources if successful. I ignored it at first as it was presented like a multiplayer thing, but actually it's more like the system in AC Black Flag, and really you'll want to always have your team or teams (you can buy others) out doing stuff so you get a regular flow of rewards.

[Prey]

Hey Sly. Level 10 Vanguard with a complete set of lvl III Angaran armour...






Around 20+ hours in. I will hands down now admit that the game really didn't deserve the mauling it received. It's still a little buggy, locating some of the way points drives me utterly insane, performance could be better in places and the level design is a rather mixed bag. Overall though I'm yet to regret getting it.

[Sly Boots]

Yeah, it's a good game honestly, if not quite a great one. Well worth playing for fans of the series.

You enjoying cracking skulls as a vanguard?

[Prey]

I made the [terrible terrible] mistake of starting the game on Hardcore mode and my body was being hit from all directions and even now on the lower normal mode and a purple shield I can still get some heavy damage from those pesky snipers if I'm not careful thankfully melee strikes sort that out. The Vanguard class is a great all round class though so thank you for pointing me in the right direction bud. The up close and personal abilities are very good indeed. There's a hefty amount of Destiny's own similar combat abilities resonating from this also I must say and I'm genuinely surprised nobody else who has played it has mentioned that aspect.

The level design too is reminding me of all kinds of games including Lost Planet, Warframe, Halo, Destiny, Section 8 and no doubt plenty more besides. Fun if often rather unpolished game.

[Sly Boots]

Yep

[Prey]

My son has been watching me playing the game and to my surprise just asked me to order him a version for his PS4 with some of his birthday money which is due to arrive tomorrow. Now I have to directly compete with him to have better weapons and gear. -_-

[Sly Boots]

Get the Reegar carbine!

Love charging in then spraying electricity round at anything still standing. Can't remember what I went for armour-wise, just the N7 gear I think.

[Subway Diet]

Saw that the game was 25 quid on the PC. Grabbed it on the last day of the EA summer sale.
Now that it's had it's two major patches, I'm looking forward to getting stuck in.

I've already played through the opening few hours on the PS4, so I'm just getting back to where I was. Will say it looks awesome at 4K, though I knocked it down to 1440 due to some FPS hiccups when there's lots of plants on screen.

[Prey]

Glad to know some are willing to take a chance on the game. I'm yet to complete it as I ran into some horrendous performance issues in later stages so I'm now holding off playing it until my upgrade is done. Sadly any additional DLC for the game is also pretty much done...

“This news saddens us to say, but it was made official after a meeting this week that there will be no story DLC for Mass Effect Andromeda. Due to issues in initial production, heavy critique, significant delays in other projects it was decided to shelve the franchise for the time being and all resources and outsourcing are being focused to the 2018 release of Anthem.

For the moment the Mass Effect series will be on ice until BioWare can decide which direction the franchise will go.

The only content that will be produced will be the recurring APEX missions as well as patches as and when needed”

[Sly Boots]

Laughable that a fun, interesting game released with a smattering of issues, many of which have been fixed, has apparently killed off the franchise.

I'd much rather play Andromeda again that Inquisition... yet another DA is seemingly in the works.

[DjchunKfunK]

Considering the general reaction Sly I don't think it is that surprising. You might have enjoyed it, but the general feeling about the game is it's not that great.

[Subway Diet]

Yikes.
I guess, in a weird way, some confidence can be gained in knowing the game is more or less complete as it'll ever get now.

To think I listed this, GR:WL and Scalebound as my most anticipated games of 2017. A flop, a dud and a dead.

[Sly Boots]

Considering the general reaction Sly I don't think it is that surprising. You might have enjoyed it, but the general feeling about the game is it's not that great.

Going by the majority of comments I've seen, generally people who played it enjoyed it. I think this is more due to the fact that the negative buzz created by stuff like 'my face is tired' (and that remains shit) and some funny walking animations put many people off even buying it to begin with and this decision is the result of poor sales.