E3 2016 - Mass Effect: Andromeda Creative Director Reveals New Details

Published: June 13, 2016 9:04 PM /

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Mass Effect Andromeda Asari E3 2016

Mac Walters, the Creative Director of Mass Effect: Andromeda, has been making the rounds at E3 this year, and has been revealing some interesting tidbits regarding what is included in the game a day after its E3 trailer was released. 

The big chunk of the information comes from a video interview for GameSlice, where Walters is quickly interviewed by Geoff Keighley. In the interview, Walters is finally able to reveal some details about Andromeda that have, up to this point, only been speculation, including the name of the protagonist being Ryder (which was hinted at in last years N7 video) and that the woman shown at the end of the E3 trailer this year is the default female version of Ryder. 

What's more, Ryder arrives in Andromeda with a family, and BioWare is nothing that the Ryder family will not only tie into the story in some form, but also tie into character customization, which will be handled quite differently this time around compared to the previous games.

The default female version of Ryder, as seen in the E3 trailer.
The default female version of Ryder, as seen in the E3 trailer.

Walters also stated that the tease yesterday showcased what the characters look like in-game, meaning the images were not cinematic cutscenes rendered in the Frostbite engine, but rather in-game Frostbite cutscenes.

Regarding how dialogue and choices will be handled, Walters points out how the choices have been black and white in the past in games like Knights of the Old Republic and the original Mass Effect, and BioWare is attempting to move away from that by offering more morally grey options for the player instead of a straight up Paragon/Renegade system. To that end, Walters states that BioWare is deliberately trying to create a space between the Trilogy and Andromeda, with the point of looking forward into the future being the main goal for the title with few direct references to the original Mass Effect games. 

Walters also touched on a few other topics in the Keighley interview, including how the Mako is the only vehicle you get in the game, the multiplayer portion of Andromeda will be completely optional for players this time around, and for those who do play multiplayer, their aim is to make it a seamless experience between the two game modes. Finally, Walters states that the trailer shown yesterday was purposeful, as the game is in the final stretch of development and is going through its polish stage at this point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I6LLVw1uTo

Besides the video above, Walters has also been talking with IGN and Kotaku, while studio director Aaryn Flynn sat down with Games Radar to reveal more information about Andromeda. Most of the tidbits have been collected on the BioWare forums here, and include some new information as well- companions relationships and romances, for example, are being redesigned to feel more organic and will no longer be about hitting the right dialogue options to get a specific cutscene.

Walters and Flynn also revealed that Need for Speed developers Ghost Games helped BioWare in developing the physics and driving sections of the Mako, and that the journey to Andromeda takes hundreds of years to complete, meaning the game will be set in the distant future for sure.

Mass Effect: Andromeda is scheduled for an early 2017 release. Remember, you can find more of our E3 coverage at our E3 2016 Coverage Hub.

So what do you think about all of this news? Leave your comments below.

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| Staff Writer

A longtime player of games, creator of worlds, and teacher of minds. Robert has worked many positions over the years, from college professor to education… More about Robert

More Info About This Game
Learn more about Mass Effect: Andromeda
Developer
Bioware
Publisher
Electronic Arts
Platforms
PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4
Release Date
March 21, 2017 (Calendar)
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