Mass Effect: Andromeda Review - Giantbomb

Andromeda largely feels like a shoddily assembled facsimile of the previous Mass Effect games.

[Themba76]

very accurate

[Elit3Nick]

Not in the least

[SegaGamer]

How is this review not in the least bit accurate ?

Are you telling me that you haven't experienced a single thing this reviewer has gone through with this game ? Not a single bug here and there, no weird facial animations ? If you say you haven't experienced some of these problems with this game then you're lying. These things aren't just experienced by the odd few, everybody is having at the very least some issues with the game.

[joab777]

Of course there are a few human characters that are weird looking. You will see them in the first few hrs. But after that its about gameplay and the journey across Andromeda.

Is it polished? No. It could be better, but I think many reviews ignore everything else.

[Jon_Targaryen]

@Segagamer, I've experienced lots of bugs on Witcher 3 too when it first released... MANY!!! Even ME2 and 3 on released game me gaming crashing problems due to optimization problems. Did it make those games crap? NO!!!

So acting like this is the first game ever to release "broken" as you make it out to be is just ignorant and plain stupid. This game is really good. 90% of the VA is great and there were many times I had to stop and just let the scenery overwhelm me on certain planets. You sir, are a prime example of whats wrong with video games. Looking for fault where there really isnt any!

[antz1104]

@Jon tygarean but it's not a review of ME2, ME3, or Witcher 3. Saying the cons shouldn't count because other games got a pass is laughable.

[InTheZoneAC]

@Jon

I bought Witcher 3 at launch and probably put only around 15 hours into it and the little that I played I experienced no bugs. That was before all the patches came out. But anytime I look at ME:A it just LOOKS broken then I see it in action is and PLAYS broken.

The audacity to release a game in this state especially with this budget should be fair enough to drop it 5 points automatically.

[SegaGamer]

@Jon_Targaryen

"So acting like this is the first game ever to release "broken" as you make it out to be is just ignorant and plain stupid"

Where in my comment did i say that ? I was replying to somebody who said that this review wasn't in the least bit accurate, which is simply not true. There are many bugs and there are many weird facial animations, that cannot be denied. So the reviewer is actually at least a bit accurate in his review. I'm not saying the game is broken or implying that it is either, but there are many things wrong with the game. If anyone is stupid here, it is you for misinterpreting my post.

"You sir, are a prime example of whats wrong with video games. Looking for fault where there really isnt any!"

Which again is a complete lie. There are faults with the game, many of them, and not just random unnoticeable ones either. A lot of the faults with this game is thrown right in your face. There are tons of examples of this all over the Internet. A lot of people dislike the voice acting, story, gameplay, facial animations, glitches. So to say i am just looking for faults is complete rubbish. It's impossible not to notice it.

[SardoNumspa]

Who the hell actually visits a garbage site like Giantbomb?

[starchild]

I honestly don't care what critics think about anything. They are just a microcosm of the gaming community as a whole. Too many goddamn idiots.

[frostypants]

Well, you seem pretty angry about it. Perhaps you care more than you realize.

[starchild]

Not really. I'm disappointed and frustrated by all the double standards, fanboyism and bandwagons in the gaming community. But I don't care what score critics slap on a game (or movie, book, etc.) It truly has no influence on my own opinion of those things.

The bandwagon phenomenon is very real and is a recognized behavior pattern in human psychology. It's easy to see when it's happening in the gaming community. Some games get a degree of hate that is completely beyond rational grounds and is not proportional to any objective faults it might have.

[alstruck]

I sense sarcasm here lol..

[Criti-Choco]

garbage sites like Giantbomb? You clearly dont know...

now if you said polygon or kotaku, then maybe you would flip that disagree count around

[LoveSpuds]

You are grossly misinformed pal, Giantbomb exist purely because they are honest with their reviews. The founder of the Site, Jeff Gerstman was fired from Gamespot because he refused to change his review when advertisers threatened Gamespot with pulling their advertising money if they didn't give a higher score.

He took Brad Shoemaker (the reviewer of this game) with him, just because you haven't heard of them it doesn't mean they are a small concern. They are widely regarded among development and industry professionals as being stand up guys who care about the industry. Their E3 coverage has every dev you care to mention fighting to appear on their show because they are cool guys despite, this is despite Giantbomb often being critical of their games.

Read the review, it's Brad's personal opinion, it is well reasoned and is further backed up by several videos of pretty major bugs that affected him. You are the one here who sounds like a blinkered fan boy who cannot accept other people's perspectives.

[ShadowKnight]

Well I've played worse games than this. This game is definitely better than the Division and Quantum Break IMO

[Trekster_Gamer]

QB far and away was better in every conceivable way.

[ShadowKnight]

😂😂

[R6ex]

+1

At least the QB characters don't creep me out. I just can't stand looking at those ME:A faces ... just takes me out of the game! Its 2017 afterall.

This ME fan here (who bought 5 copies of ME 1-3) ain't buying this ME:A piece of crap!

[ShadowKnight]

QB made me fall in a deep sleep. I enjoyed the sleep more than the game

[Trekster_Gamer]

Shadow Night looking at your comment history it's fair to say your anti Xbox and anti Microsoft I'm fairly certain you've never played Quantum break you're just a typical fan boy troll who doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.

[ShadowKnight]

I actually played Quantum Break on my PC and streamed it on my twitch account. Since I cleared that up obviously you don't know what you're talking about.

[ThatGuyDart]

This game has high high's and low low's, if that makes any sense. It's not a bad game but not even close to any of the three in the original trilogy.

[Donjune]

Spot on! Summed it up perfectly!

[Servbot41]

Basically. Either you can look past the issues and get a really enjoyable game out of it, or you can't. I'm having a blast, personally, even though its buggy as hell, but I wouldn't fault someone for rating it low, assuming they've actually played it.

[Trekster_Gamer]

The issues is what make the game bad. Turn a blind eye to all issues?

That's lame.

[mechlord]

Big part of the reason these sites are giving it low score (and me too personally) is what this game represents, what it was hyped to be and the shoulders its standing on. If it was some rookie developer i think all these issues would just receive a passing mention. But, with the developer and publisher it has, it has absolutely no reason to be this shoddy. It doesn't mean it cant be fun and engaging, but really, at times it feels no one playtested this.

[Jon_Targaryen]

Take your nostalgia goggles off. If you wanted a true Sheppard sequel you were going to be disappointed from the beginning regardless. You can blame Mac Walter and Casey Hudson for that.

[Jmanzare]

@mech
So you're judging the game for what it isn't and not for what it is?

[OldGuyStillGaming]

So is this game shit or decent?
Some say yes and others no
I would like to hear from someone that actually played it

[Themba76]

i played for 30 hrs and it depends on where your standards are if you like games that play and look like a mediocre 7th gen game then this is your game if you want a 8th gen game then avoid like the plague especially if you have a ps4 there are better choices out there like nioh,nier automata,horizon zero dawn and persona 5.

[Dark_Knightmare2]

Lol show me a 7th gen game that looks as good as this

[SegaGamer]

@Dark_Knightmare2

He literally just named a few games that look far better than Mass Effect Andromeda.

[starchild]

Nioh and Nier look better than Andromeda? Hahaha what a joke. Nioh is my favorite game this year and Nier seems like a fun game, but they both look like last gen games for the most part. Andromeda looks significantly better.

[Justanopinion]

7th gen? How do you expect to be taken seriously when you speak saying such nonsense. Play this next to any previous mass effect game. Now consider that this is also rendering insane combat in semi open worlds. And then maybe put on your glasses or seek out a prescription for some if you still can't see the huge difference.

[LordMaim]

I have finished the game. It has issues, and takes a long time to get into the meat of the game, but is actually quite good. It feels like Mass Effect, but is definitely moving in a new direction. People can nitpick about the design of the minor NPCs looking weird (they do) or the occasional weird animation on the humans (it happens), but the game turned out to be a good entry in the series. It's not the best Mass Effect in the franchise, but I would stand it up against the original ME anyday.

[Jon_Targaryen]

Agreed. I'm 28% in and I can see their trying to make this ME entry their own. Much like every new American Horror story or Fargo season does.

Same thing different setting, jsut wish people understood that. Just because some bugs happened to slip pass the devs people act like this is the worse thing since ME3's ending... Just becuase the few Youtube idiots they follow say so. I give it 3 months and everybody will denie every saying this game sucked when they actually got down to playing it.

[LordMaim]

The simplest comparison I can make is between Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. It uproots the setting to a new location, keeps the structure of the same universe, but introduces new characters. With that as a starting point, it makes its own story.

Technical issues can be patched, the human non-crew NPC faces/animations... might/might not be fixed? Either way, it didn't stop me from enjoying the game.

[Servbot41]

I enjoy it a lot, but it has a lot of faults, the least of which are the animations everyone harps about. I'd probably give it a 6/10 even though I haven't been able to put it down, but if they iron out the numerous actual issues, like softlocks, broken quests, missing items and bugged skills I would easily give it an 8/10 if not higher, assuming how much work they put into fixing the cosmetic issues along with the technical.

[Pintheshadows]

I feel like I would give it a 7. Every time I find an issue, I then find something I really like, and vice versa. One of the strangest gaming experiences I have had in a while.

Issues across the board, but then it throws something really good at you and for a while you do forget the issues. Until another new issue crops up.

[OB1Biker]

Make your opinion yourself on your own tastes. After bad reviews people look closer to any flaws they can find but would forgive a lot to flaws in games they saw good reviews for. Other than some weird animation sometimes, not most of the time like they want you to believe, most of the time they are average like in these types of game, it's a game that keeps you playing till early in the morning going 'Oh sht it's that time'.

[Jon_Targaryen]

I've played 20 hours so far and its great!!! Just found a Turian ARK and its respective Sam Node and that side mission alone felt like a full fledge level on its own. Was very well paced and executed.

[Pintheshadows]

It's okay. It has lots of silly issues that should have been fixed. Good combat and it is huuuuuuuge.

[Lovable]

The score looks about right. Game is a huge disappointment like NMS.

[2pacalypsenow]

71 on MetaCritic now

[SegaGamer]

It deserves worse. I'm sorry Mass Effect fans, but the game is a buggy mess, it's lucky to even have a 71 score. No buggy game should be let off just because it has a big following.

[admiralvic]

"No buggy game should be let off just because it has a big following."

Yet it happens all the time with Bethesda games... I mean, Fallout 3 crashed my PlayStation 3 more times than every other PlayStation 3, 4 and Vita game I've played combined, yet it has a 90 on Metacritic.

With that being said, though I don't agree with it, I don't disagree with this either. The problem is that a lot of critics aren't fairly rating games and people like BlueFox775.

"I'm perfectly OK with this game getting scores like this. It sends a message to developers: "Don't release broken, buggy games, or we'll call you out.""

This is BlueFox775's comment from above and it's sad how some people view the review process as a fancy editorial. The point isn't to take a moral stance against broken games, but to objectively evaluate a product. Mass Effect should lose points for this, just like Fallout 3 from more outlets. However, just because it should lose points, doesn't mean it should hit a point that is excessive either. When games are losing 6+ points for morality, there is a serious problem.

[Jc95]

Im sorry but this games character models are frightening..

[Dark_Knightmare2]

Lol what a ridiculous score

[BIGBOSS08]

This game is getting such a mixed reception. Some are saying it's straight up shit but others are saying it's still a good game despite its issues with animation. Guess I'll find out for myself when I eventually get round to it. How did they mess the animations up so bad? There's early ps3 games that have better animations.

[Segata]

People keep focusing on animations. That is the least of this games problems. The dialogue awkward and often just terrible. The My face is tired meme. There is a lot more of that kind of stuff in this game. "this is the room we do research,*dramatic music played* we call it...THE RESEARCH ROOM" Yes this actually happens in the game. The voice acting is HORRIBLE. I heave heard early 90s Engrish games with better VA. Fem Ryders voice is a cheese grater to the nutsack. Also a game made by SJW's.

[BIGBOSS08]

Yea i have noticed all these other problems from all the clips I've seen. Its like the devs were drunk making this game and the more I hear about it, the more I think I might just skip the game all together. I'll see if I can find the time to give it a go myself. There's just so many games to play at the moment and andromeda sounds like it isn't even worth playing.

[meganick]

So in other words, the game is a Giantbomb?

[shammgod]

Well, at least this game brought on some hilarious memes and videos of animations gone wrong. I literally spent an entire day watching them and losing my s***!

[FullmetalRoyale]

Well, at some point, this will make one hell of a bargain bin purchase.

Reviews aside, players views aside, there are straight up too many video games to play on my system of choice. ME2 is one of my all time favorite games, but the size of my backlog is ridiculous. The feeling I get from a Bioware game is great, and I look forward to playing Andromeda, eventually!

[That one guy 86]

I'm enjoying it. Yes the game has issues, but overall its a fun game. 2/5 is too harsh. I'd say its at least 7/10

[BlakHavoc]

I feel like MEA is a decent game, just not worth playing at the moment amongst all the other great games currently out or releasing. This is coming from a HUGE Mass Effect fan.

[Krysis]

I listen to their podcast every week, while I usually agree with them on most subjects, none of them liked this game at all. They acted like it damn near unplayable but I am enjoying it for what it is

[jorellpogi]

The bomb was a dud!

[showtimefolks]

few gamers are defending this game and they maybe bioware employees because when every single critic is stating the same issues than something is wrong

this game is about a 6.5-7/10 and right now on meta it's at 71 which represents the game quite nicely

forget the animations
forget the poor voice overs
forget the bad lip syncing
forget the forgetful main story
forget the tedious fetch side quests
forget the speech options which are simply absurd you can't be a bad/evil characters
forget the bad bad crafting systems which requires many currencies
forget the bad UI
forget all the bugs and glitches like missions not loading correctly and enemies which are not spawning

forget everything but let's believe the very select few who are going out of their way to defend this game

horizon zero down
zelda
nioh
nier
yakuza zero
gravity rush 2
the last guardian
persona 5

the bar for what is expected has been raised and bioware hired people based off their sexual preference instead of talent and this game shows. so gays deserve better jobs not because they deserve it because they are gays and we are suppose to feel bad for them

mass effect Andromeda is a average game at best and that is a fact which few of you shouting won't change and there are better RPG's available

and let's get another thing out of the way it's not on EA, they gave bioware an engine which saved them a lot of time which would have gone into building their own engine or understanding a 3rd party engine, they gave bioware 5 years to develop this and a huge AAA game budget

so yes it's a popular thing to blame EA but they as a publisher did their job just like konami gave kojima 5 years and 80 million to develop MGS5 yet he couldn't finish the game on time

why don't we hold these developers to he same standard

[Pintheshadows]

You should add the awful scene transitions to your list. I actually think they are far worse and far more immersion breaking than the animations.

[showtimefolks]

Yes that too

[WelkinCole]

Personally its an 8 game to me. I actually like being a pathfinder. Not Bio's best but its still a pretty good game.

I think the problem is particular on the PS4 because of the stellar games that just came out recently on it where ME:A next to them makes it looks bad.

However the hate this game is getting is over blown. Perhaps I was expecting the worst but I found it to be a pretty good game.

[RedDevils]

Mass effect : Andromeda should be rename to "Mass effect: Giant Bomb"

[SynestheticRoar]

Don't hit the face baby.

[Trekster_Gamer]

Agreed, the score is accurate. This game is a pale Shadow of the MEs that came before!

BioWare WTF?

[Spike20XX]

i can't give my take on this game, played 20 hours and i just couldnt continue this tedious experience.

This comes from someone that loved the trilogy.

[Jon_Targaryen]

Meanwhile I'm 20 hours in and 28% complete with the game so far and loving every minute of it. I wish I knew where all this hate was coming from, its a AWESOME GAME!!!

[georgenancy]

That EA Indoctrination though....

[Canary]

Well, at least we got two or three good games out of Bioware before EA's poison finally killed the brand.

Gotta stay positive, folks! Look on the bright side.

[Jmanzare]

I have 60 hours into the game these low reviews are a joke. It's a little slow at first but it picks up after you get to the eos the 2nd planet. Yea the animations can be a little weird but that's no reason for such a low score. The game could of used more development time to polish there's no game things up but there's no game breaking bugs. Some of my favorite games were a little buggy like kotor, Oblivion halo 2 fallout 3 and 4. I really don't understand all of the hate. Most of the people hating this game never played the game.

[Justanopinion]

I'd say the reception of this game is an embarrassing moment for the gaming community as a whole. No serious fan of this franchise can tell me this isn't a great game. I've never seen a games smaller issues be so savagely torn apart before. I don't usually comment on posts, but I am just mindf*cked at the comments towards this game. I love it personally and hope they can perfect this new direction. Cant wait for DLC assuming it's meaty and adds more crew.

[Pintheshadows]

The biggest problem it has is that some of the moments in the game are from a 9/10, and then there is all the 6/10 jank everywhere you turn.

All of it feels 75% finished.

It also feels like it is parodying the uncanny valley. It is very strange that Lexi looks more alive than Ryder in the early cutscenes. I do like the Galxy Quest tone but I wish you could play Ryder as a badass. As it is he is sarcastic and jokey, or a piece of emotionless wood.

The game isn't helped by the fact that it takes about 25 hours to get going properly, but when it does there is some good stuff in here. I do have an issue with the redundant crafting system though. Bioware have made that mistake twice now but it is worse here than in Inquisition. Ryder is the ONLY character that can used crafted items. That s just stupid.

Oh, and it has the most bugs and glitches I have encountered in a game in years. More than Mafia 3 and the variety is wide and often hilarious. I had a conversation play with PeeBee where I couldn't see her or hear her and the escape pod room was just space. This was about 30 hours in. It never stops throwing new jank at you.

The game also has some of the worst pop in I have seen in years. Especially in the Nomad.

[Sam Fisher]

If its mixed reviews, then wait for sale thats it.

[Justanopinion]

Anyone who actually experiences this game and everything it offers, through game play, lore etc. and still calls it a terrible game shouldn't be taken seriously as a respectable gaming critic. Stop embarrassing yourselves lol

[kingmushroom]

Well deserved for being a mediocre game, not worth the asking price.

[QUIMICOMORTAL]

The game IS a giant bomb!

[SaveFerris]

Mass Effect Andromeda is certainly embracing 'diversity' when it comes to review scores. The reactions from both sides of the debate is very entertaining, as some seem to have quite strong opinions regarding what others think of the game.

[MilkMan]

How many times do I have to write this? That is NOT Bioware. Once the doctors left, Bioware died.
Either get them back or write-off Mass Effect and Dragon Age off the map. I just can't believe it took them 5 years to make this hot mess. WTF.

[Cartman55125]

The criticisms listed are fair and I agree with most. But it received a 2/5 because it was being compared to previous installments. I don't agree with rating games that way. They gave Battlefront, SFV, and No Man's Sky 3 out of 5. At least Mass Effect appears to be a complete game.

[kenwonobi]

I've been watching videos of the game and it's hilarious to see all the glitches. There are so many funny videos on it. It's really a disaster. So I guess earned score. So many weird themes going on in this game. You know what? It's alright to push a gay or transgendered agenda. I respect your decision. You have to respect mine that I don't go to gay bars. LMAO. It just looks like a gay bar in a videogame sorta vibe. LMAO. Like I said it's no bad thing. It's just most straight males don't end up in one. So you see the problem when it comes to Mass appeal.

[extermin8or]

O i've played many many hours of this game and have now finished the main story and im sorry but this is a joke. There is no way in hell this game deserves such a low score. Yeah it has the odd animation issue, literally limited to a turian sitting on a chair that was invisible and a weird bug with Sarah Ryder's face-once (and I fell through the floor once but it spawned my back where i'd been shortly after.....). Yeah granted every asari appears to have basically the same face but as there are very few you interact with (their ark is missing and if you can find it, im yet to complete that side quest). the worlds are massive and the quests have better story to them (side quests I'm referring to here) the main storyline is entertaining, doesn't have ny plot holes and I eagerly await the next game/dlc. Also whilst initially it didn't feel like a mass effect title as I progressed a few hours in it felt far more familiar and the mass effect dna became clear- there are story reasons that cause it to initially feel different. The combat is vastly improved as is the general movement of the main character and the platforming elements to both the general exploration and combat are great additions. I'm sorry but unless this site gave titles like fallout and skyrim etc similar scores when they reviewed them I don't see how this is reasonable at all. Also I was playing on ps4 pro but spent some time on a normal ps4 and the frame rate was smooth I certainly didn't notice any real frame issues. Granted in a few locations the graphics could have been better and I'd maybe expected better but bioware generally have decent graphics but never revolutionary graphics and it doesn't matter because the combat and story are almost always solid (lets ignore dragon age 2 now there's a game deserving 4/10.

[PistolsAtDawn]

WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY too low IMO. I'm loving this game now that I can afford to dive into it. It's not perfect, but damn close. That being said, I can see it being a tough game to review. This game isn't meant to be rushed. Lots of great games this year already. RE7, HW2, Horizon, Wildlands (I loved it, I know not everyone does), Zelda, Mass Effect, and still coming...RDR2, Prey, SoT, State of Decay 2, Crackdown 3, Below, Cuphead, Tacoma, Mario....and probably countless others...way too many great games to look forward to

[3-4-5]

* I just returned it after only playing like 3-4 hours. It wasn't bad, but that was the last time I'll get good trade credit for it, so I did....Now I can buy it at a later date for $20 and give it a try then.

[Bruh]

This game is shat on WAY too much. And 99% of the people who hate on it are sheep who literally cite every bad review as the gospel. It's got issues yes, but a TON of content and the missions and combat are hella fun. If you're hesitant wait for a price drop, but for the sheer love of exploration and space, I easily recommend a buy at some point.

[LordJamar]

game didnt deserve a 2 imo but to each there own the game has problems but its not a disaster ppl make it out to be i blame internet hate bandwagons dont say it does not exist cause i very well does ppl ignore so much good in this game and base if off the stupidest of things to say its bad

[AnubisG]

Too bad this game became what it is. I was looking forward to it. Maybe I'll get it at $20-$25. We'll see.