'Mass Effect: Andromeda' Gameplay Review: Is the Game Worth Picking Up?
"Mass Effect Andromeda" reviews are in and it seems that critics are divided about Bioware's latest space shooter offering.
One of the elements that reviewers loved about the game is the combat, with Game Informer going so far as to say that it is "the best combat has ever felt in the series."
Polygon adds that the combat changes made in "Mass Effect: Andromeda" improved the game in big ways. This is actually a modification that sets it truly apart from its predecessors.
The publication believes that the game has widened the capability of players as well as their versatility and the collection of weapons that can be used.
"Mass Effect: Andromeda" is also praised for the characters and the richness of their stories. IGN says that protagonist Ryder is able to lead the story and the fact that the character has an alternate gender version was "used to good effect."
Polygon loved the idea of crew members work together and care about each other notwithstanding their race, gender, sexual identity and even species.
Tom's Guide also loves that the "Mass Effect: Andromeda" characters have interesting stories to tell as well as unique personalities, fighting styles and quests based on these differences.
The site also believes that Bioware did a good job in putting together the story of "Mass Effect Andromeda," allowing its effort to set this game apart from the trilogy to pay off.
Unfortunately, "Mass Effect: Andromeda" is not without fault. The glaring issue found in the game has to do with animation. Polygon complains about how characters would just freeze mid-conversation.
The game tends to mess up the animation of the characters and sometimes, one character will just vanish from the frame. IGN also found that "Mass Effect: Andromeda" appears to drop frame rates followed by more animation glitches.
Thankfully, Bioware rolled out a new patch for the game today. With a download size of 2 GB, this update comes with "various bug fixes and stability improvements" as per the patch notes.
Since the patch note is a bit vague, it is unclear if this will get rid of the technical bugs in "Mass Effect: Andromeda." Games Radar has reason to believe, however, that the patch is mostly about multiplayer fixes.