Mass Effect Andromeda has been in development almost five years but it's not until now, one month before release, that BioWare has let us play it. To say some fans are cautious is an understatement. Conspiracy theories abound as to Andromeda's shortened marketing cycle, or the reason why its release date was only set in stone last month. A product of BioWare's untested Montreal studio (albeit with help from the Edmonton mothership), Andromeda has been the subject of concerns over its lengthy development - not to mention the narrative leaps needed to continue the series after its original trilogy was so definitively tied off. And, while Dragon Age: Inquisition was generally well-received, Mass Effect fans want a proper Mass Effect game - not just a Frostbite-powered Hinterlands in space. Recently, fan suspicion bubbled over when a gameplay trailer included a small animation bug. BioWare's fans are some of the most loyal - but also some of the most critical.
Within its first mission, Andromeda sets most fears straight. The game's opening sequence wastes little time propelling you to your new galactic home, introducing core characters and redshirts and immediately placing you under threat. You are Ryder, the son or daughter of humanity's Pathfinder leader, in a brand new galaxy on a ship full of tens of thousands of colonists - most still in cryosleep. But Andromeda is immediately more alien and hostile than you were expecting. Within minutes, you find yourself almost alone on a completely foreign world.
The move to Andromeda is a smart one: it both sidesteps the narrative dead end BioWare had written itself with Mass Effect 3 (Andromeda's colonists leave just before ME3 begins) and acts as a natural refresh for the series' space opera storyline. Many of the players remain the same - turians, krogan, salarians, asari - but each species is now the invader, the alien, the stranger. Past events are still important to the identity of each race, but I was surprised how quickly Andromeda created its own conflicts. After all, every colonist leaving the Milky Way opted in to their one-way ticket. It's a great backdrop for Andromeda's characters, but also a fine stage for divisions immediately upon arrival when things don't go to plan.
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