By the time Mass Effect Andromeda launches in March of 2017, it will have been almost exactly five years since the release of the last Mass Effect game. In efforts to maintain the reputation for excellence in story and evolving gameplay that the Mass Effect franchise has become known for, the game designers look to trending styles of the gaming industry as well as the continued support of Mass Effect 3’s ever so popular multiplayer mode for inspiration.

Today’s most popular games are “less of a stop and go style” and bring a feel of continuous action to the player experience. While Mass Effect is a third person shooter it is also above all a role playing game (RPG) experience. As such, naturally the developers at BioWare are focusing on creating and maintaining a field of depth in the story process much akin to the first installment of the series. However, unlike the first installment, which had incredible depth to story but not necessarily the smoothest transition between story elements and combat, Mass Effect Andromeda is designed to incorporate combat elements into our story in a way that creates a constant feeling of being an action filled sequence.

The key thing here is to balance between the accessibility, the sheer fun of the action, and the depth of [the] RPG system.

Andromeda producer Fabrice Condominas gave excellent examples of how they are altering the main campaign of Mass Effect Andromeda by reflecting upon elements of the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer experience. The first element of this “fix” is the way enemies respond and spawn in the single player campaign. While playing through the story as Commander Shepard it was easy to rely on a preformed strategy when entering combat. Enemies would, for the most part, spawn predictably allowing the player to make preconceived reaction when faced with combat. Mass Effect 3 multiplayer was a bit more sporadic with its enemy spawns. In order to achieve success players have to work as a team, watch each others backs, and maintain control of a defensible position, otherwise you run the risk of being cut-off from your squad or being flanked and destroyed. Objective rounds are always the hardest because you have to get to the objective quickly and that is hard to do when your pinned down by waves of enemies. Mass Effect Andromeda seeks to add this element of uncertainty to the single player combat to create a more interactive environment while in combat. You won’t have time to sit behind a crate anymore taking your time and picking them all off one one by one.

The idea is to keep constantly the momentum, and you keep moving. When you stop moving that’s for a very specific reason, you need to recharge shields, or there’s too many people, or I need to check on my flank what’s going on. Whatever it is it’s a very specific reason and we even push that adding some destructible aspect to the environment.

Not only do the developers for Mass Effect Andromeda seek to spice up the enemy encounters but the world itself will be much more conductive in aiding in keeping players on their toes. With the addition of the jump-pack ability as shown in the very first gameplay teaser, a new dimension will be added to the mechanics and combat experience. Not only that, but the developers are adding destructible elements to the environment in order to create an atmosphere of momentum to not only the enemies in combat but to the terrain as well.

There will always be lessons and crossovers between the two modes, and I think that’s very healthy.

We as fans are extremely excited to get to experience the new style of gameplay and story telling. We look forward to being able to enjoy the depth of story and the rush of adrenaline that the new Mass Effect Andromeda campaign will bring and are also very excited to see what the new multiplayer may have in store for us. We’d love to hear about your experience with Mass Effect multiplayer and Mass Effect in general. Stay tuned to Don’t Feed the Gamers for more Mass Effect Andromeda updates. In the meantime, check out this exciting look at the new alien race from Andromeda!