This is where Mass Effect: Andromeda is heading, claims leak

Business

November 23, 2015

We loved the original Mass Effect trilogy, that includes the third title, even if its conclusion was a little iffy, and we can’t wait to hear more from BioWare on the trilogy’s sequel Mass Effect: Andromeda.

As we all know, thanks to a strong focus on exploration, Mass Effect: Andromeda promises to be the largest Mass Effect to date, way beyond the previous titles. But what exactly will this new, exciting universe hold for us?

According to a supposed leak on Reddit, which can be neither confirmed nor denied at this point in time, there’s a lot to look forward to.

Apparently, the moderators for the Mass Effect subreddit have verified the source’s proof, but the source has asked to remain anonymous; you know, so BioWare and EA don’t throw him out by his ears.

So before we get into the meat of the leaks, we’d ask that you take everything said with a good pinch of salt, as you should any leak or rumour.

The most salient points of the leak, according to WCCFTech, as well as our thoughts on each, are these:

For the moment, we know that at least two squad mates accompany the main character, a blonde female (human) and a krogan.

It was also highlighted that the focus of the game centres on the search for a new home for humanity, alongside the assistance of a number of other races.

That Mass Effect: Andromeda is effectively a story for humanity is further confirmed by a tweet by Bioware’s Aaryn Flynn:

@Gavin_J_Porter @macwalterslives Good question. The story is very much a human one, and we wanted to focus on that so it’s relatable

— Aaryn Flynn (@AarynFlynn) November 4, 2015

We would also expect a greater degree of variety in the squad mates you can select in Mass Effect: Andromeda. Beyond that, all squad mates will be equipped with jetpacks, which comes in handy during exploration. This has been compared to jetpacks available to players in Titanfall, which we’re hoping offers more tactical depth to combat, like vertical combat.

The potential for exploration with both a jetpack as well as the Mako on unknown planets could be expansive and bring a greater focus on exploration to the franchise.

The Omnitool now has more functionality, such as a combat shield. Furthermore, according to the leak, the Omnitool will also have situational functionality according to the scenario you find yourself in.

So the Omnitool could take on different modes or forms dependng on what you require, be it a combat shield as mentioned, or the trusty blade we’ve come to know. And perhaps, given that it functions as a computation device in games prior, we expect to be able to commit to hacking mini-games, information gathering while exploring and more.

This next point we’d pretty much expect to be true. That is, with the use of the Frostbite 3 engine and the power of the current consoles, we can expect a lot more facial features as well as overall character detail.

With the Frostbite 3 engine at the helm, the same engine powering Battlefield 3 and 4, destructible cover should make an appearance. If you think about it, with the inclusion of jetpacks and the ability to re-position yourself fairly quickly as a result, destructible cover would not only force you and your opponents to think and manoeuvre more tactically, but should add in a little additional balance.

As shown in the first Mass Effect: Andromeda trailer, the Mako will be taking a more prominent role in this game, and the leak has revealed that it should be possible to customise the Mako in a number of ways.

The leak exposed that a host of textures for the Mako were available, which could mean a bunch of upgrades for the vehicle.

Other important details include that the main character will be referred to as ‘the pathfinder’. This makes senses as the new game will be focusing on finding humanity a new home.

To top this off, there will be a ‘Pathfinder quarters’ section on the ship, and this is the expected domain for all “action” to take place, if you know what we mean, which implies romantic relationships are still an option.

According to the source, the game will also feature a new pilotable ship travel system, rather than the galaxy map we’re accustomed to from previous games.

Now, you’ll be able to manually fly the ship through space in a first-person perspective and even engage FTL when scouring the galaxy making your way to waypoints and points of interest.

The ship itself will be completely different in terms of size and type to the Normandy, and we expect that it’s going to be quite a bit bigger. Bigger is always better in our books, especially when you’re travelling the galaxy in style. A Death Star would also be great!

The leak describes enemies as a bipedal cross between Vorcha and Collectors and these enemies drop into combat from Cerberus ships.

This is all a bit confounding. Isn’t Cerberus dead? An enemy which is a cross between the Vorcha and the Collectors sounds interesting at least. We’ll have to see whether this proves to be true.

Finally, one of the antagonists is said to be a human soldier with armour similar to the Pathfinder, but lacking the N7 insignia.

Whoever this antagonist is, isn’t fully explained, but he or she will play a role in the game, thought to what extent we don’t currently know.

As it stands, we’re slightly optimistic at the predictions of the leak, but we still remain skeptical at this point in time. Until Bioware reveals more details about Mass Effect: Andromeda, we’re excited by the leaked information but cautious so as not to get our hopes up.