Mass Effect 4 Becomes Mass Effect: Andromeda

E3 is a magical time for gamers.  Major announcements and new trailers and previews for our favorite games are released in tantalizing tidbits.  One of these major announcements has me very excited.  A new trailer for the next game in the Mass Effect series was released.  It was released with the title Mass Effect:  Andromeda so we can finally stop calling it Mass Effect 4.  Here is the video for your viewing pleasure:

I'm going to break it down into a sort of play-by-play of my thoughts.  So when the video first comes on the music is the first thing that throws me.  Why country?  Should I expect my new hero to be some sort of galactic redneck?  Maybe he/she is some sort of bounty hunter?

There was also a brief period where I thought this video was going to be nothing but landscapes and I was going to be angry.  (Early on there were stories of sneak peeks of the development of the game that turned out to be shots of artists working on environmental images.  You couldn't actually see much so it was very anti-climactic.).  Then the camera cuts back and we see our besuited hero.  The landscapes indicate that there are going to be a variety of alien planets to explore.  We've been hearing a lot about how the new Frostbite engine is going to take things to a whole new level and these shots are probably a good indication.  I'm guessing something more open-world since this is a hot trend.

Finally we see some action--the Mako!  And it looks like it has become the bad-ass Mako!  It would be pretty cool to have a souped up Mako to explore some of those amazing looking planets.  Then we see Mr. N7 using some sort of jumpy/rocket-pack thing to boost up a rock face.  Could there be rocket jumping in our future?  At the top of the precipice you hear the unmistakable Reaper noise.  I'm cool with wiping out pockets of Reapers.  That could totally be a plot point.  The very end of the video shows some intense combat complete with more jumping and omni-tool stabbing.

I have to say that I'm very excited to finally see something of substance about this new game.  It has all been very tight-lipped and secretive.  One thing the trailer definitely leaves wanting is any indication about what the plot for the story will actually be.  I think a lot of fans are really wondering about this.  From what I've read this game is supposed to take place after the events of Mass Effect 3.  Maybe you play an N7 operative who is tasked with exploring the many unexplored planets in the galaxy?  Maybe your job is to wipe out any remaining Reapers?  Maybe you are a space cowboy who rides around in a bad-ass Mako?  It remains to be seen.

One thing I've noticed since The Witcher 3 dustup over the supposed "graphics downgrade" is that a lot of game trailers are now including small print indicating that what is in the trailer is indicative of actual gameplay.  I haven't seen this before and hope this isn't a new thing.