A Veritable Pile of Andromeda News

As the March 21st release date for Mass Effect:  Andromeda inches closer to reality, more and more information is becoming available.  This week seemed like a treasure trove as there was another Andromeda Initiative briefing released, a new gameplay video, and the system requirements were finally announced.  I also read a few pieces about early previews and for the most part they seemed positive.

Let's break it down!

Andromeda Initiative--Part 5 of 6--"Weapons and Biotics" Video

1.) Four classes of weapons will be available.  Pistols, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and shotguns.  It looks like submachine guns have gone the way of the dodo.  There is specific mention of being able to add mods to each weapon in the field to make it unique.  The video details "laser shells" as being an upgrade for the shotgun and an electrical field that can be added to the assault rifle.

The "over the shoulder" third person combat looks comfortingly familiar, but I noticed that the assault rifle in particular looks to have more recoil than in previous games.  I don't know if that was caused by the installed mod, or if the rifle is intended to act more naturally.  I am also a little weirded out by the fact that the character in the video is aiming with their left-side.  Is that going to be something we can choose?  Is it finally time for left-handers to get their due?  As a righty, it makes me feel kind of....off.

2.) Biotic abilities look like a mix of older abilities and some newer ones.  I think this could be a good thing as I always found some of them to be awkward when not used in combination with other abilities--pull in particular.  Biotic charge, biotic punch (I don't remember what this one is called), singularity (woot woot! Finally get that as a player ability!), throw, and pull are all featured.  I wasn't sure which ability was featured in the combo part of it--that one looked new.

3.) Tech abilities also look largely unchanged, but they do perform slightly different than in previous games.  Rather than flinging a weird targeted disc of fire or ice at a target, you now channel it in a stream in front of your character.  This is going to necessitate a much more up close and personal style of play.  The cloaking ability looks very similar to previous games and will be handy for sneaky/snipey kinds of characters.  The ability to drop a turret will be a nice way to take some heat off of your character.

4.) Jump jets!  Personally, I am very excited about this addition.  We've never had the ability to jump before in Mass Effect and it could lend itself to a less horizontal style of play.  In one early preview I read (here) the reviewer said that for him the most difficult part to get used to was the movement.  It's much more fluid and even something as simple as jumping takes some getting used to.

After watching the gameplay video about combat, I didn't feel like this briefing added anything that wasn't already detailed.  I will gladly check it off of my free helmet list though.

Gameplay Video--"Combat Profiles and Squads"

1.) You can pick any combination of talents you want and aren't limited by a standard "class" specification.  Beyond that you can also pick a "Combat Profile" which does seem like the more traditional class system.  In a way it is nudging you toward certain playstyles but the "Explorer" profile lets you gain bonuses for all three trees--combat, tech, and biotics.  The bonuses looked much smaller than if you simply focused on one set of talents.  I'm a little confused by this system as it seems to say "pick what you want" while simultaneously saying "one focus is better."

2.) You can customize "favorite" abilities and swap combat profiles at any time.  This type of adaptability to situation is amazing and could make for some really fun play.

3.) There's finally some mention of your squadmates and their abilities!  I've really been wondering about this as there has been very little talk about their role.  It still appears as if players will have the ability to issue commands and set up combos.  I noticed that issuing commands appeared much quicker and more fluid than in the previous games.

System Requirements

Andromeda looks amazing and it's going to take a decent PC to run it at recommended settings.  Here they are:  (source)

Minimum:

OS: 64-bit Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i5 3570 or AMD FX-6350
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Video Card: Nvidia GTX 660 2GB, AMD Radeon 7850 2GB
Hard Drive: At least 55 GB of free space
DirectX: DirectX 11

Recommended:

OS: 64-bit Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i7-4790 or AMD FX-8350
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 3GB, AMD RX 480 4GB
Hard Drive: At least 55 GB of free space
DirectX: DirectX 11

Are you cheering or jeering?  I'm happy because I was a little worried that my 2-3 year old PC might not make the cut, but I think I will be alright.  I probably won't be running it at max settings or anything.

That's the round up of Andromeda news for this week.  Enjoy!