Trailblazin'!

If you were to rank your favorite things to do in the Mass Effect galaxy, where would you place exploration?  For me, I feel like exploration has never really been a strong suit in the series.  In the original Mass Effect there was an element of exploration--you could thunder around planets in the Mako and look for any strange structures, recover artifacts, claim minerals, or just take in the variety of planetscapes in the galaxy.  Mass Effect 2 and 3 really seemed to veer away from the exploration aspect of the game.  It's true that you had missions that took you to varied planets, but I didn't feel like there was quite that same sense of wanderlust.

Today, the third video in the gameplay series was released that specifically details exploration.  Give it a look:

1.) A ship with a view!  The Tempest features windows from which the surrounding galactic area can be looked upon in awe.  This may seem like something ridiculous to be excited about, but I always enjoyed the variety of planets with their multitude of stories in the original Mass Effect.  It was kind of cool to see meteors streaming down to the surface or look up and see a massive looming red, blue, or verdant planet.

2.) "There are over 100 beautifully crafted planets to be discovered and a handful of planets can be landed on."  Hmmm....this tells me that there will probably be a lot of exploration on that handful of planets while the others are mostly there for things like salvage, credits, or whatever other system rewards you for token exploration and scanning.  This is not a change from the previous games.

3.) Did anyone else get a distinctly Dragon Age:  Inquisition feeling from the part of the video that featured the desert planet of Elaaden?  Maybe it's the fact that I somewhat recently played a lot of DA:I, but I got a vibe.  I think this could be a good thing and actually make exploration an important part of the series.

It looks like players will get to pick from a set of nav-point like objectives and use the Nomad to travel to those important places.  Similar to DA:I exploration players can call down a forward station that serves as a sort of resupply center and fast travel waypoint.  One handy feature is the ability to recall the Nomad if it gets lost or destroyed--like that would ever happen, right?  My mad Mako driving skills should translate well to the Nomad ;)

4.) Planetary hazards are back.  This is one feature from the original game which I always felt lent a degree of reality to exploration.  In the bottom left-hand corner you can see a warning for a "heat hazard" and the video mentions that players must periodically return to the forward station to recharge shields.  Here's to hoping that recharging is infrequent....

5.)  Viability.  The more you discover, the more useful a planet becomes.  For a completionist like me it's nice to know that the efforts that will be put into trying to discover every detail will pay off.  Planet viability looks to play into a lot of different things--allied factions, base locations, resource gathering....and probably even more.  There is also mention of "viability points" which allow you to improve the Nexus.  It looks as if some strategy will be involved as you must pick who you wake up from cryosleep--three categories are featured, scientists, military, or merchants.

6.) Vaults.  As long as vaults are packed full of treasures I am completely down for some fighting, puzzle solving, or navigating.  There also looks to be an element of challenge involved.  Bring it on!

I am encouraged by the number of different landscapes featured in the video.  It appears as if we will have plenty of different biomes to traverse.  In a game that is about exploring a new galaxy, it makes sense to bump exploration up the list of priorities and to feature a wider world for players to see.

Only 18 more days until we get to explore the gorgeous planets of the Helius cluster!