Reviews Bioware’s latest space opera are now live, a few days ahead of Thursday’s launch.
While Mass Effect: Andromeda hasn’t received the warmest of receptions, it hasn’t exactly been critically mauled either – even the reviewers who dished out a 6/10 claim that it’s enjoyable enough, if ultimately disappointing. 6/10 is the lowest score at the time of typing, incidentally.
Not a patch on ME2 and ME3, and certainly not worth the five-year wait, is the consensus. Dull missions, forgettable characters, glitches and an over-complicated UI appear to be the biggest problems, but if you look past these faults you’ll still find a huge world to explore with some surprisingly satisfying combat.
Eurogamer even went as a far to say that the combat is the game’s saving grace. That wasn’t enough to bag it one of EG’s ‘recommended’ badges, mind.
Here’s a round-up of what else is being said:
8.5 – Post Arcade: “The Mass Effect games have always revelled in delivering a memorable visual experience, in creating a sense of awe in players as they explore the far off reaches of a vast universe. Happily, that’s still the case in Andromeda”
8.5 – Forbes: “I have a feeling that Mass Effect fans will enjoy the game, but I don’t think anyone will claim it outclasses the original trilogy, outside of maybe the very first game”
8.5 – God is a Geek: “A welcome return to Bioware’s space opera, introducing great characters, an interesting story and some fantastic designs, always providing things to do”
8.0 – GameInformer: “Mass Effect: Andromeda has the series’ signature mixture of story, characters, and combat. Though its success rate varies in each area, it still provides dozens of hours of fun”
8/10 – TheSixthAxis: “Sadly the glut of technical missteps serve to cheapen proceedings, but this is still an adventure you don’t want to miss out on”
7.7 – IGN: “Mass Effect: Andromeda only occasionally recaptures the series’ brilliance, but delivers a vast and fun action-RPG”
7.5 – Dual Shockers: “Perhaps Mass Effect Andromeda will serve as a wake-up call for BioWare, letting them realize that it’s time to evolve beyond the change of setting and cast. In the meanwhile, we’re still given a game that might not be the monumental fresh start that the masses expected, but is still a quite solid experience than many will enjoy”
3.5/5 – Trusted Reviews: “Andromeda is a good game and I’ve enjoyed my time with it. However, for those who’ve been waiting five years for another Mass Effect adventure, I don’t think it will be good enough”
3.5/5 – GamesRadar: “Andromeda provides an interesting premise and story, but is let down by poor combat, excessive padding, and over-complication”
6.5 – PlayStation Lifestyle: “The BioWare team put so many great things in place, but the main story, the characters, and most of the writing keep the game from being great. Sadly, technical mess keeps it from being good”
3/5 – US Gamer: “Mass Effect Andromeda falls short of its predecessors, but it’s still a competently executed open-world action RPG with an interesting world and tons of quests to complete”
6/10 – The Metro: “What could have been an all-time classic action role-player is let down by a surprisingly poor script and unengaging characters”
6/10 – GameSpot: “In many ways, Andromeda feels like a vision half-fulfilled. It contains a dizzying amount of content, but the quality fluctuates wildly”
Mass Effect: Andromeda is out Thursday on PS4, Xbox One and PC.