Mass Effect Andromeda

[Ramagamma]

Seems like a no then [emoji20] It was a toss-up between this and Horizon Zero Dawn, but I fancied a sci-fi game, as I don't have any for the PS4.

I'm not as in love with Horizon as the majority are but if its coin toss material then Horizon is miles ahead.

[Fide]

2 hours ago, accies1874 said:

Seems like a no then It was a toss-up between this and Horizon Zero Dawn, but I fancied a sci-fi game, as I don't have any for the PS4.

Between the two, there's no contest.   HZD knocks MEA into a cocked hat and pisses all over it.

[Ramagamma]

The only people I've seen say that they are having a good time with Andromeda are the folk who had it preordered. Fair to say they had their mind made up regardless of quality.

[renton]

There is no escaping the clunkiness of the animation, in addition to the overall Gerry Anderson puppet look of the characters. The dialogue is woeful and I generally could not give half a shit about the majority of the characters I've met (granted I'm not that far in). However, you need that feeling of immersion, or at least the suspension of belief to make RPGs work, and it just isn't there so far.

The Kett are pretty dull from what I can see. Like the kind of 90s sci-fi baddie where you stick as much latex onto an actor's forehead as you can find.

On the other hand, the combat system is pretty decent, the character customization within profiles and abilities should give you a fair bit of scope for keeping it interesting, and the game itself is pretty big and sprawling. You could easily waste a few hours on it, but I'm not sure it'll keep me hooked for that long.

[EdgarusQPFC]

I ended up buying this, after i had upgraded my hardware i gave it another shot, by the end of my 5 hours of remaining trial i had bought myself it. I agree the facial animations are a complete joke, the voice acting is good enough, the characters aren't ME2 levels of good and no one comes close to being a Garrus(Peebee being the most interesting as shes very unlike most Asari) but they all do a good enough job, its just a pity their acting doesnt come through on the wooden facial animations. 

Loving the scale of the maps, each planet has loads to do on it and the Nomad is fun as hell to thrash around it, i properly batter that vehicle around and it just keeps going. 

The weapons, armor and moveset customisation is simply outstanding, so much freedom to build the character you want to use and how you want to use them, really well done. The combat isnt as polished as ME3 was and the lack of manual cover options is poor, the auto cover is glitchy at times and while the game can look absolutely fantastic at times it lacks the polish that we come to expect from the franchise.

The plot is interesting enough, i enjoy the idea of the game and really got excited at making first contact with the games new races, i just wish there were more of them. The Kett at first seem really dull, but ive started to uncover things about them in my game thats certainly gotten me curious. Probably the most interesting things in the game for me so far has been Alec Ryders history, the founding of the initiative, creation of Sam and the story around Garson's death and the mysterious "Silent Partner"

 

I think it was the Illusive Man

For anyone wondering about how this game fits into the original Trilogy, the Arks began being built in 2180(3 years before ME1) and launched in 2185(The year Shepard came back from the dead in ME2) I do like how for the most part they have only referenced certain parts of the original trilogy, rather than sit and go on about all the cool parts of those games or try to relive them they have actually told their own story in that universe. 

So far the games a 8/10 for me, its true at first i really wasnt impressed, but when i stopped trying to compare it to the original trilogy and just viewed it as its own game i started to get interested and when i started to experiment with the combat and builds i started having fun, lots of fun

Oh and for anyone on PC who is having trouble trying to get it to run steady, turning off vsync gained me an extra 30fps and it runs much better now

[Mr. Brightside]

I must say, I'm really enjoying this as well, sure the animations are ropey as f**k, I had a cut scene where Ryder and Drack were floating off a cliff with their arms out having a conversation, but that adds something to it.
I'm not sure how much I've played, but it's easily upwards of 30 hours and I don't really think I'm close to finishing it. I would recommend

[EdgarusQPFC]

36 minutes ago, Mr. Brightside said:

I must say, I'm really enjoying this as well, sure the animations are ropey as f**k, I had a cut scene where Ryder and Drack were floating off a cliff with their arms out having a conversation, but that adds something to it.
I'm not sure how much I've played, but it's easily upwards of 30 hours and I don't really think I'm close to finishing it. I would recommend

Pal of mine said it took him in the region of 60-70 hours to do everything in the game, which is on par with the rest of the franchise, which is excellent. 

[Fide]

Having battered a few more hours into it, I would agree with the above.

If you can get past the sub-par graphics, the game really opens up to be something quite massive.  I've only been to 3 or 4 worlds so far, but each one has so much to do.  Even the Nexus is massive.

There are some genuinely original ideas here, such as the origin of the Kett, and some fantastic story writing.  It does lack the overall polish we'd expect from a Bioware title, but there's so much to get your teeth into, it's impossible not to get sucked in.

[renton]

39 minutes ago, Fide said:

Having battered a few more hours into it, I would agree with the above.

If you can get past the sub-par graphics, the game really opens up to be something quite massive.  I've only been to 3 or 4 worlds so far, but each one has so much to do.  Even the Nexus is massive.

There are some genuinely original ideas here, such as the origin of the Kett, and some fantastic story writing.  It does lack the overall polish we'd expect from a Bioware title, but there's so much to get your teeth into, it's impossible not to get sucked in.

I have to admit, I'm struggling, really struggling to force my way through the dialogue that reminds me of some pretty bad 80s English dubbed anime and Thunderbirds type character animation. How much is the struggle worth, how much of that open world massiveness is shitty side quest fetch/kill/carry type fare?

[Ramagamma]

I guess if people are happy to pay for a half finished game then there's no point releasing finished ones.

[EdgarusQPFC]

1 hour ago, Ramagamma said:

I guess if people are happy to pay for a half finished game then there's no point releasing finished ones.

It lacks Polish and it could sure use some quality testing, but a 60 hour mass effect is the norm for these games, rushed? Yes. Half finished? Not so sure 

[Mr. Brightside]

I guess if people are happy to pay for a half finished game then there's no point releasing finished ones.

And how exactly do you know that it's "half a game"?

[DA Baracus]

Why are you still replying to that piece of shit troll?

[EdgarusQPFC]

Completed this last night. Overall id rate it a 8/10. The very final battle isnt great but you feel like all your hard work comes together in a much more satisfying way than ME3 ever did. The game seems to deliberately leave plenty of stories open for future Games and/or DLC which is fine for me because i got about 80 hours gaming out of this which is plenty. The combat was very fun, the exploration was mostly fun, the story was okay, it serves its purpose in keeping the game moving along. The companions and characters are largely hit or miss, the best being Drack and the worst easily being Liam. Its a good starting point for a new story which i think is the most important part. 

[Stellaboz]

I like a good story. I thoroughly enjoyed the first 3. I love stuff like Skyrim and Fallout, is this likely to keep my interest?

[EdgarusQPFC]

10 hours ago, Stellaboz said:

I like a good story. I thoroughly enjoyed the first 3. I love stuff like Skyrim and Fallout, is this likely to keep my interest?

I'd say so, it reminds me much more of the first game than the next 2, Regarding the animations, they released a big patch that fixed many of them.

[NotThePars]

I'd say so, it reminds me much more of the first game than the next 2, Regarding the animations, they released a big patch that fixed many of them.

Ooft that's a game changer actually. The animations were honestly too off-putting. Now I just need to find a copy under 40 quid. Even Tesco is sitting at 46 still.

[Ramagamma]

There are used copies on Amazon for 30 quid plus postage, less than 3 weeks after release.

You dont see good games drop price that fast.

[EdgarusQPFC]

3 hours ago, Ramagamma said:

There are used copies on Amazon for 30 quid plus postage, less than 3 weeks after release.

You dont see good games drop price that fast.

??? Ive seen plenty of good games go for that price preowned 3 weeks after release. If it was £20 id totally agree but £31 for a 3 week old title is pretty normal Ghost Recon released maybe a week before MEA and you can get it brand new off amazon for that price and from all accounts that is apparently a excellent game

[Ramagamma]

I've seen plenty of average games drop price at a similar pace. Titles with strong sales or high critical acclaim hold their price far longer, even used.