With only 2 weeks left till Mass Effect Andromeda’s launch, Bioware has finally broken their silence and revealed details of the Early Access preview that EA Access and Origin Access users will be getting. While replying to fans queries, Bioware producer Fernando Melo answered a few questions regarding the 10 hour trial, which starts on March 16th.
To Early Acces users, single player will be accessible but, according to Melo, it will be a ‘gated’ experience as players will only get to explore one (of the games multiple) planets. Hence, players won’t be able to get too far into the story as they might in the full version of the game. However, Melo further said players can start the story over for more experience points or continue exploring.
On the other hand, fans disappointed by the cancellation of the multiplayer beta will be delighted to hear that they can play as much multiplayer as they want. Furthermore, in the spirit of multiplayer experience carrying over to singleplayer, those who complete Missions (special challenges), will get a chance to unlock special loot boxes called ‘Pathfinder Rewards’, that contain crafting materials and some other goodies that can be used in both multiplayer and singeplayer.
Deviating from its predecessor Mass Effect 3, players won’t feel like the multiplayer mode is required in order to get the games best ending. This was a rather resented feature in Mass Effect, and fans will be glad to hear that players can send AI squads called ‘strike teams’ to tackle the games multiplayer Missions, meaning players won’t have to set foot in multiplayer if they don’t want to. This feature was confirmed by game designer Ian Frazier.
Mass Effect Andromeda is the newest entry in Bioware’s critically acclaimed Mass Effect series, and is set to launch on March 21st for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, with a possible (but unconfirmed) Nintendo Switch version in the makings.
