Mass Effect: Andromeda trailer analysis

For more details about Andromeda direct from Bioware, check out our article on all the Mass Effect Andromeda news we know so far.

This is the first thing we see in the Mass Effect: Andromeda trailer, which was revealed Monday at EA's E3 press conference. The game will be out 'Holiday 2016,' and aside from a few details from BioWare, this is what we have to go on. We're a bit late to the party (we were busy with our own yesterday), but it's never too late to pick apart every damn thing we can.

One thing before we start: screencrabs from YouTube look like crap. The trailer looks much better—but BioWare has said that this is target footage, meaning it's what they hope the game will look like when it's actually done. It's not a reality yet.

Oh, and there are Mass Effect 3 spoilers in here, but you've all played Mass Effect 3, right?

We swap from Desert Place to Ice Place. We can see a glowing cave there, which seems like a place where we will find things that want to eat/shoot us.

There's a little more life here (well, space beetles), and probably not breathable air. The fact that we're flipping between locations like someone browsing a travel magazine suggests that exploration is important to the game. Perhaps humanity only just arrived in the Andromeda galaxy and needs a new place to live? More on that in a moment...

Look, more rocks! You'll notice the scanner likes to target rocks. It seems like we're looking for something, and maybe it's buried? Or maybe we just want to mine some sweet metals.

Check out that flying alien thing in the upper-right. That thing's neat! Can we ride it? Probably not. Maybe we'll fight it? Could be. Maybe it's just a cool thing in the sky? Also probable.

The song here is Ghost Riders in the Sky, by the way. I want to say 'space western' now, because I like the sound of it. Space western.

There are a lot of different worlds to explore. That's what I'm getting at.

Remember that person on Reddit who said they'd taken a survey about the game? We can't vouch for the account's accuracy, but it certainly seems to be panning out:

"You are a pathfinder, a combat trained but un-tested explorer leading an expedition into the Helius cluster to establish a new home for humanity. As you explore this sprawling series of solar systems (over 4x the size of Mass Effect 3), collecting resources and building colonies, you will encounter the savagery of untamed lands in the form of cut-throat outlaws and warring alien races."

Could we be running around the galaxy creating settlements, as the rumored leak indicates? I think so. And I'd like to do that.

We finally stop browsing and make a choice. Except, this isn't 'us'—BioWare said in its blog post that the character in the trailer isn't the player character. We'll be able to choose and customize a male or female character, as usual.

What this does show is some improved tech since the last time. Everything's much slicker. BioWare tells us that Andromeda not only takes place in a new galaxy, but also "long after the events of the original trilogy." Apparently we've all come a long way since that disaster. And it looks like there are a lot of places to go.

We're traveling faster than light, perhaps via worm hole, here. The mass relay network is destroyed at the end of Mass Effect 3 (except in the extra Extended Cut ending, but that's pretty clearly not the canon ending), so presumably new shipboard technology gets us around these days. It may have been a long trip to Andromeda.

The ship's operator arrives at the desert planet, checks his omni-tool and draws his pistol. Why draw his pistol when the planet is still way down there? I don't know. Maybe he's going to shoot the chef before he leaves.

Oh, hey, I recognize that logo. While this isn't the player character, we do know our character is involved with N7 from some of the details revealed at Comic-Con.

It's a speedy little thing, isn't it? It's designated 'M-40,' while the original was an M-35. We also learned back at Comic-Con that the Mako will be customizable, but that's about all we know about that.

We hear a Reaper-ish sound here. Given the part of the trailer it's in, it seems like it's just a generic action hype noise.

Given that this isn't used in the context of an attack, it could indicate we'll be able to jetpack around rocky environments. From the survey leak again:

"Scour solar systems and planets within the Helius Cluster to find valuable resources and blueprints of long forgotten alien technology that will allow you to craft better equipment and weapons, such as improving your leg armor to allow you to jetpack jump, or upgrading your cryo-beam (laser cannon) to target enemies or do area damage around you to clear out close threats. As you build your arsenal and resource infrastructure, you will be able to explore deeper into the increasingly dangerous and resource-rich solar systems of the Helius Cluster."

Meow.

An alien-looking structure bursts out of the ground. Is this the thing we were looking for in all those rocks? How is it coming out of the ground? Is it Prothean? It's fun to ask questions.

We can clearly see a Krogan here, as well as a (human? asari?) woman charging along with the N7 soldier from before.

If that survey was accurate, the Krogan could be Drack, while the other could be Cora, who "has the ability to deploy a biotic shield that protects everyone in the bubble while still allowing you and your squad to fire out of it."

We can see whoever it is we're fighting in the lower left here, but I can't identify what species of alien they are. Any guesses?

Someone's gonna get an omni blade to the face.

This is what the game is called.

This is when the game is coming out. And that's what we know/wildly speculate. Given that Mass Effect: Andromeda isn't releasing until winter of next year (assuming it isn't delayed), I'm not sure we'll see much more this year. Until we do, there are always elaborate fan theories, right?