Everything we know about Mass Effect: Andromeda

We finally got our hands on Mass Effect: Andromeda, and there's a lot to talk about. Instead of one gargantuan preview, we've broken our experience with Bioware's new sci-fi RPG into a few more manageable pieces, which are collected below.

And this isn't everything. Come back on Friday for a detailed interview with Andromeda's lead designer, full of more tidbits on romance, the most detailed breakdown of the combat system we've seen yet, and more. Andromeda is a huge game, and we touched on a little bit of everything. Also, keep your eyes peeled for a livestream on Thursday, when we'll answer your questions about Andromeda.

Mass Effect: Andromeda hands-on: Wes spends three hours exploring a planet's surface and falling in love with Andromeda's jetpack. In this preview, he dives into what makes the combat system such an improvement, explains how exploration and dialogue work in the new game, and expresses some doubts about the story Bioware has set up.

Mass Effect: Andromeda system requirements: EA revealed the system specs on Friday. They're a bit hefty, but also unsurprising, and comparable to BF1's specs.

Making first contact in Mass Effect Andromeda's opening mission:Andy introduces us to the first hour of Andromeda, and explains why Ryder's first contact with a new alien species is a disappointing moment.

Mass Effect Andromeda doesn't have a level cap, and you can completely respec Ryder: The sequel will allow for greater flexibility when building out Ryder's abilities.

Mass Effect: Andromeda will star Game of Thrones' Natalie Dormer: Bioware talks about the star power behind the game's most meaningful NPCs.

The "vast majority" of Mass Effect: Andromeda is still accessible after finishing the main story: Never stop planet-hopping.

Wes Fenlon
Senior Editor

Wes has been covering games and hardware for more than 10 years, first at tech sites like The Wirecutter and Tested before joining the PC Gamer team in 2014. Wes plays a little bit of everything, but he'll always jump at the chance to cover emulation and Japanese games.


When he's not obsessively optimizing and re-optimizing a tangle of conveyor belts in Satisfactory (it's really becoming a problem), he's probably playing a 20-year-old Final Fantasy or some opaque ASCII roguelike. With a focus on writing and editing features, he seeks out personal stories and in-depth histories from the corners of PC gaming and its niche communities. 50% pizza by volume (deep dish, to be specific).