Now that N7 day has come and gone, Bioware has begun releasing a fairly steady flow of information about the Spring 2017 release of Mass Effect Andromeda.

We’ve been keeping an eye out for Andromeda news and have scoured the web for the best, most comprehensive information about the upcoming game. Over the coming weeks, and leading all the way up to the game’s release, we’ll be curating and posting summaries and links to articles and videos from around the web covering Andromeda as well as our own commentary, insights and recommendations to help you get the best experience out of the game as possible.

We’ve even created a YouTube playlist with the best ME Andromeda coverage videos and trailers. We’ll be updating that playlist regularly as news continues to surface.

This article kicks off our roundup series with 15 key things to know about Mass Effect Andromeda:

1. The game is currently scheduled to release in “Spring 2017”. EA’s fiscal year ends in March, so we’re making a prediction: to boost sales revenue, we expect the game to come out in early March as did Mass Effect 3.
2. Mass Effect Andromeda is an entirely new story in the Mass Effect Universe. All the characters are new and no characters from the original Shepard trilogy will be in this new game. There will, however, be “subtle nods” to original trilogy characters in the game.
3. The Mass Effect Andromeda story time line starts at the end of Mass Effect 2 and the core story takes place 600 years after ME2.
4. ME Andromeda takes place in the Andromeda Galaxy. Multiple species from the Milky Way Galaxy, including, but not limited to, humans, turians, krogan and asari, have traveled to Andromeda on “Arks” in stasis. They leave the Milky Way in the year 2185 and wake 600 years later. Note: 2185 is the same year that Mass Effect 2’s Lair of the Shadow Broker takes place.
5. Players will play as one of two main sibling characters Scott or Sarah Ryder. Scott and Sarah are the default character names (as was John in the original trilogy). You can change the first name but your main name will be “Ryder”. The Ryder family is named for Sally Ryder, the first American woman in space.
6. You can customize your character’s appearance as you could with the other games, and your family’s appearance will change to coordinate with your own. Your character and family can be any ethnicity and can be multi-ethnic.
7. There will be many types of relationships available in Andromeda for both romance and friendship. This includes being able to have flirtatious relationships, flings as well as long-term deep romances with game characters. There will also be emphasis on deep platonic relationships.
8. There will be loyalty missions to help develop your relationships with your squad and game characters but these will not have an impact on the game’s ending and, most importantly, will not determine the life or death of a character as they did in ME2.
9. There will be no “classes” in Andromeda. You will be able to train any available abilities by simply allocating talent points.
10. The project that is building the arks and sending the species to Andromeda is called The Andromeda Initiative. You can sign up for the Andromeda Initiative on the Mass Effect Andromeda website and begin your training now. The website will be continually updated with new training videos and activities leading up to the release of the game. It’s really cool.

11. Loading screens are gone. They’ve basically “done away with” loading times. The game will “instead” show you travelling to your destination. Our conclusion is that this is basically a trick of sorts, but a good trick. What it looks like they’re doing is replacing a static or semi-static loading screen with a short, or a series of short, cinematics. Certainly better than a traditional loading screen because at least it gives you something to do.

12. The game will have a multiplayer that is very similar to Mass Effect 3. It will not affect the ending of the game.

13. Mass Effect Andromeda will NOT be a trilogy. Whether or not their will be a sequel is “to be determined” according to Mac Walters. Our bet is there will be since money can be earned from it, but the schedule and resources devoted to it will be determined by the success of this game. In fact, they’ve probably already decided to some degree but just are not announcing anything now.

14. We will be getting a new skinnable vehicle called the Nomad ND1 which is an improved version of the Mako. Rumor has it the sadistic experience of the Mako (bouncing all over the place) has been removed and this vehicle is a true ATV fit for interstellar planetary exploration. Yay! But it has no, that’s NO, offensive weaponry. BOOOO! Well, since EA’s Need For Speed team actually designed its control and operation, we can at least expect it to be a pleasant, realistic and fun driving experience. Although, since we have no gun, I guess we’ll just have to run enemies over.

15. The game will have 6 editions: Standard, Deluxe, Super Deluxe and 2 levels of Collector editions. The game will be available for PS4, Xbox One and PC. The PC version will have controller capability.The Super Deluxe edition is designed for those who plan to do multi-player extensively by adding 20 weeks of Multiplayer Booster Packs for an additional $30. So if you don’t plan on playing multi-player a lot, stick with the standard or deluxe editions.

The collectors’ editions have generated some confusion, particularly if you go to the Bioware store where signage says “Game Not Included” and the pricing options are confusing.However, if you go to MassEffect.com, the language and presentation is more clear. It seems the right hand and left hand are not talking to each other here. In any case, the Collectors Edition is essentially the Nomad ND1 purchased as a separate item and added to your desired version of the game. This is actually a great way to package it, making the collector item a la carte, and allowing the individual to choose their game play experience. It also saves on packaging and lowers the risk of unsold collector inventory as everyone who wants a vehicle can simple add the game they select to the package.

You can preorder the game and the Nomad ND1 now at MassEffect.com, Best Buy, Gamestop and Amazon.

Stay tuned to Twitter & Facebook, or join our mailing list, for the next article in our Mass Effect Andromeda News Roundup series.

— SFB

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