While it’s hard to deny that most people are looking forward to Mass Effect Andromeda’s single-player campaign, those who played Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer might be equally excited to see what changes BioWare is bringing to Mass Effect Andromeda’s multiplayer.
As part of Game Informer’s cover feature on the RPG, a ton of Mass Effect Andromeda multiplayer details have been revealed.
One of the big changes is how powers and abilities are used. Instead of a global cooldown meter like in ME3 multiplayer, character powers will have their own individual cooldown timers. Another new addition to multiplayer is the jetpack, which lets players traverse the levels much faster compared to ME3.
Unfortunately, it’s not all good news. Mass Effect Andromeda will have a multiplayer “store” where players can buy random card packs (just like in ME3). There is a microtransaction model in place, but it’s been mentioned that everything you can buy with real world money, you can buy with the in-game currency as well. While there’s still a randomness and you’re at the mercy of RNG in card packs, the stuff that you can get will rotate on a regular basis, so at least players will know what kind of items they might get for that particular time.
Ian Frazier (Lead Designer): If you don’t want to be at the mercy of the random number generator for the cards, you’re still at the mercy of what’s in the store right now, but it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s the Black Widow and I really want it!” You can buy them with real-world money if you want to, but again, nothing requires that.” If you want to shop at the store, you need to spend “mission funds.
Another new addition is what BioWare calls “Prestige XP” which is what the studio hopes will help the multiplayer component retain its player base. And before anyone asks, nope, it’s not like Call of Duty’s Prestige system. As you play multiplayer, the player earns standard XP and prestige XP. Prestige XP accumulates each specific character type. One example give was how a “tank” class share prestige XP, and hitting tiers will net you bonus abilities that can be used by different character classes.
Finally, Mass Effect Andromeda multiplayer will tie in to the campaign, with some of the big stuff discussed below.
Here are a few things we know for sure:
-
The mission funds you obtain in multiplayer have “tendrils going out into the rest of the game,” according to Frazier.
-
In the single-player demo we saw, there was an option on the pause menu to jump straight into multiplayer.
-
“You will have possibilities to send teams to complete kind of side missions, or to do it yourself in multiplayer,” Condominas says. “That’s the idea.”
-
The team doesn’t want solo players to feel like they are obligated to play multiplayer. “If you feel cheated, we’ve done something wrong,” Frazier says.
If you want a chance to play the multiplayer early, make sure to sign up now. There’s no guarantee that you’ll be picked, but at least you’ll have your name thrown into the ring.
[Source: Game Informer]
