According to Mass Effect: Andromeda Game Director Mac Walters, the new Mass Effect game's multiplayer and campaign are being developed as integrated experiences.
"We knew that multiplayer would be a big part of Andromeda, and so early on we really coupled those two together: the single player and the multiplayer to make sure there's a more cohesive experience," Walters told IGN following the 2016 Game Awards. "From a pure minute-to-minute, second-to-second gameplay experience, the multiplayer really drives it. That's where you see a lot of the action. It's a lot more fast-paced."
It was a creative decision that has ties back to Mass Effect 3. Walters cites that game as an opportunity where Bioware "used the multiplayer as a means to improve the combat that we had." "Working on multiplayer in ME3 really helped sort of crystalize what our combat experience is like," he said, "so we started there and wanted to expand it."
The changes to the class system will allow more fluidity in the gameplay experience as well. Walters describes the new classes as an "open system where we don't force you to decide if you want to be a Vanguard at the start, an Adept at the start." Instead, the player can grow into the class they want to play as, or change their mind if they decide one route doesn't work for them.
"You're never locked in," said Walters. "We give you the ability to change things up on the fly as you're going through. One of the things we do is we give you bonuses if you follow a certain path, and then we have another thing that we call 'profiles' that is sort of similar to that but if you're following a profile, which is more biotic or maybe more mixed with biotic and weapons, those profiles will give you passive bonuses based on that. It does reward you for going down certain paths, but it doesn't force you to go down them."
When asked to explain why the Andromeda team made such a big change, Walters explained, "This is a much bigger game for one. You can see how large a world it is. And it gives you more freedom. ... As you get into more of the elder game and the late game really having almost everything at your disposal, so when you take on some of your toughest challenges, some of the biggest fights you're going to have to face, now you have a bit more experience and you know, 'OK, I know what I want: I want to take a little bit from this and a little bit from that,' or, 'No, I'm straight up Vanguard.'"
Walters is also really excited about the updated cover system and the way that changes how the player can use the geography of the play space. The new gameplay footage previewed some of that, showcasing "that you could approach it, but you can approach it from many angles."
"One of the other big things that is really key is we've developed a procedural cover system. It's super fluid, you don't even notice it in there, and it's not modal, so you can just take cover behind anything," said Walters. "It's really interesting how organic it is and how organic the experience is. It just feels like, of course, you take cover when you need it, but we're not going to force you or design fights necessarily where you have to take cover."
Mass Effect: Andromeda is coming out in Q1, with speculation that its release date could be in March. And if you want to revisit Mass Effect 2 or 3, both games are now backwards compatible on Xbox One.
Terri Schwartz is Entertainment Editor at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.
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