Mass Effect fans who remember the endless elevator of the first game, or the very thorough security scanner of the third, will be glad to know that your new ship, The Tempest, contains no loading screens, nor contrivances to hide them. You won’t be able to fly it, though.
Thirsty for more info? Here’s everything we know about Mass Effect: Andromeda.
The news comes via Game Informer, who spoke to developers BioWare for an in-depth look at your new ship. The Tempest is a smaller vessel than the Normandy, being a simple scout ship for the Hyperion, the vast ark carrying humanity’s settlers to the Andromeda galaxy. The Milky Way’s other major races have arks and presumably scout ships of their own, but it sounds like we won’t be seeing much of them.
To further improve immersion, the view from The Tempest’s windows will reflect its current location in space, and developers BioWare are working on your crew’s behaviour. Rather than stand in place awaiting a conversation (or doing calibrations), they’ll run around from task-to-task.
Facilities include the galley, where you can customise your character build; your personal quarters (also customisable); and the garage, where the Nomad, your planetary vehicle, is parked. Inevitably, you can customise its paint job.
There’s also the bridge, where you’ll choose your next destination by looking out at the stars around you. Sadly, you won’t be able to fly The Tempest manually. This was discussed, but “ultimately, we had to say ‘not in this game’,” says creative director Mac Walters. “If you try to do too many things, everything starts to suffer. But we had working prototypes of that, and it was compelling, but it wasn’t compelling enough.”
Look out for your first piece of gameplay footage from the new Mass Effect game on December 1, as part of the GMAs.
On December 1, you'll get a first look at Mass Effect: Andromeda gameplay at @thegameawards. pic.twitter.com/w8i4CKpvjX
— Mass Effect (@masseffect) 21 November 2016