We’ve not seen too much of the elusive Masss Effect Andromeda since its unveiling at E3 2015, but fans have recently dug up some images that might just have given us our first good look at the game’s protagonist.
The images were originally posted on ZBrushCentral, a site where artists and 3D modelers display their work. The post actually dates back January 2015, but it went largely unnoticed until Tweeted by Mass Effect fan Shinobi602 recently.
GameSpotWhile these pictures could have been put together by anyone with enough talent, they were attributed to Herbert Lowis – the lead character artist at BioWare Montreal (they develop Mass Effect, if that wasn’t clear). The user who posted the image goes by the online handle ‘Fo0D’, and claims to be a member of the development team.
It’s generally believed that players will take on the role of an entirely new hero from Commander Shepard called the “Pathfinder,” who will explore the galaxy to try and find a new home for humanity.
Back in November, eager fans attempted to piece together more info about Mass Effect Andromeda’s mysterious lead character. A little way into the teaser trailer for Andromeda (below), certain viewers spotted a dog tag that bears the name “Ryder”.
Fans have theorised that the name Ryder is potentially a reference to Sally Ride – the first American woman in space. This would certainly fit with the idea of heading out into space, colonization, and all that jazz.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.