An EA survey for Mass Effect Andromeda has leaked online, and it may have revealed some key details about plot and gameplay.
The questionnaire (found by NeoGAF user anexanhume) provides facts about BioWare’s anticipated sci-fi epic, then asks how likely it is you would buy the game after hearing them.
The opening blurb reads:
Mass Effect: Andromeda takes players to the Andromeda galaxy, far beyond the Milky Way, where players will lead the fight for a new home in hostile territory – where WE are the aliens – opposed by a deadly indigenous race bent on stopping us.
Experience the freedom to traverse and explore a planet-dense but seamless open-world galaxy, rich with discovery. Play as the leader of a squad of military-trained experts in an intense third-person shooter, with deep progression and customisation systems.
This is the story of humanity’s next chapter, and player choices throughout the game will ultimately determine our survival in the Andromeda galaxy.
Let’s pick out some of the most promising nuggets hidden in that jumble of marketing.
It’d certainly be an interesting change of pace from the original Mass Effect to have humans as the alien race – hopefully we’ll meet all manner of weird looking creatures too.
“Seamless open world” fills me with joy, too. Could we possibly be handed a galaxy explore, free from the constraints of level transitions between planets? It’d certainly be an impressive feat.
An earlier leak suggests that there are to be two main races in Andromeda. One good, the other not that good. They’re apparently called the Remnant and the Khet, but one final note from the survey hints that the humans might be the invading force this time round.
It reads:
There is a major battle brewing, and it awaits you.
It is unfolding across a galaxy of planets, with creatures and species entirely unknown.
Draw your weapon, because the fight is bigger than you thought. It’s not just for your own life, it’s for all humanity – the ultimate battle for a place we can all call home
So we’ve got a lot to chew over until Bioware decide to reveal anything official. Mass Effect Andromeda is currently scheduled for release in Spring 2017, but the general consensus is the game will have a big presence at E3 this June.
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.