Mass Effect Andromeda may have been the biggest no show at E3 this year, thanks to Bioware’s incessant teasing on the game amounting to basically nothing – just another concept trailer for the game with no gameplay footage whatsoever (though this time, we at least got the satisfaction of knowing the footage was ‘in engine’) – but Bioware are still sticking to their narrative, hyping this game up and promising that more information will be coming soon.
When pressed for more information now, they were willing to share some. For instance, during an interview with Glixel, Bioware’s creative director Mac Walter and general manager Aaryn Flynn were asked to discuss what little we do know about Andromeda. This mostly came down to the new trailer of the game, which ends with a shot of Ryder standing and looking at the sprawl of the Andromeda galaxy alone. Speaking to Glixel, Bioware confirmed that this shot is hugely significant, in terms of the themes that they hope to explore with the story of this game.
“This idea of “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” – phrases like that and “we made it” are all meant to touch on a connection we have,” Flynn said. “Sure, one person is at Andromeda, but humanity really achieved something when she woke up there. We’re all there with her in some sense, and yet she’s intensely alone in that one shot in the trailer. What does it all mean, and what does it all tell us about our humanity, I think those are themes that are fantastic to explore, especially in interactive entertainment.”
It does sound intriguing, and like it could be a game to explore the kinds of subject matter and themes that have hitherto gone unexplored by video games. If so, we can’t wait to see how Andromeda approaches such uncharacteristically heavy subject matter.
Mass Effect Andromeda will launch on Xbox One, PS4, and PC by March next year.
