Mass Effect: Andromeda explores combat in new gameplay series

Bioware have dropped part one of its new gameplay series for Mass Effect: Andromeda. Within the video it shows in specific detail Mass Effect: Andromeda’s, “fluid, fast paced third person combat,” as well as what the Ryder twins are capable of unleashing within that combat phase.

Weapons

There are five categories of weapons ranging from pistols, shotguns, sniper rifles, assault rifles and melee weapons which are all available to you with no class restrictions.

Weapons fall into three tech types:

Milky way: High impact weapons which use physical projectile ammunition, effective against most common enemies, however they tend to run out of ammo quite quickly.

Remnant : Beam weapons that have a high rate of fire and are extremely accurate, they never run out of ammo although they are prone to overheating which would then require a cool-down period.

Helios: A Heat seeking plasma based weapon which is slower than other firearms but hits heavily. Some Helios weapons can be charged up which helps them deliver incredible damage.

Melee weapons come in many different forms, showcased is the access to hammers which deliver heavy maximum damage, or swords which deliver incredible speed and precision, helping you get in and out of danger. Sticky grenades prove to be effective against anything, although your supplies are limited, so only use them in sticky situations.

Skill Classes

There are no restrictions on skills so it gives you freedom to create you’re own unique character that has a range of combat potentials.

Like weapons, skills are also broken into three categories:

Combat: Focuses on weapon damage and accuracy, as well as strengthening gear to help make your character the ultimate soldier. This skill opens up the ability to use grenades, trip mines and flat cannons.

Tech: This skill set focuses on strategic weapons and skills, it also opens up the ability to use beam weapons and flamethrowers with a more offensive punch. Unique abilities called Invasion and Energy Drain will also be opened up via this skill set and are used to weaken your opponents. If that’s not enough, the tech skill also allows you to deploy an assault turret.

Biotics: Biotics allows you to control dark energy and harness mass and gravity. It gives you the ability to pull enemies to you and use them as a shield or throwing weapon, it also allows you throw black holes that disrupt and hold enemies while it slowly eats away at their health.

Skills can be upgraded to be made more lethal.

Combat

As you may have seen in previous trailers, the Jump Jet plays a vital role in combat and is key to surviving battles. It provides amazing freedom of movement and allows you to evade with ease, both on ground and in mid air. It’s also the key item which helps you to hover and jump.

Mass Effect: Andromeda will also include a new dynamic cover system which allows you to take cover around anything, even your own vehicle.

Enemies have different behaviours and act in different ways, some will keep distance and try to snipe you while most will charge and try to flush you out of cover. Enemies also possess different strengths and weaknesses. Head shots do maximum damage to most lesser enemies, however its the health bars that require most attention, that way you know what type of enemy you’re dealing with.

Yellow health bars indicate the enemy has armour, which means certain weapons and powers need to be used in order to defeat them more quickly.

Blue health bars mean their shielded and they are resistant to Biotics, however they need to be taken down quickly or the shield will regenerate.

If things seem to get heated you can also turn the tide by using the Tactical Cloak made available through the tech skill option which allows you go invisible while you pick off enemies.

If shields and heavily armoured enemies prove to be a pain you can unleash another powerful tech skill called Overload that brings down shielded and synthetic enemies more quickly, however if you want to bring down several shielded enemies at the same time then hold down the attack to chain.

Bioware announced within the gameplay video that part two of the series will cover profiles, squad skills, commands and favourites. Favourites allow immediate access to your sets of powers while embarked on a mission, so you can switch around your skills to increase the chances of completing your tasks.