True to its word, EA and BioWare once again branded November 7 as “N7 Day”—“N7” being Shepard’s Alliance rank in the original Mass Effect trilogy—to trot out some Mass Effect: Andromeda marketing. Which is good, because the game is four months from release and I feel like we’ve barely seen any of it.
Today’s new cinematic trailer doesn’t do much to reverse that trend, though I think there are maybe two seconds of actual game footage tucked into the middle. But hey, at least it doesn’t randomly cut to some guy working on his Cintiq in the middle. Here, take a look:
Short of combing each frame for clues there’s not a ton to go on here. You’re the Pathfinder. There’s a growly-voiced villain. The previously-revealed Asari character with the stripe over her eyes still exists, and also knows something about gravity wells. EA’s Frostbite Engine sure looks pretty.
But the game’s description on the official Mass Effect website is a bit more revealing:
“Take the role of the Pathfinder, leading humanity’s search for a new home in this unexplored and unforgiving region of space. You’ll chart your own course, navigating the Andromeda galaxy to unravel its mysteries, discover vivid alien worlds, and lead the charge to find the human race a new home among the stars. You’ll be able to upgrade and customize your gameplay experience with a deep and flexible progression system, and lead your squad into action-packed combat using advanced weaponry, special abilities, and more than a few new tricks.”
That certainly sounds like a Mass Effect game. Andromeda is set to release in March of next year, so you’ve got a bit of time to go back and play the originals—in fact, EA just added Mass Effect 2 and 3 to Origin Access, if you’re a subscriber. Other than that, expect the drip-feed of marketing to turn into a slightly-more-rapid dribble over the next few months. We’ll keep you updated.