A 10-Hr free trial of
Mass Effect: Andromeda will be made available to
EA Access subscription holders on March 15. That's five days before the game is officially released on March 21 (23 in the UK). This is a brilliant strategy by EA as comment sections around the web are filling up with gamers stating that they're thinking about giving Access a shot just to be among the first to explore the world of ME: Andromeda. Of course, the cynical crowd are pleased by this development as if the game ultimately proves subpar, word will spread before launch and pre-orders can be cancelled.
For those unfamiliar with EA Access, it's a subscription-based service offered by Electronic Arts that's exclusively available on the Xbox One. It allows free access to a limit number of previously released games published by Electronic Arts, along with pre-registration for closed betas, demos and pre-release trials. Memberships are available in either 1 or 12 month increments. Presently, there are over 40 titles available to play in the Access "vault."
ABOUT MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA
Mass Effect: Andromeda is the fourth installment in the Mass Effect franchise and is chronologically set 600 years after the events of the original Mass Effect trilogy, though the story is heavily influenced by the events of Mass Effect 2. With Commander Shepard discovery of the Reapers and the threat of galactic extinction, humanity and a core group of various Alliance species launched a space ship into the farthest reaches of space in order to escape the clutches of the synthetic annihilation machines. Gamers will play as either Sara or Scott Ryder, the children of N7 operative, Alec Ryder, who was given the special title Pathfinder by the Alliance.
Bioware first announced Andromeda in November 2012 on twitter by a Bioware exec before being formally confirmed by the developer at E3 2014. It will be released on March 21, 2017.
Instead of a straight narrative, Andromeda will mark the first time in the series that an open-world setting has been released.
As with the last installment, a multiplayer component will also play a key role in how the story unfolds.