It’s not easy to make a 100+ hour space opera epic on the scale of Mass Effect: Andromeda, even with five years and over $40 million to blow it. But, as anyone who’s tried to shorten the queue at a PAX signing can attest: Hell knows no fury like a fanboy being scorned.
It will therefore not surprise you to hear that since Mass Effect: Andromeda hit retail last week, an internet crowd has formed to give developer Bioware a good kick — and for good reason. It’s safe to say that Andromeda has its fair share of issues, including clunky user interface issues, sloppy dialogs, and some lackluster writing. Criticism has been mixed at best (and the less said about Metacritic user reviews, the better), although our Lee Hutchinson was slightly more positive in his early review.
Fans quickly pointed it out Andromeda‘s most visible flaw: some very unreliable facial and character animations. They are sometimes the stuff of nightmares. Indeed, YouTube is quickly filled with videos featuring some of Andromedathe worst moments. I’ve embedded my personal favorite below.
“5 years + $40M = Mass Effect: Andromeda“
Bioware has since brought to Twitter to address the feedback, promising that plans for improvement will arrive on April 4.
It’s been a week since we officially launched Mass Effect: Andromeda worldwide and we couldn’t be happier that our fans are finally experiencing everything we’ve worked so hard to create. We have received quite a bit of feedback, partly positive and partly critical. That feedback is an important part of our continued support for the game, and we can’t wait to share more of our immediate plans with you on Tuesday, April 4.
Bioware also says that players should continue to provide feedback and that it “works around the clock” to improve the game. It should be noted that providing feedback does not mean offending members of Bioware personnel. Not handy, guys.
The statement follows tweets from Bioware’s lead designer Ian S. Frazier last week, who tried to tackle the game’s sloppy animations and especially the character creator.
“We’re looking at patching a lot of issues and want to strongly support the game in the future,” he tweeted, “can’t say more yet… No promises, but I’ve got it on a list of things. we’re looking at possible fixes/additions for character creation.”