GAMEPLAY | 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' Part 3
After finishing up some quests on Eos, the Tempest approaches what the crew hopes will be another world they can colonise, they have two very different kinds of alien encounter and discover that the locals aren’t quite like anything they’ve expected.
The Pathfinder, Niamh Ryder, actually found a second crew member on Eos. Whilst exploring a kett base, an aged krogan warrior by the name of Nakmor Drack is also there taking out the bad aliens. While initially he is hostile to Niamh as a representative of the Initiative, he warms slightly when he sees Vetra is with you (because why wouldn’t she be?).
After he sees what Niamh is able to achieve, he decides to offer his services since he realises that good people need to work together if the colonisation efforts are going to work. With one of the best NPCs in the game now on board, the Tempest heads for their next destination: Aya.
On the first jump into the system, the Tempest finds itself blocked by a massive kett fleet and the Scourge. However, they appear to be more interested in talking this time. In a scene more than a little reminiscent of 'Star Trek', Niamh talks to the kett Archon learning two important details: they observed her interacting with the Remnant technology, and that the kett don’t know how to do it. When it looks like the conversation has just about run its course, Kallo finishes plotting a course through the Scourge and the Tempest speeds away.
After a really well made cutscene showing both the ship and the pilot’s abilities, the Tempest manages to escape the kett ambush and sees the world of Aya isn’t in the best of health. Most of the planet is covered with ash and fire. There is one small section that still looks green and it turns out to be already inhabited.
The advanced species known as the Angara have been established on Aya for centuries and have been dealing with the Scourge and the kett almost as long. They are apprehensive about another group of outsiders entering their space. However, they are willing to meet with a representative.
The walk through the city streets while the Angara citizens watch Niamh is both a tense moment and a welcome one. You’re not quite sure what sort of culture you’re entering but you know that there is at least the possibility of friendly relations since you haven’t been shot yet.
The Angara leadership is divided; their spiritual leader is missing, captured by the kett and the various Angara worlds have had only tenuous connections with one another for a long time. They immediately reject Niamh’s request to enter Aya’s Remnant vault. However, they are open to Niamh’s assistance and give her the information of a number of places where they need help.
Niamh immediately plans to help the Angara but before she leaves the planet, one angara approaches her; this angara is enthusiastic about the idea of friendly aliens and wants to help Niamh get the rest of his species onside (although he is actually an observer that only later realises how friendly the Initiative is willing to be).
Jaal Ama Darav is welcomed aboard as the first alliance between the Initiative and the natives of Andromeda. He is one of the more interesting crew members as his culture is more emotionally open than the Initiative species and is built on large but close family units. They’re a welcome addition to the 'Mass Effect' universe and could provide an interesting contrast with the kett.
Much of the Heleus cluster is now opened up to the Tempest. The two main quest planets are called Havarl and Voeld. Havarl is a jungle world overrun by aggressive plant and animal life that was once the angaran homeworld. Voeld is an ice-covered planet that once was a major angaran colony. The differences between these worlds also extends to their gameplay areas as while Voeld is both similar to Eos in its openness and numerous quests, Havarl is quite small and only features a small number of quests worth focussing on.
Niamh decides the more immediate concern is the angaran resistance base on Voeld and the Tempest sets off. The crew is both unsure of the new addition and this new plan but aside from remarks they go along with it.
In the next instalment, we’ll venture through both Voeld and Havarl, and the lead-up to the big halfway point mission...
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