Mass Effect: Andromeda gets more close-up combat options with craftable melee weapons

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Mass Effect: Andromeda will let hand-to-hand combat enthusiasts build and equip dedicated melee weapons, far beyond the starter omni-blade. This is a pretty big change - back in Shepard's day, if you wanted to put away your gun and go for a hand-to-hand attack you used your bright orange holographic knife and liked it.

These new combat and crafting details were revealed by Mass Effect: Andromeda lead designer Ian S. Frazier on Twitter.

 That's a Galaxy Quest reference if your knowledge of Tim Allen-led sci-fi pictures is lacking. 

BioWare's last game, Dragon Age: Inquisition, let you craft weapons and other equipment too, though Frazier said Andromeda's system is "quite a bit different". And not just because it's in space and doesn't use dragon's teeth and fairy dust as reagents, I imagine.

The original Mass Effect trilogy had some close-combat focused classes and abilities but little support for actual melee brawling. Having to run up to somebody to swing your space-axe at them as they fill you with futuristic bullets would put you at a bit of a tactical disadvantage, so I doubt Andromeda will encourage melee-exclusive characters. But more combat options are always welcome.

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Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar.