Mass Effect 1 – 3 was made up of a cast of characters who looked like the Calvin Klein catalog of sci-fi explorers. From the sultry gaze of Miranda Lawson, to the dark and ruggedly handsome veneer of default male Shepard, there’s no denying that the original Mass Effect trilogy had a lot of weight of its allure through the cast’s sex appeal. Well, if you thought that kind of sci-fi sexiness was due for a return in Mass Effect: Andromeda, you can shelve your expectations because you won’t be getting it in this year’s outing.

The latest crew manifest was made available over on the official Mass Effect website. We get details on each of the starting crew members of the Pathfinder group, with players starting out on the Tempest having nothing but a human crew and a sentient AI called S.A.M. Second in command behind Pathfinder Alec Ryder, a not-so-handsome but very rugged vet, is the hardened Cora Harper. Cora is the blonde with the thick jawline and the asymmetrical bob-cut. She narrates the crew trailer below.

Harper is joined by Liam Kosta, along with Scott Ryder and Sarah Ryder, the sibling offspring of Alec Ryder.

Some of the other non-human characters who will join the fray includes Vektra, the cat-like alien to appeal to the furry community, Peebee, the unattractive asari, and Drack, the krogan.

I’m sure there are going to be plenty of people running to BioWare’s defense about the crew looking more “realistic” as opposed to the high-maintenance, high-beauty standards set by the characters in the original trilogy.

But was realism ever one of Mass Effect’s traits? I likened it to a more dramatic and less nerdy version of Star Trek.

Even so, you can see a drastic change in the depiction of the leading ladies (and men), both human and alien.







Sadly the Ryder siblings, Scott and Sarah, also took a huge step back from the default male and female Shepard. BioWare went from high-class perfume ad models to rent-a-hero extras for a CW show.

Anyway, if the high-fantasy super model look of the characters from the previous Mass Effect games really put you off, don’t sweat it because BioWare heard your complaints and greatly lowered the standards. You’ll now have average looking dudes and average looking dudettes to keep you company during those lonely trawls through space.

You can look for Mass Effect Andromeda to launch on March 21st, 2017 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Some people have been announcing their intentions to boycott the game due to one of the designers being openly racist against Mass Effect fans.