Mass Effect 5 Locations May be Closer to Those of Andromeda Than the Trilogy

The job description for the director of level design of the new installment of Mass Effect suggests that perhaps we will see a location designs similar to that of the latest part of the series - Andromeda.

June 29, 2022 11:14

Mass Effect 5 Locations May be Closer to Those of Andromeda Than the Trilogy.

As noted by Game Rant, a few days ago BioWare published a job offer for level design director, who will be working on the fifth installment of Mass Effect. In the requirements section for this position we read:

"Experience with nonlinear, self directed level design."

Interestingly, an analogous requirement also appeared in the level design director job offer description for Star Wars: The Old Republic (MMORPG from the same studio). What can this tell us about the upcoming Mass Effect game?

This suggests that the level design will be more akin to that of Mass Effect: Andromeda than the original trilogy.
The locations in the first three installments were linear and generally offered only a single path to the destination. Andromeda had a quasi-sandbox world design.
It is also possible that the level design of the new ME will employ elements from immersive sims (e.g. the Dishonored series or Deus Ex). These are often playgrounds of sorts, offering a multitude of interwoven systems that enable the player to progress through them entirely at will.
Fifth Mass Effect is being developed for PC as well as Xbox Series X/S and PS5 consoles. No release date has been revealed at this time.