Mass Effect: Andromeda's multiplayer is more closely tied to the main game than ME3's was, but also more optional

Mass Effect: Andromeda won't hold content hostage behind multiplayer, but if you do decide to opt in it will make more sense.

Mass Effect: Andromeda comes to us from the team responsible for Mass Effect 3's multiplayer, so it's no surprise the successful co-op mode is coming back.

We don't have full details on the new multiplayer system in Mass Effect: Andromeda yet, but thanks to a recent interview with BioWare producer Mike Gamble we do know it will differ from Mass Effect 3's in a few key ways.

First, the Strike Team multiplayer in Mass Effect: Andromeda is more closely integrated with the story of the main game, rather than being a totally separate set of adventures as in Mass Effect 3.

"There's a system that we use called the Strike Team system, and fundamentally it allows you to go between singleplayer and multiplayer within the game," Gamble told Kotaku.

Mass Effect: Andromeda's Strike Team mode is "packaged around a meta-story of what's going on in Helios", but importantly, you can still experience this whole story in single-player if you don't like or can't play multiplayer.

This is a nice change from Mass Effect 3, where the multiplayer was almost totally unrelated to what was going on with the protagonist, but if you wanted to come to the ending with the best possible chances for humanity, you really need to put some time into multiplayer. Hardcore single-player RPG fans weren't super pleased about that.

Strike Team will be available to fire up from within Mass Effect: Andromeda itself rather than as a separate main menu option, too. "Because narratively it's all connected, it makes a lot of sense," Gamble said of this.

The full interview through the link above has some further discussion on this and other Mass Effect; Andromeda tidbits, although BioWare is still being pretty tight-lipped about it.

BioWare has said detailed news about Mass Effect: Andromeda's multiplayer and PC requirements are coming in February, we've had quite a bit of intel drop lately, as the secrecy eases up ahead of Mass Effect: Andromeda's March release date. You can always find the latest Mass Effect: Andromeda news at this link, if the drip feed of headlines is befuddling.

Mass Effect: Andromeda represents a fresh start for the franchise, so don't worry if you missed out on Commander Shepard's spaceventures: a whole new story awaits you.