Mass Effect Andromeda ten-hour trial available now

If you've been holding off on Mass Effect Andromeda [official site], which is entirely understandable whether you're a fan of the series or not, perhaps a ten hour free trial is just what you need to decide whether the trip is worth your time and money. Previously available to EA Access subscribers, the trial is now open to everyone. It gives you ten hours of play-time, which you can spend in singleplayer (up to the first planet) or multiplayer, and saves will carry over to the full game if you choose to buy it. You'll need Origin, EA's digital storefront, and post-trial, the game is currently £24.99.

If you have been casting wary glances in the direction of Andromeda rather than rushing to buy it, this is a fine opportunity to take it for a spin and judging by our John's review, if you don't like the first ten hours you aren't going to think much of the next sixty, so it should be enough to give you a good idea of the tone and quality.

I prefer a traditional demo (remember those?) but I have experience with these EA trials and they are an actual ten hours of play rather than ten hours from the moment of activation. That happened to me once - I activated a trial in the morning, did some work, went back and it had expired because the clock was ticking even when the game wasn't even active on my computer. NOT GOOD.

Efforts are being made to improve the game, from the usual kind of post-release fixes to writing edits and new romances (though not New Romantics; a New Romantic sci-fi RPG is something I would play).

I've played so many games in my lifetime that I sometimes think I've played them all. Still haven't seen more than the first five hours of Mass Effect 1 though so if you want alien smooching opinions, I'm the wrong person to ask. It's all geek to me.