Multiplayer components being tied into single-player RPGs is always risky business. BioWare pulled it off before with Mass Effect 3 and now they're trying it again with Mass Effect: Andromeda, hinting at how the multiplayer will impact the campaign.
Game Informer managed to get in some hands-on time at the BioWare Montreal studios and talk about the multiplayer component of Mass Effect: Andromeda. They're doing a lot of new things with the mode, but most importantly they're extending it to the single-player campaign.
So how will this work? Well, for one they're making it where the mission funds you earn in multiplayer can extend to the single-player. They don't exactly say how, but it will permeate throughout the rest of the game.
The more intriguing feature is something borrowed from Tron: Evolution. Game Informer mentions that during the single-player campaign mode, gamers will be able to enter the pause menu and instantly zip over to the multiplayer missions. This was something that could be done pretty seamlessly in Tron: Evolution, allowing you to bounce back and forth between the single and multiplayer at the click of a button, and what you earned or unlocked in either mode carried over between both single and multiplayer.
And speaking of carrying over content... players in Mass Effect: Andromeda will have the option of integrating multiplayer missions into their campaign progress via side-missions. Players will be able to assign NPC members to carry out certain galactic tasks or perform those tasks themselves. In this way, it's a little bit like the Assassination mode in the latter Assassin's Creed games where you could assign members to carry out specific missions. Only this time around players will actually be able to go on those missions and perform tasks through the multiplayer component.
So essentially they're combining the multiplayer parts that worked in games like Tron: Evolution and the NPC assignment setup from Assassin's Creed titles, while mixing them in with what they accomplished with the multiplayer in Mass Effect 3.
It sounds quite ambitious but could work out in the game's favor if it's all handled seamlessly. Ubisoft has already beaten BioWare to the punch, though, elevating the multiplayer and single-player crossover content in a literal seamless way in games like Watch Dogs and Watch Dogs 2, so BioWare is still coming in behind the curve on that front but not in a bad way.
For those of you absolutely horrified at the thought of more multiplayer content in the single-player oriented sci-fi adventures of Mass Effect, they did mention to Game Informer that the multiplayer mode will not be an absolute requirement in order to get the most out of the single-player portion of the game.
A lot of people were not too fond of having the "best ending" of Mass Effect 3 tied to how well they performed in the multiplayer component of the game. Some gamers out there (including myself) steer clear of certain multiplayer modes for certain kinds of games and it can sometimes feel like a chore to have to force yourself to play through modes you don't want to in order to finish the game's story mode properly. For Mass Effect: Andromeda, BioWare is saying that if feel cheated by having to force yourself into the multiplayer to get the best possible ending, then they've done something wrong.
