BioWare Executive Producer Mark Darrah thinks Andromeda's review scores were hurt by great competition.

Anthem isn’t the first non-RPG BioWare has made. It’s not even the company’s first shooter. But it is sufficiently different from the developer’s stock in trade that it’s suffering a bit of a backlash - particularly in the wake of E3’s revelations.
As it turns out, most of the game’s customisation is reserved for its exosuits, not your character. Conversation and dialogue choices will be mostly absent from the game’s missions. And there will be no RPG-style companions to accompany you, at least not at the game’s launch, which removes the potential for smooching with NPCs. This latter point in particular has upset a faction which, if they were labelled in a codex, would probably be called the Garrus Stans.
In the past, BioWare have produced some of the .
“Oh ffs,” shortly after EA Play’s Anthem reveal. “Why even bother calling it a Bioware game at all then?”
“Because BioWare is making it,” executive producer Mark Darrah answered.
It’s a pithy reply. But what if, instead of just retweeting, we took it as an invitation to dig into the BioWare-ness of ?
To study the available information on this co-op shooter and identify the common links with the studio’s history? Yes, let’s do that. Swordplay and sanctuary

BioWare's ambitious Anthem was the highlight of EA's E3 2018 press conference - although that was hardly a tough bar to clear. We gained full of jetpacking players in mechs, angry monsters and mysterious god energy - but some BioWare fans watching felt like the gameplay shown did not align with their own, personal expectations of what a BioWare game should be.
Here at E3 itself, the mission shown during EA's press conference is playable in full - and with better context and setup, including the introduction of some prominent NPCs heard during the demo via voiceover. It's a much better introduction to the game - but sadly one which the audience back home isn't able to experience themselves.
After the dust had settled on Anthem's showing, and after , I was able to sit down for a half hour chat with lead producer Mike Gamble, previously producer on the Mass Effect series, to speak more deeply about the game, discuss what was happening with BioWare's other franchises, and find out how this week's showing of Anthem had gone for him. Our full chat lies below.

The Game Critics Awards have announced their nominees for Best of E3 2018, and Anthem has brought home the most nominations of any playable game at E3. BioWare's Anthem led the pack with five nominations—Best of Show, Best Original Game, Best PC Game, Best Action Game, and Best Online Multiplayer. From Software's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was ...]

Every year, E3 presents the Games Critics Awards to recognize the best upcoming titles showcased at the event, and 2018’s nominees have just been announced. Selected by a panel of 51 publications worldwide - including your friends at PCGamesN - the awards recognize the best games playable at E3.
“Playable” is an important distinction, because to qualify each game must be playable for the voting publications during E3. That disqualifies major titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Remedy’s Control, Fallout 76, and quite a few more. These games are still eligible for Special Commendations in graphics, sound, and innovation, which will be announced with all the winners this Monday.
Stay current with these titles and many more by following our list of the biggest .
Anthem leads the nominees with picks in five categories and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice follows with four - both of them qualifying for Best of Show among other honours.
There are 55 PC titles among the nominees, seven more than last year. That puts our preferred platform between the major consoles, with PlayStation 4 titles enjoying 58 nominations and Xbox One games getting 51. Ubisoft leads publisher nominations with 11 titles selected, and EA ties Sony Interactive Entertainment in second place with 10 nominations.
Best of Show

• Anthem (BioWare/EA for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
• Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games/SIE for PlayStation 4)
• Resident Evil 2 (Capcom for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware/Activision for PC, PS4, Xbox One)
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai Namco Studios/Sorta Ltd./Nintendo for Switch)

Best Original Game

Bioware's Mark Darrah admitted that Mass Effect: Andromeda was deeply flawed and said it got lapped by genuinely better games that released in the same time frame, such as Horizon: Zero Dawn, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, NieR: Automata and Nioh.

Mark Darrah takes to Twitter to ask: "did MEA get a fair shake?"