The new Mass Effect: Andromeda cinematic trailer isn't the only piece of galaxy-hopping hotness to come out of BioWare today. The Andromeda Initiative website has also been updated with a new video focusing on the Pathfinder team, including dear old daddy Ryder himself.
The trailer is narrated by Lt. Cora Harper, a biotic and member of the Valkyrie Program, a military exchange program that saw her spend four years working with an Asari commando unit. She's the second in command of the Pathfinder team, under Alec Ryder—aka Pops—a decorated N7 operative who served on Shanxi during the First Contact War with the Turians.
The team also includes Liam Kosta, a crisis response specialist with a multidisciplinary skillset who was hand-picked for the team by Alec Ryder, and Sarah and Scott Ryder, both Systems Alliance soldiers, he previously assigned to an outpost near Arcturus Station, and she to a Prothean research team. Neither are N-rated, but both have received "informal training aided by Alec Ryder's N7 background."
Finally, there's SAM, the Simulated Adaptive Matrix, who would appear to be Andromeda's version of EDI. "From his node in the Ark, SAM receives a direct feed of the Pathfinder's sensory input via a neural implant. It sees and feels as Ryder does, providing him advance situational awareness, problem-solving, and even tactical enhancements," the trailer explains. "All members of the Pathfinder team receive implants allowing them to communicate directly with SAM."
So when techno-magic is needed, in other words, SAM is the man. It's too bad that the non-human members of the crew don't get any attention, but I suppose that's in keeping with the pre-launch briefing motif—and this is the human Pathfinder mission, after all.
Mass Effect: Andromeda comes out on March 21 in North America, and March 23 in Europe. Previous mission briefings—that is, "take-a-tour" trailers—are available here: Orientation, Ark and Nexus, and Tempest and Nomad. Watching them all (and there are at least a couple more to come) will get you an "exclusive Pathfinder-grade helmet" for use in the game.
