Mass Effect Andromeda's EA Access trial gives gated access to campaign

Mass Effect Andromeda's 10-hour trial for EA/Origin Access members will let you play a limited amount of the game's story campaign.

You could spend all of your allotted trial time playing this section of the campaign over and over, Andromeda producer Fernando Melo revealed on Twitter.

Alternatively, you will also be able to play Andromeda's multiplayer mode unrestricted.

BioWare has yet to say which section of the game will be playable in the EA/Origin Access trial, but our bet would be the role-player's eye-catching opening mission.

From my time with the game last month, I was impressed by how Andromeda's opening set the scene and immediately plunged players into trouble.

There's a straightforward path through this mission, although it is set across a fairly wide area. There's a lot of distractions should you want to wander off the beaten path, and a couple of side-missions to undertake.

Melo also showed some of the rewards which players will get for their single-player campaign by delving into Andromeda's multiplayer.

Completing multiplayer missions will unlock "Pathfinder Rewards", which consist of loot boxes. One screenshot showed two different types: the Gold Item Loot Box and the Research Data Loot Box.

Again, BioWare hasn't confirmed what these will contain but our guess is they include stacks of useful crafting materials - you end up with an inventory full of them pretty quickly.

Melo later clarified these were boxes of "random rewards" and there would be "no mtx in sp" - no microtransactions in single-player.

In fact, you may be able to obtain these rewards without playing multiplayer at all. Lead designer Ian S. Frazier commented that you can send AI Strike Teams to complete these missions for you:

Mass Effect Andromeda launches in the UK on 23rd March, in North America on 21st March, while its EA/Origin Access trial will begin on 16th March.