Mass Effect: Andromeda is likely going to take up a good chunk of your free time when it launches next Tuesday, March 21, but you’re eventually going to have to leave your console and PC and return to the outside world. Fortunately, the Apex HQ mobile app means you’ll never actually have to leave the world of Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Available now in Canada, Ireland, Romania, and Singapore, and set to launch worldwide on March 20, Apex HQ allows you to micromanage the multiplayer portion of Mass Effect: Andromeda by connecting with the EA Account you have registered on your PC, Xbox Live, or the PlayStation Network. The app allows you to set active characters for multiplayer matches in advance, change their loadouts, and spend any free skill points you have so you don’t have to waste any time once you’re able to play the full game again.
Apex HQ also allows you to send out units on special “Strike Teams,” which can earn you rewards in Mass Effect: Andromeda. The app also includes a leaderboard so you can see how your progress compares against both your friends and other players around the world.
Oddly, the Apex HQ app doesn’t seem to include any single-player features at all. Mass Effect 3 was also supported with an app called Mass Effect 3 Datapad, and it allowed you to not only read unlocked codex entries and messages, but it even contained a special strategy game that contributed to the “readiness” level that Commander Shepard needed to raise for the game’s final mission.
Mass Effect: Andromeda is out for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on March 21, with Apex HQ coming to both iOS and Android. It’s the first game in the series in five years and the first from BioWare since 2014’s excellent Dragon Age: Inquisition.
