'Mass Effect: Andromeda' news: PC specs revealed; lead designer talks game's overall structure

With only a few weeks before "Mass Effect: Andromeda" officially debuts, PC specs for the anticipated open-world RPG have been recently announced.

Ahead of the game's March release, Origin has published the minimum and recommended specs for "Andromeda's" PC version. The minimum requirement isn't too demanding, calling for only 2 GB GTX 660 or Radeon 7850 to be bundled with either i5-3570 or FX-6350. For players who want to have a better gaming experience, the recommended specs note that they can switch to a GTX 1060 or RX 480, plus an i7-4790 or FX-8350.

Unfortunately, Gamespot points out that a suggested level of framerate, quality or resolution for the game isn't indicated in the list. The recently recommended specs released by Ubisoft indicate 1080p, but it's worth noting that many PC players expect to view higher resolutions. For people who want to try the game, EA will be launching a multiplayer beta sometime before the game's release. More details, along with the beta's date, are expected to be revealed in the coming days.

In other news, "Mass Effect: Andromeda" lead designer Ian Frazier spoke with PCGamer recently, and he talked about the game's overall structure. During the interview, he confirmed that the "vast majority" of the game and its side quests will remain playable even if the main story has already been completed.

He said that "there's a handful of quests that if you finish the main story, are no longer accessible. But it's a pretty small percentage," He adds, "But the vast majority of the game, including the loyalty missions, Mass Effect-2 style, you can do even after you finish the main story. Most parts are still open. "

The upcoming game is more open compared to the previous installments, but Frazier stressed that they developed it to allow players to explore more. "We want the stakes to be high. But we want that to be periodic beats along the plot, where it's like—'no really, man, go take care of that'—versus this constant, ever-present threat," he added.

Developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts, "Mass Effect: Andromeda" will be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on March 21.