Adventures on Voeld
Eventually, I had to leave the safety of my patio heater and venture out into the frigid, barren wilderness of Voeld. I love the way the way the planet has been drawn. It’s lovely to look at and frequently I would stop the Nomad and just admire the view. The one downside was the Kett base’s Minas Morgul-style beams of light into the sky. On close inspection they looked a little fake in comparison with the rest of the landscape.
It’s a gorgeous environment considering how little there is there. You can see snow drifting off mountains and the tracks left by the Nomad persist for some time after you make them.
I drove around for while, taking out random wildlife as I found it before embarking on some of the mission-driven content on the planet. This started with a trip over to a Kett facility where they were performing experiments on the cat people. I had to rescue an important one.
The mission just kind of started and I didn’t know it was going to be a major part of the story. Once in, there was lots to do and some cool cutscenes that brought the story forward a little. The experimentation did remind me a little too much of the Reaper/Collector tactics but it was well detailed and made sense to the story. I like the revelations about the Archon that have come up as I have progressed through the Voeld section too. I don’t know where that storyline is going but he’s an intriguing villain.
The facility reminded me of The Matrix (and the Collector base) a little bit with the pods containing captives. 
I then had a massive fight with the main guy, known as the Cardinal. You can see the end of that in the video I’ve linked to at the bottom. Fortunately, I’d had a few of his kind in Multiplayer over the previous few months so I was able to dispatch him first time. This involved lots of hiding behind a wall and lobbing fireballs at him.
Finishing this, I then moved on to activating all the Remnant monoliths, looking for side quests, finding the memory triggers and clues to the whereabouts of the Asari ark. I’m a lot more invested in the story now and I enjoyed the way that Voeld played out. I keep Peebee and the Krogan dude (who I just pretend is Wrex) with me on the squad as they’re the least irritating of the bunch. I was working with Jaal for a while but he was way too serious so he was benched. Liam is never getting off that ship, I’ll tell you now.
I took out the main Kett base next. I was a bit disappointed at the ease with which I was able to do this. Could have done with some stiffer opposition. For such an impregnable fortress, I actually found the big tall thing on Havarl that I had to scale to be more of a challenge. Still, another good fight at the end with another Kett Ascendant.
After that, I embarked on a side quest that led me to my first Architect battle. I’d read a little about these in the guide book but hadn’t yet encountered one.
It was beautifully animated, suitably imposing and had some devastating attacks. I was killed stone dead quite few times before getting my tactics down. One of these times involved me getting two of its legs and then dying stupidly, which nearly precipitated a rage quit. Eventually, I managed to get the better of it. I figured out that a shotgun was probably not the best weapon to use from the length of a football pitch away so I switched up to an assault rifle and combined that with fire combos and my trusty turret.
After that, I went down into the vault, which was another beautiful location, and swiched that on. It took me ages to figure out that I had to stand inside the dome things to avoid dying from the extreme cold.
On top of that, I discovered an ancient AI which I decided to keep and send to SAM. I’ll probably regret that later down the trail. Some of the options you get aren’t as easy to read as the ones in the original trilogy. I kind of like that though. You never know whether you’re doing the right thing or not.
Activating the Remnant Vault has brought the temperature up and made the sky a beautiful colour. it’s also streaked with an aurora that I keep looking up at to admire.
I really enjoyed this section of the game and I feel much more immersed in it now. If I’m not fully invested in all my squadmates, at least I can stand a couple of them and I know they’re names (mostly). The gameplay is fun and there is plenty to do. I’ve unlocked the Remnant VI power now, too, which means that not only can I have my turret, but I can also call up a monstrous floating killer-robot to send into battle while I cower behind a wall and watch. Bonus. thanks, Peebee.
Anyway, that’s enough for now. You can watch this video to get a flavour of the planet.
Thanks for reading. You can follow the rest of my Andromeda experience by clicking the links below. Please follow this website or my YouTube channel to see more updates.
The Ardenna Crossing 
4 thoughts on “The Andromeda Experience – 7”