Is Andromeda the beginnings of a Space Opera?

You mean the pew-pew?  Yep we got all of that and then some.

I'm probably among the few though that would have been perfectly happy to have not had to shoot more than a few dozen things total in all of Andromeda.  The narrative while not singularly unique in video games is the exception rather than the rule.  Ryder's not (supposed to be anyway) the super soldier or the destined one or born with elfin magical luck or what have you.  In the start he's just a regular guy.   The story could/should have been about settling this new frontier instead of killing an ancient evil or stopping the hostile armies etc., etc..

Bioware said the game was to be about exploration and discovery but in the end every situation throughout the game is resolved at muzzle velocity.  I would have loved if the game had been about actually exploring these new worlds, finding ways to make them habitable without the aid of a giant deus ex machina.  Having to discover water sources, determine what species of plants and animals can help sustain life, having to find areas capable of supporting a settlement population instead of just riding up to randomly placed beacon and be told "here is your new settlement".  I'd rather have had to rely on scientific skills, deduction, research, experimentation, surveying, all things a real Pathfinder would have needed.  Then having the success or failure of your settlements depend on how well you did your job as Pathfinder.

Instead we got the regular pew-pew everything in your way and win.  I think a game about being an actual Pathfinder would not only have fit their narrative better, but also given them the opportunity to explore some unique gameplay.  Risky.  It very well could have flopped on them if they didn't find unique and interesting ways to do it, which of course is exactly why they would never even consider trying it.  The ADD shooter crowd would have howled in terror at being expected to take longer than 5 seconds to resolve every conflict in the game, but for me personally I would relish a game like that.