Mass Effect 2 Wiki

 

Mass Effect 2 is an upcoming action role-playing video game under development by BioWare with assistance from EA Montreal, and set to be published by Electronic Arts. The game is the sequel to Mass Effect, on Microsoft Windows and the Xbox 360 and will be released in North America on January 26, 2010, and in Europe on January 29, 2010.

A "Prelude to E3" developer diary was released on May 15, 2009. The developers confirmed that the combat system has been upgraded, with everything from the feel of the combat and the AI being improved, including realistic damage modeling and downed enemies still continuing to crawl and fight. New to the series is a heavy weapons system that will allow you to "kill [somebody] a thousand times" over. The tone of the game is similar to that of the Wild West, featuring warlords and crime gangs. The video also confirmed the existence of new alien races and an attack by one race on Citadel-controlled space, wearing armor with an "M1" logo painted on it and seeming to control similarly armored varren, a race of non-sapient animals similar to dogs.

Mass Effect 2 also features regenerating health as its primary health mechanic, instead of being able to heal with "medi-gel" as in the first game. In addition, the overheat system for weapons has been replaced with collectible ammunition.

The characters in Mass Effect 2 will be more detailed not only graphically, but technically. In the original Mass Effect, Commander Shepard only had 20 animations for cover, while in Mass Effect 2, the character has over 200. The world will also be more open-ended in this installment; uncharted worlds the player could only explore for "cheap thrills" will now be more detailed and have more to explore.

The camera positioning for conversations with AI characters has also been improved, the previously static camera now moving around to provide "a much needed cinematic touch." Another new feature during conversations are context-sensitive controls; as shown in a conversation with Scientist Mordin, Shepard is able to interrupt the dialogue with aggressive tactics when prompted with the on-screen controls.

A new vehicle will be introduced to replace the M35 Mako due to criticism of the Mako's poor gameplay sections in the first game.

Casey Hudson, Project Director for BioWare, and Greg Zeschuk, BioWare co-founder, as well as various developers on the official Mass Effect message boards, have said that players should keep their Mass Effect save-files, because decisions made by the player in the first game will continue to have influences on their character in the sequel. Players who have not played the first Mass Effect will start a new character in Mass Effect 2, and will be brought up to speed on the story elements that have taken place thus far in the series. Hudson also states that characters from the previous game will come back, provided that they were not killed.

The first teaser trailer for this game gives the impression that Commander Shepard has been killed in action, but a later trailer shows that Shepard is still alive at the beginning of the game. Players themselves can dictate whether or not Shepard will die based on choices that they make throughout the game. BioWare Executive Producer Casey Hudson explained that "If you do die in the ending of Mass Effect 2, it will not come as a surprise, nor will it be random. It will be pretty obvious that you headed into the final mission knowing that Shepard probably wouldn’t make it out alive." Hudson also confirmed that team members would be affected by the player's decisions during the final mission: "You might have an ending where Shepard’s entire team survives, or where the entire mission is a bloodbath and everyone (including Shepard) is killed, or anything in between." The ending in which Shepard is killed represents a permanent death, rather than one where the player simply reloads from the last saved game, meaning Shepard would not be available for Mass Effect 3 in that scenario.

Mass Effect 2 takes place in the year 2185, two years after the conclusion of Mass Effect. With the Reaper invasion stopped and Saren and the geth defeated, Commander Shepard learns that entire human colonies are mysteriously vanishing. Teaming up with the human supremacist organization Cerberus in the investigation, Shepard will also journey across the galaxy to recruit "up to a dozen of the galaxy's most dangerous operatives" to face this new threat. Locations include the asari colony world of Illium, and Omega, a space mining station in the Terminus Systems which harbors the worst of galactic society.

The insect-like Collectors are among the main villains of the plot. They have Reaper-based technology and are believed to be working for the Reapers, and are responsible for the disappearance of human colonies which are being harvested for an unknown purpose.

Dr. Monkey

Nov 29 2009, 06:10 PM

Up to this point the original Mass Effect has been one of my favorite Next-Gen console games so I can't wait for this one. Anybody else pumped up for this come January? If you never played the first one I highly suggest doing so as the game is available on both the PC and 360.

The Fallen Angel

Jan 21 2010, 09:39 PM

I'm getting the Collecters Edition and it comes out on the 29th for us so you lot get it sooner

RQO

Jan 21 2010, 09:45 PM

The Fallen Angel

Jan 21 2010, 09:39 PM

I'm getting the Collecters Edition and it comes out on the 29th for us so you lot get it sooner

That stinks.

I know this: It'll be worth the wait.

X'ie

Jan 22 2010, 09:58 AM

I havent played the first one yet, but its on my list of games to play, which seems to grow longer and longer instead of shorter and shorter