Mass Effect 2 Message Board older than one year ago

Xbox360Achievements has updated with the sweet cheevos you'll be earning upon jumping back into the captain's chair of Mass Effect 2's SSV Normandy. Some of these are certainly spoilers, but BioWare has chosen to be purposefully vague with most of them (did you know you'll be "saving your crew from an incoming attack"? No duh), so they won't completely ruin the story with a quick browse. In fact, there's some fun in speculating just what all these points might portend. What's this "Geth technology" that you'll be obtaining? And who's this mysterious "Assassin" you could be recruiting? It could be anyone! [Thanks, tmacairjordan87!]

Ray Muzyka of BioWare fame takes a moment to give an overview of the new features incorporated into Mass Effect 2.

Gyrating hips confirmed.

Stealth combat? The Geth won't know what hit them.

In a recent interview with CVG, BioWare producer Adrien Cho assured that the plan isn't to jettison Mass Effect 2 into the deep, dark retail space without some form of continued support. According to Cho, some of the core development team has already moved on to creating DLC for the game, which could range from new items, including weapons and armor, to side quests that might even build "up to full expansion packs." Cho added that the team has more flexibility to create DLC for the sequel than it did for the first game, explaining that add-on content "was always on our radar from day one." It sounds like BioWare has big plans for Mass Effect 2 DLC. That is, it sounds like the plans are a bit more sophisticated than the original Mass Effect's DLC strategy: "release completely broken, partially inaccessible DLC without telling anybody about its existence."

Blow up droids and put your weapon down in this action-packed cinematic gameplay.

Get the hell off this station in this cinematic and battle gameplay from Mass Effect 2.

Our spoiler-free impressions of the first hour and a half.

Find out which of your favorite characters goes out with a bang.

click to enlarge With the game set to ship out on January 26, EA held one last hands-on sneak preview of Mass Effect 2 on Wednesday night in San Francisco. We were there, of course, intrigued by an invitation that promised we'd learn what something called "Project Lazarus" was -- as it turned out, it's a crucial part of the game's plot that makes an appearance in the first 20 minutes. We know that because -- save for some optimizations here and there -- we played the first hour-and-a-half of a finished Mass Effect 2, from the title screen until being politely informed that we were about to enter forbidden plot territory. Which is surprising, considering that the opening of the game, apart from being one of the most dramatic we've witnessed in recent memory, is also chockablock with pretty huge plot twists. That said, we must warn you that the preview after the break contains what some may consider MAJOR SPOILERS -- so if you want the beginning of the game and the surprises it holds to remain unrevealed until launch day, seriously ... don't read any further.

We chat with BioWare about how your past actions will carry weight.

After Mass Effect 2 lead gameplay designer Christina Norman walked us through the Engineer class and it's sanguinary droid last week, we were wondering how BioWare could possibly appeal to our inner tactician any more. It appears that the developer sought to do just that with this week's introduction to the Sentinel. Skilled in both biotic skills (thats space magic, folks) and tech abilities, Norman says the Sentinel is "the only class that can blast through any enemy's defenses ... with or without your squad backing you up." With only a handful of weeks left before the game's January 26 release date, it won't be long before we get to find out exactly how adept the Sentinel is for ourselves.

Snagged from IGN's "Ultimate Holiday Videogame Guide" comes this Mass Effect 2 cinematic trailer ... well, teaser trailer may be more accurate. While the above video shares nearly a minute and a half of delicious cinematic video (read: this isn't in-game, folks) the end promises the "full-length trailer" will premier on Xbox Live on December 22, just a few days before ecksmas. So you can take "Mass Effect 2 cinematic trailer" off your wishlist and bump up "Mass Effect 3 cinematic trailer." [Via Kotaku; thanks, tmacairjordan87]

Okay, you've probably heard by now that Mass Effect 2 has a lot of big-name voice talent. But have you SEEN them? This video trailer for BioWare's upcoming space opera features the all-star cast talking about their roles, and what it is about sci-fi (and not SyFy) that gets them so excited.

The class for those that like to kick ass.

Meet the star-studded cast of characters Shepherd will be meeting in in the sequel to the ever-popular Mass Effect.

Mass Effect 2 is bound to have some recognizable actors, what with 90 actors voicing 546 characters with 31,000 lines of dialogue. EA revealed today that the cast includes ... oh, by Grabthar's hammer, here's the list: Martin Sheen (Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez's dad) -- Illusive Man commanding Cerberus Shohreh Adhdashloo (sexy voice lady from FlashForward) -- Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay Seth Green (hand in your geek card if you don't know) -- Joker Yvonne Strahovski (wiener lady, lust of Chuck) -- Miranda Lawson Adam Baldwin (a man named Jayne) -- Kal 'Reegar David Keith Keith David (Halo's Arbiter) -- Admiral David Anderson Michael Dorn (Star Trek TNG's Worf) -- Gatatog Uvenk Tricia Helfer (2020 Oscar winner after people stop treating her like meat) -- EDI, voice of the "new Normandy" Michael Hogan (Colonel Saul Tigh) -- Captain Bailey Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity from Matrix, singular, no sequels exist -- especially not Revolutions) -- Aria T'Loak We also can't forget Jennifer Hale, who is reprising her role as the real Commander Shepard, nor Mark Meer, the male Shepard and known expert at cutting the council off at weird times.

Stars line up to provide voices for BioWare's upcoming sequel.

Mass Effect 2's Engineer class can disable and even turn enemies to your side.

BioWare has just released a new trailer for Mass Effect 2, featuring the exploits of strategic tactician "Commander Shepard the Engineer" and his murderous robot. Much like the first game, engineer class players will rely more heavily on strategery and tech management than direct confrontation. Lead gameplay designer Christina Norman guides us through some combat-heavy gameplay, which depicts the aforementioned android aggressor along with some cool abilities, like freezing enemies on the spot and hacking mechanized enemies. Oh, Mass Effect 2, you had us at killer 'bot.

Expanding upon statements from BioWare's Casey Hudson earlier this year, associate programmer Thomas Roy took to the developer's forums (requires login) recently to explain how Mass Effect 2 would be handling the promised lack of elevators (used in place of loading screens). As it turns out, rather than executing on BioWares's promise of "a completely new system" that's "part of the game experience," the studio will be implementing "loading screens and movies." Though the game will still ask players to walk into an elevator, it will apparently cue up a loading screen that offers "interesting visuals and information." We'd like to point out that before Mr. Roy explains any of this, he says that the first game used elevators "so we [BioWare] didn't have to show boring loading screens" and they only made it into the second due to "a lot of complaints." We're so broken up here -- on one hand, the developer is caving to the demands of the fans and critics. Score! On the other hand, Mr. Roy is telling us that loading screens are totally boring. If we demanded it, does that mean we're boring? Great, now we've got a total complex. [Via Kotaku]

Mass Effect 2 producer Adrien Cho thinks developers are pampering players, making games much easier now than in previous generations. "It goes back to that learning mechanism of "Well, I tried this - it didn't work. I'm going to try something different." And I think that's going to be something in Mass Effect 2, we don't want it to be a cakewalk, you want a challenge," he told Video Games Daily. Using the brutally difficult From Software title Demon's Souls as an example, Cho says hardcore players today want to earn progress in games. "I think gamers want a more sophisticated game, they don't want a breezy game where you see all the cinematics and just put in your hours and play it through." According to Cho, Mass Effect 2 aims to give players a healthy dose of challenge and sophistication when it launches early next year. We're all for hard work and challenge, but our idea of sophistication doesn't include the ancient mechanic of trial and error.

Choosing which class to play as just got that much more difficult.

'You cannot fit this much awesome on one disc,' says BioWare

How awesome is Mass Effect 2? Well, if BioWare Community Coordinator Chris Priestly is to be believed, it is about twice as awesome. "You cannot fit this much awesome on one disc," Priestly stated on the BioWare forums, after revealing the game content will span two discs.The necessity of two discs may mean a staggering amount of content for the RPG sequel -- the original was certainly no slouch in content. While some may lament the necessity of having to get up at least once during Mass Effect 2, Priestly promises that the disc swap happens at a dramatically appropriate point in the story. "Even though there is a disc swap, it occurs at a carefully planned place in the game (that does not interfere with gameplay) and is done once. You do not swap back and forth. 1 swap and then done."We're going to fathom a guess as to when the swap will occur: immediately after the "suicide mission" revealed in the game's initial teaser.[Thanks, Darth B.; Via Kotaku]

For such a dark adventure, BioWare's first Mass Effect provided a surprisingly optimistic viewpoint on universal unity. Sure, an occasional crinkled forehead or an extra filongidler might visually separate the denizens of the galaxy, but it's nice to know that in all the unrestrained hugeness of space, we all still come from completely identical, prefabricated installations. Well, we did until Mass Effect 2 decided to terraform its sidequest planets with some variety. "Now when you find mission[s] out there in the uncharted worlds, there are always missions where something special happens, and you get really good handcrafted gameplay and art that you can't see elsewhere in the game," project director Casey Hudson told VideoGamer.com. "I think people will find them to be really rewarding, really rich, because there's something different around every corner." Even the process of discovering planets has been made more interesting, Hudson explained, with space-faring explorers sending out probes and expending fuel to make new discoveries. It's nice to know the shooter RPG still allows you to go boldly -- and not just go badass.

This biotic blue alien is sure to turn heads.

By the code, this skilled Asari Justicar will serve Commander Shepard and adopt his will as her own.

With Dragon Age: Origins out the door and making friends, BioWare has switched the Mass Effect 2 hype machine into full gear, inviting us to play the game and provide a peek at some of the new squad mates who'll be joining Commander Shepard on his/her most dangerous mission yet. The latest cast member to make a debut, Samara, should have absolutely no problem taking care of herself -- as well as anything (or anyone) that gets in her way. Samara is an elite Asari warrior who controls some incredibly potent biotic powers. Forget simply tossing enemies around -- she manipulates dark energy in order to levitate herself, as evidenced in the above video. The footage also confirms that there are still five potential party members yet to be introduced before the game ships for PC and Xbox 360 on March 23.

What is it about BioWare and its dismissive implementation of races starting with the letter Q? Think about it: Tali the Quarian from Mass Effect and Sten the Qunari from Dragon Age: Origins -- on average, did anybody really use either for extended periods of time? It's Qu-acism, we tells ya! Perhaps Tali, who returns in Mass Effect 2, will prove invaluable when the going geths tough. Head past the break to see a video of the Adept class, which has been granted some flashy new tricks.