Mass Effect 2 is Empire Strikes Back: totally dark, broody

by Griffin McElroy { May 20th 2009 at 5:30PM }

You've probably already made this inference after viewing the demise-filled teaser trailer (or last week's E3 sneak peek), but BioWare's second space opera installment, Mass Effect 2, is going to be a downer. Much like The Empire Strikes Back (the angsty middle child in the Star Wars trilogy), ME 2 will be the series' "dark act," according to producer Casey Hudson, who sees the game as "an opportunity to really explore the tougher, more brutal parts of the universe."

Hudson went on to describe the themes of the Mass Effect trilogy's story arc, explaining, "In the first act you put a guy in the tree, in the second act you throw rocks at him, and in the third act you get him down." And how do you get the guy out of the tree? With a really slow elevator, of course!

Tags: bioware, mass-effect, mass-effect-2, rpg, star-wars, the-empire-strikes-back, trilogy

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Markez @ May 20th 2009 5:34PM

Ohhh... ME2? Whew. Is it getting warm in here? Oh man, if this isn't my most anticipated title ever then I don't know what i--*HEAD ASPLODES*

Lennoko @ May 20th 2009 5:59PM

Darker alien sex sce......*HEAD ASPLODES*

The Dark Wayne @ May 20th 2009 6:02PM

so is she just gonna be a darker shade of blue or is she gonna be all emo?

Lennoko @ May 20th 2009 6:09PM

EITHER! O the joys of RPG's.

BlaqueBeird @ May 20th 2009 6:48PM

@Wayne
Either that, or full on dominatrix. WHAPISSH!

Marty @ May 20th 2009 5:41PM

This game can't come soon enough for me - the first game was one of the best RPG's I've played in the last few years, and if the sequel is as good or better, it'll be another incredible experience.

Silencio @ May 21st 2009 2:27PM

Agreed. One of the best RPG's and one of the best Sci-Fi stories of all time. Right up there with Star Wars. And now they're taking a page out of Joseph Campbell's book (and George Lucas') with the Hero's Adventure paradigm. It's already a classic.

Alex @ May 20th 2009 5:41PM

I still need to play Mass Effect! I will hopefully get to it sometime this summer, is this slated for a winter 09 release?

The Dark Wayne @ May 20th 2009 6:02PM

i believe it's early 2010

protofunc @ May 20th 2009 6:10PM

my local gamestop has it listed as december this year.

does gs normally just list games without knowing the release date?

deanb @ May 20th 2009 6:16PM

Amazon UK has it down as 31 Oct.

Bioshock 2(30th Oct) and Assasin Creed 2(21 Nov) also came up in a search for "Mass Effect 2" oddly enough. I suppose they may be "games regularly bought together"

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ May 20th 2009 5:43PM

throwing too many rocks into said tree might also hit the BIG ASS Asian giant hornet nest causing them to kill the guy in the tree and you too.....

you dont want these guys mad at you....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fTrSOFyfxs

Batzarro @ May 20th 2009 6:33PM

I had previously seen the video but acid shooting hornets are always a daymaker. Can't wait until some idiot thinks they'd make good pets, then release them, so we can all share on the magic...

bioadam @ May 20th 2009 5:44PM

Nice to know that Mass Effect 2 won't have the rainbows and sunshine stories of slavery, illegal medical experiments, and genocide that gave us warm fuzzies in the original Mass Effect.

smcn @ May 20th 2009 7:13PM

Predictions for Mass Effect 2: The Hanarr Crusades, an Elcor production of American History X, and the consort gives everyone on the Citadel space herpes.

THE WICKER MAN (BWF) (GT: Dalek Prime) @ May 20th 2009 7:32PM

Don't forget the charming suicide scenes and unicorns!

I am so excited about seeing the reapers again. Sovereign was the best villian of its year. Robotic cthulhu! What more can a nerd ask for?

Duke @ May 20th 2009 5:46PM

Yeah, but I heard from a guy who knows a guy that the game has Ewoks in it. So, just keep that in mind.

el serpiente @ May 20th 2009 6:42PM

YUB NUB! EEE CHOP YUB NUB!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6Pw2ax9vS8

deanb @ May 20th 2009 5:47PM

Just picked the PC version of this a few weeks back. pretty damn good game, I've been told it better to play through several times.
I'm not keen on the very very hilly n bumpy planets though. Or the once every 2 hour auto-saves where one messy run in with a Geth could lead you repeating the past hour of gameplay.
Still if its Empire Strikes back "oh no they got Han!" depressing and not "I'm Anakin Emo and I cut myself" depressing all will be fine.

PeterF @ May 20th 2009 6:01PM

Just save more often.

tmacairjordan87 @ May 20th 2009 5:54PM

Looks like I'll be waiting with lots of hype for this for a year just like the first one :(

I wish it was out now. My 360 needs some lovin by games not named Fallout 3.

The Dark Wayne @ May 20th 2009 5:57PM

so is Mass Effect gonna have some cuddly little creatures to increase sales to kids?

The Dark Wayne @ May 20th 2009 5:58PM

err Mass Effect 3

uncle jesse @ May 20th 2009 6:06PM

Yes, and you will have to choose which one you want to have sex with.

Oh, and the sex scenes are motion detecting camera compatible.

deanb @ May 20th 2009 5:57PM

If by "totally 360 exclusive" you mean "totally 360 and PC exclusive" then you are correct.

Sir Buzz Killington( The Artist formerly known as Jakka) @ May 20th 2009 6:00PM

SPOILER ALERT!

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

DO NOT SCROLL DOWN!

which ending was the canon one in the end? Rengade's Gov gets off'd, Humans are the new leaders of the galaxy or Paragon's Gov gets saved, Humans are offered a spot in the council? It kinda changes the entire out look and the way the story could play out.

The Dark Wayne @ May 20th 2009 6:04PM

it's not Star Wars, I don't really think there's an official way it happened, especially considering your save from the first game affects the second game. I'm guessing if you haven't played the first one, you'll do something like in KOTOR 2 where you talk to someone about past events and your responses determine what happened

deanb @ May 20th 2009 6:06PM

Apparently ME2 will take this into account. Hence the repeated "keep your old saves" warnings.
So whatever you chose will be canon, and I'm guessing they have some fancy stuff to cope with the change of story. Including if you SPOILER ALERT Kill or nuke any of your team mates.

Tunneler @ May 20th 2009 6:07PM

the game changes depending on which one you picked. so they are both canon.

Snowblind @ May 20th 2009 6:16PM

I believe one of the books follows the Paragon ending, but yeah, the game will carry on from whichever you chose.

Personally, playing as a good character I actually took the renegade choice.. It seemed like the right thing to do to me.

The Dark Wayne @ May 20th 2009 6:18PM

I agree snowblind, I found it odd that the most important Good/Bad choice was the least clear as to it's morality. I originally picked let the council die because I assumed saving the alliance lives was the paragon choice

Premature ejaculation man @ May 20th 2009 6:40PM

I'm playing the first one again. And probably will go through it another time,.

That way, when ME2 hits, I'll have 3 starting points to choose from for when I replay ME2 :D

deanb @ May 20th 2009 6:41PM

Bioware have always liked the morally grey morality choices.
On Bring down the Skies gave you the choice to stop the dude form crashing an asteroid into a planet but he would kill the hostages, or you let him go, but be able to save the hostages

smcn @ May 20th 2009 8:40PM

SPOILER ALERT!

"which ending was the canon one in the end? Rengade's Gov gets off'd, Humans are the new leaders of the galaxy or Paragon's Gov gets saved, Humans are offered a spot in the council? It kinda changes the entire out look and the way the story could play out."

You can still save the council as a renegade, and you can still kill the council as a paragon. The dialog and background are slightly different depending on your reputation.

"I believe one of the books follows the Paragon ending"

The prologue in Ascension simply refers to "the council". Regardless of your choices at the end of the game, the council still exists as a political body.

343 Guilty Fart @ May 21st 2009 3:31PM

@Snowblind + Dark Wayne

That really irked me on my first playthrough too. I played Paragon straight through, then at the end I presumed that saving the folks on the Citadel was more important than saving the Council. Then the + Renegade points pops up and I'm like WTF?? Like Wayne said, the most important choice in the game is the least clear. Annoying.

uncle jesse @ May 20th 2009 6:04PM

This has got to be one of the biggest and most anticipated games coming to the 360. I loved Mass Effect more than my first born child. I don't have a child, but if I did I would've ignored him. Okay, maybe I would've played with him a little during the elevator load times, BUT THAT'S IT!

I'm pumped about having it connect to your previous saved game. That's something that seems so simple but makes a huge difference in comparison to other sequels. It makes you feel like you are part of something bigger and will probably make the ME universe seem even bigger than it already does.

Awesome-o!

Premature ejaculation man @ May 21st 2009 2:10AM

I think Mass Effect 3 will have to come out in like 2020 depending on how serious they are. The amount of possible options in 1 is pretty large. The amount of choices in 2 will be huge and then there'd be choices that come up based on your actions from 1 and then all the choices that come from the choices made in 2 and then.....

I don't think I have a large enough brain to comprehend that much AWESOME

Latin_Trident @ May 20th 2009 6:15PM

I just hope they don't have a racing part in the ME 2 similar to the pod race in phantom menace.

deanb @ May 20th 2009 6:20PM

Way to make random references. He compared it to Star Wars not some random drivel that came out your head.

....wait a minute George Lucas made 3 more Star Wars movies....... suppressed memories returning...murderous rage rising....must kill Jar Jar.....and Ewoks