mass-effect-2 posts (Subscribe to this feed)
Mass Effect 2 vids profile Tali and Adept class
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Nov 27th 2009 at 11:30AM } 
Head past the break to see a video of the Adept class, which has been granted some flashy new tricks.
Gallery: Mass Effect 2 (11-06-09)
Interview: BioWare's Greg Zeschuk on Dragon Age, DLC, and more
by Christopher Grant { Nov 26th 2009 at 3:00PM } 
Joystiq: Dragon Age is the first PS3 game that BioWare's developed. Can you talk about that process?
Greg Zeschuk: We did partner with Edge of Reality, so we partnered with folks who have had the experience, and that was a good process where we actually had some folks that knew how to do it but also, in general, just worked together with them. A lot of it ended up being like we needed a lot of work to get done and a lot of stuff very fast and everyone was very busy on Dragon Age itself. Collectively, on the console, I would say it was very interesting and challenging to take the richness of the PC game of Dragon Age, with all these different powers and everything else, and actually try to transpose it to the consoles. And the interesting thing about that, or where it worked out really well, is that we literally set ourselves a goal: We didn't want console players to fell like we ripped them off by taking anything away, by minimizing or simplifying. We want them to feel they have all the power at their fingertips, but it's very accessible. It's got the multiple rings that sort of have subsets to them, and you can actually pretty much access any power just a couple little joystick twiddles and button presses. And so with that experience, I think we succeeded there.
Another place where we succeeded on both the PS3 and 360 versions: it feels very different from the PC. Where the PC has got the traditional Baldur's Gate top-down [perspective], the PS3 and 360 are over-the-shoulder and they do have that kind of, very KOTOR feel and that's probably what I play, and that's what I feel most familiar with is KOTOR -- and it actually feels more action-y than the PC does, so I think people will find a very different experience. I recommend both platforms actually, PC and console versions.
Gallery: Dragon Age: Origins
Mass Effect 2 system requirements revealed, restrictive DRM removed
by Griffin McElroy { Nov 25th 2009 at 12:30PM }
Now, for the great: The retail version of Mass Effect 2 won't include the restrictive, pestering DRM featured in the franchise's first installment. Rather, the game will simply do a disc check upon boot-up -- the same piracy-preventing measure exercised by Dragon Age: Origins. Activate, dear friends! Activate your game to your heart's content.
Mass Effect 2 box art affected by massive change
by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 17th 2009 at 5:01PM }
BioWare has apparently changed its mind about the Mass Effect 2 box art, as the developer announced today that it has revealed the "final" image for the game's standard edition release -- the Collector's Edition box art was shown off a couple weeks back.
The new box differs from the original version in that the characters and guns are more prominent, the Wrex-lookin' Krogan is replaced by Thane the Assassin, Miranda Lawson is trying harder, but still failing at a solid Dead Space Girl impression, and Default Shepard from the original Mass Effect cover is again the sorry stranger of the bunch. Who is this cookie-cutter mancake BioWare insists cramp its covers? We've never seen him in our game!
None straight minutes of Mass Effect 2 gameplay [update]
by Randy Nelson { Nov 6th 2009 at 4:15AM }
Update: Due to a faulty interstellar communications array (read: a misunderstanding), EA has asked us to jettison the footage.
Original post:
We get the feeling someone at BioWare has proclaimed this "Epic Week," what with the release of its fantasy RPG stunner Dragon Age: Origins and now an epic new video from its next big game, Mass Effect 2. This isn't a trailer or developer diary -- you're in for nine minutes of unedited, uninterrupted gameplay footage from the most recent build of ME2. In fact, it's the same mission -- set inside Omega's "Inferno" nightclub -- that we ourselves got to play earlier this week. (And yes, we can confirm it looks that good.)
You'll get a sense of the sequel's leap in environmental detail, character modeling and dialog scene camerawork in this clip, along with loads of intense combat. There's even an appearance by returning character (and total badass) Garrus from the first Mass Effect, plus a joke that manages to poke fun at rumors of Commander Shepard's death and the fact players can make him/her look like anyone they choose. Again -- nine minutes.
Hands-on: Mass Effect 2
by Randy Nelson { Nov 6th 2009 at 4:00AM }
click to make more MASSive
You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than Mass Effect 2's newly revealed world, Omega. (Well, apart from the Mos Eisley spaceport, that is.) This is where our latest grubby-mitts-on-the-gamepad outing with BioWare's upcoming RPG shooter role-playing shooter took place -- or, rather, inside its favorite hangout for galactic riffraff, the Inferno nightclub.
It turns out there was a purpose in showcasing this location beyond the throbbing music and exotic alien dancers -- it happens to be the same sort of locale that one of the original Mass Effect's earliest combat encounters played out in, and we got this point before our tour guide even had to make it: The environments in Mass Effect 2 are leaps and bounds better the first game's. In fact, this place seemed alive. Oh yeah -- and there just so happened to be a firefight waiting for us as we ventured further into this seedy sin palace.
It turns out there was a purpose in showcasing this location beyond the throbbing music and exotic alien dancers -- it happens to be the same sort of locale that one of the original Mass Effect's earliest combat encounters played out in, and we got this point before our tour guide even had to make it: The environments in Mass Effect 2 are leaps and bounds better the first game's. In fact, this place seemed alive. Oh yeah -- and there just so happened to be a firefight waiting for us as we ventured further into this seedy sin palace.
Gallery: Mass Effect 2 (11-06-09)
The Collectors, and the enemies of Mass Effect 2
by Andrew Yoon { Nov 5th 2009 at 2:56PM }
- Collectors – an insect-like race, controlled by a single leader, that has access to the technology that "no one else in the galaxy" has. They can paralyze humans, and according to the video dev diary above, can abduct entire colonies. Oh, and they have beam weapons.
- Abominations – Husks from the first Mass Effect, but now on fire and 100-percent more suicide bomber-y.
- Scions – Three transformed human beings that have been grafted together onto a weapon. Essentially, super-zombies. With guns.
- Batorians – A "flying suit of armor" apparently made of thirty Husks that can "obliterate everything."
EA announces Mass Effect 2 Collector's Edition
by JC Fletcher { Nov 5th 2009 at 9:05AM } 
Of course, if you've bought Dragon Age's collector's edition, this will be the second set of exclusive Mass Effect items you'll have earned from fancy game boxes! Mass Effect 2 (and this classy variant) will be out January 26 in North America and January 29 in Europe. Check out the full box art and the armor in our gallery.
Shepard shoots stuff in this Mass Effect 2 gameplay footage
by David Hinkle { Oct 30th 2009 at 7:00PM }
Head past the break to check out the gameplay clip.
Mass Effect 2 stardated January 26, 2010
by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 16th 2009 at 1:03PM }
- Terminus Armor -- "Increasing run speed and personal shields, and augmenting weapons with an additional magazine of reserve ammo."
- The M-90 Blackstorm Heavy Weapon -- "Generates a high-powered localized gravity well, accelerating particles to near-infinite mass."
Update: Check out concept art of the Terminus Armor and M-90 Blackstorm after the break.
EA Russia lists Mass Effect 2 for PS3 [update]
by Griffin McElroy { Oct 11th 2009 at 7:00PM }
Gaming news site Just Push Start also noticed the PS3 installment on the site of an Australian game retailer called, appropriately, GAME. We put more stock in the EA Russia listing, though we suppose the publishing giant is no stranger to sending mixed signals when speaking about the exclusivity of the Mass Effect series. We've contacted EA and BioWare to find out what the deal is.
Update: As some of you already guessed, the "deal" is that the EA Russia listing was, in fact, erroneous. The PS3 listing for Mass Effect 2 (and Left 4 Dead 2, which we didn't notice) has been removed from the site.
Mass Effect 2's Subject Zero looks awfully unfriendly
by Griffin McElroy { Sep 27th 2009 at 3:00PM }
Then again, she's also what Rick James might call a very kinky girl -- the kind you don't take home to family gatherings where your mother is in attendance. Check out the very NSFW, Subject Zero-centric Mass Effect 2 trailer after the jump.
Interview: Mac Walters, lead writer for Mass Effect 2
by Richard Mitchell { Sep 14th 2009 at 8:20PM }
Joystiq: All right. So. Biggest question. We sent around email to everyone saying, "What should we ask BioWare?"
Mac Walters: Right.
The big question we had is, "How do you write a story where all the characters from the first game, or a lot of them, could be dead when you start out the second game?"
You mean other than pulling out my hair and weeping at night, sort of, "Oh my god, how am I going to do this?" It takes a lot of planning, obviously, but essentially what we did is we looked at it and said, "Yeah we know that some of these guys are going to be dead. How do we account for that?" And the big thing was -- let's take Wrex for example -- we had to limit to some degree the roles that those characters are going to play because we have to say, "OK well they're coming back or they're not." And then we had to say, "Well what are their alternates?" So a lot of times there's characters that will fill their spot. But they don't just come in and go, you know, "I'm Wrex alternate," or something like that. It's a new character who has his own back story, who has his own role in the game and whatnot.
Latest Mass Effect 2 squad member is Grunt - 'A violent and unpredictable Krogan'
by Christopher Grant { Aug 18th 2009 at 2:40PM }
Wait, if Grunt is considered a "violent and unpredictable Krogan," then what would Wrex be? Following the earlier reveal of "deadly assassin" Thane, BioWare has announced the second new character in the Mass Effect 2 squad: Grunt, "a blood-hungry Krogan." (Blood ... hungry? Is that worse than blood-thirsty?). In this announcement, BioWare is really pushing the cause and effect nature of your squad selection: "The success of the mission hinges on the squad recruited and their loyalty to the mission. Shepard's future depends on it."
BioWare's Ray Muzyka -- referring to the series very clearly as a "trilogy" –- says, "Building out a diverse and loyal party is one of the features that makes the Mass Effect series quite unique. The characters Commander Shepard recruits are not only pivotal to the storyline, but essential to the player's overall success." So, Grunt: On the one hand, he possesses "unsurpassed physical strength." On the other hand ... he eats blood. It's a tricky balance.
BioWare's Ray Muzyka -- referring to the series very clearly as a "trilogy" –- says, "Building out a diverse and loyal party is one of the features that makes the Mass Effect series quite unique. The characters Commander Shepard recruits are not only pivotal to the storyline, but essential to the player's overall success." So, Grunt: On the one hand, he possesses "unsurpassed physical strength." On the other hand ... he eats blood. It's a tricky balance.
Gallery: Mass Effect 2 - Grunt reveal
Mass Effect 2 screenshots focus on new teammate for Shepard
by Andrew Yoon { Aug 13th 2009 at 10:40PM }
Hey you, have we met before? BioWare has updated the Mass Effect 2 website with a few new screenshots, and we can't help but notice this green character unmentioned in the first game. Clearly he (she? it?) is of some importance, as BioWare has decided to showcase the character in not one, or two, or three or four screenshots -- but five. (Update: Readers have pointed out this character can be seen in this video and is named Thane.)
This screen also shows a Krogan teammate, which we're assuming is Wrex because we totally didn't shoot him in the face.
This screen also shows a Krogan teammate, which we're assuming is Wrex because we totally didn't shoot him in the face.
