Mass Effect 2

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Mass Effect 2

Showing it now on G4, it's 360 only.

[jmood88]

Re: Mass Effect 2

G4 is going through a demo with the Bioware Dr's. Part of the hud has changed but they haven't explained what it means.

[jmood88]

Re: Mass Effect 2

It is no longer be a spoiler to say that Commander Shepard, hero of Mass Effect, lives in Mass Effect 2. Despite the clever teaser, he is, again, the hero.

"We've always said we wanted to create a story about taking one human through [a huge story]," said Mass Effect 2 project director Casey Hudson during a lengthy demo of the game. "And that human is Commander Shepard."

As planned, players can carry over their saved data from Mass Effect, with character choices and gameplay decisions impacting the events of the dark sequel.

The real surprise coming out of E3 is that it also won't be much of a spoiler to say that Commander Shepard dies in Mass Effect 2.

In fact, plenty of major characters in Mass Effect 2 can die before the end of the game. And if Shepard or any of his companions die, and you carry over that data to Mass Effect 3, those characters won't make appearances in the final game of the trilogy.

Before we got to a fatal scenario, BioWare showed us a section of the game where Shepard and company infiltrate a building to find a mysterious assassin. Hudson explained that Shepard is tracking down the mysterious disappearance of humans across the galaxy, a quest that will culminate in a significant final mission--a mission that will see your decisions impacting every stage of the climax.

The first gameplay segment shown amounted to a conversation between Shapard and blue-skinned alien Liara in a flying car, a scene first shown at GDC. BioWare has stepped up the cinematic camera angles in Mass Effect 2, and not to a gimmicky level--nearly every shot during the conversations was beautifully staged, including plenty of dynamic camera movement.

Liara eventually dropped Shepard off at the target building, at which point the party quickly captured a guard, leading Hudson to introduce the new "interrupt system"--a new way for players to physically and abruptly end a conversation.

During the guard's interrogation--"Tell me where the bomb assassin is!"--players will eventually see a flashing exclamation mark in the lower left corner marked with the left-trigger icon. Upon pressing it, Shepard simply pushed the guard out the window, leading one character to quip, "So when do we read him his rights?"

Shortly thereafter, Hudson detailed a few of the new combat systems. Mass Effect 2 will now allow players to fire off abilities without pausing the game, in addition to issuing move and attack orders for independent party members. All of this lends itself to a more dynamic combat scenario, with a great focus on scooting and shooting.

Of course, the abilities themselves have been bolstered by new additions. The Bionic Pull will allow players to yank enemies out from behind cover, while concussive rounds physically blast characters into the air. There are nine new weapons classes in all, including a new heavy weapons system.

Now we hit spoiler territory--or, at least, light spoiler territory. As the ending--and the middle--of Mass Effect 2 will change depending on your decisions, to call anything a true spoiler seems pointless. Even still:

Spoiler

DO NOT READ BELOW THIS POINT IF YOU WISH TO REMAIN ENTIRELY UNSPOILED.

Following the building scenario, BioWare had two more quick glimpses of the game. The first was of various other planets, which will now be more varied in design, or "like a science-fiction painting come to life," as Hudson put it.

But the really interesting stuff was in the concept that any character can die in Mass Effect 2. To illustrate this point, BioWare skipped ahead to a later section of the game. An unknown alien force had torn apart the flagship starship Normandy, the ship near collapse. Shepard issued an evacuation order, forcing Linara to head to the escape pods. Surrounded by chaos, Shepard slowly made his way through the fire to a doorway--and then the booming sound dropped out entirely, sucked away by the vacuum of space in Dead Space style.

Walking on the skin of the dying ship, Shepard eventually found shipmate Joker, who is attempting to save the craft. But at that moment, the enemy ship fired a beam weapon at the ship, violently splitting it down the seam. Shepard was knocked about in the fury, then was entirely jettisoned into space. The hero flailed about in space as his air leaked out from the wrecked spacesuit, then disappeared into the black.

BioWare ended the live demonstration there. Hudson didn't need to reiterate that Mass Effect 2 was indeed a darker sequel.

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/58969

[Altimus]

Re: Mass Effect 2

Showing it now on G4, it's 360 only.

G4 is going through a demo with the Bioware Dr's. Part of the hud has changed but they haven't explained what it means.

I missed it. Anything interesting shown?

Hopefully they'll show it on g4tv.com.

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Mass Effect 2

I missed it. Anything interesting shown?

Hopefully they'll show it on g4tv.com.

It looked good, they were playing it.

Talked about how if you have your save from ME, you'll see different things and what not. New alien species as well.

[Altimus]

Re: Mass Effect 2

It looked good, they were playing it.

Talked about how if you have your save from ME, you'll see different things and what not. New alien species as well.

I'll have to catch it later some where. Very interested in how the shooting mechanics have been improved.

[thaima1shu]

Re: Mass Effect 2

I'm interested in these heavy weapons.

[AtlantaFalconFan]

Re: Mass Effect 2

damn i need to go buy the 1st one this looks sick

[Flawless]

Re: Mass Effect 2

<object classId="clsid<param name="movie" value="http://e3.g4tv.com/lv3/38775" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed src="http://e3.g4tv.com/lv3/38775" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="VideoPlayer" width="480" height="418" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" /></object><div style="margin:0;text-align:center;width:480px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;color:#FF9B00;"><a href="http://e3.g4tv.com/" style="color:#FF9B00;" target="_blank">Video Games</a> - <a href="http://e3.g4tv.com/e3" style="color:#FF9B00;" target="_blank">E3 2009</a> - <a href="http://e3.g4tv.com/e32009/index.html" style="color:#FF9B00;" target="_blank">E3 '09 Live</a></div>

[Flawless]

Re: Mass Effect 2

IGN Preview

This, naturally, gave us a great look at the improved combat Mass Effect 2 sports. Though the approach is largely unchanged, subtle tweaks have been made to improve the flow of battle. The heads-up display is streamlined and while the power wheel has returned, you don't have to pause the action to start dishing out powers.

The coolest change to the combat is that enemies now have individual hit boxes on all of their body parts. Shoot a robot in the arms or legs and you can watch them slowly tear to bits as they're ripped limb from limb. Shoot one in the head and watch the machine brains go flying. The same location sensitive damage also applies to human and other living beings. Head shots here we come.

Of course, we all know what made Mass Effect's combat so fun was the ways you could mix and match the different weapons and skills. That same formula is returning in an expanded form. Nine new classes of weapons are being added including those of the heavy nature. We saw a missile launcher combined with a force pull power. The result was an enemy being pulled out of cover and then being blasted off of the raised walkway by the concussive blast emanating from the missile that hit nearby.

And then Thane made his entrance. This guy is a new alien species with a look that is somewhat similar to Saren's Turian race. His leathery face was covered with a heavy shell mask, his eyes sunken, hollow and black in a manner that was both sad and fear-inducing simultaneously. Thane made his entrance by taking out his mark and then praying for his soul before confronting Shepard's crew. We didn't get a chance to see how the scene would play out, but we were told that once again important characters can die.

BioWare is promising improvements in all areas of Mass Effect 2 including the exploration aspects. Most of this was kept under wraps for now, but we were told to expect new levels of interactivity and richer areas to explore. For a brief moment, Hudson teased one such area. It was a lush, jungle planet that looked just like any typical main planet from the first Mass Effect.

Mass Effect 2 is a visual stunner. The city vistas that showed the sun filtering through the building are awe inspiring. The cinematic cutscenes are better than ever. And, best of all, I didn't notice a single bit of slowdown or texture load issues through the entire live demo. From what I saw, there is no reason to believe that this sequel won't surpass the original in just about every way.

[Flawless]

Re: Mass Effect 2

Official Site

...

[thaima1shu]

Re: Mass Effect 2

The combat in this game looks AMAZING. Watching it made me forget that this is actually supposed to be an RPG. Wow ... I'm so excited.

[goh]

Re: Mass Effect 2

Looks like they improved everything wich is quite the acomplishment considering how great the first was. I liked the combat in the first. Have to remember to do a carry over play through. DLC messed things up on me.

[Herky]

Re: Mass Effect 2

With each bit of info that is released my excitement level goes up. It was high when the sequal was just announced awhile back.

This this outstanding.

[Altimus]

Re: Mass Effect 2

The combat and shooting mechanics look much improved and more fluid.

They mentioned a while back we'll get one more DLC, too bad there was no mention here about it.