G4TV - New Mass Effect 2 Combat Video

Mass Effect 2: 5 new pictures from Game Reactor

 

 

 

Mass Effect 2: Dated For January, Preorder Bonuses Abound

EA has nailed down a January release date for Mass Effect 2 in North America and Europe, detailing the special armor and weapons available as preorder bonuses in the process.

The epic space RPG continues on January 26th in North America, with Europe joining the fray three days later on the 29th. Along with the release date announcement, EA has revealed preorder bonus equipment available via download code once the game hits store shelves.

Most retail outlets will receive codes for Inferno Armor (seen above), which increases your Commander Shepard's negotiation skills, run speed, and combat damage. Those opting to preorder from GameStop will receive the Terminus Assault Armor (seen below), which includes an armor suit that augments run speed, damage, shields, and adds an additional magazine of reserve ammo, and the M-490 Blackstorm Heavy Weapon, which generates a localized gravity well, which sounds painful.

"Our fans are in for a genuine thrill in the New Year with Mass Effect 2 - the second installment in the trilogy will be of amazingly high quality," said Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder, BioWare and Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group of EA. "BioWare's fans worldwide have been eagerly awaiting this epic sequel, and we couldn't be more excited to reward them for pre-ordering by delivering some awesome bonus content!"


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Well i now know which week i will be taking off from work, then - awesome! no news yet on a CE version, although i'm sure there will be one, nor if these armours will be traversing the pond.

Mass Effect 2 is NOT Coming to the PS3

The BioWare community manager whose comments in Poland (pictured) led some to believe Mass Effect 2 would be coming to the PS3 has corrected his statements. Mass Effect 2 is still a PC and Xbox 360 release only.

Jay Watamaniuk, the community manager involved, posted the following yesterday afternoon in the BioWare forums:

There is a report circulating today based on an appearance I made in Poland yesterday. Seems there was a misunderstanding about ME2 coming to PS3.


Let me clarify today: ME2 is coming to PC and X360 only. Look for them both on Jan 26 in NA and Jan 29 in Europe.


Sorry for the confusion.

Watamaniuk's misstatement might not have generated much buzz had it not been preceded by listings on Electronic Arts' own Russian Web site, and an Australian retailer's, showing Mass Effect 2 as available for the PS3. EA told Kotaku that the listings were "both mistakes and they're being corrected."

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Mass Effect: Redemption #1 Preview from CBR

Mass Effect 2 lead writer Mac Walters reveals an essential moment in the life of Commander Shepard, the galaxy’s greatest hero, only in Mass Effect: Redemption!

The eagerly anticipated sequel to the blockbuster science-fiction epic that IGN.com named the #1 Xbox 360 game of all time, Mass Effect 2 begins with the disappearance of Commander Shepard. The story of what happens next—exclusive to these comics—will have the commander’s companion Dr. Liara T’Soni undertake a deadly mission of extraordinary importance in the Milky Way’s lawless Terminus Systems.

Scripted by John Jackson Miller (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic) and drawn by Omar Francia (Star Wars: Legacy), this series is not only an integral part of the Mass Effect universe, it is the must-read comic that every fan of space adventure has been waiting for!

From the lead writer of the popular video game—Mass Effect 2!

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Mass Effect 2: New Screens featuring THAT woman...

Well at least you can see the stunning graphical detail on the tattoos...

Mass Effect 2: Subject Zero Reveal - oh dear....

Let's just hope the juvenile swearing is kept to a minimum during the actual game, or she'll be shot by my shepard very quickly...

Mass Effect 2 Is More Than What Meets Our Eyes

The build-up for BioWare's Mass Effect 2, still not planned for release until next year, has been one of gaming's more mysterious. Hints of Commander Shepard's possible death in trailers and demos confuse ever more. What's going on? Kotaku asked.

"We have been saying it's the dark middle act, so the tone is definitely darker," the game's lead writer, Mac Walters, told Kotaku at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle. "To draw comparisons: Much the same way you would say Empire Strikes Back is the dark middle act of Star Wars, it still felt like Star Wars. ... So you're still going to find a lot of very familiar themes, elements, and characters. It's all going to feel very Mass Effect."

We've written about Mass Effect 2's combat — and about the possible deaths of protagonist Commander Shepard. And it all seems ominous, foreboding and a little bit confusing.

"It's fair to say there's more than meets the eye to what you've seen," BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk told Kotaku during the show. "I'm not going to get too much into specifics." He remarked that this is the first sequel his company has been able to work on since Baldur's Gate 2 in 2000. "It's nice to be able to change and modify. We think it's going to be a much better game than the first one."

The publicity machine isn't kicking into gear for this one yet, Zeschuk explained. That's why so little is known. They developers will answer process questions, but are skipping content answers.

So, Walters will talk about how BioWare is writing the new game differently: On the first game, Walters was a senior writer focusing on the characters Wrex and Garrus as well as several quests. He said the writing team for the second game has been working to make dialogue more conversational and, with the benefit of a larger cinematics team involved in this project, they are attempting to craft more of the conversations as scenes rather than just moments of characters saying what they need the player to know.

But Walters won't talk about who is in the game, besides Shepard: "A lot of the main characters you're going to see them — if they're alive," he said. "You can expect to see cameos, return appearances by some people. Your decisions from the first game will matter. If, for some reason, they're dead, they're not going to come back. We listened to our fans and realized some of the characters in the sidequests are really popular. Well, we're bringing them back so you'll sometimes see the return of some of the fan favorites." That says something. But it doesn't exactly name names.

Even the spin-off Mass Effect 2 comic is shrouded in secrecy. Walters is overseeing the writing of the Dark Horse Comics mini-series, which is set to launch alongside the game. The series will be scripted by Dark Horse's writer of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic comic, John Jackson Miller. Walters said the Mass Effect comic's story occurs during the timeframe of the second game, involving new locations and characters in the sequel's universe. While Mass Effect gamers have been able to play the series' lead character, Shepard, in divergent ways — renegade female soldier, paragon male biotics specialist, etc — Walters said the comic will be able to deal with that and not violate people's impressions of who Shepard is to them. How? "You're going to have to wait and see." More mysteries.

In a void of firm answers about what is likely to be a popular 2010 sequel, we'll just have to keep guessing as to what Mass Effect 2 has in store.

"A lot of people ask about, 'What are the big changes?'" Walters said. "It's actually a lot of small changes. Even just as a person who's played it a million times, I'm just like, 'Wow.' It's Mass Effect but it's such a better experience now."

I told him that solving the elevator problem — the complaint about slow, dull glorified loading screens from the first Mass Effect — is no "small change."

"Everybody I talk to is like… 'Elevators?'" Walters recalled. "I say: 'Don't worry about it.'"

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