Mass Effect 2 Info (V2)

[Slidell]

Mass Effect 2 will retail on the dates, and at the recommended retail prices, indicated in the table below.

 

Country Standard Edition Collector's Edition Release Date Xbox 360 PC Xbox 360 PC USA $59.99 $49.99 $69.99 $59.99 January 26th 2010 Canada $69.99 $54.99 $79.99 $69.99 UK £49.99 £39.99 £59.99 £44.99 January 29th 2010 Australia $109.95 $99.95 $118¹ $108¹ January 28th 2010 New Zealand $129.95 $99.95 $149.95 $119.95 January 29th 2010 ¹Exclusive to EB Games

 

 

Details

Players: 1 Resolution: Xbox 360: HDTV 720p // PC: Unrestricted Publisher: Electronic Arts, Inc. Developer: BioWare Corp.® Format: 2x DVD (Xbox 360 and PC) Rating: "M" for Mature (US), MA15+ (Australia), 15 (UK), 18 (EU)

 

Plot

Two years after Commander Shepard repelled invading Reapers bent on the destruction of organic life, a mysterious new enemy has emerged. On the fringes of known space, something is silently abducting entire human colonies. Now Shepard must work with Cerberus, a ruthless organization devoted to human survival at any cost, to stop the most terrifying threat mankind has ever faced.

 

To even attempt this perilous mission, Shepard must assemble the galaxyâs most elite team and command the most powerful ship ever built. Even then, they say it would be suicide. Commander Shepard intends to prove them wrong.

 

Official Plot Summary

Shepard's Fate

In Mass Effect 2, it is possible for Commander Shepard and members of his team to die at the conclusion of the game's final mission. Throughout the middle of the game the player will be building up the team, resources, information and ship necessary to succeed in the final mission. Should the player enter the final mission unprepared they could end up with an ending where Shepard dies, members of his team die, or there is a total bloodbath where everyone dies.

 

Should the player's Shepard die they will be unable to continue playing the game after the credits, and will be unable to import their character into Mass Effect 3. As with Shepard, death is final for all characters, and any that die during the ending will not be appearing in Mass Effect 3.^[1]

 

 

Characters

In Mass Effect 2 the player has the opportunity to build a team from 10^[2] possible companions, including:

 

Starting companions:

 

 

 

 

• Miranda Lawson
• Jacob Taylor

Returning from the original Mass Effect:

 

 

 

 

 

• Tali'Zorah nar Rayya
• Garrus Vakarian

Recruitable:

 

 

 

 

• Thane Krios
• Grunt
• Subject Zero
• Mordin Solus
• Samara

Shepard's success greatly depends on gaining the loyalty of these recruits. This loyalty will be measured using a points system.^[4]

 

Characters returning from Mass Effect include:

 

 

 

 

• Liara T'Soni
• Ashley Williams
• Kaidan Alenko
• Garrus Vakarian
• Urdnot Wrex
• Tali'Zorah nar Rayya

• Jeff "Joker" Moreau
• Conrad Verner
• Nassana Dantius
• Navigator Pressly
• David Anderson
• Doctor Chakwas

Locations

Commander Shepard and his team will visit a wide variety of new locations in Mass Effect 2, including:

 

• Omega
• Tuchanka
• Purgatory
• The Migrant Fleet
• Illium
• Freedom's Progress

Locations returning from Mass Effect include:

 

• The Citadel

Save File Transfer

Mass Effect 2 allows the player to import their characters from any completed Mass Effect playthrough. This means that all decisions made by the player in Mass Effect will carry over into Mass Effect 2 and have the potential to impact the story. Decisions confirmed to have an impact on the game include:

 

• The decision to save either Kaidan or Ashley.^[5]
• Whether or not the player kills Wrex on Virmire.^[6]
• Whether or not the player decides to save the Citadel Council at the end of Mass Effect.^[7]
• The player's choice of love interest.^[8]
• Whether the player spares or destroys the Rachni Queen at Peak 15.^[9]
• The player's treatment of Conrad Verner.^[10]
• Whether or not the player completed the UNC: Asari Diplomacy sidequest.
• Whether the player chose to allow the Alliance to conduct experiments on Nirali Bhatia's body.^[11]

Due to massive gameplay redesign, your level will not transfer over to Mass Effect 2 and you will start out with basic abilities. However, the game will acknowledge if you were a level 60 character and if you were a Renegade or Paragon and adapt it in ways that map across to the new system. Also, the physical appearance and class of imported characters can be changed at the start of the game, if desired.

 

If a player has no Mass Effect save files, Mass Effect 2 will start with an introduction sequence which, in combination with interactive decisions made by the player, introduces new players to the storyline and establishes a âcanonâ back story.

 

 

Gameplay Improvements

 

Combat

Mass Effect 2 makes a large number of additions and changes to Mass Effect's weapons and abilities, including

 

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/masseffect/images/b/b5/Ss-014.jpg

The new level-up screen displaying the soldier skill tree. As you can see, the ammo upgrades from ME1 are now skills to be learned in ME2. The weapon specialization skills are gone.

• A larger variety of weapon classes, including:
  • Heavy Pistols
  • Submachine Guns
  • Shotguns
  • Assault Rifles
  • Sniper Rifles
  • Heavy Weapons (Including guided rocket and grenade launchers, a gun that "turns enemies into dust", a "nuke gun" that unleashes room-clearing nuclear fire^[21] and the M-490 Blackstorm, a high-powered gravity gun.)

  [*]New biotic abilities:

  • Push
  • Pull
  • Shockwave
  • Charge^[23]
  • Slam

  [*]New Tech abilities:

  • Combat Drone
  • Cryo Blast
  • Incinerate
  • Tech Armor

  [*]New combat abilities:

  • Adrenaline Rush
  • Concussive Shot
  • Disruptor Ammo
  • Incendiary Ammo
  • Cryo Ammo

It also makes a large number of changes and improvements to the core shooter gameplay, including:

 

• Targeting of individual body parts, enabling the player to make more damaging headshots or slow down an enemy by wounding, or shooting off, their leg.
• An ammo system based on 'thermal clips'. Instead of cooling down automatically, weapons dissipate heat into thermal clips, that can only withstand a certain number of shots before they must be replaced or 'reloaded'. Replacement thermal clips can be collected off of the bodies of defeated enemies. These thermal clips are universal and can be used in any weapon.
• Ammo Upgradees such as Cryo Rounds, Incendiary Rounds and the new Disruptor Rounds are now abilities accessible from the radial menu like Biotic and Tech talents.
• Cover is now entered manually, instead of automatically as it was in the first Mass Effect. Additionally there are over 200 cover animations.
• Aiming is no longer dependent on stats. Where you aim is where you hit.
• A modified health system. Medi-Gel has been removed, instead the player's Health and Shields now regenerate slowly when the player is not taking damage.

Galaxy/World Interface

Mass Effect 2 also modified how the game is played outside of combat as well as some newer aesthetics. These include:

 

• A larger and deeper galaxy.
• New ship called the SSV Normandy SR2 which has several new features.
  • A tech lab where Mordin resides. Players can use minerals, which are collected by mining a planets resources, to upgrade guns, shields, etc.

  [*]New fuel system in the Galaxy Map interface to limit movement between solar systems.[*]Manual control of the ship during travel within a solar system (Galactic travel between stars is still controlled with the point-and-click system).[*]More freedom in gameplay with uncharted worlds.

  • The option to mine or land on a planet is no longer predetermined.
  • New minigame to scan the planet for resources and landing sites.

Inventory

It also completely revamps Mass Effect's inventory system, with changes including

 

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/masseffect/images/6/66/Ss-012.jpg

The new armor customization screen in Mass Effect 2

• Weapons and armor are chosen at the beginning of missions and can be swapped out for newly, or previously, acquired equipment at lockers found throughout the various environments in the game.
• Armor is modular and custom N7 armor can be built from parts bought from merchants, or acquired on missions, through the player's armor locker aboard the Normandy SR2. These parts can have different behaviors and influences on gameplay. At the armor locker the player can also customize many aesthetic aspects of their armor, including color, material and shininess as well as choose between helmets and visors.
• The player can modify aspects of armor and weapons, such as accuracy or ammo mods, by collecting research projects and working on them at research terminals in the science lab aboard the Normandy SR2, provided Shepard has recruited a scientist to work there.

Dialogue and Cinematics

Mass Effect 2 adds a large new feature to the dialogue system: Interrupts. The interrupt system will allow Shepard to take more physical action in a conversation, either through a hostile interrupt ora heroic interrupt.

 

Currently known interrupts include:

 

• Pushing an uncooperative Eclipse mercenary out of a window.
• Verbally interrupting Mordin's longwinded attempt to figure out who Shepard is.
• Pulling a gun on Pitne For, a volus on Illium, to coerce information out of him about a mercenary base.
• Shooting a mech soldier with Garrus' sniper rifle, while using the scope to survey the battlefield.

Leaked Achievables.

 

Missing in Action (5)

Save your crew from an overwhelming attack

 

Very Elusive (10)

Return to active duty

 

The Convict (10)

Successfully recruit the biotic Convict

 

The Krogan (10)

Successfully recruit the krogan

 

The Archangel (10)

Successfully recruit Archangel

 

The Professor (10)

Successfully recruit the Professor

 

The Quarian (10)

Successfully recruit the quarian

 

The Justicar (10)

Successfully recruit the Justicar

 

The Assassin (10)

Successfully recruit the Assassin

 

Friend or Foe (10)

Obtain geth technology

 

Colony Defense (25)

Defend a human colony from attack

 

The Prodigal (10)

Gain the loyalty of the Cerberus Officer

 

Ghost of the Father (10)

Gain the loyalty of the Cerberus Operative

 

Catharsis (10)

Gain the loyalty of the biotic Convict

 

Battlemaster (10)

Gain the loyalty of the krogan

 

Fade Away (10)

Gain the loyalty of Archangel

 

The Cure (10)

Gain the loyalty of the Professor

 

Treason (10)

Gain the loyalty of the quarian

 

Doppelganger (10)

Help the Justicar resolve her mission

 

Cat's in the Cradle (10)

Gain the loyalty of the Assassin

 

A House Divided (10)

Hack a geth collective

 

Ghost Ship (25)

Complete the investigation of a derelict alien vessel

 

Suicide Mission (50)

Use the Omega 4 Relay

 

Mission Accomplished (125)

Save humanity throughout the galaxy from certain annihilation

 

Against All Odds (15)

Survive suicide mission

 

Insanity (75)

Complete the game on the "Insanity" difficulty level without changing the setting

 

No One Left Behind (75)

Keep your team alive through the suicide mission

 

Long Service Medal (75)

Complete Mass Effect 2 twice, or complete it once with a character imported from Mass Effect 1

 

Paramour (50)

Successfully pursue a relationship with a teammate

 

Head Hunter (10)

Perform 30 headshot kills with any weapon on humanoid targets

 

Brawler (10)

Shoot and kill 20 enemies while they're knocked back by a punch

 

Big Game Hunter (10)

Thresher Maw defeated

 

Tactician (10)

Hit 20 different targets with multiple biotic powers to combine the effects

 

Master at Arms (15)

Kill enemies with 5 different heavy weapons during the game

 

Merciless (10)

Make 20 enemies scream as they fall or are set on fire

 

Overload Specialist (15)

Disrupt the shields of 25 enemies

 

Warp Specialist (15)

Warp the barriers of 25 enemies

 

Incineration Specialist (15)

Incinerate the armor of 25 enemies

 

Operative (15)

Complete a mission discovered by scanning an unexplored world

 

Agent (50)

Complete 5 missions discovered by scanning unexplored worlds

 

Prospector (5)

Retrieve mineral resources by scanning and probing a planet in the galaxy map

 

Explorer (10)

Visit 100 percent of the planets in an unexplored cluster

 

Power Gamer (10)

Reach Level 30 with one character

 

Scholar (15)

Unlock 15 new Mass Effect 2 codex entries

 

Technician (15)

Obtain (10) technology upgrades

 

Weapon Specialist (15)

Fully upgrade a weapon

 

Scientist (10)

Complete any research project in the Normandy's laboratory

 

Fashionista (5)

Personalize your armor in your quarters on the Normandy

 

Power Full (15)

Evolve any power

 

Highly Trained (15)

View all advanced combat training videos at Shepard's private terminal.

 

Edited January 2, 2010 by Slidell

[Quinn]

Can't wait for the PC version, I find large games like this lag to the extreme on the 360, especially when played off the disk. Great post, + rep

[Slidell]

Can't wait for the PC version, I find large games like this lag to the extreme on the 360, especially when played off the disk. Great post, + rep

 

Apparently they fixed the laggy elevator sequences from ME1.

[Quinn]

Apparently they fixed the laggy elevator sequences from ME1.

 

All open world games lag sometimes for me, especially GTA IV

[Slidell]

update

[Quinn]

Looks great, also, just incase anyone wants to know Mass Effect 1 is on sale (Steam) for $5 (PC, of course)