No. 3 -- Holy shit: The actors and production values are really good.
I'm normally not one that cares much when celebrity voice actors get announced for videogames, but even in this small segment, the non-combat frills
are also significantly better. The characters' moving and talking is an
improvement you can already see even in Dragon Age: Origins ,
and looks even better for Mass Effect 2. It's honestly pretty cool to
have Martin Sheen play a character who combines Richard Branson with
the Cigarette-Smoking Man from The X-Files , and seeing a dark-haired Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah Walker in Chuck )
talk with her native Australian accent is also an amusing treat. Mass
Effect 2 is already both a better shooter, and a better "cinematic
experience," than its predecessor.
No. 4 -- Holy shit: It's awesome to get the band back together, when you can.
A slight spoiler warning (which I'll elaborate on later), but it's
just plain cool to run into a former Mass Effect party member even in
the first "real" quest, and try to recruit them to your cause. With the
game taking place two years after the previous installment, and
everyone going off in their separate ways, it's already cool to see who
from the old gang is willing to join you on your current high-stakes
suicide mission. I've seen both Tali and Garrus in previous
footage/write-ups (and I still don't know if Garrus is a permanent
member, or just joins temporarily), and I want to see who else from the
olden days joins.
No. 5 -- Holy shit: The lineup of new blood for your "Dirty Dozen/Suicide Squad" is badass.
As much as I'd like to revisit old buddies like Garrus, the game already makes the new crew sound like an intergalactic Dirty Dozen or Suicide Squad .
Shepard starts the main mission with a handful of dossiers/leads for
potential squad members, and these little write-ups already make the
new blood sound tantalizing. They even have cool heist-movie style
codenames: "Arcangel" is a tactical genius and infiltrator; "the
Convict" is a biotic master that needs to be extracted from a prison;
"the Professor" is a Salarian genius that you're encouraged to recruit
first; and "the Warlord" is a hardened Krogan veteran (and if I
understand the flavor text correctly, he's surprisingly a scientist as
well!) that will add valuable experience and knowledge to your team.
No. 6 -- Holy shit: The upgraded Normandy is badass.
The first two things that I notice about the improved Normandy: Tricia
Helfer voicing the mysterious A.I. that serves as the Normandy's brain,
and the fact that Shepard now has an administrative assistant. Besides
that, the Normandy itself has been expanded significantly -- there are
now four decks full of NPCs and interactive stuff, instead of two. The
captain's quarters has an award stand for your Achievements and a
locker to "store" your armor and its paintjobs (and whether you look
like a mashup of Han Solo and Mad Max when in civilian areas). The
decks also have little side quests, such as getting a grocery list for
the Mess Hall or a rare bottle of liquor for the Medical Officer, that
help the Normandy feel alive. And while much of the ship is off-limits
this early in the game, I can already see intriguing elements: the Tech
Lab that will research equipment upgrades (once you get a Science
Officer), a gun battery that requires a Gunnery Officer, and the fact
that the hangar deck now lists "Hammerhead" instead of "Mako." Hmmm.
No. 7 -- Holy shit: The story so far (and spoilers!)
The biggest "holy shit" moments are easily the story elements that come
at you fast and furious in the beginning. But I also recognize that
these moments might spoil both the end of Mass Effect and the surprises of Mass Effect 2, so I've saved these spoilerific
revelations for last. I can't help but talk about them, so I'm giving
you a warning: if you want to play Mass Effect 2 "pure," then stop
reading. Go click somewhere else. But, if you want to see some of the
crazy stuff that happens in just the first ninety minutes, go ahead and
highlight below. And see why I'm so damn excited for January 26.
Still here? All right, here's the biggest "OMGWTFBBQ" moment: remember the "holy crap, Shepard can die for real" video? That's the beginning .
When you start a new game, after showing a brief conversation between
Miranda Lawson and the Illusive Man, the story then shifts to the
Normandy getting attacked by a mysterious foe. Your first action as
Shepard is to take Joker to the escape pod and then go down with the
Normandy as it gets torn apart.
Two years and billions of credits
later, the Illusive Man's "Lazarus Program" succeeds in reconstructing
and reviving you (it's mentioned that your specific skill and
experience is needed, and technology like cloning wouldn't cut it).
Which means that, yes, you are actually working for Cerberus,
at least when the game begins, as neither the Council nor the Alliance
are interested in the Reaper threat while Cerberus is. The Illusive Man
comments that since you are the first person to take down a Reaper, and
there are more out there, you are the only person he believes can
figure out why entire colonies are disappearing, and who can rally
together a suicide squad of utter badasses. And that is why, in the
released footage so far, everyone else is surprised by your appearance;
because for all intents and purposes, you did die in the line of duty.
The opening act starts with the
Lazarus facility under attack (where you learn basic combat and get
acquainted with new squadmates Jacob Taylor and Miranda Lawson), and
then get briefed by the Illusive Man. Your first real quest,
investigating the disappearance of colonists from Freedom's Progress,
has you meeting an older, and more proactive, Tali (though I wasn't
able to recruit her yet). After that sequence, you're then tasked with
recruiting more allies for your mission, and you're given the keys to
the fancy (and all-new, courtesy of Cerberus) Normandy Mark 2.
Interestingly, since I didn't get
to import my Mass Effect character, the "canon" decisions so far
include: the Council was destroyed with Humanity advancing to its
place, and the squadmate of the opposite gender was saved at Virmire
(for my male Shepard, Ashley is alive, while other editors who played a
female Shepard had a living Kaiden). Plus, the same way people are
asked "Who's the current President?" after a concussion, you are given
a "quiz" to determine other decisions from the first game.
