Rumor: First Mass Effect 2 details

[Tharp Daddy]

Coulden't find a official topic on this, but wante dto post a few things i've complied.

What I (so far) have learned about the game.

* Decisions made in Mass Effect will impact its sequel, most notably those made on a personal level. Certain characters can return provided they weren't killed in the first game. Casey Hudson has recommended keeping saved games from the original Mass Effect. You will be able to carry over your characters from the original Mass Effect.

* Your level will not transfer over to Mass Effect 2.

* Imported characters will be able to choose a different class at the start of Mass Effect 2 if desired.

* The physical appearance of imported characters can be changed at the start of Mass Effect 2 if desired.

* New Squad members. They include the main characters from the spin-off iPhone and iPod Touch game Mass Effect Galaxy, Jacob Taylor and Miranda Lawson, who can be seen accompanying Shepard as squad members in the preview footage released for E3. A quarian squad member can also be seen flanking Shepard on the Mass Effect 2 official E3 Trailer, possibly a returning Tali'Zorah nar Rayya or an entirely new character. Thane is a drell who is recruitable in Mass Effect 2.

* A heavy weapons system is set to be introduced, and new weapons will be added.

* The Illusive Man, the leader of the rogue Alliance black-ops organization Cerberus, has been confirmed to make an appearance in the game. Source

* The areas the player visits are described as being similar to the "wild west" with warlords and crime gangs playing prominent roles.

* Two new alien species, the drell and the vorcha, have already been shown, and others are to be revealed.

* A significant Cerberus station is located in the Horse Head Nebula.

* The Normandy will be attacked and severely damaged.

* Romance sex scenes will be returning.

* The individual limbs of enemies can be targeted, and in some cases shot off. Enemies with damaged legs will limp or crawl.

* Medi-gel packs have been removed in favor of a regenerative health system.

* Casey Hudson has said the elevator loading scene transitions are gone and replaced with “A completely new system to handle transitions between areas that speeds the load times and turns the loads themselves into part of the game experience." source

* An improved cover system has been put into place for Mass Effect 2. In the original Mass Effect there was only 20 different animations for taking cover, now there are over 200.

* In Mass Effect 2 a mechanic much like reloading is used when a weapon overheats. The player can hit a button to eject a small heat sink to immediately cool the weapon and get back into combat without waiting for cooldown times like in Mass Effect.

And also - a question

*SPOILER ALERT*!!!

There has been talk that the collectors will be the main antagonist in ME2, but based on their Mass Effect wiki article

The Collectors are an enigmatic race that live beyond the Omega-4 mass relay, within the same system as Omega and Shelba, within the Terminus Systems. They are rarely seen in the Terminus itself, let alone Citadel space, and are regarded as a myth by Citadel citizens. Definite sightings of Collectors have been made on Omega every few centuries.

They are thought to be highly advanced and are known for their odd trade requests. They offer new technologies in return for - for example - two dozen left-handed salarians, sixteen sets of batarian twins, a krogan born of parents from feuding clans, or two dozen "pure" quarians (quarians that have never left the Migrant Fleet due to illness, importance to the fleet, or disability). One of their current interests is in healthy human biotics.

No one knows what happens to these individuals after the exchange is completed. It has been speculated that they make these strange requests because of strange fetishes or gruesome culinary tastes. However, it is more likely that they perform genetic experiments on these subjects. Regardless of the possible danger, their requests are often granted by fringe groups because the technology the Collectors offer in return is often extremely valuable, giving any race who receives it an immediate advantage, before it becomes adapted to the galactic community.

All known expeditions to investigate the Collectors have failed. No vessel that has ventured beyond the Omega-4 relay has ever returned. Some speculate that there is a black hole at the relay's counterpart, but this raises the question of how the Collectors can safely use it. Another, rather fantastic, explanation is that on the other side of the relay is a paradise which no citizen of Omega would care to leave due to the crime and suffering of the asteroid. A more likely reason is that the Collectors either detain or destroy any vessels encroaching on their space. [1]

They seem to be VERY advanced, how do they survive the reapers? They are more advanced then any other race we have encountered and no one knows anything about them, so they must have survived a few reaper "purgings" - is it possible they are the remains of the Prothean? When you meet the AI on the prothean research world, he tells you that he speculates they died - but if he dosen't know it's possible that they hid themselves well enough that the reapers diden't even figure them out. Thus they retained their technology and can do what the collectors do, does anyone think this has some merit? Just a question - and looking for a good Mass Effect 2 discussion :laugh:

Edited August 2, 2009 by Mathachew
Added spoiler tags

[Paranormal]

this game was probably my favorite in a long time. cant wait for 2

[Wazooty]

I am very glad we'll be able to edit the class, appearance and start from level 1 with our continued games. I was worried I'd have to start a new guy with the exact specs and appearance I'd want for ME2.

[Mathachew Veteran]

Threads merged

[George P Global Moderator]

Oh man, I finished the game once, and started playing a 2nd time but never finished my 2nd playthrough. I wonder how this effects the save data? It does keep track of the fact you cleared the game once already right? I was playing like a renegade the 2nd time, but I didn't much like the direction events were going so I stopped. I suppose I should start over for a 3rd time and play it safe.

Unless ME2 can just go from my 1st playthrough data. That'd save me some time.

[Tharp Daddy]

Oh man, I finished the game once, and started playing a 2nd time but never finished my 2nd playthrough. I wonder how this effects the save data? It does keep track of the fact you cleared the game once already right? I was playing like a renegade the 2nd time, but I didn't much like the direction events were going so I stopped. I suppose I should start over for a 3rd time and play it safe.

Unless ME2 can just go from my 1st playthrough data. That'd save me some time.

ME2 can run off any save file you have, there will probably be a system (like in most games), where it will ask you to choose which hard drive its saved on (for 360 users), and then come up with a list of save files off that and you choose wish you want to be your main one in ME2.

[JonathanVP]

Sounds awesome! Man, another 5 or 10 gigs gone from my hd (from this game)!

[Tharp Daddy]

New news, depressing :cry:

According to leaked audio from a closed play through at E3 2009, Joker dies after the Normandy is attacked by an unknown enemy. Shepard can be heard trying to get Joker to abandon ship, but Joker insists that he can save the ship, despite the rest of the crew evacuating and the ship sustaining heavy damage. Loud noises followed by a sudden lack of sound and mournful music seem to suggest that Joker goes down with the ship. However, since no video recording of the event took place, Joker's fate is still unconfirmed.

Joker can also be seen being carried by Shepard in the game trailer's exclusive reveal dev diary.

[Si_]

Arrrrr you have no idea how much I wish I didn't read that. Damn my curiosity!

[Remysaus]

Maybe it's another choice, maybe you can convince him to not stay on the ship. That's what I'm hoping at least :(

[deletedxyz]

-Mass Effect 2 is a 6-month timed exclusive game for the Xbox 360

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo....

...and the player can now build his own house on the planet, same with many other planets

OoOoo... Hopefully, it's better than what Fallout 3 offers for housing in Megaton. >_>

New news, depressing :cry:

According to leaked audio from a closed play through at E3 2009, Joker dies after the Normandy is attacked by an unknown enemy. Shepard can be heard trying to get Joker to abandon ship, but Joker insists that he can save the ship, despite the rest of the crew evacuating and the ship sustaining heavy damage. Loud noises followed by a sudden lack of sound and mournful music seem to suggest that Joker goes down with the ship. However, since no video recording of the event took place, Joker's fate is still unconfirmed.

Joker can also be seen being carried by Shepard in the game trailer's exclusive reveal dev diary.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[Mainer82]

Although I am impressed with that list, I hope the game isn't too long and requires too much inventory management. One reason I loved the first game is because it didn't take 60+ hrs and made me OCD about leveling up and managing my inventory. The first game really opened my eyes to how a great action RPG should be. But then again, if it has 5 player co-op I highly doubt this would happen

No offense but it's people with your type of mentality towards games like this that cripple the few great long-lasting RPG games that many of us enjoy. If it does have these features you don't have to play that way.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

The inventory system in the first ME was terrible, that POS needs an overhaul.

[metal_dragen Veteran]

Really looking forward to this. I only got my 360 last December and only last month finally got ME. I'm a big fan of RPG games, but wasn't too sure I could really get into ME, as most of the RPGs I play are fantasy-type and not sci-fi. I finally broke down when I found a used copy for $15 and figured wth.

It definitely didn't disappoint, although visiting random worlds got very tedious as they're all the same with different coloring. Sounds like ME2 will fix that and that was my biggest hangup with ME, so it sounds sweet.

One thing I don't like is the dual wielding of anything other than pistols (and even that is ludicrous). If you've ever fired a real weapon, you'd understand.

[deletedxyz]

It will only come out April+ 2010 for PC. I hate timed releases.

[spacer]

No offense but it's people with your type of mentality towards games like this that cripple the few great long-lasting RPG games that many of us enjoy. If it does have these features you don't have to play that way.

I'd be willing to bet the amount of people who would prefer a shorter, more streamlined (read: more fun) RPG out-numbers the amount of people who want to a more old-school (read: less fun) approach. Bigger player base = more sales = more profit for the developer.

The inventory system in the first ME was terrible, that POS needs an overhaul.

I agree. However from watching the official videos on the ME site, I found out they're adding fuel for the Normandy and ammo. And that just plain sucks.

One of the great things I loved about ME1 was the fact that you didn't have to worry about either of those two things. You could shoot and explore as much as you wanted. It really made the game that much better since you didn't have to micro manage stupid crap like that. This change is taking a step backward in my opinion.

[sanctified Veteran]

I'd be willing to bet the amount of people who would prefer a shorter, more streamlined (read: more fun) RPG out-numbers the amount of people who want to a more old-school (read: less fun) approach. Bigger player base = more sales = more profit for the developer.

I'd like to see your table of parameters to officially determine what is more and less fun ;)

[Stu89]

What's the point of having a sequel on ps3 they won't know half of what's going on and won't be able to transfer saves into no.2 fair enough if they release the 1st

Edited August 28, 2009 by Stu89