E3 2009: Mass Effect 2

Xbox 360 preview by Matt Wadleigh, published on Wednesday 3rd June 2009

Mass Effect was one of the best games of 2007. The critically-acclaimed RPG infused the better elements of the RPG genre with a combat system more akin to something you’d find in a third-person shooter to deliver a fast-paced, cinematic game that few could resist. The first game in a trilogy, the game is to be followed by Mass Effect 2 later this year, and players will once again take control of Command Shepard as he continues his quest to save the universe from a dark and evil force.

We had an opportunity today to sit down here with project director Casey Hudson as he demonstrated some of the finer points of the game. Calling it a “dark second act,” the story once again focuses on the first human Spectre and his quest to save the galaxy from the nefarious Reapers. “We wanted to take one human character through the biggest story we could possibly imagine,” explained Hudson as the game loaded.

“We essentially combined the best aspects of the first game with some small improvements and a stunning new story.” That story will center on Shepard recruiting a team to help rescue humans that have been abducted by reapers and taken deep inside enemy territory. Hudson called it a “suicide mission.” While he kept the details of the storyline limited, Hudson insisted that the storyline will be more mature than the previous game and that important characters can permanently die in this installment.

The biggest and most noticeable improvement that I saw was that the dialogue is much more natural. Characters are no longer just standing around having awkward conversations. The demo opened up as Shepard and two other members of his party went on a mission to recruit an assassin for their mission. As the cutscene of the characters in their vehicle rolled out, they carried on a conversation that sounded natural, without any of the awkward pauses so prevalent in the first game. Players still carry out conversation through Mass Effect’s clever dialogue system and it appears that most of the principle voice actors have been retained for the sequel.

Once we arrived at our destination, the sequel started to feel very much like the original. As soon as we hit the ground, we were in a fight. Much of the core combat system has been retained, right down to the linear battlefields and muted industrial color scheme. One area that has been improved is the way that issues are ordered to your teammates. It’s now much faster and your AI partners respond more quickly to your orders.

Your weapons will also start off at their most powerful form – it seems that weapons skills have been removed and you’ll only worry about upgrading special abilities this time around. Additionally, new weapons classes will be included. We were given a brief glimpse of heavy weapons being used when Shepard pointed a rocket launcher at a troublesome turret. Suffice to say, the turret didn’t last very long and this should go a long way in offering players new ways to play the game their own way. The HUD has also been cleaned up and should be easier to quickly utilize this time around.

After dispatching all of the foes thrown at us, we were shown the first real cutscene. It was impressive. There’s definitely been an effort to make the game feel much more cinematic. The camera angles explored during the fairly typical (albeit tense) conversation really reflected the drama of a moment that could have otherwise been fairly mundane. This is great news after the first game often made players sit through several rather static, dull cutscenes.

We were also told that your save games from the first game can be imported. Unlike most RPGs, you’re not going to just import your level and be stripped of your abilities and weapons. Everything is preserved, including the moral decisions that you made in the first game. But even if you didn’t play the first game, Hudson pledged that newcomers will be able to pick up Mass Effect 2 without feeling lost or left out.

My biggest concern after the demo is that almost too much seemed the same. While Hudson said that sidequests had been substantially expanded from the first game and that galaxy exploration would take a larger role, much of the game looked and felt the same. Having spent dozens of hours with Mass Effect, I’m going to need Mass Effect 2 to offer enough variety to give me a compelling reason to devote another 20 hours or so to it. Hopefully that compelling force will come from the narrative, but after what I saw today, I am a bit nervous that this sequel may have been churned out without much change.

Mass Effect 2 definitely seems on track. Despite the fact that much of the core gameplay hasn’t changed, the cinematic presentation, improved dialogue and faster combat system will hopefully push the storyline forward faster than in the previous game. While it seems like the game may suffer because the core gameplay remains largely the same as the first game, there really wasn’t a whole lot worth changing in Shepard’s first romp. If the storyline lives up to expectations, we’ll easily forget that we’re playing essentially the same game again, but if it doesn’t, this game might not be as well received as the original.