Mass Effect 2 - Hands-on Previews

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Shir'le E. Illios
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Mass Effect 2 - Hands-on Previews

Post by Shir'le E. Illios »

Over the last week or so a couple of hands-on previews for BioWare's upcoming sci-fi RPG have been posted.

The first one is from [url=http://www.gamesradar.com/pc/mass-effec ... 3:1m4j17wu]GamesRadar[/url:1m4j17wu]. Here's an excerpt:

[quote:1m4j17wu]If you missed it, the debut trailer panned around Shepard’s armor, reeling off a list of his achievements and credentials before flashing the words “Killed in Action” on screen. BioWare aren’t talking in any real detail about what it all meant - instead they point us at the playable demo, in which you’re very much in control of a living, breathing Shepard. Not only do we have to grapple with the fact that game characters die over and over again as a matter of course, now we’re told that in BioWare’s sci-fi RPG sequel your character can die in a narrative context, and stay dead.[/quote:1m4j17wu]
The second hands-on preview comes courtesy of [url=http://resolution-magazine.co.uk/conten ... /:1m4j17wu]Resolution Magazine[/url:1m4j17wu] with the following excerpt:

[quote:1m4j17wu]Once again, the detail stems past the screenshot fare and right into the minutest of in-motion details. The facial animation is frequently astounding, with characters conveying genuine emotion and humanity as they speak. They’re not stiff, lifeless drones, either - they gesticulate perfectly, glance around convincingly, and behave perfectly within context. Oddly, it’s only Shepard’s own animation that feels a little stilted, his face contorting in a slightly uncomfortable way.

It’s probably a case of Bioware’s work being [i:1m4j17wu]so[/i:1m4j17wu] impressive that any small flaws stand out. Such problems are easily in the minority, but they nag especially because of that fact. There’s almost a tendency to stray into Uncanney Valley territory: the closer we get to convincing representations of human life, the more we’re in-tune with any minor discrepancies. For whatever reason, though, it feels unfair to complain too much. The vast majority of what’s here is hugely impressive indeed.[/quote:1m4j17wu]
And the third hands-on experience comes from [url=http://brutalgamer.com/2009/10/31/mass- ... /:1m4j17wu]Brutal Gamer[/url:1m4j17wu]. Here's an excerpt from their article:

[quote:1m4j17wu]Taking the controls of the new Captain Shepherd you feel immediately at home. Everything was as in the first game with the startling addition of a reload button. This was an immediate notice by eagle eyed Keats as a furious debate raged about if he was indeed reloading or just slapping his gun – look a bit loose animation wise. The hands-on starts out with a standard enough Mass Effect cut-scene with Shepherd inbound to an alien planet. His mission, to reach the top of a tower over run by an opposing force.[/quote:1m4j17wu]
They're all fairly short (though the Games Radar one spans two pages). Additionally [url=http://g4tv.com/videos/42342/Exclusive- ... d:1m4j17wu]G4tv[/url:1m4j17wu] also posted a gameplay video. It's seemingly in celebration of Halloween (which was last weekend) as it shows Commander Sheppard shooting hordes of (space) zombies. :p

[center:1m4j17wu][html]<object classId="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="480" height="418" id="VideoPlayerLg42342"><param name="movie" value="http://g4tv.com/lv3/42342" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed src="http://g4tv.com/lv3/42342" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="VideoPlayer" width="480" height="382" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" /></object>[/html][/center:1m4j17wu]
Mass Effect 2 should be released late January 2010.


[[url=http://www.gamesradar.com/pc/mass-effec ... 3:1m4j17wu]link[/url:1m4j17wu]] to hands-on preview at GamesRadar.
[[url=http://resolution-magazine.co.uk/conten ... /:1m4j17wu]link[/url:1m4j17wu]] to hands-on preview at Resolution Magazine.
[[url=http://brutalgamer.com/2009/10/31/mass- ... /:1m4j17wu]link[/url:1m4j17wu]] to hands-on impressions at Brutal Gamer.
[[url=http://g4tv.com/videos/42342/Exclusive- ... d:1m4j17wu]link[/url:1m4j17wu]] to gameplay video at G4tv.


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Shir'le
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-= Shir'le E. Illios =-
Chosen of Eilistraee
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