To start of about a week ago BioWare’s Casey Hudson answered questions in a live developer chat at Best Buy. Though it took me a bit to track down, a [url=http://forums.bestbuy.com/t5/Gaming/Mas ... 3:2nwxl9m9]transcript has been posted online[/url:2nwxl9m9]. Here’s a brief excerpt:
[quote:2nwxl9m9][b:2nwxl9m9]Assassin:[/b:2nwxl9m9] 1. Has anything been done to improve the vehicle segments of the game. I.E.. Upgrading your vehicle, making driving segments more fun, etc. 2. When you visited a planet, it was always very empty. Has anything been done about this? 3. Are you able to change your characters face during the game this time around? In ME1, you had to keep restarting the game until you were happy with...
[b:2nwxl9m9]CaseyH-ME2:[/b:2nwxl9m9] Assassin - we've got some great stuff coming regarding the vehicle, but we won't be announcing that for another week or so. We still have the uncharted worlds, but we have a completely new approach that makes each one a hand-crafted and unique experience. You don't have to do any mundane resource gathering on planets - now you get that stuff through an orbit minigame. Then you can reveal places on planets to land and do a specialized on-foot mission.[/quote:2nwxl9m9]
A bit of rather disappointing news from the chat is the following though: “There were no female / female romances in ME1, same with ME2. Most people count [Liara], but her species is female-looking but asexual. Female shepards (and males) will have 3 possible love interests (if I count correctly!)” Speculation about the romance options is running wild though; the comment at least still leaves the possibility of a romance with Samara (who is also an ‘asexual’ Asari). Though I think my Shephard will just stick with Liara (skipping romance in ME2); none of the male romance options for female characters appeal that much to me.
Rock Paper Shotgun has an [url=http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/01 ... /:2nwxl9m9]interview with Christina Norman[/url:2nwxl9m9]. It talks a bit about various aspects of combat, about a possible ending (that’s been much advertised), Jennifer Hale (who voiced the female Shaphard in Mass Effect 1) and concludes with a surprising if intriguing revelation for Mass Effect 3. Here’s an excerpt:
[quote:2nwxl9m9][b:2nwxl9m9]RPS: Do you think it’s necessary to sacrifice a potential section of your RPG audience by taking a strong action focus? (Presumably in exchange for another action audience.) Clearly among RPG players are some very hardcore fanatics – can they be won around?[/b:2nwxl9m9]
[Christina Norman]: Our primary RPG audience is Mass Effect 1 players. I don’t think improving our shooter gameplay is going to alienate those players any more than improving our art, sound design, and writing will. Improving one aspect of a game doesn’t have to detract from another. Many RPG players also appreciate good shooter combat (I’m one of them). Those players will enjoy the improvements we’ve made to our shooter combat, and to our RPG systems. Will our improved combat attract new players? I certainly hope so![/quote:2nwxl9m9]
NeoSeeker also has an interview, this one with Casey Hudson, which they’ve titled “[url=http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Games ... /:2nwxl9m9]Beyond Space[/url:2nwxl9m9]”. It talks a bit about how the sequel sets itself apart from the first game, abotu it beign a “shooter”, about romances, about Subject Zero (the tattood female squadmate), DRM and DLC. Here’s an excerpt:
[quote:2nwxl9m9][b:2nwxl9m9]Why did you decide to make a sequel to [i:2nwxl9m9]Mass Effect[/i:2nwxl9m9]? Did you plan to make a series pretty early on?[/b:2nwxl9m9]
[i:2nwxl9m9]Mass Effect[/i:2nwxl9m9] was designed as a trilogy from the very beginning. To ensure that fans would be aware of the investment we were making in this universe – and in them – when we announced [i:2nwxl9m9]Mass Effect[/i:2nwxl9m9] back in 2005 we presented it as the first game of a trilogy. It’s been very satisfying to still be on target with the plan to deliver an ambitious trilogy six years after we started work on the first game.[/quote:2nwxl9m9]
USAToday also has an [url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... 1:2nwxl9m9]interview with Casey Hudson[/url:2nwxl9m9]. It’s probably one of the driest interviews I’ve read in a while, maybe it was just my mindset when I read it, and doesn’t contain much new. It talks a bit about why ME1 was successful, about how they feel ME2 will be better than ME1, about whether you need to have played ME1 to enjoy ME2, about gameplay and the main character being voiced, about the number of discs it comes on, the length, the platforms it’s released on, the visuals and DLC. Here’s an excerpt:
[quote:2nwxl9m9][b:2nwxl9m9][Game Hunters]:[/b:2nwxl9m9] And the first game was embraced by the gaming community -- something that is especially important for a new IP.
[b:2nwxl9m9][Casey] Hudson:[/b:2nwxl9m9] Yes. As far as critical acclaim, [i:2nwxl9m9]Mass Effect[/i:2nwxl9m9] is a 90 percent-plus rated game, and it won many "Game of the Year" awards. It's as much as we could've hoped for and sets the bar high for the sequel. We also have ancillary stuff out there, too, such as novels, a Dark Horse comic series, a lot of interest about doing a movie, and of course, and most importantly, our flagship series including the upcoming games, [i:2nwxl9m9]Mass Effect 2[/i:2nwxl9m9] and [[i:2nwxl9m9]Mass Effect[/i:2nwxl9m9]][i:2nwxl9m9] 3[/i:2nwxl9m9]. It's really satisfying.[/quote:2nwxl9m9]
Giant Bomb has a piece called “[url=http://www.giantbomb.com/news/mass-effe ... /:2nwxl9m9]The Truth bout The First 90 Minutes[/url:2nwxl9m9]” in which they talk about their experience with the first 90 minutes of the game. As such it is quite full of spoilers for those first 90 minutes (and thus probably best ignored if you want to avoid spoilers). One interesting thing is perhaps some view on the savegame importing; or rather what the game assumes if you don’t import any savegame. Let me quote that section here (though note that the quote contains spoilers for the first Mass Effect game):
[quote:2nwxl9m9]My short time with the game shed a little bit of light on how the save-importing feature will work, though I wasn't provided with a sample save to try importing myself. That at least made it clear what the game's default history will be, if you don't import a save. It assumes that you allowed the Citadel high council to die at the end of the first game, for instance, allowing humans to take control of the highest positions of government. It also says that you allowed [url=http://www.giantbomb.com/kaidan-alenko/ ... /:2nwxl9m9]Kaidan Alenko[/url:2nwxl9m9] to die, sparing that space bigot [url=http://www.giantbomb.com/ashley-william ... /:2nwxl9m9]Ashley Williams[/url:2nwxl9m9] for the sequel. Of course, the reverse might be true in your game, depending on how you played. After your hasty departure from the Lazarus facility, these answers are provided to you as a nice refresher course when Miranda and Jacob grill Shepard on a few "random" facts to test his cognitive functions. So if you're like me and have no recollection of some of the less significant choices you might or might not have made when the first game came out two years ago, this is a good way to get you back up to speed on the nature of your personal version of Shepard.[/quote:2nwxl9m9]
There have also been some rumors flying about day one downloadable content. Apparently a Norwegian newspapr’s games blog [url=http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/15/rumor ... /:2nwxl9m9]spilled some details[/url:2nwxl9m9] (note that the original has since been deleted):
[quote:2nwxl9m9]DagBladet says the usual items like armor and weapons will be available, but also other things, such as an unlockable planet and even a new ally by the name of Zaeed Messani, the grizzled bounty hunter [url=http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/ ... g:2nwxl9m9]pictured above[/url:2nwxl9m9]. The piece also mentions an in-game store for unlocking DLC called "Cerberus Network," which sounds a lot like [i:2nwxl9m9]Dragon Age: Origins[/i:2nwxl9m9]' DLC platform.[/quote:2nwxl9m9]
BioWare quickly responded to the rumors [url=http://twitter.com/biofeed/status/7804805555:2nwxl9m9]on their Twitter page[/url:2nwxl9m9] saying:
[quote:2nwxl9m9]Addressing rumors: BioWare will not be charging extra for any new Mass Effect 2 content on launch day. More DLC details next week.[/quote:2nwxl9m9]
On to some videos. To start GameSpot has a video titled “[url=http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/mass ... 4:2nwxl9m9]Planetary Exploration Dev Diary[/url:2nwxl9m9]” on their site showing some customization (particularly armor customization), talks a bit about making decisions, exploring the galaxy and scanning planets. It’s a nice video:
[center:2nwxl9m9][html]<embed id="mymovie" width="640" height="391" flashvars="bwr=0&skinXML=http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cn ... player%3D1" wmode="opaque" allowscriptaccess="always" scale="noScale" salign="lt" allowFullScreen="true" quality="high" name="mymovie" style="" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cn ... dothea.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/>[/html][/center:2nwxl9m9]
The television-station-formaly-known-as-sci-fi (and now named after an STD) has a program called “Sci vs Fi” where various science fiction people (mostly actors of various science fiction shows) talk about Mass Effect 2. First there’s the [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fQwgzYQ7Vc:2nwxl9m9]trailer for the show[/url:2nwxl9m9] (which quite spectacularly confirms another romance option; so probably NSFW):
[center:2nwxl9m9][youtube:2nwxl9m9]5fQwgzYQ7Vc[/youtube:2nwxl9m9][/center:2nwxl9m9]
But GameTrailers already has [url=http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclu ... v:2nwxl9m9]the first five minutes[/url:2nwxl9m9] up:
[b:2nwxl9m9][EDIT][/b:2nwxl9m9] I forgot to mention it before, but these Sci vs Fi movies are full of [i:2nwxl9m9]spoilers[/i:2nwxl9m9].
[center:2nwxl9m9][html]<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shoc ... on=8,0,0,0" id="gtembed" width="480" height="392"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="movie" value="http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap ... 3"/><param name="quality" value="high" /> <embed src="http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap.php?mid=60873" swLiveConnect="true" name="gtembed" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" allowFullScreen="true" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="392"></embed> </object>[/html][/center:2nwxl9m9]
[b:2nwxl9m9][UPDATE][/b:2nwxl9m9] GameTrailers now also has [url=http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclu ... 5:2nwxl9m9]part two up[/url:2nwxl9m9]:
[center:2nwxl9m9][html]<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shoc ... on=8,0,0,0" id="gtembed" width="480" height="392"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="movie" value="http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap ... 5"/><param name="quality" value="high" /> <embed src="http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap.php?mid=60945" swLiveConnect="true" name="gtembed" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" allowFullScreen="true" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="392"></embed> </object>[/html][/center:2nwxl9m9]
BioWare also released a new “Fight For The Lost” trailer, this one [url=http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/14235019/ ... l:2nwxl9m9]showing Shephard[/url:2nwxl9m9]:
[center:2nwxl9m9][html]<object id='ignplayer' width='640' height='360' data='http://media.ign.com/ev/embed.swf' type='application/x-shockwave-flash'><param name='movie' value='http://media.ign.com/ev/embed.swf' /><param name='allowfullscreen' value='true' /><param name='allowscriptaccess' value='always' /><param name='bgcolor' value='#000000' /><param name='flashvars' value='vgroup=masseffect2_trl_shepard_11510&object=14235019'/></object>[/html][/center:2nwxl9m9]
On BioWare’s blog Christina Norman added an updated titled “[url=http://blog.bioware.com/2010/01/15/equi ... /:2nwxl9m9]Equipping Your Squad[/url:2nwxl9m9]” which talks about squad inventory, auto-upgrades, team loadout and unique weapons. Here’s an excerpt:
[quote:2nwxl9m9][b:2nwxl9m9]Squad Inventory[/b:2nwxl9m9]
Whenever Shepard finds an upgraded weapon he scans it with his omni-tool, uploading detailed data to his ship. Using that data, this ship’s armory can replicate the weapon, making it available to any squad member trained to use that weapon type. For example, if you find a superior shotgun, your armory will fabricate copies, making that shotgun model available to any squad member with shotgun training. This gets rid of tedious inventory management tasks, like unequipping and transferring items between squad members.[/quote:2nwxl9m9]
Not everyone is equally enthused about this removal of the inventory (feeling that it’s dumbing down the roleplaying aspects to make it more of an action-y shooter), but overall it sounds like it could remove some meaningless busywork. An inventory does not an rpg make, or such.
And finally BioWare updated the official Mass Effect 2 website to include [url=http://masseffect.bioware.com/universe/ ... /:2nwxl9m9]a bunch of armor descriptions[/url:2nwxl9m9]. Most of these armors are only available through pre-orders or in specific (collectors’) editions. Here’s a description for the armor you get if you bought Dragon Age: Origins:
[quote:2nwxl9m9]Originally created for Earth's Urban Combat Championship, this set of armor has undergone as much or more field testing than those of modern militaries. The armor's microframe computer adapts to any top-tier omni-tool, kinetic barrier, or biotic amp, giving seemless and error-free performance. The chest and shoulder piece bears the logo of the Edmonton Blood Dragons, and the inside of the armor bears the signatures of the entire team. When and how the Illusive man got his hands on this armor is unknown.[/quote:2nwxl9m9]
Edmonton Blood Dragons, eh?
Oh, and GameSpot opened their [url=http://uk.gamespot.com/showcases/mass-e ... c:2nwxl9m9]Mass Effect 2 Launch Center[/url:2nwxl9m9] (basically just a collection of GameSpot’s Mass Effect 2 news with a countdown timer to launch).
[[url=http://forums.bestbuy.com/t5/Gaming/Mas ... 3:2nwxl9m9]link[/url:2nwxl9m9]] to Developer Chat Transcript at Best Buy.
[[url=http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/01 ... /:2nwxl9m9]link[/url:2nwxl9m9]] to interview with Christina Norman at Rock Paper Shotgun.
[[url=http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Games ... /:2nwxl9m9]link[/url:2nwxl9m9]] to interview with Casey Hudson at NeoSeeker.
[[url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... 1:2nwxl9m9]link[/url:2nwxl9m9]] to interview with Casey Hudson at USAToday.
[[url=http://www.giantbomb.com/news/mass-effe ... /:2nwxl9m9]link[/url:2nwxl9m9]] to hands-on article at Giant Bomb.
[[url=http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/15/rumor ... /:2nwxl9m9]link[/url:2nwxl9m9]] to day one dlc rumor at Joystiq.
[[url=http://twitter.com/biofeed/status/7804805555:2nwxl9m9]link[/url:2nwxl9m9]] to BioWare’s response on DLC rumors at Twitter.
[[url=http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/mass ... 4:2nwxl9m9]link[/url:2nwxl9m9]] to dev diary video at GameSpot.
[[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fQwgzYQ7Vc:2nwxl9m9]link[/url:2nwxl9m9]] to Sci vs Fi trailer at YouTube.
[[url=http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclu ... 3:2nwxl9m9]link[/url:2nwxl9m9]] to Sci vs Fi part 1 at GameTrailers.
[[url=http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclu ... 5:2nwxl9m9]link[/url:2nwxl9m9]] to Sci vs Fi part 2 at GameTrailers.
[[url=http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/14235019/ ... l:2nwxl9m9]link[/url:2nwxl9m9]] to Shephard “Fight For The Lost” trailer at IGN.
[[url=http://blog.bioware.com/2010/01/15/equi ... /:2nwxl9m9]link[/url:2nwxl9m9]] to “Equipping Your Squad” blog post at BioWare.
[[url=http://masseffect.bioware.com/universe/ ... /:2nwxl9m9]link[/url:2nwxl9m9]] to armor descriptions at BioWare.
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