Mass Effect 2 First Look Preview

It’s the question on everyone’s lips. Is Commander Shepard dead? As we wait outside EA’s behind-closed-doors E3 2009 booth, we can hear people asking each other if it really can be true. BioWare’s clever drip-feed of trailers in the run up to this most anticipated of reveals has done its job. Everyone’s talking about Mass Effect 2.

Turns out, we needn’t have worried, because Commander Shepard is very much not dead. Casey Hudson, Mass Effect 2’s project director, wastes no time in revealing that fact. Which begs the question: why tease the possibility of his/her death in the first place? Was it just for laughs? Some sick cruel joke? Or was it to study the phenomenon of rabid forum fanboy reaction? The answers are no, no and no (probably).

The real truth will have to wait, because Hudson is quick to move on. As already revealed, if you’ve played Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 will bring in your saved game from the original along with all of the decisions you’ve made, whether large or small, so that you can continue your story from exactly where you left off. So if you killed X, or saved X, or decided not to buy that cream cheese bagel just before the final boss fight, Mass Effect 2 will know. Like Santa, the game will find out if you’ve been naughty or nice.

As fans will remember, Mass Effect was all about defeating a rogue spectre called Saren, a Turian who turned out to be a puppet of a Reaper, mile high living space ships hell-bent on clearing out all life from the galaxy. In Mass Effect 2, the dark second act (Empire Strikes Back, anyone?), humans are going missing from all over the galaxy, and you’re working with a shadowy pro-human group called Cerberus to find out why. Going after the missing humans is a suicide mission, according to Cerberus, but that doesn’t put off our valiant hero. Despite how double hard Shepard is, he needs some help, so he sets off to recruit a gang of super killers from the deepest corners of the galaxy. Much of the game is focused on this, in fact. On finding them, equipping them and making them loyal. Then you command them on a final mission where your actions throughout the game will affect your team’s success or failure at every stage.

Our live gameplay demo is of a mission where Shepard sets out to recruit a character called Thane, the deadliest assassin in the galaxy. Shepard (the default male version) is driving through traffic in a flying car, a gorgeous sci-fi skyscraper-filled skyline in the background. He’s discussing the mission ahead with an Asari. Thane is on his way to kill a powerful female, one Shepard has a history with. Her towers are heavily guarded, and even more so closer to her penthouse. That wonderful conversation menu from the first game reappears. You ask if you should let Thane go through with the kill. The Asari says she won’t loose any sleep if Shepard does. This is a fast-moving cut scene with a lot going on, but you’re still in control of the conversation. A subtle change from the first game, but a change nonetheless.

The demo skips to a confrontation with a humanoid who Shepard believes knows where Thane is. The meeting is high up in a tower. A glass window reveals the flying car-filled night sky again – a stunning sight, even more impressive than the backgrounds from the first game. He’s not talking. “You’ve got two ways down: express, or coach. Your choice.” He doesn’t give: “I’ve got nothing more to say to you…” Mass Effect 2’s new interrupt system shows itself, via an icon on the bottom left of the screen. Shepard pushes him out of the window. He screams. He plummets. “How about goodbye?” Darker and grittier, indeed.

The action fast forwards to the towers and all hell breaks loose. Here we see how the combat has been improved. It’s based on a new precision shooter feel, Hudson explains. Progression is based on developing new special abilities added just for combat, which can all be fired without pausing the action. Separate movement attack orders for each squad member (in this case Miranda and Jacob, two humans) have been added, as they were for the PC version of the original. The Power Wheel is still around, but this time it’s used to set up real-time attacks. We see squad members ordered to use the biotic ability Lift. Shepard maps Incendiary so he can set enemies on fire. LOKI Mechs and Eclipse Troopers slowly fly into the air, where Shepard makes quick work of them with smartly aimed shots from his assault rifle. You can now headshot, and limbs can be blown off via a new location-based damage system. There’s also a focus on physics-based attacks. The biotic Pull yanks enemies out of cover. Concussive rounds knock enemies down. It still very much looks like the cover-based stop and start combat from Mass Effect, but more fluid, faster perhaps. Shooting and using abilities together is now much less fiddly. Much needed weapon variation has also been added. There are nine new weapon classes, as well as a new heavy weapons system. We see the missile launcher first-hand. The projectile seeks out targets, enabling you to Lift enemies then blow them off the sides of cliffs and bridges with missiles. There’s a lot going on. Rockets whiz by Shepard’s body. Weapons fire spits across his shoulder from his buddies. The physics engine sees environmental objects tossed about like children’s toys. Combat, clearly, is going to be more intense and action-packed.

Shepard and co make it inside to the penthouse. Thane’s target is shocked: “Shepard… you’re dead.” “I got better.” The two trade insults and calm-before-the-storm chit chat, providing the dialogue wheel with a solid work out. There’s a noise. A fast-moving figure drops from a shaft. He takes out the guards in a blink of an eye, before pulling his target close and killing her, almost remorsefully. He lays her down slowly on a computer panel, arms folded across her chest. He speaks in riddles, but is willing to talk. Thane joins your crew.

The demo skips again, this time to the Galaxy Map. One of the main criticisms with Mass Effect was that the Galaxy Map made the game look huge, with hundreds of planets to explore, but in reality you could land on relatively few. Hudson promises improvements, although he’s quiet on specifics. It’s not just more worlds that we want, but more varied worlds: another criticism of the first game was that the environments were altogether too samey. Hudson again promises improvements. “Each of these locations is now completely unique, much richer, kind of like a science fiction painting brought to life.”

Finally, Hudson addresses the “why tease Shepard’s death?” question we posed at the top of the preview. What follows many will consider to be a spoiler, and won’t be shown outside of the game by BioWare again, so we forgive you if you skip the rest of the preview.

The Normandy is being savagely attacked by a “new force in the galaxy”. It’s in absolute tatters. Fires and electrical sparks fill the interior. The crew are desperately trying to make it to escape pods. We see familiar faces, including the doctor. People die from explosions. Joker, on account of his brittle bone condition, is stuck in the cockpit. As everyone leaves the burning shell, Shepard tries to save him. Here control is given to the player. Flames are everywhere, forcing Shepard to move slowly and with his arm raised in defence from the heat. Suddenly he’s walking in space – an entire section of the ship has been blown away. Here all you can hear is Shepard’s calm breathing and muffled explosions. Joker refuses to budge at first, convinced he can save the ship. A blast rips through what’s left of the Normandy, inches from Shepard. He spirals into space as the ship explodes. His breathing gets faster. His suit appears to be malfunctioning. He falls towards a mysterious planet. The demo ends.

That scene isn’t from the ending of the game. Instead, Hudson says, it reveals that Commander Shepard can in fact die at the end of Mass Effect 2. This is what the teaser was about all along. “We’re not talking about game over screen and then you reload and keep going. It’s actually one of the many complete endings where Commander Shepard dies for his mission,” he says. Paragon and Renegade choices don’t count either. What Mass Effect 2 is about is building a team that’s tough enough to survive this end mission, which is the most dangerous ever created by BioWare. You can play after the credits roll, play other missions, download new content and carry your character forward into Mass Effect 3, but only if you live through the ending. “In Mass Effect 2, you’re not expected to survive.”

Q&A time. Have the much-maligned elevators been ditched? The game will load faster, Hudson confirms, but he dodges answering the question properly. When you bring your character across from Mass Effect, your class will transfer across, and “some aspects of your skills”, but the new improvements and new abilities will enable you to start developing them from within that class. Newcomers won’t be able to benefit from some of the advantages and bonuses you earned from the first game, so fans will be rewarded with something of a head start. And finally, there’s a new vehicle for exploring space, Hudson reveals, but it won’t be shown till later this year. Thank god for that. The Mako Rover was rubbish. And with that, our time ends, we’re given a t-shirt, and asked to leave. A new group enters, wondering whether Shepard is really dead. We wonder if spoiling the surprise for them will earn Paragon or Renegade points. Now where’s that interrupt button?

Mass Effect 2 is due out for Xbox 360 and PC early 2010.