by Betheo

© 2009 Beth Sasagi

It’s the game so many of us are waiting for after being left to wonder at the end of 2007 about the fate of the Reapers and the future of humanity. Mass Effect 2 has been on gamers’ minds recently after the release of the teaser that left us on the edge of our seats with our jaws on the keyboard.

So many questions were left to the viewer to wonder about. Why is there a Geth in N7 armor? Will we get new alien races or allies? And most importantly, is Shepard REALLY dead?

Playing KOTOR was great (being a Jedi and all), charging through post-apocalyptic America was pretty fun (for a while), and running around Albion became old after a time. But chasing a rouge Spectre to the edges of civilized space, trying to prevent him from releasing a dormant species of colossal destroyer and dealing with an armada of synthetic soldiers…. Priceless.

• Mass Effects 2 Teaser Video

This is why Mass Effect is one of the greatest RPG’s to have graced the console and why Mass Effect 2 will not only raise the bar, but set a new standard for RPG’s everywhere, regardless of platform.

With the teaser Bioware sent out to the world wide web to taunt us and all the secrets and innuendo that have been whispered about on various forums, you really have to wonder what the end of that trailer meant. Four very simple words, ‘Status: Killed In Action’.

With E3 just around the corner, people are questioning what will be seen of the game at the event and whether or not our wishes will be fulfilled. Can this monster of an RPG really live up to its name and have a massive effect on the RPG genre on console, or will the weight of expectation cause it to crash like a low budget spaceship in a bad Sci Fi movie?

What is it that makes Mass Effect such an important franchise and a massive feather in both the Bioware and Microsoft caps.

What makes its potential such that it could be the best console RPG ever?

One of the largest factors that determined ME’s popularity was the customization of the character you created. From a war hero who defied the odds by pushing back the Batarian slavers, to a Survivor who suffered through the horrors of the Thresher Maws, the depth at which you could design your character was amazing.

The choices that the player was able to make throughout the game were enormous.  Whilst it did boil down to the basic good/bad dynamic, the ways in which you did this were varied and entertaining.

Deciding whether or not to talk to or shoot the annoying ExoGeni scientist was one of the numerous highlights of the original.

But the greatest detail players found themselves fixated on was the Galaxy Map on board the SSV Normandy. There was nothing better than taking a trip to the Horse Head Nebula, perhaps making a quick stop In the Phoenix System along the way to pick up Wrex’s armor, and obliterate a few pirates.

It is fair to expect that with all these great features in the first Bioware and Microsoft would seek to improve the second. But what can these gaming powerhouses do to the sequel to improve the experience of the average gamer?

What will E3 deliver?

Though I cannot answer these questions with certainty now (Bioware’s secrecy is infamous), I can allude to what the soon-to-be masterpiece will bring to the popular Expo and what fans will hopefully see when the booths are opened on June 2.

One thing that we can hope to see is the possibility of co-op or multiplayer modes, giving gamers the opportunity to save the galaxy with perhaps a fellow Spectre or a character that may have originally been non-playable. It would be brilliant if you were able to grab a friend to help back you up on a mission when the Geth are being particularly nasty.

A big hope would be the adjusting of the Galaxy Map, allowing players to check their journals whilst scouring the universe for one little planet. This would be a huge bonus to the game so players are not left having to exit the map, open their journal, search through their journal and then try and remember where they were going. Too many times whilst I was playing the original did I have to stop and try to remember if I was going to the Gemini Sigma or Hades Gamma Cluster?

But of all the expectations this game has resting on its titanic shoulders; the biggest would have to be the exploration of uncharted worlds.

Will we be given greater terrain choices, rather than the same shape, but different colours of the first? Whilst this wasn’t a huge issue initially, by the fifth planet it did start to become a little exasperating.  Oh wow- the same mountain structure and the same plains as battle ground against the Thresher Maws! It is hoped that the new game will feature more diversity, like perhaps some aquatic explorations of a world. Conceivably a new type of vehicle will be introduced into the fray as well to give variety.

While it is fine to dream of these potential and logical changes, it is also good to take note of the things the developers have let slip or teased us all with. The most notable of all these is that your original ME saves should be kept on your hard drive for the sequel, giving us all the hope that the teaser (much like the ‘cake’) was a lie and reports of Shepard’s demise are “greatly exaggerated”.

It has also been said by the Executive Director of Mass Effect 2, Casey Hudson, that elevator rides will disappear, leaving us all to sigh in relief that we do not have to hear Garrus and Tali argue again.

While we can only guess and hope at what the future will bring and drool over what we have been told and seen, one thing remains unchanged. Mass Effect is still one of the greatest RPG’s to be released to date and it is probable Mass Effect 2 will raise the bar.

© 2009 Beth Sasagi

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