Mass Effect 2 Preview

$0One of the most eagerly awaited games of recent times; we are alllonging to discover the fate of Commander Shepherd. Stepping once more into the boots of our hero feels great, and this time we areguiding our crew into space on a suicide mission. Our first job is to assemblea crew from the many powerful mystics, convicts and geniuses that inhabit theuniverse. You then lead them onthe mission to try and discover why all the humans are disappearing from thegalaxy. Our Hero’s future depends on the outcome of this mission.$0$0A major effort has been made on the part of Bioware to make the gameseem more alive, and boy does it succeed. This is no more apparent that whenShepherd in action. The terrain is much cleaner too and you feel much moreimmersed this game than in its predecessor. You can also see the vastimprovements in the game play, most notably in the back stories that have beencreated, this enabling you to explore the characters and locations in much moredepth.$0$0At the beginning of our demo, for example, we are taken to the planetOmega, described in the marketing blurb as “a stark planet inhabited bythieves”. Shepherd visits the ‘afterlife’ nightclub seeking vital informationfor his mission and meets up with a bartender. It turns out that the bartenderis a Batarian; a species that was hinted at in the original. Therace is explored much more in this game and it isn’t long before you find outthat the bartender is typical of his race; human hating. He then drugs Shepherdwho slumps to the floor unconscious, there in one big chip on this aliensshoulder!$0$0Little episodes like this will greatly enhance the game play as itgives you the opportunity to take part in a side mission separate from the mainstoryline. The approximate time give for completing this game is at least 30hours, dependent upon how many side missions you come across and pursue. We are promised that when the fullversion is launched, there will also some that you can be drawn intoaccidentally, enhancing the game play further.$0$0The relationships between the characters are going to be much moredeveloped so the interactions between the will be much improved, as well asdialogue we are promised banter. A good example of this is when we meet upagain with our old friend Garrus. He and Shepherd have a good old fashionedcatch up session, trading stories about what they’ve been up to. It becomesapparent that while they may never be best friends, they appear to respect eachother and don’t want any harm to come to the other.$0$0Further additions included that are intended to keep players on theirtoes is when you are happily chopping away and a quick prompt pops up brieflyin a bottom corner urging you to give a trigger pull. If you are quick enoughto respond to the prompt and pull the correct trigger, Shepherd automaticallygets the upper hand in the melee. Missing or ignoring the prompt is no greathardship but you could suffer the consequences, much better to respond and gainthe benefits.$0$0There will now be the choice of 19 weapons, including sub machine guns androcket launchers. These will give Shepherd and his team the extra fire powerwhen it’s needed. A little trickI discovered was hiding and biding my time, then popping up and launching agrenade or two. There is great satisfaction in seeing the enemy blown to bits.$0$0This demo is great fun and I personally can’t wait for the full launch.Yes there are tweaks still to be made and things to be ironed out, but judgingby the way that the demo plays, and the promises that Bioware have made, thisis going to be a cracker.$0$0 $0