Mass Effect 2 E3 Previews

BioWare’s Mass Effect sequel seems to have been pretty popular at E3, as more previews have made their way to the ‘net.

First up is GamesRadar:

Developers, BioWare, aren’t satisfied with merely making a moodier game. They want to create a title where decisions are more than superfluous window dressing cynically designed to prolong a game’s length. If you’ve still got your save file from the original, the choices you made carry over to the second chapter of this sci-fi saga.

Missed out on some sexy time with Mass Effect’s love interest, Ashley Williams, because you let her die in that bomb explosion? Well, don’t expect to kiss and make up when the game ships, because she’ll still be pushing up daisies.

Then we have Cheat Code Central:

We were shown several scenes that followed Shepard on a highly dangerous quest to wrangle up the services of the galaxy’s most lethal assassin, an alien named Thane. One thing that became immediately apparent is just how smooth transitions between cutscenes and action segments have become. Also, conversation segments are no longer static; they are dynamically introduced to the player in the form of real-time dialogue. Additionally, BioWare has instituted a new interactive conversation interrupt system to allow you to seize control of the conversation to inject a bit of Shepard in to various situations if you don’t like how things are proceeding. This will undoubtedly enhance the role-playing side of the game by ceding more control to the player. Further adding to the cinematic experience are the pristine character animations and lip-syncing. This level of polish really amps up the immersion factor – the 25 minutes we spent staring at the screen were captivating.

Followed by Rock, Paper, Shotgun:

Squad members can also be controlled independently (although we didn’t see this in action), which should also make for more involved battling. Nine new weapon classes are added to the mix, along with the ability to use heavy weapons. We saw a wrong-faced male Shepard using a rocket launcher to take out cartwheeling baddies (although it seemed to launch pretty weedy rockets – it doesn’t seem quite right that people should get up again after being hit by such things).

And we finish with Play.tm:

In a scene that was introduced with a twinkle in the eye, we watched as Shepard struggled to save his team from the burning hull of the Normandy. Slowly things go down hill and the idea dawns that he isn’t going to make it. And yes, the scene ends with his death-struggle, small and alone in space, camera panning back and theme music kicking in.