Mass Effect 2

I can't wait for this.

Thane, huh. Is he a romantic option? I'm all up for homosexual inter-species lovin' in outer space.

That's not Wrex, is it? Looks more like a female. "Softer" Face. ;)

edit: I was talking about the Krogan in the background. ;)

Looks lovely.

The graphics I mean, not the giant cricket.

Looks a bit like Abe Sapien from Hellboy... still looks cool though. :)

What's up with the sexy lips? o_O

this isn't news, all this was known months ago!

we've seen this guy before, i nearly pee'd myself when i thought i saw wrex though, but no it's not him.

@Kelad - looks younger than Wrex to me. Less saggy.

The whole Thane thing is very OLD news (although admittedly these piccies are new and very nice! ;-)

Haven't EG already showcased the trailer that everyone moaned about being a "spoiler" (which Bioware have said it wasn't) in which Thane makes an appearance (breaking some Asari necks) and even speaks at the end?

I read in a preview soemwhere (possibly GAMEStm) that there would be a playable Krogan, but a "younger" one. My guess is that if Wrex shows up he'll be a supporting character, probably with a juicy role, but not a PC. Think about it - depending on the first games outcome he may or not be around, and if he is they'd need to isolate a nice sidequest line for him ideally.

There have been publicity shots of the younger Krogan (usually in white armour) and I believe if you look closely he appears on the ME2 cover artwork behind Shepherd.

I think OXM mentioned that you have at least one of your previous team on-side this time as they referred to a dialogue scene mid battle where said anonymous colleague is yelling at you while you stand between them and a target, and the action cuts between standard cinematic views and POV through sniper rifle (hmmmm and which team member does that make you think of? ;-)

@Moribundman not wrex, he uses shotguns, i'd say garrus.

@thesombrerokid Yeah my thoughts exactly! Maybe wanting to train to be a Spectre this time? Plus if you look at those shots, it looks like Tali may well be back.

Garrus and Tali are the only companions who are largely untouched by the end of the first games plot, and have less dramatic deviation from one eventuiality to another (although I do think Tali's quest completion may have potentially major repercussions).

The book they released that slots between ME1 and 2 involves a lot of plot regarding the Quarians, and they are featured in a number of screenshots. Also looking forward to Omega - this "anti-citadel" hive of scum and villainy!

This sort of throws things up in the air a little. Yes, we'd all seen this assassin alien in the trailers, and from the snippets of information Bioware had released, I was under the impression he was the key baddie! But he's fighting alongside Sheppard in these images! So, does Sheppard turn to the dark side (or pretend)? Or does the baddie turn good? ...it's a popular character arc in movies!

Maybe Bioware were being really coy, and throwing us all off the scent of what might happen, by telling us that the assassin is the main adversary! They told was Sheppard was dead once. Then again, although they didn't say this, I think we all thought our characters – specifically; abilities, level and equipment – were going to transfer to the sequel... things never quite turn out how we expect.

As for the Krogan. Come on guys, I know the graphics engine may be update, but Wrex isn't going to look that different!. Don't you remember the massive scarring down the side of Wrex's face?

I have a feeling that any character we could have chosen the fate of will just be removed to save from having to many multiple story arcs. They have to simplify things, and at the end of ME2, we all need to be at the same point in the story/universe. Imagine a gamer having made the exact opposite decisions to what you do did... they're still going to end up at a near identical ending in ME2 as you will experience. And when you consider how many big choices you made, it must be that Bioware are going to take some major liberties and artistic licence with some elements of the stoy. Still, I'm not being negative about that. I love the game, I absolutely trust Bioware, and can't wait for ME2. I think it'll be stunning!

One last thing... of all the videogames turned into movies, wouldn't Mass Effect make a stunning film, or trilogy? Forget the mission/story we're on in the game, with such strong interesting designs and history to the universe of Mass Effect a whole new story could work wonderfully. In my utterly biased and clouded opinion, I think Mass Effect with a decent script writer, director, actors and budget could compete with any recent big sci-fi, or fanstasy movie! If I were a movie producer, I'd put my career on the line for this one!

@jensonjet Good points but I've a feeling they'll surprise you. Obviously they won't go ridiculously overboard with myriad endings and threads, but this game is about building a team of up to a dozen characters and they have said that everyone or nobody may be dead at the end. If anything I think they'll expand wildly on the 1-2 death possibilities in the first game. The citadel is said to be very different depending on who you left in charge, and they have gone on record saying some things from the first game won't have repercussions till the third. I think sure, there'll be a number of broad strokes that MUST be in place for the plot, but much of the finer detailing will be left open...

(Don't read this if you've not finished Mass Effect or have avoided news/videos of the sequel)

Hey Mori, how's it going?

Yeah, I agree, as fun as it is speculating what may or may not happen in the sequel, I've no doubt we're in for a few surprises. I really hope you're right about differing story arcs based on who's in charge, who's dead and who's not. While I'm currently in the process of finishing off a character (or two) of each class, I'm making sure each makes different choices and will be interested to see how each character plays out in the sequel.

I actually had a thought about how they could do away with a whole bunch of characters who's fate is in our hands. By coincidence all but one happen to reside close to each other on the lower deck of the Normandy. As we've seen in videos of Mass Effect 2 the Normandy is destroyed. I wondered if that lower deck would be completely obliterated and Garrus, Wrex, Ashely, and that gold digger of a weapons/armour dealer would be sucked out into space. This would explain the loss of equipement too and easily resolve the story arcs of who we allowed to let live in the original. I hope I'm wrong, and that you're right, and survivors from the first come back.

In the third I'd love to actually see a full on battle with all the surviving/remaining team from all the games. Admittedly we couldn't possible control that many characters (so it probably won't happen), but wouldn't it good to see everyone in one battle? Speaking of the future, I think Bioware have created such a rich universe in Mass Effect, I hope they do a Halo or Star Wars with this series and we get more games and characters in different stories. Well if games based on simple ideas and one-dimsional characters can go on for years, Mass Effect certainly has the legs. That's not to say Halo is what I just described, I'm probably thinking more along the lines of how many Dooms or Quakes we've seen. I'd really like to see a first person style Mass Effect, or a co-op game based on the style and design of this game. The possibilities are endless. We've not even experienced flying anything yet in Mass Effect. I'm convinced MMORPG will be available on the next generation of consoles I can only imagine how good ME could translate to that style of game.

Although I don't agree with Microsoft selling games as download, I hope if nothing else, Mass Effect builds a bigger fan base. It deserves the devotion and love games like Modern Warfare or Halo receive. Anyway the prospect of the sequel is an extremely exciting one, and in truth I don't care what Bioware do with Mass Effect, as long as they keep on doing it.