Mass Effect 2

Other weapon types are fine-tuned as well, fitting more snugly with their tactical roles. The assault rifle is a more effective suppression weapon now, and the shotgun's even better at close-range no-brainer mop-ups. Despite the extra options on offer, however, I still manage to lose my biotic squad member pretty early on. Well, I don't lose him - it's just that I'm unlikely to find all the bits needed to put him back together again, since I've taken the back of his head off with a sniper bullet as he dodged into my line of fire after a pounding from several Asari bodyguards.

The squad AI needs a bit of polish judging by a few similar problems elsewhere, somewhat reducing the sensation that these troops are the very best that the galaxy has to offer, but I'm also suffering from the sniffles at the time of playing, so it's possible that dropping a high-velocity round into an ally is my fault after all. Plus, the game's not out for ages, so they're undoubtedly tweaking things as I type. No great shakes either way - downed squad members are out of the picture for the rest of the engagement, but make a miraculous recovery afterwards.

Popping off a few HE rounds at some troublesome turrets is exhilarating without being overly simplistic, the missiles offer a satisfyingly meaty bang without feeling overpowered. I'm endowed with a much bigger allocation of these than you'd expect in the game proper, but it isn't tempting to use them willy-nilly to dispatch troopers; the range of other weaponry on offer is just too apt and satisfying.

Once I've proved Nassana Dantius' security to be woefully inadequate, Shepard's straight into another cut-scene as my squad storms the office of the assassination target. Knowing that our interviewee is about to get capped by the galaxy's premier dealer of stealthy death adds a certain frisson to the exchange, and offers ample scope for the moralistic aspect of the conversation tree to flourish.

Without spoiling the outcome too much, I'm not sure whether preventing the killing is an option. I certainly didn't bother, remembering the Asari's deceptions in the Citadel. Interestingly though, the new 'interrupt' conversation mechanic crops up very briefly during the conversation in the diplomat's office, with an icon for the left trigger flashing up in the lower left corner of the screen. I wasn't expecting it, and it was a brief appearance indeed, but from what we've learned already these triggers should provide a way to drive conversations forward quickly, with the only example we've had confirmed so far defenestrating a particularly stubborn informant.

The cut-scene, similar to its opposing number at the start of the mission, is beautifully set, incredibly cinematically lit, voiced and shot. There's none of the texture pop-in of the first game either, and general slickness has been ramped up by several factors. Without wishing to dig too deeply into the hyperbole barrel, Mass Effect 2's cut-scenes look to be taking a huge step toward cinema-quality storytelling. Even in the two or thee minutes at gamescom there's a palpable sense of place and narrative drive, a tremendously engaging and immersive pull which drags me straight back into this richly involving universe.

However, all too soon the demo is over and we're kicked back into the harshly lit reality of EA's press area, extremely hungry for more. Sniffles or no, there's a big grin on my face as Digital Foundry's Rich Leadbetter and I head back to the Eurogamer booth - two fans with high hopes for the series' future.