Posts Tagged ‘mass effect 2’
New Mass Effect 2 screenshots
EA has released a bunch of new Mass Effect 2 screenshots, well, actually only 9 screenshots, but they give a good preview of the game and its visuals — unless we’re talking about bullshots, of course.
Tags: mass effect 2
20 games to look forward to in 2010
While 2009 is drawing to an end, and with all the great AAA titles only weeks away, keep in mind that 2010 is going to see more top-notch titles released than the last few years. Here are 20 games that should/will make an impact next year, and while a lot more games are coming out, we obviously couldn’t include them all — our list grew from ten games to twenty games simply because even we were surprised how many title are lined up for 2010. Here’s our 20 games for 2010, in no particular order.
Postal 3 (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Running With Scissors, Q2, 2010)
The original Postal was both hailed and damned for its controversial content, and the sequel, Postal 2 only made it better (or worse, if you’re a politician looking for some media attention). Postal 3 will expand on the sandbox style gameplay, and will even feature director Uwe Boll (who made the 2008 Postal movie) in a cameo role.
APB (PC, Xbox 360, March 2010)
After developing Crackdown for the Xbox 360, which has since become a cult classic on the console, Realtime Worlds shifted all their manpower to APB (All Points Bulletin), a revolutionary MMO set in a huge city where players battle each other as either law enforcement agents, or criminals. A kind of GTA online, as creator David Jones (the man behind GTA) is noted saying APB is “the bastard child of everything we’ve been striving towards over the 15-20 years”.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360, March 2, 2010)
Battlefield: Bad Company almost managed to perfect something no other FPS had done before: creating a fully destructible battlefield, where walls would no longer provide infinite cover — one tank shell and you better be looking to hide somewhere else. Coupled with a single player campaign and a solid multiplayer, Bad Company has been one of the most played FPS on the Xbox 360 and PS3. Bad Company 2 will bring “destruction 2.0″, taking destruction to a whole new level, this time, entire buildings and towns can be leveled to the ground.
Heavy Rain (PS3, February 2010)
Heavy Rain has been highly anticipated ever since it was first showcased at E3 2006 for the PlayStation 3, the film-noir, thriller-styled game will feature an intertwined storyline, with four playable characters, all looking for a serial killed going under the name “The Origami Killer”.
Halo Reach (Xbox 360, Q4 2010)
The next chapter in the Halo series and Master Chief’s battle against the Covenant was unveiled at E3 2009, without any further details other than the game would be the last Halo game to be developed by Bungie. Owners of Halo 3: ODST will have a chance to check out the game’s multiplayer beta in the middle of 2010, by then we should have more details on Reach.
Red Steel 2 (Wii, February 16, 2010)
The original Red Steel was the very first Wii game that was revealed, and rode a wave of anticipation until its release — as a Wii launch title — where it showed a flawed control scheme, dated visuals and uninspiring gameplay. Red Steel 2 is said to correct all those issues, and will require (and be bundled with) the Wii Motion Plus accessory, giving it a true 1:1 control input, paving the way for some great sword fights. We sure hope so.
Crysis 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Q4 2010)
The original Crysis is still bringing even the most powerful PCs to their knees, and is still hailed as the best looking game available, at least if a tropical island is what you crave. Crysis 2 continues the story where the original left off, and will use the new CryEngine 3, creating an even more immersive world. There aren’t many details of the game yet, but one thing is for sure: start saving for a new PC rig.
More »
Mass Effect 2 dated for January 26, 2010
BioWare has finally confirmed the release date of Mass Effect 2: January 26, 2010. Gamers who pre-order the game will receive a pre-order bonus consisting of a “Terminus Armor”, which increases running speed and shields, and The M-90 Blackstorm Heavy Weapon.
Tags: mass effect 2
Mass Effect iPhone Game Gives Exclusive Content
The iPhone might not be taking off as the next big thing in portable gaming, but some companies have figured out how to use the App Store as an effective marketing tool. A short time ago EA announced that iPhone and iPod Touch owners could get a little hint of what was to come in the Mass Effect sequel by downloading a prequel game called Mass Effect Galaxies.
Now we find out via AppGamer that if you play through the game it gives you an option at the end to log in with your EA account. If you do, you get this message: “Your reward for completing the game is already waiting for you in Mass Effect 2“. I’m sure EA is hoping the story will spread and prompt some people to buy the iDevice game, but I somehow dbout that it’s anything terribly exciting, possibly a new skin or some minor perk or stat boost.
Shepard Will Be In Mass Effect 3
Video games are in some ways are starting to resemble the auto industry. We’re hearing more and more details about future titles in a series that hasn’t even released a sequel yet. Eventually developers will leak details of sequels to games that have yet to hit the shelves. Regardless of how early this news is, it’s still interesting to hear. In the first trailers for Mass Effect 2 we saw little more than a robotic geth wearing the protagonists armor, leading many to assume that he’d died in the ambiguous ending of the original.
Later though it was revealed that he had survived and would be present for at least some of the sequel. Now BioWare’s Casey Hudson, the executive producer on the title has revealed that not only has Shepard survived to the sequel, he may even make it to the final chapter of the trilogy. I say ‘may’ however not out of any ambiguity on the part of the developer- the choice rests on the player. Mass Effect 2 will have certain events or differences based on choices you made in the original (assuming you played it and still have your save file). As you’ve probably heard, depending on your actions characters can die in this game. Hopefully it won’t simply be due to the rigors of everyday combat, because in the original I generally found myself the only one standing at the end of nearly every encounter. Not only can your teammates die, but Shepard himself can be offed.
Of course if you fail to keep him alive, he’ll be replaced by a stand-in character in Mass Effect 3 so as to not force the developers to create two different plotlines, but if you play your cards right the hero can survive the supposed suicide mission he embarks on in #2 and head out for another attempt at defeating overwhelming odds.
New Mass Effect 2 Details
So far there haven’t been many concrete details about what’s happening for the Mass Effect sequel. Promises of revamped gameplay and a stirring storyline are far from actual news about what we’ll be seeing and whether or not Shepard survived the events of the original. Though all the biggest game announcements are waiting for E3, Bioware is drumming up attendees for their booth and general buzz about the game.
Despite the many RPG stylings of the original it remained quite heavily combat focused and the developers are promising a lot more content in this area. There’ll be more variety of weapons, including some heavier weapons systems and the ability to hinder your opponents by blowing off limbs. There’ll also be a new vehicle which they say controls better than the Mako.
There will of course be even more planets, locations and alien species to further flesh out the already detailed universe. Players will travel to a Krogan planet, an Asari planet which is compared to Coruscant from the Star Wars series and even an ‘anti-citadel’. Apparently you will play as Shepard, though it isn’t specified for how long. There’ll be familiar faces, places and items although depending on your choices major supporting characters can and will die.
The story still involves Shepard’s quest to destroy the Reapers, but additional events will involve the Cerebus corporation and its enigmatic leader. Bioware will reveal several things at E3, including the fate of Shepard, how the new travel/exploration systems will work and who you ultimately play is, meaning that even if Shepard is alive he’s not going to be your main character.
BioWare says Mass Effect 2 to be “darker”
BioWare has gone on the record and said that the second installment in the Mass Effect trilogy will be the dark installment — much the The Empire Strikes Back was for the Star Wars trilogy (the original, that is). Producer Casey Hudson said:
“As a trilogy we have our three acts. So Mass Effect 2 is the dark act. It’s an opportunity to really explore the tougher, more brutal parts of the universe.”
Expect a lot more details at E3. Mass Effect 2 is slated for release later this year.
Mass Effect iPhone Bound
A survey revealed the existence of a new marketing device for Mass Effect 2: an iPhone game. It’s a stand-alone title called Mass Effect: Jacob’s Story and it’s intended to set up both the plot line and customer lines for the sequel. It’s a top-down shooter with a cartoon based art style and should take about two hours of play time.
The protagonist Jacob Taylor is of course a “biotic powered super soldier” who stumbles across an evil plot to terrorize galactic civilization. Of course he’s probably not going to have much of a chance to stop this plot, because to do so would doom your character in Mass Effect 2 to be stuck on guard duty for the whole game. Jacob’s Story will cost a mere $2.99 and though no release date has been announced a good guess places it at anywhere from a month to a week before the release of Mass Effect 2, since it’s quite obviously set up as a marketing device. The survey however suggests that this title could just be the first, with others set in the Mass Effect universe and possibly even Dragon Age games for the iPhone as well.
BioWare Looking At Multiplayer For Future Titles
In the past multiplayer wasn’t considered a big deal, for the most part because many titles only multiplayer feature was a deathmatch option that seemed tacked-on at the last minute. With high speed internet connections becoming more common developers started focusing more and more on multiplayer content, even to the point of some titles being designed solely for multiplayer.
Titles like Halo 3 and Resident Evil 5 have explored the idea of online co-op, a feature which for years was only available locally. Since little information has been made available thus far regarding Mass Effect 2, fans have contented themselves with rumor mongering and speculation. One feature that people had been whispering about was online co-op which would be an excellent fit for the squad based shooter. Yes, that’s right, I’m calling it a shooter because in truth the combat sections functioned as one, despite the RPG flavor to the rest of the game.
Folks from BioWare had come forth previously saying that the buzz about five player online co-op in the sequel wasn’t based on any fact. That’s far from a flat-out confirmation that we won’t see co-op in Mass Effect 2 and when asked about the potential of the trend carrying over into the game Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk said that although they hadn’t disclosed a feature set for the game multiplayer is something they’re considering for all future titles. It’s hard to glean any Mass Effect specific details from their statements because they say that they’d only include co-op if it fitted seamlessly into the overall experience, citing games built around co-op like Left 4 Dead. Yet with the squad-based nature of the previous title putting in co-op gameplay seems quite perfect.
Mass Effect 2 Officially Announced
The existence of the game has been known for quite a while now, what with the teaser trailer and all. BioWare today finally formally announced its sci-fi action RPG sequel Mass Effect 2.
The game is confirmed to be coming to PC and Xbox 360 early next year.
"We’re going to surpass the extraordinary gaming experience we brought our fans in Mass Effect by delivering intensified combat and expanded weapon options as well as increased depth of planet exploration, all while delivering a powerful, emotionally engaging story," said BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka.
"Mass Effect 2 is shaping up to be an unforgettable RPG-shooter experience, taking players on a non-stop roller-coaster ride filled with stunning plot twists and no-holds-barred action."
The second chapter will extend the storyline from the first, introducing an “even greater peril” than the one in the first game.
BioWare forms new Montreal studio for Mass Effect 2
It was recently announced that BioWare, developers of Mass Effect, has formed a new studio at EA Montreal.
This means they are going to need a whole new staff to work on, you guessed it, Mass Effect 2. A full 30 staffers will get the chance to work on the upcoming title.
If you head over to BioWare’s Montreal career page, you will notice that they are recruiting staff in the Animation, Art, and Design fields. Any takers?
Mass Effect, Bad Company Sequels Next Year
Continuing the onslaught of EA news today, company CEO John Riccitiello has revealed that sequels to Mass Effect and Battlefield: Bad Company are in the works for release during the first quarter of 2010.
The CEO noted that Mass Effect 2 will arrive on multiple platforms, meaning it could hit PS3, PC and Xbox 360 at launch. The first was exclusive to Xbox 360 before being ported to PC a few months later.
BF: Bad Company 2 will likely follow its predecessor, being released for PS3 and Xbox 360 simultaneously.
No details on either game were given.
Mass Effect 2 Details at GDC
The event schedule for this year’s Game Developers Conference reveals that BioWare will provide new details on its sci-fi action RPG sequel Mass Effect 2 at the event.
The studio’s project manager Corey Andruko and lead technical designer Dusty Everman will host an hour-long session that will explore the design process of levels in the coming game.
The GDC will run from March 23 to 27 at its usual venue – the San Fransisco Moscone Center. The event is geared towards developers, so the information revealed may only be understood or appreciated by tech-heads themselves; it’s not known how much of the details will be of interest to gamers.