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Mass Effect 2's release date is now exactly one month away, and today BioWare has released two new shorts to their videos page. One on Thane, the other on Grunt. These come on the coat tail of the cinematic trailer featuring both that was just released in full on Xbox live a few days ago.

All three can be found [url="http://masseffect.bioware.com/media/videos/"]on this page.[/url]

Personally, I gagged on both. The "confessional" concept was really uninspired, and Grunt just had me rolling my eyes with the bad murderous archetype.

Aqua-chan wrote:Personally, I gagged on both. The "confessional" concept was really uninspired, and Grunt just had me rolling my eyes with the bad murderous archetype.

agreed grunt and that bald chick the showed a while back dont look really interesting, Thale looks promesing.

but one thing the graffics look amezing, thats one thing Ill give mass effect they are beautiful especially the close ups of Thale and grunt (gave me the chills to see such detail in the cinematics)

Yeah, it doesn't seem like they're improving on the first game much in terms of NPC quality. Of the first game, the only NPC I really liked was Tali. Liara and Wrex were pretty interesting too, but Garrus was very one dimensional, Kaidan was very bland, and Ashley...*shudder*.

Which is unfortunate, since Bioware proved with Dragon Age that they can still make fantastic NPCs. Hopefully the characters in game are a little more interesting than the marketing makes them.

well the good news is Tali's back, and we get to meet more of the Quarian people. always found them an interesting race and was disappointed in ME1 that you never meet more of them
can't wait to see how

Spoiler

Tali ends up on trial

Nightmare wrote: Which is unfortunate, since Bioware proved with Dragon Age that they can still make fantastic NPCs. Hopefully the characters in game are a little more interesting than the marketing makes them.

Working in sales myself, I can tell you that the people who make the product and the people who try to figure out the best way to market it are two very different groups, so my advice? Watch the trailers, then give them credit that amounts to a pinch of salt. It's evidenced by the fact that a lot of the people whom were leery of Dragon Age: Origins based on the crappy trailers and XXX!-type advertising have pulled a 180 and now applaud the game for being more character-focused than BioWare's last few games.

It's hard for me not to notice the distinct lack of Subject Zero (aforementioned "bald chick") in the new stream of game info BioWare has been releasing. I can say that the official forum community, rabid fanboys that they can be, were not so easily appeased by developers' promise that she actually is a worthwhile character. SuZy's reception was, at least from my perspective as a frequent lurker on those boards, lukewarm at best. I hope this is some indication to the BioWare marketing team that not everyone following this game is into that "super edgy, f-bomb dropping badass" stereotype.

Then again, Jacob, Tali, and Samara have become more or less unseen since their initial reveals as well. It seems the faces of this game are going to be Thane and Grunt (for some reason Miranda was supplanted?) as they did appear in both the cinematic trailer and the new GameStop commercial that just hit the 'tube.

Aqua-chan wrote: Then again, Jacob, Tali, and Samara have become more or less unseen since their initial reveals as well. It seems the faces of this game are going to be Thane and Grunt (for some reason Miranda was supplanted?) as they did appear in both the cinematic trailer and the new GameStop commercial that just hit the 'tube.

Well, hopefully that's all it is: marketing. Ashley was pretty ubiquitous in artwork and marketing for the first game, but in the game itself, I could mostly just ignore her. Hopefully the NPCs will be interesting, though. Honestly, it *should* be more interesting to actually have to earn the loyalty of your followers than for them to just give it to you unconditionally...

Some initial impressions of companions/characters in the new game.

Firstly, they are much better than in ME1. Their backstories are more fantastic and just interesting than the initial ones, and the fact that you are now working for an organization that is blatantly human-supremacist makes for some amusing dynamics. You also get a Salarian who is simply awesome. Yes yes the "psycho" character will probably be remembered as the weakest link, but even she feels more fleshed out than Ashley did. I'd summarize by saying that in ME1 there were squad mates, but ME2 has what I'd call companions.

Secondly, they have wisely dumped the lame characters and kept the good ones (no more stupid pink power armor). The humans are dead, and the aliens are back. The new Krogan is actually better than Wrex in my opinion; as he has an interesting existential crisis to deal with (they actually explain why he "just likes to fight").

Thirdly, as a bioware fan coming fresh off Dragon Age: Origins, some elements are a little disapointing. Voice acting, backstory, facial animations, and dialogue in DA:O are all superior. I hate to say it, but some of the facial animations are flat out bad. Every time I get let down by some technicality I need to sit back and remind myself that after playing an incredible game like DA:O, I'm bound to feel a little critical on my next. That being said, ME2 is still fun as hell.

In the final analysis, it's a good sequel so far.

boj4ngles wrote: In the final analysis, it's a good sequel so far.

I've only played ME2 for a few hours but so far it has been a lot better than ME1 or DAO.