Mass Effect 2 Previews and Media
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The first comes in from TeamXbox:
The dialogue, especially during the interactions that we saw between some key characters, seems like it'll be snappier. Perhaps that's due to the more established relationships between characters from the first game, but it clearly seems that there's more give-and-take banter. A good sample is our meeting up with Garrus once again. After it's determined that, yes, Shepard did manage to survive his earlier travails, he and Garrus trade some measured conversation about their current and previous situations. To an extent, it appears that they respect each other and maybe even like each other. They certainly don't want to see the other hurt, if for nothing else than to not lose the benefit of have one watching the other's back.
Next in line is 1UP:
Garrus, one of the first party members you get on the Citadel back in Mass Effect, makes a return appearance in Mass Effect 2. The story takes place two years after the previous title, and apparently, Garrus assumed you died during that two-year gap, as he's surprised to see you. After remarking on your aliveness, he explains that he's been holding his ground at a bridge against some Eclipse mercenaries, and would appreciate some help in an actual assault. This scenario also shows off one of the "cutscene triggers," where during a cinematic scene, an icon will briefly pop up on-screen (in a Quick Time Event type of manner). If you hit the prompt, you gain an advantage of some sort; for this scene, I manage to hit the left-trigger while Shepard sights some troops through Garrus' sniper rifle, and as a result, Shepard instantly takes out one of them. So when the cutscene ends and combat begins, there's one less guy to worry about. BioWare personnel point out that these moments will always be beneficial in some way, and that similar to the dialogue system, you can figure out if the action is going to be a Paragon or Renegade one by habit. If you hit the left-trigger, it will be a Renegade action while hitting the right-trigger will result in a Paragon action. It's a nice way to keep players on their toes during cutscenes (without the death penalty of similar cutscene QTEs like in RE4).
Then we have IncGamers:
The one thing we did note, though, is that Shepard was noticeably scarred in the close-ups. I'm not sure I believe that this was a character design point to the extent that the scars themselves appeared more like the results of the plot, potentially linked to whatever tragedy caused everyone to believe Shepard was dead. The scars and gaps on his face glowed a faint orange, resembling circuitry. Did something happen to Shepard, critically injuring him to the extent that he's now infused with cybernetics of some sort? All speculation, admittedly, but I'd wager something big happened to Shepard prior to this section particularly with one of Aria's lines being something along the lines of (You could be anyone wearing Shepard's face.) Hmm. Are the Geth going a bit Blade Runner, despite their reduced role?
Followed by another at Gamervision:
While talking about giant leaps forward, landing on one of the many explorable planets means more than it did before. In the original, it was fun, but ultimately unrewarding to explore the far reaches of space. At most, there were a few enemies to kill and some items to loot, and in an expansive story-driven epic there's no time for such lallygagging. In Mass Effect 2, each planet will have a purpose and a story, playing out like the downloadable content Bring Down the Sky. The small, contained stories will give a purpose to wandering the universe in search of intelligent life.
And last but not least is Kotaku:
As combat heavy as the back part of the demo was, though, people curious about Mass Effect 2 shouldn't worry that story is being neglected. It is more obscured in these demonstrations of the game, partially, I'd wager, because there are more surprises there worth holding back. Even the nature of Shepard himself (or herself, if you've played as a female) is in question. As close to release as this game is, a mystery remains as to even the nature of its lead character's existence. Is he alive, dead, reborn? Why, in this demo, does another character not believe Shepard is Shepard and then snidely say, "That could be anyone wearing your face"?
