Mass Effect 2 Article Round-up, Part Two

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Written by BuckGB on January 24th, 2010

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Were you able to increase or add depth to the customization that's available in this game?

One thing that I think people find an interesting decision is that we really moved around where you view the RPG-style customization and personalization that we had in Mass Effect I. We moved it into different activities. We previously put it all in one inventory screen where it punished you with proof that it's a deep RPG. We've actually moved those things into the places where they're more accessible so they're easy to use and actually make more sense. The result is when people start playing it, their first thought will be, (Hey, where did all this stuff go? Did they dumb it down? Did they streamline it?) But once you get a few hours into it, you realize what you've been doing in all of these different activities are all the things you had access to before and with even more depth. So there's no inventory screen where you put on a different set of armor, for example, but we do have a special new screen where you go and customize your armor. You take all these pieces of armor that you buy and actually piece together your armor bit by bit. You change materials, colors, and helmets and everything. You have more control for it because you have a place where you do it. It works a lot better. You may not even realize how much depth you have compared to the first game, even though it is easier to use.

The Reapers are destructive intelligent machines who periodically awake from hibernation in the depths of space to consume all sentient life in the galaxy. They appear as giant Cthulu-esque spaceships, and have the power to control the minds of their minions. The Geth worship the Reapers as the ultimate evolution of artificial life, and worked with Saren to help bring them back to the galaxy. Most dismiss the Reapers as myth, even after Sovereign's attack on the Citadel.

Council race: no

Hated by: everybody, except the Geth

-Sovereign

Sovereign was the scout the Reapers left behind after their last harvest 50,000 years earlier, when they wiped out the Prothean civilization. He sensed that it was time for the Reapers to return, and awakened. His efforts to send the wake-up signal to the rest of the Reaper fleet was stymied by Shepard and company, with a final pitched battle around the Citadel leading to Sovereign's destruction.

Thanks to the undamaged beacon on Virmire, Shepard's Prothean vision is now complete. During the debrief, Liara touches Shepard's mind to interpret it fully. The vision was a distress call intended to warn the Protheans about theReapers. Liara realises that the landmarks in the vision are on Ilos, a planet she has studied as part of her Prothean research. Ilos had been impossible to reach because it was only accessible through the Mu Relay, which is why Saren needed the Relay's location from Noveria. After the debrief, Joker has a message for Shepard from the Council: they're putting together a massive multi-species effort to face Saren.

Thrilled the Council are finally taking this seriously, Shepard returns to the Citadel, wanting to personally lead the assault. But once back at the station, Shepard discovers the Council are only putting up a blockade around the Mass Relays to stop Saren reaching the Citadel. Neither they nor Ambassador Udina believe Shepard's story about the Reapers and they refuse to send a fleet to Ilos. The Mu Relay is in the Terminus Systems and a Citadel fleet there could start a war. Shepard knows the Normandy's stealth systems can get them there discreetly, but the Council are getting tired of Shepard's insistence that the Reapers are the real threat. Udina, wanting to make nice with the Council, locks out the Normandy's systems and grounds the ship.

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