Mass Effect 2 Officially Announced for PC and Xbox 360

BioWare has officially announced Mass Effect 2, the sequel to their hit game of 2007, hitting the PC and Xbox 360 in “early 2010”. A teaser trailer was released in late February, but there had been no formal press release about the game until now.

masseffect2logo

The announcement is notable because EA has not been discussing the game at all, devoting all public statements to their next immediate release, Dragon Age. We have been given assurance, though, that they are still giving full attention to the Mass Effect franchise, with a new PC patch and DLC on the way soon. What’s also important about the announcement is that the platforms have been specifically stated, both the PC and the Xbox 360. The first game was released in 2007, and it wasn’t until months later that the PC version was even announced let alone promoted and released. It made for a fantastic port, which soothed the pain from the snub a little, but it didn’t mean we weren’t immediately suspicious when the sequel was revealed.

As the PC version was my favourite game of 2008 I am especially pleased that BioWare have acknowledged PC gamers and we won’t have to wait for our version of the game. I’m extremely excited to hear more about the game, and it didn’t help that the teaser dropped the bombshell of a suggestion that protagonist Commander Shepard has been killed in action. This would be an interesting enough hook for the sequel but we have already been under the impression that we will be able to use our save files from the first game in the second (reiterated by BioWare more recently too), which I thought to mean we would be continuing to use the character we created. If Shepard is really dead, does this mean we have to create a new character? Is he really dead, even? The internet is rife with speculation, like the possibility that Shephard is undercover trying to infiltrate the Geth, or how about the brilliant suggestion that Shephard is the boss you have to fight and will be exactly how you created him in the first game, skills and all. It will be very interesting to say the least to hear the premise in more detail.

Leave a Reply