Gear Up For The Coming Storm In Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2‘s release is imminent. The past couple of months has seen a barrage of media in the form of screenshots and videos in the lead up to the game’s January 26 launch. It’s still early, but reviews are starting to come in and so far the game has been maintaining a 90%+ rating in magazines like Official XBox Magazine and PC Gamer ¹⁾http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/masseffect2?q=mass%20effect%202. So the hype machine is in full force for the much-anticipated sequel, it only remains for fans to decide which edition of the game to buy.

We’ve spoken before a little bit about the pre-order DLC, but BioWare has now detailed the various pre-order options available on their site. It’s not quite as ridiculous as it was with Dragon Age: Origins, but it does mean that fans will have to yet again decide between mutually exclusive sets of in-game items. There are two basic editions, Standard and Collector’s, and there is a Digital version of each which can be bought at various digital distribution outlets. Pre-ordering the Standard from Gamestop gets you the Terminus Assault Armour and Blackstorm Weapon, and everywhere else gets you the Inferno Armour.

The Collector’s edition consists of (along with superior box cover art): extra bonus discs containing a Making Of documentary and the soundtrack, the first issue of the Dark Horse spinoff comic Mass Effect: Redemption, a 48-page artbook, and an additional set of DLC armour, the Collector’s Armour. You may just want to pick the Terminus design based solely on how formidable it makes your Shepard look, but each of the armour sets has different benefits, like increased shielding or sprint speed, so it’s probably worth looking at the stats before choosing.

One item that will come with every version of the game is a single-use unlock code for something dubbed The Cerberus Network, which will be “a conduit for players to receive bonus content as well as daily messages and [Mass Effect 2] news.” ²⁾http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/21907/Mass-Effect-2s-Cerberus-Network-Revealed/. It sounds like it will be a platform for managing DLC in the game, much like what is being used in DA:O. There will be content available from day one, such as new missions and items, as well as the previously-rumoured extra companion, Zaeed. It’s most likely an incentive for customers to buy new copies of the game as opposed to used; a similar situation occurred with DA:O, which offered for download an extra character called Shale – who was by no means tacked-on, rather an integral part of the game. There will be more DLC down the line, like a new vehicle called the Hammerhead which will allow players to navigate planet surfaces.

While I’ve been trying to avoid most of the videos for fear of story spoilers, there are a few that neatly outline the game’s premise without giving too much away, one of which I’ve embedded below.

I’ve been replaying the first game for an ultimate saved-game file that contains the character and decisions I want to bring with me into the next game. I’m quite excited about this aspect of the series, and look forward to finding out exactly to what extent BioWare will address the actions I took. Fortunately there’s not much longer to wait.