CES 2010 Hands On: Mass Effect 2

To say Bioware makes great RPGs is an understatement akin to saying Tiger Woods’ public image has taken a slight hit. The developer’s games are consistently ranked in the high 90s, and early reviews for Mass Effect 2 say the tradition continues. At CES, I got to play a demo of the much anticipated blockbuster and chat with Bioware Associate Producer Jesse Houston about some of the new wrinkles.

Mass Effect was conceived as a trilogy in which the decisions a player makes in the preceding game will carry over to the next. Thus, by the end of the third game, the universe will be a much brighter or much darker place depending on choices you make. If you didn’t play the first game (shame on you!), not to worry. Before beginning this installment, you will be asked to make a series of decisions to customize your in-game universe.

While RPGs are primarily story driven, Mass Effect mixed in shooter elements and Houston said Bioware worked hard to balance the two.

“We took inspiration from games like Gears of War and Call of Duty for elements like cover,” Houston said. “I’m not going to say our shooting is as good as those games but I think we’re in their league now. We wanted to appeal to those who care about the story and those who want a lot of action in their experience.”

To help amp up the action, Bioware worked hard on enemy AI. In Mass Effect, there were only a couple of AI patterns. Houston said different races of enemy now will fight according to their personality. The huge, powerful Krogans are going to take the opportunity to get in your face at close range. Less physically imposing races such as the Geth would rather trade gunfire with you. In ME2, there are as many AI patterns as there are different enemy types.

Bioware has also made changes to the Paragon/Renegade dialog system. Now there are interrupts that can instantly take conversations in a different direction. If you accidentally did something too nice and have decided playing rough is a better option, you can make a drastic change with an interrupt. One of the interrupts Houston described gave an instant Renegade conversation result by throwing someone out a window. And of course, if you’ve spent the conversation acting like a jerk, a Paragon interrupt may be necessary. Sometimes even a Spectre has to play nice to get the info they need.

In the demo at CES, the player had a choice of giving a plague victim medicine to slow the disease’s progression or letting the sickness take its course. The guy blames humanity for the plague and he spends the first part of the conversation talking about you like a dog. If you’re an RPG fan, I don’t need to tell you to pick this one up. If for some reason you’re on the fence, Mass Effect 2 is an RPG with the soul of an action game. You can decide for yourself Jan. 26 when Mass Effect 2 hits Xbox 360 and PC.

Read [Gamertell at CES] Site [Bioware]