Mass Effect 2 'soon but not real soon'

BioWare's epic science-fiction role-playing game Mass Effect was released in November exclusively on the Xbox 360 and has since spawned a novel, its first downloadable content over Xbox Live, and a PC version.

The game sees protagonist Commander Shepard battling across the universe to stop a rogue spectre called Saren and ultimately save the universe from the invasion of an evil machine race called the Reapers.

The game was briefly banned in Singapore and caused something of a furore due to the inclusion of the possibility of playing as a female character and having a relationship with a mono-gendered alien (who looks very much like a female).

BioWare's senior manager Matt Atwood says that this is a little unfair. He told GameSpot, "The interesting thing about Liara [the mono-gendered blue alien in question] is that in her species what they do is they join their minds and their minds become one." He said that he thought that the scenes were "really tastefully handled."

Atwood added that the team had been upset by some of the stories and controversy surrounding the game, especially in the mainstream press. He said, "I think the team was very hurt because some of the people who were talking about it hadn't played it. We believe in integrity and not gratuity, and Mass Effect doesn't have gratuity at all."

When asked about limitations in the first game and what kind of stuff BioWare had wanted to put in the game but had not managed to include, Atwood said coyly, "I'm not going to tell you what those things are because we've already announced that Mass Effect is a trilogy, and I imagine you'll be seeing those things in two and three."

Unsurprisingly, he was short on details about what would be in the second game, but he did say that he thought it was looking awesome so far. He said, "I've been able to get some of the info, and hearing some of the ideas, you feel like you're working with rocket scientists every day. People are really going to love it."

As to the question everyone's asking--when can we expect Mass Effect 2?--Atwood ponders, "Well, the first one took three and a half years, but because we've got a lot of the tools and a base level now, it's not going to take that long. I'd say soon, but not real soon."

He added that there were also plans for a sequel to the book Mass Effect: Revelation, which was released in May 2007.

To see the rest of the interview with Matt Atwood, check out GameSpot UK's Start/Select show, online from this Thursday, March 20.