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Mass Effect 2 in effect Jan. 26

EA slates BioWare's long-awaited sci-fi sequel for PC, Xbox 360 to arrive very early next year; EU gets game January 29.

When Mass Effect 2 was officially announced this past February, it was given an "early 2010" launch window. It turns out that should have been a "very early 2010" launch window, as Electronic Arts today announced it will arrive on January 26 in North America and on January 29 in Europe. Unlike the first Mass Effect, the sci-fi role-playing game will ship simultaneously for the Xbox 360 and PC and will likely have the same M for Mature rating as the original.

The Terminus Armor.

The Terminus Armor.

EA and its BioWare RPG studio also announced a series of preorder incentives for Mass Effect 2 similar to those for BioWare's fantasy title Dragon Age: Origins, due out November 3. Those who reserve the title at GameStop will get two in-game items: a set of heavy-duty Terminus armor, which increases run speed, boosts personal shields, and adds "an extra magazine of reserve ammo" to any weapon carried. Presumably, the "magazine" is an extra ammo type, since ammunition supply was unlimited in the original Mass Effect.

GameStop preorders will also let players download the M-490 Blackstorm Heavy Weapon, which "generates a high-powered localized gravity well, accelerating particles to near-infinite mass." The download will also unlock a wider variety of heavy weapons than will be accessible to those who buy the game after the game launches.

Preorders for Mass Effect 2 placed at other retailers will come with a code for a suit of Inferno Armor. The item will increase players' run speed and damage and will increase their negotiation skills during the game's myriad dialogue sections.

The Inferno Armor.

The Inferno Armor.

Mass Effect 2 is being billed by BioWare as the Empire Strikes Back to Mass Effect's Star Wars--further hints that there will be a Mass Effect trilogy. (A comic book will fill in the narrative gap between the two installments.) The sequel will provide continuity by importing character decisions made in the original game.

As for story, Mass Effect 2 begins with the original game's hero, Commander Shepard, embarking on a dangerous mission to the mercenary-controlled Omega mining facility, shown in the trailer below. BioWare has kept pretty quiet about further plot details, but GameSpot's brand-new preview offers a closer look at the title's gameplay.

350 Comments

  • dg3215

    Posted Nov 1, 2009 8:32 am GMT

    I cant wait for this game it seems awesome. Look PS3 fans dont be mad cause your system doesn't have it. I have a PS3 it is a great system, but I like my 360 more.. Now don't get mad, or call people names, we are all entitled to our own opinions, and unless you are gonna start buying peoples systems and games you have no right to tell them what they should get.

  • EddieL722

    Posted Oct 28, 2009 9:39 am GMT

    Can't wait!!
    Hope it will be more modding-friendly than ME1

  • deathtrooper31

    Posted Oct 21, 2009 1:37 pm GMT

    Looking forward to this one!

  • TheGreyArea

    Posted Oct 21, 2009 4:37 am GMT

    ENEMY IS EVERYWHERE!!!

  • pureskull123

    Posted Oct 20, 2009 10:26 pm GMT

    the shooting was a pain in the ass in the pc hardly accurate, thats why i stopped playing after 20 mins. good thing i didnt buy it, and it was a very good port, i just dont like shooters where you have to gain abilities for ur gun to aim steadily.

  • Lach0121

    Posted Oct 20, 2009 11:35 am GMT

    lol, wow look at the thumbs down on my comment earlier.. lol not a fanboy word in my post.. you all should start worrying about actually enjoying the games, instead of getting on here and dictating to others about what game should be on what system, and your dumb if you like this system... or stupid if you like that system..

    its entertainment.. enjoy whatever you can.. for whatever reasons. because you will not live forever... so enjoy it.

    no need to infringe on others.

  • frankfartmouth

    Posted Oct 20, 2009 11:07 am GMT

    @ps3loverr



    Simmer. I didn't say final fantasy was s***. I said "Bioware doesn't like to pull that SquareEnix s***," referring to the fact that SquareEnix likes to announce release dates and then delay them for YEARS, literally. It's not a real big deal--the final product is always good--but it is annoying. It's just nice to see a game come out well before expected. I wasn't making any comparison between the FF series and Mass Effect (both of which I love), and certainly not between the PS3 or 360 (same). Frankly, I'm a little stumped how you drew all that from my post. But I guess your name says it all.


    p.s. If you're trying to slam the 360 by bringing up FF, your whole point is moot anyway since 13 is going cross-platform.

  • tmorri603

    Posted Oct 20, 2009 10:42 am GMT

    @TheArcade

    Your statement, "MS was smart in the early goings of this generation, they knew the only way to achieve significant marketshare was to tap a portion of the PS2's audience and they were successful for the most part." was right on the money but there was also some other factors in it, too. SquareEnix was talking about increasing their profits even before the 360 came out. Now you got SE games on the 360. Sony had a chance at the same exculsive deal with GTA 4 as the did with the other PS2 ones but didn't make the deal. I think the most important things Sony did to help MS was the PS3 higher than most people were willing to pay. Making the system so hard to make games for that development cost thru the roof which causes smaller profit. This you why you are seeing so many PS only seies coming to the 360.

  • penyada7

    Posted Oct 20, 2009 9:10 am GMT

    @mikeyg756
    well i herd rumours of distrubiouters ( dont know how to spell) listing mass effect 2 for ps3 .... but that seemed to turn into nothing , how ever would be rad if mass effect was redone for ps3 , even if its years late still such a kick ass experiance

  • LosDaddie

    Posted Oct 20, 2009 7:44 am GMT

    Already pre-ordered!!

    Thank you, BioWare & EA!!

  • TheArcade

    Posted Oct 20, 2009 7:10 am GMT

    @NoLifeGamin:

    Excuse me but I happen to think Microsoft had plenty to do with certain games going multiplatform. They are one of the richest companies in the world, of course if they wanted to they could pay out for games to land on their platform. The prime candidate being Final Fantasy XIII, I've read various reports that stated Microsoft threw Square Enix a money hat to make Final Fantasy XIII multiplatform. Jack Tretton of SCE thinks so himself!

    http://news.softpedia.com/news/Sony-Disappointed-by-Final-Fantasy-XIII-Move-to-the-Xbox-360-90159.shtml

    As for Mass Effect 2 Bioware doesn't have a track record of porting 360 games to the PS3. I do not find them releasing ME2 on PS3 "plausible" it's not in their history. Though at the same time I'm not saying it's impossible, rather highly unlikely.

    By your logic Microsoft could also buy Square Enix if they wanted to. Desiring for Sony to buy Square Enix is wishful thinking. You do realize Square games have been on other platforms besides Sony and Microsoft right? Final Fantasy originated on Nintendo, some might think Nintendo deserves to have Square Enix be 2nd party as opposed to Sony, despite the disagreement between Sony and Nintendo from years passed. After all Nintendo was Final Fantasies original platform.

  • MTMind2

    Posted Oct 20, 2009 6:56 am GMT

    i know i'm a late arrival but, @NoLifeGamin who wrote "... remember when everyone(including the developers themselves) said that Bioshock WILL DEFINITELY NEVER AND EVER AND NOT GONNA BE ON THE PS3!!!!!.."

    not quite. bioware, like many devs in such situations, continued to deny there will be a ps3 version. this happens all the time for unannounced games, so it doesn't really tell us anything. remember all the denials about FFXIII for the 360? and yet FFXIII was announced for the 360. but we also had denials from Konami about MGS4, and yet although that wasn't announced for 360, a new MGS game was instead. we've also heard a lot about Gears of War going to PS3, but again that hasn't happened (and is unlikely to happen imo, except perhaps a spin-off Gears game for PS3).

    that said, i agree that with EA owning the mass effect IP, it's possible that mass effect (either 2 or 3) could come to ps3 eventually, but i disagree that it's a certainty.

    "MS had NOTHING to do with PS2's titles turning multi-platform"

    actually, I think they did. perhaps not directly for all games, but certainly because of it's share of the market. it's also clear that a game like FFXIII didn't come to 360 without lots of work and negotiations between Square Enix and Microsoft.

  • Decrate

    Posted Oct 20, 2009 6:16 am GMT

    this is one of the few games i will purchase at full price. i usually wait for the price drop but mass effect 1 was amazing beyond anything i've played.

    btw i bought the original mass effect for 19.99.

  • NoLifeGamin

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 11:48 pm GMT

    @TheArcade

    .....MS had NOTHING to do with PS2's titles turning multi-platform, the ones that do however are the DEVELOPERS, more specifically, third party developers. They can either stick with one console, or go multi-plat at any time they wish. As far as i am concerned, Bioware is one of those third party developers, and if they so choose to go multi-plat they would have to have an agreement with EA, their publisher. Since EA is looking to make more money, Mass Effect 2 being ported to the PS3 is very plausible, thanks to the crippling economy. Unfortunately, the only long-running franchise to make it on the PS3 from the 360 is Ninja Gaiden. There are a few other ones, but as you said, they are new IP's so MS's losses aren't so bad. On the other hand Sony is starting to get back on track with the price cut and a new rendition, which we all know as PS3 Slim......notice i said SONY, not the PS3.....and i hate third party developers >_> Sony could probably buy something like Square Enix to be a first-party developer, but that would cost ......let just say enough to make you pee your pants. *sigh*

  • Lach0121

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 10:03 pm GMT

    lmao at these comments. i see people getting getting thumbs up and downs, for no apparent reason lol.

    i mean seriously one guys said (good it should come to the ps3) and that was (click here to see) cause it had so many bad thumbs down lol

    seriously people, its entertainment. nothing to wage war over.

  • TheArcade

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 9:52 pm GMT

    @NoLifeGamin:

    "Mass Effect 2 is gonna be ported to PS3 just exactly like what happened with Bioshock, but we need more 360 exclusives to PS3 games to even out the number of exclusives titles that Sony lost, but it's looking like the PS3 is getting back on the right track (finally)"

    i stand by this statement, remember when everyone(including the developers themselves) said that Bioshock WILL DEFINITELY NEVER AND EVER AND NOT GONNA BE ON THE PS3!!!!!......hey look what happened after a year.....that's right, so you never know what's gonna hit your 360 bot face....... and thank you for the over 20 thumbs down i received, very much appreciated and ignored ^_^

    Bioshock no longer being a "360 & Games for Windows-only" game is nothing compared to Sony loosing Tekken 6, Final Fantasy XIII and Devil May Cry 4 as exclusives. Bioshock is a new IP. Tekken, FF and DMC have all been apart of Sony's family of consoles for years, Sony takes more damage with such AAA franchises lost, unlike MS who's games mainly consists of new fresh IP's. So if I were you, I'd be careful bragging about Xbox 360 loosing exclusives to PS3. Way I see it, Sony had alot more to lose. MS was smart in the early goings of this generation, they knew the only way to achieve significant marketshare was to tap a portion of the PS2's audience and they were successful for the most part.

  • Elite_Blackout

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 7:18 pm GMT

    @NoLifeGamin - i highly doubt that a game made by bioware is gonna come out on ps3. . . and your comments just goes to show that most/all ps3 owners admire what 360 already has. . . BTW ps3 was never on track in the 1st place. so how could it be 'back' on track???

  • GotRustyB

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 1:15 pm GMT

    @Rottenwood and @Nodashi I think your actually both kind of right. Im kind of a completionist myself and it does bug me to think that I don't have it all. And I agree that it is a little lame. But in the grand scope of life its not a deal breaker. Although I'm sure I will sell my 360 before it ever collects dust.

  • GotRustyB

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 1:09 pm GMT

    So now I'm gonna get it at game stop for sure. I was on the fence. But its settled. I'm excited for this game!!!

  • AA7

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 1:02 pm GMT

    Welcome - 2010 Game Of The Year

  • Rottenwood

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 11:50 am GMT

    @Nodashi

    Well, if you're a determined completionist, I guess you are at a bit of an impasse. Unless you pre-order the game from all possible locations, then return them all but one once you get the codes. Bit of a moral gray area there, but that's between you and your conscience.

    Otherwise, all I can suggest is that down the road, your 360 will be buried in an attic some day, your save files long forgotten. It's best to just enjoy what you have while you can, then worry about the little things you don't have. Besides, how is Shepard going to wear two suits of armor anyhow?

  • absinthewfaust

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 10:58 am GMT

    then EA delays the game until fall.

  • Nodashi

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 10:56 am GMT

    @ rottenwood

    It depends on how you play. I'm a completionist player, and knowing someone somewhere has access to some gear I'll NEVER have, no matter what I do in the game, makes me a sad panda. I feel like I don't have the full game. If I'll have a game that doesn't have all the content I could have, why even buy the original version? Worst, people that grab the ilegal copy will probably have ALL the optional stuff.

    I like competition. I'm totaly pro-voucher and promotions. I just think a promotion that make the consumer LOOSE content because of his choices is a bad promotion.

    They got lazy. They think they can make promotions for, you know, zero dollars. Just insert one imba piece of gear and people that buy in certain outlet have it. It's lame and I hope it ends soon as a market practice.

  • dwd_27 posted Oct 19, 2009 10:52 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    dwd_27

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 10:52 am GMT (hide)

    good it should be on ps3

  • snake289

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 10:30 am GMT

    @ shoujobot

    Fox getting angry about that sex scene me thinks xD

  • Rottenwood

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 10:27 am GMT

    @Nodashi

    Actually, I see it the other way. I like how different retailers get different pre-order bonuses. Debating over which way to go makes the buying process a little more interesting.

    Best of all, of course, is the competition factor. Amazon gave me a bunch of stuff for pre-ordering Uncharted 2... a treasure map, some other code, and a five dollar voucher towards another game. If the competition for the vital Day One business leads to more interesting promotions, then it'll be good for all of us. I highly doubt any of the giveaway items are going to be gamebreakers... just have fun with them.

    Not that I needed any prodding for Mass Effect 2. The original was a modern classic; if they fix the distracting texture issues, tweak the vehicle driving, and make the side missions a bit less dry, we'll have a masterpiece on our hands. With Square's star fading in the States, BioWare has a chance to become the new king of the RPG with this and Dragon Age.

  • The_Dude1212

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 10:07 am GMT

    Inferno Armor looks like it was ripped off of Iron Man.

  • Stringerboy

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 9:37 am GMT

    Day one buy. This first Mass Effect was amazing.

  • julle23

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 9:11 am GMT

    omg terminus armor looks so cool

  • hama666

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 8:02 am GMT

    Great news regarding the release date but how about some pre-order incentives for us Europeans! Don't forget us, I want those bonuses !

  • mikeyg756

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 7:36 am GMT

    @penyada7

    Why the hell would they release a sequel to a game on the ps3 when the first game was 360/pc exclusive?. Surely the first game should be released before the 2nd game is on ps3?.

  • Exactlamento

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 7:22 am GMT

    lol krogans...mass effect's version of the hulk
    but this looks sick. The graphics are much improved (hell the first game still looked good anyways)
    I never preorder, but i may seriously reconsider if I can get entirely new weapons and armor. Fundementally your paying the same price for a better gaming experience...

    yah a chora's den!!! eye candy for the masses

  • penyada7

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 7:19 am GMT

    so like what was the hype about the ps3 version ? are we not expexting 1 ? bio ware you out there? is anybody out there?

  • ahpuck

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 7:12 am GMT

    good thing is also coming out on PC, cause i don't have a 360.

  • WillT12345

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 6:43 am GMT

    Right there with you thatguy, I will be playing on PC if it has 360 controller support. Mouse and Keyboard precision is great but more and more PC games need to also support a controller because more people are running home theater PCs that are capable of gaming in there living rooms. Would rather not hack the controls like I had to last time and like I have to on so many other PC games.

  • SavemeJebus24

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 5:23 am GMT

    Can't wait for this game, thank god that bioware can actually release something BEFORE its release date, unlike other known developers...

  • thatguy2001

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 4:52 am GMT

    If I can play the PC version with a Xbox360 controller then I'm getting the PC version, otherwise, xbox version it is.
    I just got myself a PS3 and a bunch of games on that. So many games and so little time. I gotta get me some time off work!

  • XenoLair

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 4:19 am GMT

    soon can wait

  • jtthegame316

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 3:49 am GMT

    i still got to get the first game

  • airsoftmanic

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 3:12 am GMT

    is it just me or does that pre-order armour look like frikin' clyon armour?

  • I_Mikeh

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 2:32 am GMT

    This game is looking to be a great sequel, loving the new armor and animation. Must.... resist.... buying... even more games.

  • Rikuide_Furame

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 2:30 am GMT

    I was trilled to find out ME 2 was releasing in January - thought I'd have to wait until March, at least.

  • x-2tha-z

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 2:26 am GMT

    I honestly can't decide if I should get the 360 or PC version.

  • westernomelette

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 2:19 am GMT

    cool I should be done with dragons age origins by that time

  • Shtinky posted Oct 19, 2009 2:02 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Shtinky

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 2:02 am GMT (hide)

    combat = fun; story / missions = dull / vacuous.

  • malwick

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 1:38 am GMT

    Can the folks at Bioware perhaps pass some tips on scheduling onto Valve?

  • punkpunker

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 12:34 am GMT

    YAY! sooner then expected!

  • KittyHeart

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 12:02 am GMT

    mass effect 2 im looking forward to .

  • Spectre-123

    Posted Oct 19, 2009 12:01 am GMT

    I hope the Terminus armour will be made available here in Australia...

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