There is one thing that I found peculiar about the Mass Effect 2 showing at E3 this year, and that is simply, why didn’t BioWare ask us to remove our socks before we watched the presentation? Why you ask? Well, because after 20 minutes of Mass Effect 2, I found that they had “wowed” them bad boys completely off *bad dum ching* Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Trite humour aside, with a show packed to the rafters with great games, it would have to take a special game to truly leave us reeling enough to award it our best of show and that’s what it did. In the last of the E3 write-ups, we take a look at Mass Effect 2 and roll around in its pure awesomeness.

You know what they say in Wales? You can’t keep a good Shepard down, and despite BioWare’s debut teaser hinting at his demise, the original’s main protagonist lives for the sequel. Mass Effect 2 is the dark second act of the trilogy and with the Reapers temporarily deterred; Shepard now has to face a threat on the human race as groups of humans are mysteriously going missing. Working with a shadowy pro human group – we presume Cerberus and the already confirmed Illusive Man – Shepard has to recruit the most dangerous and powerful individuals from around the galaxy to embark upon a “suicide mission.” I pose a question to those who have read the books, could this unknown enemy be the “collectors” – a mysterious race who many of the galaxy class as a myth who trade advanced technology for what we can only assume are test subjects.

Mass Effect 2 sees you visiting the darkest reaches of space – the planet Omega is already confirmed and described in the book as the “Terminus systems’ dark twisted counterpart to the Citidel” –to find them, procure their services and make them loyal to your cause. The crux of the game is assembling your team for this one suicide mission and BioWare openly talked about the real possibility that if you fail to build a loyal and strong squad, Shepard can die. So it’s up to you to get your squad to be powerful, dynamic and loyal enough to see off this new threat. We’re not talking a game over screen here either, we’re talking that being one of the game’s many endings. If you do see off the threat, Casey Hudson, Mass Effect 2 Executive Producer, stated that you can continue after the credits roll, do the side missions and “download new adventures.” I feel I must add that this final mission has nothing to do with your paragon and renegade stats either, it’s completely separate.