LOS ANGELES — As I watched a Bioware employee churn through foes in a presentation of the upcoming RPG Mass Effect 2, one thing became abundantly clear: I'm going to have to play through the first one all over again, aren't I?
While the sequel to Bioware's sci-fi role-playing game for Xbox 360 and PC is designed for fans of the first, being new won't leave you at a disadvantage -- before you begin, you'll be presented with a brief version of the game's backstory, and start fresh. But players who held onto their saved game files from the first game will be able to continue the adventure their original characters started, and see "the consequences of their actions."
Consequences? What?
The first Mass Effect presented players with a fairly transparent morality system -- be polite and kind, or rude and ruthless, and you'll earn points as a Paragon or Renegade, respectively. But there were plenty of subplots and side missions, too: Will refusing to scan down all of those alien janitor-creatures come back to haunt me in the sequel? And what about those planets I left unexplored?
Fans of Bioware's classic Baldur's Gate might recall a pair of golden pantaloons that became an incredible suit of armor if you carried them all the way to the end of the series. Could a similar Easter egg exist in the Mass Effect trilogy?
But here's the real reason you'll want to see the next Mass Effect with fresh eyes: In Mass Effect 2, Commander Shephard can die. And not your traditional Game Over death, either.
The sequel pits players against a new, apparently insurmountable foe. Shephard must be strong enough, and recruit powerful new allies, to help in what we're repeatedly reminded is a suicide mission. Some players will reach the end of the game -- a proper ending, with rolling credits and all -- and then discover that their character won't be around for the next title in the series.
I, for one, will not be one of those suckers.
Let's go ahead and make a bold prediction: Mass Effect 2 is going to be pretty good. Sure, the original wasn't perfect. It touted an expansive universe to explore, but most planets consisted of cookie-cutter templates. The semi-shooter combat system frustrated some players, and concerns about the clunky interface kept others at bay.
In the sequel, the combat system is getting a bit of a make over. There will be nine additional weapons classes -- including heavy weapons, for all of you rocket launcher fans. Mass Effect 2 also adds physics-based powers, a revamped cover system, and location-based damage, which places quite a bit more stock into a player's shooter skill set. As a result, the game now handles much more like "Gears of War In Space" -- this is a good thing, compared to the spray-and-pause action of its predecessor.
Come for the action, stay for the engrossing story: Say what you will about its shallow take on morality and the occasionally campy stabs at romance, but the original Mass Effect was saturated with lore and excelled at presentation. Conversations became centerpieces, and even the typical dialog tree became interesting thanks to a liveliness evoked by careful camera work and accelerated pacing.
The Mass Effect 2 sequences shown off in the E3 presentation maintained that livelihood. In one segment, an interactive conversation plays out between two characters while the vehicle you're flying in weaves through heavy traffic. But there's a new sort of dynamism being folded in as well: an impatient Shephard interrupts a guard mid-sentence, and (with a timely tug on the Xbox 360 controller's left trigger) shoves him through a plate glass window. Small touches like these won't single-handedly win over the action-gamer crowd, but they do a great for embellishing the atmosphere.
Of course, a few snappy conversations and improved gunplay don't necessarily equal a stellar sequel. But this is Bioware we're talking about. During the presentation we met Thane, a dexterous lizardesque assassin who is (for lack of a better descriptor) absurdly bad-ass. In a brief introduction and appearance, he established himself as an efficient killer with a spiritual, philosophical side -- which should make for fascinating conversations as the story unfolds.
Yes, Bioware has a habit of cranking out entertaining games. Mass Effect's biggest draw was the universe it established, and a sequel that looks to top its precursor's narrative, while fixing many of the complaints players had with the gameplay mechanics, is well on its way to being a must-have. Electronic Arts says we should see it early next year.
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