Mass Effect Series

It's unusual for a publisher to go back and redesign the box art for a game. Yet that's what Bioware and Electronic Arts have decided to do with the artwork for the Mass Effect 2 retail release. You can check out the original artwork in our earlier August 2 story.

We are not quite sure why the companies decided to go back and do a revamp of the box art. Quite frankly the original looks more dynamic and action packed to us. This new version seems to have the characters in less dynamic poses. Oh well, marketing was never our strong point.

In this developer video, the development team at BioWare shocases some of the gruesome creatures players will encounter in Mass Effect 2. Some of what you may have experienced in the first game will prepare you, but it looks like the malevolent aliens will be pulling out the big guns for the sequel. Mass Effect 2 will release in 2010.

Download HD Mass Effect 2 'Enemies' Video (292 MB)
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While everyone else is waiting for pre-Black Friday sales, PC gamers know that sales on downloadable PC games can be found all the time, especially on Thursdays.

• Steam has cut the price of the original Mass Effect to just $9.99 for the weekend
• Impulse has a number of weekend game sales going on including Flock for $7.49, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl for $9.99 and Mosby's Confederacy for $12.99.
• GamersGate has cut the prices of several of their games. That includes Painkiller, Painkiller Overdose and Painkiller Universe which are down 30 percent each. It has also put Grappling Hook (for PC and Mac) on sale for 50 percent off its normal price this weekend.
• Direct2Drive offers up $5 off Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising if you put in the promo code 5OFFOPFLASH at checkout.
• Telltale Games is offering full seasons of Sam and Max Seasons One and Two, Strong Bad and Wallace and Gromit for $20 each, a savings of $15 each from their original price.
  

It's not exactly a shock at this point but today BioWare and Electronic Arts announced plans to release a Collector's Edition of their upcoming sci-fi RPG sequel Mass Effect 2. Due out on January 26 alongside the standard edition the PC version will cost $59.99.

So what do you get for that extra $10? Well we do like the tin case packaging that you can see to the right. You also get an extra behind-the-scenes DVD, a 48 page art book and the first issue of Dark Horse's upcoming Mass Effect Redemption comic book. The Collector's Edition will also have some unique in-game weapons and armor to use. We just hope that stuff isn't as hard to redeem as the Dragon Age: Origins extra content is turning out to be.

Some of you may remember that BioWare hyped up all the downloadable content plans they had for the release of the original Mass Effect. However all we got after the game shipped was one downloadable mission and another release, over a year later, that added a combat arena. In other word, the hype didn't live up to the reality.

Now the hype has started again as Destructoid reports they have gotten a look at a quiz from Microsoft designed for retailers. According to their story, the quiz says that BioWare's upcoming sequel, Mass Effect 2, has plans for all sort of downloadable content after the sci-fi RPG is released in late January. The downloads are supposed to include small additions like weapons and characters all the way to new downloadable worlds and campaigns. Frankly we have heard this song and dance before. We will welcome anything we can get, of course, but in this case we will believe it when we download it.

Gamers won't have to wait for much longer to finally head back to space, BioWare style. The developer has just announced that their sci-fi RPG sequel Mass Effect 2 will ship to stores on January 26 in the US. Europeans will have to wait a few extra days; the game shows up in that part of the world on January 29.

In addition to revealing the release date, BioWare and publisher Electronic Arts announced some special in-game items that will be available via pre-orders. GameStop will offer two items, the Terminus Armor (increases run speeds and personal shields) and the M-90 Blackstorm Heavy Weapon (fires off a local gravity well). You can see both items in the screenshot to the right. Other retailers will offer the Inferno Armor for pre-order offers.

[Via email press release]

Last summer Dark Horse Comics announced plans to release Mass Effect: Redemption, a four-issue comic based on BioWare's sci-fi RPG series. Now the Comic Book Resources web site has secured the first six pages of the first issue for everyone to check out.

Co-written by BioWare's own Mac Walters, the first issue of the monthly four issue mini-series ships to stores in January 2010 As we reported on earlier this month, BioWare's other big RPG game, Dragon Age: Origins, will also be getting a comic book series in January via IDW Publishing. The regular monthly comic is scheduled to be written by Orson Scott Card.

Gallery: Mass Effect 2

BioWare's next game is, of course, Dragon Age: Origins but they are also working hard on their sci-fi RPG sequel Mass Effect 2. In a new preview of the game over at IGN, the team is hinting that this sequel will be the series's version of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

You may have forgotten that the series is supposed to be a trilogy of games but BioWare hasn't. It's co-founder Greg Zeschuk is quoted as saying, "If you recall, Empire Strikes Back was the darker chapter and that is how we designed the ME2 story and experience: to try and make the player reflect on the challenges of the character. If you put ME2 next to the original it is definitely a darker, harder game."

That's cool with us. If we get to see some kind of hand-getting-chopped-off-at-the-wrist scene we will be all set.

One of the all-new characters making a debut in Mass Effect 2 is Subject Zero. She's a powerful biotic with a predisposition toward extreme violence and she's completely off her rocker. That means she's the perfect addition to the collection of characters traversing the galaxy in search of action. Play things out right, and the player could get some action with her too. Step aside, Liara or get shoved.

Download HD Mass Effect 2 'Subject Zero' Trailer (77 MB)
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It was short but sweet; that's how we would decribe our brief but hands-on demo with an Xbox 360 build of Mass Effect 2. You can't really go too deeply into gameplay for a huge sci-fi RPG ffrom BioWare with just a few minutes of gameplay but at least we got an idea of what the combat gameplay was like at our PAX 2009 demo this weekend.

The demo had us control Mass Effect 2's lead character, the human hero Commander Shepard, as he and two other members of his team storm a building in a vast super-city (think Corasaunt in the Star Wars movies) to get to an alien female baddie. The end result is that Shepard and his team end up with some help in the end; a new alien lizard like character who thinks nothing of sneaking up behind someone and breaking his or her neck.

Check out more info after the jump:

If you own the PC version of Mass Effect and downloaded the game via Valve's Steam service you might have encountered some problems installing the new Pinnacle Station paid DLC content that BioWare released earlier this week. Reports from BioWare's message board states that Steam owners get a "Mass Effect CD key not found" error when trying to install Pinnacle Station.

However it appears the bug is with the DLC file and not with Steam. In a response to the issues, BioWare's Jack Lamden states on the message board, "The PRC installer that works with the Steam version of the game should replace what's currently on the EA store tomorrow sometime. You would just need to redownload the PRC and attempt to install again." That post was made on Tuesday night so its possible that the new version that works should be available to download from the EA Store now.

After over a year of waiting, PC games can finally download the second (and presumably last) downloadable content for BioWare's sci-fi RPG Mass Effect. The DLC, titled Pinnacle Station, can be found at Electronic Arts' downloadabe store for $5.

The download gives players of Mass Effect access to training facility at Pinnacle Station where players can test their combat skills in 12 different scenios in a holo-deck style of setting. There's also a final, 13th, mission, where things get real and you and your crew could be in danger. You can earn new weapons and items in the missions that you can take with you in the main game. It adds about two to three more hours of gameplay. Your character has to have achieved Spectre status before checking out the Pinnacle Station missions.

It may seem like this patch is a bit overdue considering Mass Effect released for the PC well over a year ago, but better late than never. If nothing else, it's a sign that this is the opportune time to load up the game again and level up your characters in preparation for Mass Effect 2, due out in 2010. The patch updates all retail versions of Mass Effect (except Eastern Europe) to v1.02 and addresses a number of bugs and gameplay issues. Steam customers are advised to use the auto-updater. A list of changes can be seen after the jump.

Download Mass Effect v1.02 Patch (71 MB)
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When the original Mass Effect was released it was a timed Xbox 360 exclusive with PC gamers having to wait over six months to get their version of BioWare's sci-fi RPG. That apparently won't be the case for the upcoming sequel, Mass Effect 2, as the game's associate producer Jesse Houston told VG247.com that for the PC version they are "doing it at the same time for a sim-ship".

The dev team took some lessons from having the original game ship for the PC later than the Xbox 360 version. Houston states, "So we actually took what we learned from PC and put it back into 360. Fundamentally, we want you to have the same gameplay experience, but just with the difference in controls." He added that, "we can control the differences much more smoothly because it's the same team building it now." Mass Effect 2 is currently scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2010.

This Mass Effect 2 trailer premiered at GamesCom 2009, held in Cologne, Germany. In it, viewers are introduced to the character Grunt, a Krogan mercenary with a talent for getting rough. No doubt, his strength will be a major benefit to your party but his extremely violent and unpredictable nature may also prove to be a liability. As a bonus, the trailer also shows the Blood Dragon Armor, which will be available as an in-game item to players who purchase Dragon Age: Origins. Mass Effect 2 is expected to release in the early half of 2010.

Download HD Mass Effect 2 Gamescom 2009 Trailer (92 MB)
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