Mass Effect 2


 *  Note: Please do not add speculation to Mass Effect 2 articles. The wiki only accepts facts, and speculation will be deleted. At most, link us to forum discussions rather than posting it here. 

Mass Effect 2 is a science-fiction role-playing action game developed by BioWare for the Xbox 360 and PC. It is the sequel to Mass Effect and the second game in the planned Mass Effect trilogy.

Release
Mass Effect 2 will retail on the dates, and at the recommended retail prices, indicated in the table below. 1Exclusive to EB Games

2 Pre-order prices from BT Games

Details

 * Players: 1
 * Resolution: Xbox 360: HDTV 720p // PC: Unrestricted
 * Publisher: Electronic Arts, Inc.
 * Developer: BioWare Corp.®
 * Format: 2x DVD (Xbox 360 and PC)
 * Rating: "M" for Mature (US), MA15+ (Australia), 15 (UK), 18 (EU)

Plot
''Two years after Commander Shepard repelled invading Reapers bent on the destruction of organic life, a mysterious new enemy has emerged. On the fringes of known space, something is silently abducting entire human colonies. Now Shepard must work with Cerberus, a ruthless organization devoted to human survival at any cost, to stop the most terrifying threat mankind has ever faced.''

''To even attempt this perilous mission, Shepard must assemble the galaxy’s most elite team and command the most powerful ship ever built. Even then, they say it would be suicide. Commander Shepard intends to prove them wrong. ''
 * Official Plot Summary

Shepard's Fate
In Mass Effect 2, it is possible for Commander Shepard and members of his team to die at the conclusion of the game's final mission. Throughout the middle of the game the player will be building up the team, resources, information and ship necessary to succeed in the final mission. Should the player enter the final mission unprepared they could end up with an ending where Shepard dies, members of his team die, or there is a total bloodbath where everyone dies.

Should the player's Shepard die they will be unable to continue playing the game after the credits, and will be unable to import their character into Mass Effect 3. As with Shepard, death is final for all characters, and any that die during the ending will not be appearing in Mass Effect 3.

Characters
In Mass Effect 2 the player has the opportunity to build a team from 10 possible companions, including:

Starting companions

Returning from the original Mass Effect:
 * Miranda Lawson
 * Jacob Taylor


 * Tali'Zorah nar Rayya
 * Garrus Vakarian

Recruitable:


 * Thane Krios
 * Grunt
 * Subject Zero
 * Mordin Solus
 * Samara

Shepard's success greatly depends on gaining the loyalty of these recruits. This loyalty will be measured using a points system.

Characters returning from Mass Effect include:


 * Liara T'Soni
 * Ashley Williams
 * Kaidan Alenko
 * Garrus Vakarian
 * Urdnot Wrex
 * Tali'Zorah nar Rayya


 * Jeff "Joker" Moreau
 * Conrad Verner
 * Nassana Dantius
 * Navigator Pressly
 * David Anderson
 * Doctor Chakwas

Locations
Commander Shepard and his team will visit a wide variety of new locations in Mass Effect 2, including: Locations returning from Mass Effect include:
 * Omega
 * Tuchanka
 * Purgatory
 * The Migrant Fleet
 * Illium
 * Freedom's Progress
 * The Citadel

Save File Transfer
Mass Effect 2 allows the player to import their characters from any completed Mass Effect playthrough. This means that all decisions made by the player in Mass Effect will carry over into Mass Effect 2 and have the potential to impact the story. Decisions confirmed to have an impact on the game include: Due to massive gameplay redesign, your level will not transfer over to Mass Effect 2 and you will start out with basic abilities. However, the game will acknowledge if you were a level 60 character and if you were a Renegade or Paragon and adapt it in ways that map across to the new system. Also, the physical appearance and class of imported characters can be changed at the start of the game, if desired.
 * The decision to save either Kaidan or Ashley.
 * Whether or not the player kills Wrex on Virmire.
 * Whether or not the player decides to save the Citadel Council at the end of Mass Effect.
 * The player's choice of love interest.
 * Whether the player spares or destroys the Rachni Queen at Peak 15.
 * The player's treatment of Conrad Verner.
 * Whether or not the player completed the UNC: Asari Diplomacy sidequest.
 * Whether the player chose to allow the Alliance to conduct experiments on Nirali Bhatia's body.

If a player has no Mass Effect save files, Mass Effect 2 will start with an introduction sequence which, in combination with interactive decisions made by the player, introduces new players to the storyline and establishes a “canon” backstory.

There are certain restrictions to transferring save files. Concerning the Xbox 360 version, the main restriction is that both the Xbox LIVE profile and the save data must be present on the hard drive and not on a memory unit, as well as that in order to transfer, one must use the profile in which save data from Mass Effect was saved on. Specifically for the PC version, players must select the .MassEffectSave files in order to import the data.

Chris Priestly - community coordinator at the Mass Effect Forums - initially said that there was a limit of 11 end-of-game saves that could be imported into Mass Effect 2 (i.e. if a player completes the first game 12 times, only completions #1-11 can be imported). However, in a later post he corrected himself and stated that it was no longer the case.

Combat
Mass Effect 2 makes a large number of additions and changes to Mass Effect's weapons and abiltities, including: It also makes a large number of changes and improvements to the core shooter gameplay, including:
 * A larger variety of weapon classes, including:
 * Heavy Pistols
 * Submachine Guns
 * Shotguns
 * Assault Rifles
 * Sniper Rifles
 * Heavy Weapons, including guided rocket and grenade launchers, a gun that "turns enemies into dust", a "nuke gun" that unleashes room-clearing nuclear fire and the M-490 Blackstorm, a high-powered gravity gun.
 * New biotic abilties:
 * Push
 * Pull
 * Shockwave
 * Charge
 * Slam
 * New tech abilities:
 * Combat Drone
 * Cryo Blast
 * Incinerate
 * Tech Armor
 * New combat abilities:
 * Adrenaline Rush
 * Concussive Shot
 * Disruptor Ammo
 * Incendiary Ammo
 * Cryo Ammo
 * Targeting of individual body parts, enabling the player to make more damaging headshots or slow down an enemy by wounding, or shooting off, their leg.
 * An ammo system based on 'thermal clips'. Instead of cooling down automatically, weapons dissipate heat into thermal clips, that can only withstand a certain number of shots before they must be replaced or 'reloaded'. Replacement thermal clips can be collected off of the bodies of defeated enemies. These thermal clips are universal and can be used in any weapon.
 * Ammo Upgrades such as Cryo Rounds, Incendiary Rounds and the new Disruptor Rounds are now abilities accessible from the radial menu like biotic and tech talents.
 * Cover is now entered manually, instead of automatically as it was in the first Mass Effect. Additionally there are over 200 cover animations.
 * Aiming is no longer dependent on stats. Where you aim is where you hit.
 * A modified health system. Medi-gel has been removed from use, now only serving the purpose of reviving dead teammates. Instead the player's Health and Shields now regenerate slowly when the player is not taking damage.

Galaxy/World Interface
Mass Effect 2 also modified how the game is played outside of combat as well as some newer aesthetics. These include:
 * A larger and deeper galaxy.
 * New ship called the SSV Normandy SR-2 which has several new features.
 * A tech lab where Mordin resides. Players can use minerals, which are collected by mining a planets resources, to upgrade guns, shields, etc.
 * New fuel system in the Galaxy Map interface to limit movement between solar systems.
 * Manual control of the ship during travel within a solar system (Galactic travel between stars is still controlled with the point-and-click system).
 * More freedom in gameplay with uncharted worlds.
 * The option to mine or land on a planet is no longer predetermined.
 * New minigame to scan the planet for resources and landing sites.

Inventory
It also completely revamps Mass Effect's inventory system, with changes including:
 * Weapons and armor are chosen at the beginning of missions and can be swapped out for newly, or previously, acquired equipment at lockers found throughout the various environments in the game.
 * Armor is modular and custom N7 armor can be built from parts bought from merchants, or acquired on missions, through the player's armor locker aboard the Normandy SR2. These parts can have different behaviours and influences on gameplay. At the armor locker the player can also customize many aesthetic aspects of their armor, including color, material and shininess as well as choose between helmets and visors.
 * The player can modify aspects of armor and weapons, such as accuracy or ammo mods, by collecting research projects and working on them at research terminals in the science lab aboard the Normandy SR2, provided Shepard has recruited a scientist to work there.

Dialogue and Cinematics
Mass Effect 2 adds a large new feature to the dialogue system: Interrupts. The interrupt system will allow Shepard to take more physical action in a conversation, either through a Renegade hostile interrupt or a Paragon heroic interrupt.

Currently known interrupts include:
 * Pushing an uncooperative Eclipse mercenary out of a window.
 * Verbally interrupting Mordin's longwinded attempt to figure out who Shepard is.
 * Pulling a gun on Pitne For, a volus on Illium, to coerce information out of him about a mercenary base.
 * Shooting a mech soldier with Garrus' sniper rifle, while using the scope to survey the battlefield.

Downloadable Content
The development team also plans for much more extensive downloadable content than what was available in Mass Effect, with a large portion of the Mass Effect 2 team moving to DLC after release. This will reportedly include:
 * Episodic combat, weapon and armor packs, characters, worlds and full campaign expansions will reportedly be available for download.
 * Periodic updates via the in-game 'Cerberus Network'.
 * Smaller and larger DLC options with varied pricing.