Launch Hype T-Minus One: Mass Effect > Star Wars

Unless you’ve never played Mass Effect (or are like Wardrox and didn’t care for the first game enough to finish a single playthrough) today is a very special day for you. Bioware has released their “final” promotional video for Mass Effect 2 going into the release date of next week. This isn’t a puny character reveal, dev diary or a cinematic trailer; this is the BIG ONE!

Dubbed “Launch Trailer” by the game development gods in Edmonton, the latest video has me convinced that Mass Effect has surpassed Star Wars in sheer awesomeness. There’s a rousing soundtrack, stirring dialogue and lots of outer-space explosions.

There are spoilers abound in the video, but if you can get over the need to see everything with fresh eyes on day one, you’ll see they’re going to put the player through an emotional roller coaster by the end of the story. You can check out the video here, direct from the source or download it in 720p, which I highly recommend.

I’m clearly mad with excitement over Mass Effect 2, but by Friday of next week I’ll post my final thoughts on the game. Don’t expect a review, but I will put myself to the task of eating crow if the game doesn’t live up to my lofty expectations. Check out the YouTube version below if you can’t be arsed to visit Bioware’s site and see some predictions from yours truly…uhhhhh…MASS EFFECT!

Here are my final predictions based on today’s amazing trailer: ignoring sources as banal as the game’s overall Metacritic score, ME2 will be a major critical and popular success. There will be some minor quibbles with certain aspects of the game, but the overall production values and depth of the story told will be astounding. For folks that are returning to the Mass Effect universe, they’ll be amazed with how many of their “choices” (even some pedestrian ones) had consequences in the sequel.

Announced Team Members:

• Samara (Asari) – An Asari who’s given up reproduction to follow a sacred vow of justice and vengeance. Sounds like she has a chip or two to uncover.
• Miranda Lawson (Human) – Cerberus operative, seductress and second in command; Miranda will surprise you with her depth of character (I hope).
• Grunt (Krogan) – A wild, young Krogan warrior, Grunt looks to be a source of comedy and conflict. If you plan on playing as a goody-two-shoes Shepard (I’m sorry, I can’t help myself) Grunt and Sub Zero may give you a hard time.
• Jacob Taylor (Human) – Embarrassing fan admission # 5: I purchased and played the Mass Effect iPod Touch game. That’s my primary motivation for being interested in Jacob. The “mission” in that game was interesting enough to allow some of Jacob’s personality to come through. Oh, and it was hinted that he and Miranda got it on, so possibly a love triangle there with Shepard.
• Subject Zero (Human) – I still can’t get over my initial reactions to this character. Here’s hoping the writers can prove me wrong. The whole tattoo’d body, bald head and “badass bitch” dialogue isn’t helping either.
• Thane Krios (Drell) – Probably the game’s most intriguing new character, next to Legion (see below). Thane’s an assassin with a heart of gold, is green and has solid black eyes. Cool.
• Tali’zorah (Quarian) – I couldn’t get into her character during the first game, but reading the second Mass Effect novel (Mass Effect: Ascension) gave me new insights and interest in the quarians. It looks like you’ll travel to the Flotilla in this one. If you know what that means then you’re probably excited. The rest of you can go fuck off.
• Mordin Solus (Engineer) – A Salarian doctor who uses cold hard logic to determine almost every moral choice he’s presented with. Think Spock, McCoy and HK-47 on speed and you’re on the right path.

Mystery Team Members (my speculation only):

• Garrus (Turian) – He’s former C-Sec (police officer/detective) with sniping skills and a very dry sense of humor.
• Legion (Geth) – It wouldn’t be a Bioware game without a former enemy that becomes available to you as a party member following some wonderful plot twist. I’m looking forward to some uncomfortable moments between Tali and Legion seeing that the Quarians and Geth are bent on the complete annihilation of one another.
• Zaeed Messani (Human) – It’s been reported this mysterious human bounty hunter will be part of the Day-One DLC, but I’m going to be bummed if that means Legion won’t be part of the crew at some point. Do you hear me Bioware? Effing BUMMED!