Mass Effect 2

[erilar]

I've been watching the class overview trailers during my trip this week, in addition to reading the second novel (Mass Effect: Ascension). The 2nd book is nearly as good as the first (ME: Revelation), which I thought was perhaps the best genre fiction I'd read to date. To my horror, Ascension is NOT the last book in the timeline before ME2 - I'd thought I was going to be caught up for ME2 by reading Ascension! ME: Retribution won't be released until July 2010 though, which is rather disappointing since it's a prequel to ME2, and picks up where Ascension left off. (All three novels are written by Drew Karpyshyn, the lead writer for both games.) FYI, Dark Horse is also doing a comic series, and it looks like #1 may be on shelves.

Anyway, I really felt that reading Revelation prior to playing ME1 enhanced my enjoyment of the game. Likewise, Ascension features many organizations, several characters, and some broad strokes that will frame ME2. No spoilers, but things that you'll recognize and should make your understanding of the setting more thorough and intimate. I'll probably finish Ascension by the time I get home, so let me know if you're interested in reading it.

Anyway, back to the class teaser videos. Now I totally don't know what class I'm gonna play! While the biotic powers in the first game were IMO rather lame both conceptually and gameplay-wise, they are now Super Friggin Cool! There was no compelling reason to play most of the classes in ME1, but now each one has its own unique, ultra-cool powers. Moreover, Bioware has even written a class change into the plot, even if you're importing your char from ME1.

Lastly, I was greatly relieved and excited to hear that Jack Wall (composer from ME1) also does the ME2 score. Hells, yeah!

[Hardcorhobbs]

Yeah... first thing I did with my Christmas money was to pre-order the special edition of ME2. Release date shipping from amazon FTW!

[Hardcorhobbs]

FYI, I received an email this morning from amazon saying that if you pre-order Mass Effect 2 you will receive $10 credit towards another game. They also have a best price guarantee so now that a new promotion is in effect I get it applied automatically. Hell yeah!

[erilar]

Does their preorder mean paying full price for it now, or putting down $5 or so?

[Hardcorhobbs]

Does their preorder mean paying full price for it now, or putting down $5 or so?

You don't pay anything until it ships.