Via Gametrailers, Bioware has released new footage of the anticipated vehicle missions for Mass Effect 2. Scheduled tentatively for late March, the trailer shows the Hammerhead hovercraft in action. Now gamers will be able to strafe their enemies rather than constantly circling them. The combat also appears to be much more fluid than when gamers were forced to use the Mako, a heavily-armored, but awkward, moon buggy. Reportedly, there will be five new missions involving the Hammerhead.

I was never too crazy about the vehicle missions in the original Mass Effect, but you can’t complain about free DLC.

When you walk into my old bedroom, the first thing you will see is the side of a white dresser with black knobs and a black top. If you walk around to the front, you will quickly notice that the wood on the front is dented in several places and the paint is heavily chipped, revealing the wood underneath. How did this happen? Would it help if I mentioned my television and all my gaming systems that used to sit on top?

The front of that dresser bears the scars of years of video game frustration. It has played host to three systems’ worth of curse words, elevated blood pressure, and the occasional almost-kicking of a small animal. A veteran of aggression, it has witnessed the infuriating A.I. of Tecmo Super Bowl, the laughable difficulty of Battletoads, those stupid floating barrels in Donkey Kong Country, and the immeasurable real-life threat to friendships posed by Goldeneye and NFL Blitz. More controllers have hit the front of that dresser than all of the Wiimotes without wrist straps in the world. And that’s a fact.

During a trip to my local comic book store, I was searching for Mass Effect: Redemption #1. The first issue came out prior to the game and I was initially on the fence about buying a video game comic book.

However, just a few hours into Mass Effect 2, my enjoyment of the Mass Effect world had grown into an intense love. So, obviously, I wanted anything that would expand my knowledge of the universe.

I casually searched…and searched…and searched.

Nothing.

“I know I saw it in here the other week.” I said to myself. I’m sure I did.

Unfortunately, I had underestimated how popular the comic would become.

Sitting here looking at my shelf, I count no less than 15 games I currently want to play. My collection edges over 100 games, but those 15 I’ve identified as to-play (and, in some cases, to-play-again). This isn’t even counting games coming out in the next couple of weeks. Is there an overabundance of video games? You bet there is.

I can’t count on one hand the games I’ve started but just haven’t had the time to finish; there’s just too many of them. The game industry continues to produce at a breakneck pace, and games are just getting better and better. Recently finishing stellar titles like Mass Effect 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, Dragon Age: Origins and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 showed me that.

Let’s look at some of the games I’m having a hard time finding time to play:

Rejoice, indeed. It seems the guys over at EA have dropped some juicy tidbits in a company earnings call by saying that there will be something “far-reaching” for Mass Effect in Q4 of fiscal 2010 (which translates to early 2011, don’t ask me why).

What the heat-sink? Now, this is obviously open to interpretation, as they didn’t go into anything specific. It could be anything from another iPhone game, to a full expansion for Mass Effect 2, or even a large chunk of DLC. I will go on record here and guess that it’s not Mass Effect 3. Unless it is, in which case I would simultaneously curse BioWare for their disregard for my personal life and worship their deification with an N7 alter in my closet.

Tomorrow marks the two-week anniversary of Mass Effect 2 and you may be thinking, “who the hell cares?’ Well, I only bring this up because by now, assuming you’re a gamer and a fan of Mass Effect or BioWare’s high quality RPGs, you must have at least given this game a shot.

Several of us here at Game Rant have already beaten the game, some more than once, so we want to start a discussion about the characters of Mass Effect 2. In a spoiler-filled manner, tell us what characters you liked to use, which characters you didn’t and perhaps, who didn’t make it till the end.

If you’re new to Xbox 360, or just need to catch up on some big name titles, Amazon has a deal for you. Buy two selected Xbox 360 Platinum Hits and get a third free. This deal is perfect if you need to catch up on prequels to the big new releases.

I recently got an Xbox 360 and need to catch up on old games to be ready for some of the hot new titles. Some of the games include; Mass Effect, Bioshock, Assassin’s Creed, Fable II, Gears of War, Dead Rising, Forza 2, Street Fighter IV, along with many others. This is perfect for me. I’m going to get Mass Effect, Bioshock, and Gears of War.

Short version: Mass Effect 2 is a must-play game for its story but it may not live up to expectations of RPG players or hardcore fans of the first Mass Effect.

Game Rant reviews Mass Effect 2

Before it even released, the hype surrounding the long-awaiting sequel to BioWare’s 2007 hit game Mass Effect suggested that Mass Effect 2 would easily be a game of the year contender for 2010. Although many reviewers may already have it in that category with its incredibly high critical acclaim, I do not.

Mass Effect is one of my favorite games on the Xbox 360 to date. It brought something completely new to the table and offered countless hours of gameplay from RPG style character progression through experience, stats, powers, weapons, armor to 3rd person team-based combat, and even vehicular exploration and combat. It took what was amazing about Knights of the Old Republic in terms of storytelling and character development in a sci-fi space adventure and shattered the conventions and limitations set before it.

Instead of clicking a button and watching an attack, you were in full control of the combat with a built-in cover system included. There were tons of new worlds to explore, your own ship to fool around with and countless new weapons, mods, upgrades and armor pieces to loot and purchase around the galaxy.

Mass Effect 2 sets out to continue the story of Commander Shepard in his/her quest to hinder the impending threat known as the Reapers but doesn’t offer as much of a main story as its predecessor. It also drops some of the important gameplay elements of the first game, substituting them with a limited and simpler mechanic or in some cases, dropping it entirely.

An interesting article came up on Kotaku this week regarding game companies and spoilers in their marketing strategies and it brought about a very interesting point: Are developers giving away too much information prior to the game’s release?

Do yourself a favor and read their story on the matter in addition to the one I’m presenting here. Kotaku cited Mass Effect 2 as the most recent example – and it might be the most justified case for the argument.

From Screen Rant:

With one of this year’s biggest video game releases in Mass Effect 2 finally debuting today to amazing reviews and fan reception, there’s no doubt a burning interest for getting a feature film made from this property as soon as possible.

What’s the hitch? Well, video game movies suck and Hollywood tend not to respect the source material enough to bring it to the silver screen properly. We’ve seen this again and again but we know this trend is coming to an end sooner or later. As we enjoy the peak of the comic book movie era, the next genre to hit it big will be video game movies. With practically every single major video game having sold film rights to their properties, we will see every video game come to cinematic life eventually.

The good news for the fans of these games are that developers/publishers are finally taking a stand and don’t want low-quality films made of their hardwork, damaging the property’s reputation. We saw this very recently with the halt in production of the Metal Gear Solid movie, and now we’re seeing it from BioWare and their Mass Effect franchise.

Almost 2 hours in and all I can say is my first impressions of Mass Effect 2 are great. From the start you get an option to start fresh with a new character or load up your character from the original Mass Effect. I went with the later option and loaded up Zac Shepard. Doing this gave me extra cash and an extra ability, which was a nice surprise. I also got a little reminder of what I did in the previous game in terms of the key choices I made and how they impact the current game, which impressed me. This is the first game that I can think of where choices I made in a previous game drastically effect how the sequel plays and what characters are in the game. Well done BioWare.

The game opens with a short cinematic. Two people (which you learn to be Miranda and the head of Cerberus) are conversing about you, commander Shepard. They believe your skills would be put to better use if you took on the Reapers as opposed to the Geth. They think this would better serve the Human Race and plan on acquiring your aid. These two don’t look like they are to be trusted or at least that’s the impression they left with me.

[Spoiler Warning: I discuss what I see in the first few hours of the game]

If you recently became an owner of the Xbox 360 or you are the frugal type, you are in luck. Best Buy is offering a sale that includes some of greatest games to hit this generation.

When you buy two Xbox 360 Platinum Hits titles, you will get a third title of equal or lesser value free. Additionally, you will receive free shipping on all three games! The sale is only available online and is for a undisclosed limited time period, so you will have to act fast to pick up these excellent titles:

If you’re online this Sunday evening and you’re excited for the release… no, event that is Mass Effect 2, then you need to be watching BioWare TV.

They’re giving away T-Shirts, Hats, copies of the game and more. Join in on the excitement on Facebook through the fanpage and on Twitter by buzzing up the hashtag #masseffect.

Get involved by watching here.

Mass Effect 2 hasn’t even hit store shelves yet but Bioware has already revealed that they are hard at work on the the final part of the trilogy, hinting that we can expect to see it release either late 2011 or early 2012.

Speaking to MTV Multiplayer Blog, Series Director, Casey Hudson said:

“We’re already working on ‘Mass Effect 3′ right now. We do want to develop it in concert with listening to the way people are experiencing ‘Mass Effect 2′.”

“We don’t want to take forever with it. We want people to be able to conclude this trilogy that have been with us over the years… [Development will be] along the same kind of time frame as ‘Mass Effect 2′.”

Earlier this afternoon, Xfire played host to a live playthrough of a new area in Mass Effect 2 (which you can watch for yourself here), followed by a developer Q&A with producer Jesse Houston and game designer Christina Norman.

Even though I am an immensely busy person (who am I kidding?), I decided to glue my eyes to my computer screen and take it all in for all you lovely Game Rant readers who had to miss it. So if you aren’t completely saturated by information and coverage about Mass Effect 2 (the epic Mass Effect 2 launch trailer released yesterday), read on to get my impressions on the playthrough and some new little nuggets of information from the Q&A.

Disclaimer: If you are trying to steer clear of information before next week, then what I am about to say could classify as spoilers. So, uh, don’t read if you have an aversion to such things.

One of the most important things for me in a video game isn’t how good it looks, how great the story is, or even if it has multiplayer. It’s the hero. Why? It’s just as important to have an interesting protagonist in a story as it is to have a story that drives the hero in the first place. From Super Mario Bros. all the way to Uncharted, the protagonist I play often has a large impact on how I enjoy the story.

Why is the protagonist of a video game important to my enjoyment? Because he is my (and I hate to use the phrase now) avatar that connects me to the world. And if the game I’m playing isn’t a RPG where I can customize most aspects of my player-character, I damn sure want to be able to manipulate somebody who’s interesting. I never really enjoyed playing games with boring heroes, cookie-cutter copies of that macho guy who has to save the world because he’s the only one who can.

Though it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, Mark Meer, voice actor for the male Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect series, has confirmed in an interview with RGPSite that he will be back in Mass Effect 3. BioWare has come right out and blatantly stated that it will be possible to kill off Shepard at the end of Mass Effect 2, but what about those that end the game with Shepard still breathing? Meer would surely have to stick around to record the lines for those of us that will do everything within our power to keep him alive.

In the same vein of the first game, Mass Effect 2 will receiving a prequel novel that leads up to the events that Commander Shepard will unfold. Drew Karpysyn, author of the previous two Mass Effect novels will also be writing this one as well. The plot? Well, here you go, straight from BioWare:

Retribution is set in the universe fans know well from the video game and novel series, one in which humanity has explored the very farthest reaches of the universe, only to discover the ruthless Reapers, a race bent on extinguishing all organic life. One man is bent on discovering the Reapers’ secrets, the mysterious Illusive Man, the leader of a pro-human, black ops group, Cerberus.

And he’s devised the perfect plan: implant a human subject with Reaper technology in order to study the enemy.He also has the perfect test subject–Paul Grayson, an ex-Cerberus operative. Grayson betrayed Cerberus in order to save his daughter. So when Grayson is kidnapped and made the subject of Cerberus’ evil experiments, the Illusive Man will finally have his revenge…

Linear gameplay. Sometimes it can mean an excruciatingly simple and trudging story that you can do little to make fun. Other times, it can be one of the most thrilling experiences you can have playing any video game at all. In recent times, some of the best games to be released were largely linear experiences. I speak of course of titles such as Modern Warfare 2 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, games that were not focused on giving you a whole-wide world to trudge through and wreak havoc upon, but rather very engaging set pieces with simple goals. I, for one, enjoyed the campaign of Modern Warfare 2 immensely. If I described it to someone, I would call it “the best summer blockbuster you’ll never see in a theater,” and I think that held true for one reason: Linear gameplay.

Linear gameplay, that is to say, gameplay that nudges you along in the right direction with no allowance of real exploration, can be a real benefit for game developers because they can concentrate on immersing the player in the story they crafted. One of my favorite parts in the MW2 campaign was the first portion of the mission in Brazil where you had to find the right-hand man of a target you were after, from that opening where you were sitting in the car, to pursuing the contact, and then to shooting him in the leg. Not a complicated gameplay segment at all, but very engaging and definitely thrilling. Why? Because YOU were there and YOU had to shoot that guy in the leg.

The latest trailer for Mass Effect 2 was released recently and it is simply astounding. It’s easy to see new possible playing styles within the game and all of the hallmarks that make the Mass Effect universe a superior video game environment. At the beginning of the trailer, you can see in Commander Shepard’s eyes that this mission is of the utmost importance and one he may not be coming back from.

Check out the new cinematic Mass Effect 2 trailer after the jump.

With the 2009 coming to its end, I’ve been incredibly impressed with how the games released this year presented cinematic experiences that feel so organic, and it only looks like it’s going to get better. Major blockbuster hits such as Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Assassin’s Creed 2 (Guess things get better the second time around, huh?) definitely drive this point home and in a very big way. From the literal birth of an assassin in Assassin’s Creed 2 to a harrowing snowmobile chase after destroying a Russian military base in Modern Warfare 2, games are becoming more immersive and hugely cinematic in how they deliver their stories. Where the gamer is able to actually be in an interactive movie where you get to do all the cool things you’ve watched all before.

… of the current story arc! At a recent event in Edmonton, Project Director Casey Hudson talked a bit about Mass Effect 3 and the biggest challenge of developing Mass Effect 2. Before demonstrating the game to the press, Hudson let everyone know that Bioware wasn’t taking a break stating, “We’re looking forward to [Mass Effect 3] and it should be more fun for us.”

Mass Effect 2 provided a unique challenge since the save file from the original Mass Effect could carry over to the sequel. This meant that every possible choice made by the player in the first game  had to be considered for how it would effect the game in the sequel. It was an undertaking so large that Hudson claimed:

“I’d be really surprised if anyone else tried to do it. Mass Effect 3 will be easier because we don’t have to worry about continuity into the next one.”

In Mass Effect, Bioware set out to create one of the most immersive Sci-Fi (or SyFy if you are a marketing hack) role-playing games ever experienced on a console or PC.  In providing such realism, Bioware repeatedly exposed the player to one of most uncomfortable moments that we, as human beings, have to endure during our lifetimes. The slow elevator ride… with other people!

As you may recall, one of the biggest complaints about Mass Effect was the long loading scenes while you had to suffer this ordeal.  Bioware has heard your cries, and has guaranteed that there will be no elevator loading scenes in Mass Effect 2. According to Associate Programmer, Thomas R. Roy:

BioWare has finalized the cover art for their highly anticipated Sci-Fi RPG Mass Effect 2 which is set for release on January 26th for the PC and Xbox 360. It’s already the first game I plan on picking up in the new year and viewing the cover art makes the wait even harder.

Below is the cover art for the first game along with the sequel’s standard edition and collectors edition covers. The collectors edition will come in a tin case with an art book, comic, behind the scenes DVD and exclusive in-game content.