Mass Effect 2 ready for massive debut

Its not hard to find world-leading technology designed by Canadians at the annual Consumer Electronics Show here in Las Vegas. All you have to do is check out the video-game displays.

At the gigantic Microsoft booth, one of the games receiving a prominent showcase is Mass Effect 2, the sequel to the 2007 smash hit from Edmontons BioWare. The first Mass Effect, a Star Wars-like science-fiction role-playing/action game, garnered universal acclaim and sold more than a million copies in its first three weeks of release.

The sequel, also exclusive to Microsofts Xbox 360 console and PCs, will be released on Jan. 26 and is expected to be one of the first big hits of this year.

The game was designed by a staff of 150 in Edmonton, with help from BioWares studio in Montreal. Casey Hudson, the games executive producer and project director, spoke with CBC.ca at CES about the upcoming game.

CBC.ca: The first Mass Effect was a huge hit, so whats the second one about? Whats new and exciting?

Hudson: With Mass Effect1, we launched a new science-fiction universe and a lot of people got really excited about whats going on in the story, which is that you play Commander Sheppard. Sheppard is a normal human soldier from the Human Alliance on Earth and were just sort of newcomers to the galaxy. We discover that approximately every 50,000 years, theres this race of enormous machines that comes in and harvests all life. Sheppard, your character, is the one who knows about this and is trying to figure it out.

Mass Effect 2 is the middle part of the trilogy, weve always designed it as a trilogy so we know where the storys going. You dont have to have played the first one but if you have, you can bring in your saved game and start up where you left off. Same character, same decisions, everything cascades forward, the universe is the way that you left it. Mass Effect 2 is the darker, second act. Youre actually getting much closer to the real threat and finding out whats really going on.

CBC.ca: Is it like The Empire Strikes Back of the trilogy?

Hudson: Exactly. Ultimately it leads into what is essentially a suicide mission. You know youre getting ready for this suicide mission at the end so youre trying to recruit the best characters, the toughest people in the whole galaxy. Youre not only recruiting them, youre trying to gain their loyalty and learn about who they are before you go off on this mission.

CBC.ca:Whats the new in the game play? Is it safe to assume youve made changes and improvements?

Hudson: Mass Effect 2 is a shooter/RPG [role-playing game]. The difference this time around is the combat is much more polished. It really feels like a top shooter when you play it but beyond that of course it has this incredible story. Its a non-linear storyline with choices and things like that. The combat itself is very precise and you have all sorts of amazing weapons. Youll probably end up choosing your weapons on feel rather than numbers and stats. When you pick up a weapon, it actually feels different, youll know that you like this weapon versus that one. It has a real action-oriented feel as part of being of a really good shooter/RPG.

CBC.ca: Given that it is a BioWare game theres always going to be some controversy, like "Debbie Does Dallas meets Star Wars" [which is what Fox News said of a sexual situation players can find themselves in with the first Mass Effect]

Hudson: Ive heard that [grins].

CBC.ca: So the personal relationships are there in this one as well?

Hudson: There was a lot of talk about Mass Effect1 and what was in it, but most of it was from people who hadnt actually seen or played the game. Those who have played the game, of course, its their feedback thats most important to us and what they would have seen is that we always feature a love interest. Its like a PG-13 action game. Youve got all this incredible action, witty dialogue and youve got a love interest, which is part of making the story more human. Thats what we always do and Mass Effect 2 has an approach very similar to what we did in Mass Effect 1.

Its a tasteful way of adding a really interesting human emotional angle to why you should care about whats going on in the universe. One difference now is that we have a larger cast of characters, so weve got 10 squad members instead of the six maximum. Thats more relationships, and every character has a relationship with you whether its a romance or not. You learn about them, a lot of them involve loyalty that youll try and earn from that character. In some cases, that explores the romance aspect, and then that character becomes the love interest for your character.

CBC.ca: Whats next for BioWare?

Hudson: We just released Dragon Age: Origins and that has some great downloadable content coming out. On the Mass Effect team were already starting to design Mass Effect 3, but at the same time we want to make sure Mass Effect 2 has a really great launch and is really well supported. We also have a really great lineup of [downloadable content] for Mass Effect 2 coming out for several months after we release it.

CBC.ca: So would that be extra missions?

Hudson: One of the great things weve been able to do with Mass Effect 2 is to make all the great aspects of the game expandable. We can release everything from a weapon to a helmet all the way up to larger packs, new worlds to explore or even larger expansion-pack-sized content.

CBC.ca: Is there any sort of a target date for Mass Effect 3?

Hudson: We dont have one but were looking at a similar time frame as for the second one. We want to make sure it still fits into the current console cycle, and we also know that people are really excited to see what happens with the end of the story. We dont want people to wait too long for that.

CBC.ca: Theres a lot of talk about 3D here at the show. What do you guys think of it?

Hudson: Ive always personally been interested in 3D. Ive always loved the idea of a VR headset, 3D monitors and TVs. Ive actually seen both Dragon Age and Mass Effect on a 3D monitor and its incredible. Its part of the future of gaming for sure, its just a question of how quickly the technology gets adopted. The great thing is once the hardwares there, unlike a movie, a game is already 3D. It has all the things you need to make it 3D. So as soon as the hardware is there, the current games and potentially games weve already released may be ready for that.