Mass Effect 2: What We Know

The editors at CVG have rounded up all of the information we know about BioWare's Mass Effect sequel thus far.
Story gibberish aside, BioWare plans to expand on combat and exploration gameplay portions of the first game, which is good news.

In the shooting department the developer's official announcement promises "intensified combat" and "expanded weapon options". We're hoping some of the work goes on improving the game's shooting mechanics, which were solid enough but could certainly do with some polishing to meet 2010 standards - especially in the cover system department.

As for "expanded weapon options", we can only assume this refers to the in-depth gun tweaking and customisation options available in Mass Effect 1. To an extent slapping various types of ammunition and modifiers on your guns worked well in the first game, but you could easily ignore it. We're hoping for more meaningful, strategic options in Mass Effect 2.

Elsewhere in BioWare's big list of promises is an area that definitely needs to be improved in our opinion; exploration. BioWare's lining up "increased depth of planet exploration" for the sequel, which is definitely good news.