Mass Effect 2 Previews

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Written by BuckGB on September 5th, 2009

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I felt as if I had more control of my squad in the Mass Effect 2 demo, thanks to left-and-right d-pad options that allowed me to command one or the other ally to move to specific positions in the area. I could also order them to advance or fall back as a group, which I could in the first game as well. A subtle interface adjustment now presents small portraits of your two active ally characters in the lower left part of your screen, right next to their health meters and the button icons that remind you about those movement commands. This all makes commanding the squad a more efficient and clearly represented process. These allies might be smarter too. When I left them to fight on their own, they seemed more capable than the allies of the first game.

The demo ends the same way as before, with Shepard finally cornering Thane just as the assassin makes his kill. The easy-to-use conversation books a return engagement and it's still just as fun to use as before. Sadly, the show floor is so loud that despite the presence of individual speakers at each kiosk, it is turn difficult to hear the game dialog. But here's the catch. Despite not necessarily hearing everything playing out on-screen, I could still get an idea of what each character was up to. Emotion plays out on the faces the vastly improved faces of each character. You can see the menace in Thane's lidless black eyes as he looks up to Shepard after completing his assassination.

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