Mass Effect 2 Interview

During his visit to Sydney, Australia, IGN AU managed to corner BioWare's Greg Zeschuk for a lengthy conversation about next year's Mass Effect sequel. The resulting interview is presented in article format, like so:
The second character we got to play alongside was Thane from the Drell species, a race new to the Mass Effect mythology. "You can see that he is a fish-like guy, but he is also a really effective assassin. His race is still a little unclear, as in, it is not broadly known throughout the galaxy all we really know is that guys like him are really efficient killers. He is perfect for stealth assassin modes and there are certain missions where he will be particularly effective with what he brings to the table."

It must be fun being able to create a whole new race, right? "It is! From the beginning you need to decide the purpose that the race serves and then that can lead into artistic visualisation. You know back on someone's desk or in digital files there are like 42 different fish men and slowly it evolved into a look that was this kind of cool, kind of calculated, aquatic guy. Then in a fighter you need to decide what powers they will have and then you put them all together in a way in which it can be executed and modelled. The focus with Thane is aquatic, so we made his skin texture look iridescent so it looks a bit shiny and fish-like. Even with the voice, he has this kind of bubbly voice. All this culminates in a base character that you can toy with so that every other individual from that race is a variation."