Mass Effect 2 E3 Previews

A small wave of new Mass Effect 2 previews are now online, courtesy of what's being shown of the sci-fi RPG sequel at this year's E3.

First up is IGN:
The demo picked up with the same cinematic BioWare showed at the Game Developers Conference back in March, only this time it was in a near complete state. The group is flying across the city towards a housing complex in search of an assassin named Thane. The tricky part is that the assassin is on the hunt and in order to find Thane, Shepard and his crew must fight through the hired guards and find Thane's target before he does.

This, naturally, gave us a great look at the improved combat Mass Effect 2 sports. Though the approach is largely unchanged, subtle tweaks have been made to improve the flow of battle. The heads-up display is streamlined and while the power wheel has returned, you don't have to pause the action to start dishing out powers.

Then we have Shacknews:
In fact, plenty of major characters in Mass Effect 2 can die before the end of the game. And if Shepard or any of his companions die, and you carry over that data to Mass Effect 3, those characters won't make appearances in the final game of the trilogy.

Before we got to a fatal scenario, BioWare showed us a section of the game where Shepard and company infiltrate a building to find a mysterious assassin. Hudson explained that Shepard is tracking down the mysterious disappearance of humans across the galaxy, a quest that will culminate in a significant final mission--a mission that will see your decisions impacting every stage of the climax.

Followed by GameZone:
This time around, combat feels more precision-based, with each weapon appropriately powered up from the beginning of the game. Additionally, the game will introduce 9 new weapon classes, including heavy weapons, letting players utilize weaponry like missile launchers.

There have also been some changes made to the game's exploration system. While no real details could be divulged, BioWare stated that the game will let you explore the galaxy better than ever before and that the worlds you visit will be richer and more fun.