Mass Effect 2 Rumors

Look what I found in the depths of the internet. Some rumors concerning Mass Effect 2. The info is said to be out of the next OXM, but I guess with E3 happening before the release of the new OXM we will see there what is true and what not. As soon as I get the scans I will of course put them up here.

Details from the OXM Issue (Hunter 192 from Mass Effect community):

well there are alot of screen shots of the game, one of them is the interior of the Normandy which looks bigger and different. if anyone has questions i would be glad to answer them

ok yes it is the Normandy, and the special geth is from the first teaser trailer, and lead cinematics animator Parrish Ley thinks people will really connect with him (wut?)

ok you know that wallpaper with the giant blue space station thats the main Cerberus outpost, we also visit an asari planet called Illium which has skyscrapers and whatnot, and also Omega station

As for the asari planet, I believe that the GDC footage showing the flying cars and skyscrapers are the same since there is a screenshot of the same place.

And about Shepard, well according to the magazine we definitely play as Shepard for at least a decent chunk of the game.

New Character:
And as for Thane, he is a possible party member and will be shown in action during an assassination, you'll see how his performance might tempt you to recruit him.

im sorry but that all it said about Shepard, although it said that there are human colonies literally disappearing all around the galaxy, and Shepard's the man or woman for the job,even though Shepard been told its a suicde mission.

it also said that if you were particularly extreme about going Paragon or Renegade in both games, there would be extra-special endings.

as for Shepard OXM stated that part about how much we play as Shepard, Casey Hudson said and i quote "Shepard appears much bigger and more powerful, and he's presented in adarker,grittier style". "This is all part of the game's high-action descent into the darkest, most brutal parts of the Mass Effect universe".

ok here is the article that said that, Sweet, he just confirmed Mass Effect 3! But,um,what about Shepard? BioWare's keeping his exact fate a secret until E3, but we saw a lot of the early portion of Mass Effect 2 in our visit,and you definitely play as Shepard for at least a decent chunk of the game.

well it didnt say much about our old squadmates, but it did mention a few of them though no names were given, also Casey Huson stated that Joker would return in Mass Effect 2 as will a lot of main characters from Mass Efeect 1.

There was also a screenshot of a krogan, who's friends call him Grunt, but everyone else best not call him at all.

also along with Thane, the OXM crew were introduced to another potential new party member,A tough but clever salarian scientist, who's the Clint Eastwood of scientists.

also they were talking about a few weapons from the game, one weapon dissolves an enemy into a pile of dust, while the other which everyone called the "nuke gun" unleashes room-clearing nuclear fire.

Also secondary races like the volus and elcor are no longer stuck in a place,you'll see them moving around levels, which "makes things a little bit more interesting" says Hudson.

Mass Effect 1 DLC
There was a little info about dlc, but nothing major i will quote Casey, "We are definitely working on a substantial new DLC. We're finishing it up and making sure that it's going to be really good, and then we'll announce it, probably pretty. That'll be the last thing between Mass Effect 1 and 2 in terms of content.

Not a lot of info about the drell or Thane,except that they look amphilbious, and that Thane is a smooth,suave character, in one screenshot Thane came up behind a human and broke his neck.

The magazine also showed a male quarian with what looks like medium or heavy armor and looks awesome.

well not a lot of pictures of planets in the magazine, but they did show omega station and the main Cerberus outpost. as for uncharted planets Casey said and i quote, We decided to really improve a lot of the points of interaction throughout that experience. We'll be showing this at E3, but there's more [going on] when you're in orbit ,looking at [a planet], scanning, and ridingdown to the surface. And there's a much stronger focus on really rich, interesting set-piece location.

in a short article they explained what there going to show at E3, 1 whether Shepard is really dead, 2 new transit system, 3 uncharted-worlds exploration, 4 who you ultimately play as, 5 more info on Thane.

the new transit system is replacing the old elevators loading screen.

Pictures description:
one picture has 3 of our newest enemy those assault mechs from the prelude E3 video, the other is the interior of the SSV Normandy what looks like Shepards quarters but its larger and different from ME1, even has a scale model of the Normandy in the room, the next one has Thane sneaking up behind a human and breaking his neck, a pic of Omega station and the main Cerberus outpost, and the last ones are showing Shepard,a krogan called Grunt, and a male quarian.

the Shepard shown in the magazine is indeed the default male Shepard, and he does not appear to be beat-up like the front cover. And Omega Station is set in an astroid field, the station itself the top half is a mined out astroid, while the lower half is a long tube most likley where the docking bays, stores and other stuff is.

Normandy Interior:
I dont know, they only showed one screenshot of the interior, but its indeed much larger than in ME1, from the pic im assuming its Shepards private quarters and its 2 to 3 times larger than his old quarters, it looks really awesome.

they did mention the Mako saying its a different vehicle and moves in a different way which they are revealing later, and no they said nothing about how many party members we will have.

Another Summary
- You WILL play as Shepard, but for how long we don't know
- There is a new species called the Drell and Thane is a new character who is an assassin and may join your party
- Planets - There will be a Krogan planet, and Illium, an Asari planet, that is like Coruscant from SW. Also there is "Omega" with is like an anti-Citadel in that it's huge and it's the bottom of the barrel whereas the Citadel is the height of civilization. Also a Cerebus mothership will act as a location of significance.
- Story - The ultimate story is still civilization fending off the Reapers, but this chapter will deal with this Cerebus corporation and it's enigmatic leader. There are human civilizations disapearing and it's up to Shepard to investigate, it's termed as a "suicide mission" which may lead to the details of the teaser.
- New vehicle that controls better than the Mako...a "new" control scheme....motion control maybe?
- Totally revamped inventory system!
- Elevator system revamped where you will get the sense of scope of where you're at and where you're travelling.
- NO MORE TEXTURE POP IN!
- Secondary races like Volus and Elcor are much more mobile, giving more depth and makes things more interesting.
- Choices are more meaningful and there is a real risk that major support characters (i.e. anyone not Shepard) can and will die.
- Also on the story, they're super-hyping the ending, saying that it's much more grand meaningful in ME2. ME1 had one of the most impacting endings ever, how the hell are they gonna pull this off?
- More weapons, more species, more/new team members.
- returning team members, locations, weapons.

All in all, an excellent article. I tried to capture the most important news. It's really a giant tease for E3.

Oh, and they say there will be one more DLC for ME1, which should be announced soon!

SOURCE: NEO GAF