Bioware have released the first media for the hotly anticipated Mass Effect 2, kicking things off with a nasty teaser.

In the true spirit of teaser trailers, this one really shows SFA of the game, but does pose some questions as to where the storyline will head. Check it out right here on AusGamers.

Is it too much to ask that they lay off the space-game clichés this time around? It's not really possible to avoid them entirely considering the first game (extinct super-advanced alien race leaves technology around for humans to use, aliens are out to get us, etc) but it'd be nice if they had more of a focus on building up the characters than revealing dead civilisations/bogey men :/

I guess that'll never happen though ;)

Never got around to finishing any of the side quests in mass effect... Just weren't rewarding enough. Combat was pretty unwieldy too.

Great enemies, voice acting, animation and ending though.

"Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh. You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance. You are incapable of understanding." "Reapers? A label given by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. In the end, what they chose to call us is irrelevant, we simply....are." "Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades, you wither and die. We are eternal, the pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing, your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything." "The cycle has repeated itself more times than you can fathom; Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance, and at the apex of their glory, they are extinguished." "You exist, because we allow it, and you will end, because we demand it." "Your words are as empty as your future, I am the vanguard of your destruction, this exchange is over."

spoiler for mass effect 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E56ezf_cBt8

I will be looking forward to this, Mass Effect 1 was very enjoyable, I agree that the enemies, acting, animation and ending were marvelous. However I really enjoyed the combat and leveling system. Similarly how the game focused more on story then on anything else, you don't see that often enough.

So I do hope they keep a similar theme with Mass Effect 2.

Note, I do hope they release the collectors edition in Australia this time.

Did enjoy the first one even though the world felt static and empty. Story kept it interesting though. Hopefully this will have a more interactive and dynamic world with the continuation of the epic storyline.

those bioware guys are awesome. I hear they have some great talent there.

extinct super-advanced alien race leaves technology around for humans to use

Blame Erich von Däniken for writing "Chariots of the Gods?" and inspiring a generation of science-fiction authors.

Did Bioware just pull a Revan with Shepard?

Well that would really suck because Bioware have said plenty of times that if you kept your saves then you could continue with your character in ME2.

I'm guessing "Shepard" Has gone out into the unknown, a few years pass and nothing is heard. Assumed kia?

I thought it was more a case of your save data is used, so characters who were killed stay dead in the sequel.

Why go to all the bother of keeping him alive when he could have died heroically just to have him die anyway?

i agree with viscos, if shephard was going to die in the story, they would have him die while your playing. or in the final cut scene.

Obviously theres a mole inside CTU... I mean... the Spectres, so shepherd has faked his death and is working undercover and off-book to take down the bad guys.

So repeating the plot and doing what a Spectre normally does?

Blame Erich von Däniken for writing "Chariots of the Gods?" and inspiring a generation of science-fiction authors.

He started it hey? I'm kind of annoyed at the lack of space games that don't assume aliens exist and are out to get us, they all end up being very similar.

I'd like to see a space-based game that follows the Firefly/Battlestar Galactica (new series) route by having humans screwing over humans with their insidious organisations and personal conflicts, rather than having it turn out that there's aliens inside humans controlling them or some gigantic artefact's going to summon an army of death. I guess it's a bit much to ask, lasers seem to sell well these days, but it'd be interesting to see that in a game with a world as large as Mass Effect ;)

I don't know, I guess I'm just annoyed that aliens and artificial intelligence (and in this case both) are always the bad guys and think it'd be interesting to see the roles reversed one day. Apparently that won't be the day ME2 is released though ;)

He started it hey? I'm kind of annoyed at the lack of space games that don't assume aliens exist and are out to get us, they all end up being very similar.

Well, his book claims the Egyptian Pyramids, Stonehenge, Nazca lines of Peru and Moai statues of Easter Island were all the work of aliens (or humans using alien technology). This inspired stuff like the original Battlestar Galactica TV series and the movie Stargate.

As if you wouldn't play as a female Shepard. Who wants to see some dude bone an alien?

Also, mass effect pretty much reinvigorated me in the whole rpg style game, kotor might have been cool, but star wars ruined it. And NWN2 was booooooring.

Well, his book claims the Egyptian Pyramids, Stonehenge, Nazca lines of Peru and Moai statues of Easter Island were all the work of aliens (or humans using alien technology). This inspired stuff like the original Battlestar Galactica TV series and the movie Stargate.

I see, I guess I should read more books =) Thanks for the trivia!

As if you wouldn't play as a female Shepard. Who wants to see some dude bone an alien?

That was an entirely optional portion of the game that I imagine many people didn't participate in so playing as the male version's not as weird as you think ;)