Coming Soon: Mass Effect 2

If you've played games like Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, or Mass Effect, than you already know that Bioware is (of course, in my opinion) one of the best game developers out there right now. Bethesda Softworks is a close second, gracing our gaming world with The Elder Scroll series (Morrowind and Oblivion) and most recently my current favorite Fallout 3.  Anyway, the game Mass Effect easily took the cake (and muffins too) for game of the year 2007. It is a beautifully designed game complete with a GREAT story, solid characters, and a fun real-time fighting style. But I think what makes a game like this really great is (drum roll....) all of the work and creativity that went into creating the mass effect universe.

One of the things that makes me a total dork is I like living in worlds that other people create. Mass Effect is a game (well, soon to be series) that takes every little detail and expands on it in the codex. The codex is basically a journal of sorts that lets the player in on the details and all the nerd-age that went into developing such a vast and complex universe. For example, if you wanted to know how your weapons work, it's in the codex. If you want to know more about an alien species, it's the codex. If you want to know about planets, systems of government, currency, weapons, technology, it's ALL in the codex.

You'd think this entry was about the codex. I'm just saying, this is a very well developed game, and if you decide to buy a copy (Currently for 360 or PC) you will NOT be disappointed. 

All this to say that Bioware has announced the release of the sequel (called Mass Effect 2....yay!) and the unique thing about this sequel is it will (this is still rumor, but a pretty confident one) take your save file from the first game and pick up where you left off in the second one. Mass Effect is one of those 'choose your own path' sort of games and the decisions you make in the first game (who lives, who dies, that sort of thing) is said to directly effect the story in the second game. Pretty neat-o huh? I think so. If you just buy the second game without playing the first, you will be brought up to speed on the events in the first game. This is really lame, and most of you should probably just buy the first game and play it and see what the hype is all about.

Here's a teaser, just to wet your pallet.