MMORPG.com contributor Scott Jennings recently traveled to Edmonton, Canada to meet with the folks at Bioware and get some hands on time with their upcoming shooter RPG, Mass Effect 2.

I'm part of a small group, in a small room in Edmonton, Canada, throwing black holes at people.

Why? Why not, you should ask. Pocket singularities are fun. Watching cannon fodder gang members pinwheeling wildly through the air while you take potshots at their limbs is fun.

There is, of course, a reason why I am shooting at gang members, involving a plague of some sort and finding a doctor and saving the universe, and this being a Bioware game, it won't be trite or hackneyed. But give me a minute, I'm still making people dance to my singularity's will.

Welcome to Mass Effect 2, a Bioware game with headshots.

Read Mass Effect 2: Hands-On Preview.

This is going to be an amazing game, no doubt, but between this article and the attention given to Dragon Age Origins, neither of which are anywhere near MMO's, I'm starting to wonder about ole' MMORPG.com.

Dude I think it's awesome that you guys actually covered a single player Rpg on this site.

It's one thing to give us a little section to post in but a nice hands on preview?

Awesome!

I can't wait for this game to come out. Bioware is amazing.

Good article and thanks for giving us Sp rpg fans on your site something to read.

Edit: I know you've covered Dragon age here but I'm surprised ME2 got some attention. gj

Originally posted by TuxedoSLY

This is going to be an amazing game, no doubt, but between this article and the attention given to Dragon Age Origins, neither of which are anywhere near MMO's, I'm starting to wonder about ole' MMORPG.com.

Consider it bonus coverage. Honestly, having this appear on our site consumed zero resources from our regular operations. So why not?

If only they would make a Mass Effect mmo though. Sci fi mmo's are few and far between, short of your Eve Online's and.....I think there was a Star Wars one, but my memory is hazy.

I'm all for more indepth reviews and hands on previews on upcoming single player RPG games. So instead of having to go to two sites, one for MMOs and one for RPGS, I can come here for them both.

Thx for the info, I am eager to play ME2. 

Change frightens me, that's why I'm still wearing the same socks from a few months ago.

I was just wondering if you guys had some kind of exclusive deal with Bioware or something, or if we'd maybe start seeing more non-MMO RPG's getting coverage here. I'd kinda like that.

Originally posted by TuxedoSLY

Change frightens me, that's why I'm still wearing the same socks from a few months ago.

 

I was just wondering if you guys had some kind of exclusive deal with Bioware or something, or if we'd maybe start seeing more non-MMO RPG's getting coverage here. I'd kinda like that.

Bioware simply invited us out to a couple events, so we went. That was the genesis of the Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 articles.

We'd always been curious if this kind of coverage would work on the site and while we have no intention of shifting into SRPGs entirely, I think the results have shown us that there is no downside to covering some of the higher profile releases. So, I'd imagine you'll continue to see Dragon Age, Mass Effect 2 and eventually Diablo III on and off.

Right now, we're just talking to teams that also do MMOs. We'll see where it goes from there.

I can't argue that the coverage here isn't awesome, just getting more information from a reliable source is enough for me. I'm happy to see mmorpg posting information from ME2 since that has been the game I was looking forward to after I beat ME1 the first time. I honestly couldn't think of a better RPG out there then ME which its depth and unique gameplay style, and hell one of the best characters in the game, of course I'm talking about Joker :3 So I'm excited and thank you very much for posting this!

 I am surprised that Massively Multiplayer Online RPG website did not comment on the utter and complete lack of Co-Op Multiplayer in Mass Effect 2, AND in Dragon Age as well.

Sure you can argue that they are 'single player experiences', but I was looking forward to the ability to play through both campaigns in Co-Op mode similar to Fable II, Neverwinter Nights, or Borderlands.

I think it was a great loss to the community, and would have made these two titles eminently more relevant to the website and it's player base ;-)

I think all future RPGs should have  a Co-Op Single Player campaign Option.

As it stands there is nothing on the horizon for those that like playing through these epic storylines with friends. 

I think that the next time MMORPG 'reviews' one of these RPG titles, they should mention and note that this feature was left out.

Any chance of getting a Wii section , come on you know you want it!!!

I think it is awesome that MMORPG is doing this. I would hope we could see a spin off site dedicated to solo or limited online RPG play.

Originally posted by Gel214th

 I am surprised that Massively Multiplayer Online RPG website did not comment on the utter and complete lack of Co-Op Multiplayer in Mass Effect 2, AND in Dragon Age as well.

Sure you can argue that they are 'single player experiences', but I was looking forward to the ability to play through both campaigns in Co-Op mode similar to Fable II, Neverwinter Nights, or Borderlands.

I think it was a great loss to the community, and would have made these two titles eminently more relevant to the website and it's player base ;-)

I think all future RPGs should have  a Co-Op Single Player campaign Option.

As it stands there is nothing on the horizon for those that like playing through these epic storylines with friends. 

I think that the next time MMORPG 'reviews' one of these RPG titles, they should mention and note that this feature was left out.

 

 

Actually there wouldn't be a reason to comment, Bioware has already come out and said why they didn't include it.  The logic of their argument works for the most part and something I agree with though you might have a different taste.

Bioware basically said they didn't include it because

1) The game stops entirely when in dialogue and a lot of us remember neverwinter nights co op and the long  boring do nothing phase of dialogue. They want this story focused not a game you rush through, so going co op your first time just promotes the rush through content mentality, and if it doesn't then it leaves the second player as dead weight.

2) Game pauses during special ability mechanic wheels, and having to sit through all of that when your team mate is deciding on abilities or vice versa seems like an unnecessary hassle, and again who wants to sit through that?

3) Party dialogues were a major selling point of dragon age, and again the rush mentality of  it wouldn't have let you enjoyed/experienced the dialogues between characters nearly as much. This of course I'm not so sure on but, I don't disagree with entirely.

That is pretty much why Bioware doesn't and won't include co-op in their story heavy games, because they worked hard on the story and want to see you enjoy the game not wait around while others do/you rush through their content.

Originally posted by Rakarai

Originally posted by Gel214th

 I am surprised that Massively Multiplayer Online RPG website did not comment on the utter and complete lack of Co-Op Multiplayer in Mass Effect 2, AND in Dragon Age as well.

Sure you can argue that they are 'single player experiences', but I was looking forward to the ability to play through both campaigns in Co-Op mode similar to Fable II, Neverwinter Nights, or Borderlands.

I think it was a great loss to the community, and would have made these two titles eminently more relevant to the website and it's player base ;-)

I think all future RPGs should have  a Co-Op Single Player campaign Option.

As it stands there is nothing on the horizon for those that like playing through these epic storylines with friends. 

I think that the next time MMORPG 'reviews' one of these RPG titles, they should mention and note that this feature was left out.

 

 

 

Actually there wouldn't be a reason to comment, Bioware has already come out and said why they didn't include it.  The logic of their argument works for the most part and something I agree with though you might have a different taste.

Bioware basically said they didn't include it because

1) The game stops entirely when in dialogue and a lot of us remember neverwinter nights co op and the long  boring do nothing phase of dialogue. They want this story focused not a game you rush through, so going co op your first time just promotes the rush through content mentality, and if it doesn't then it leaves the second player as dead weight.

2) Game pauses during special ability mechanic wheels, and having to sit through all of that when your team mate is deciding on abilities or vice versa seems like an unnecessary hassle, and again who wants to sit through that?

3) Party dialogues were a major selling point of dragon age, and again the rush mentality of  it wouldn't have let you enjoyed/experienced the dialogues between characters nearly as much. This of course I'm not so sure on but, I don't disagree with entirely.

That is pretty much why Bioware doesn't and won't include co-op in their story heavy games, because they worked hard on the story and want to see you enjoy the game not wait around while others do/you rush through their content.

You can also stack on the argument pile against his post that I  did cover this in the first Dragon Age article...

Well yeah that too I spose, but I mean three is enough, or well I was more shocked that you were posting a lot in the topic Dana, your aweseomeness blinded me for a second.

Best co-op game I could think of though if you're really into it is Army of two, that game was terrific for playing with a friend.

Will there be a huge difference if we dont import the old ME1 savegame? Mine is gone and I dont want to play through the whole game again.

Originally posted by Aeternum

Will there be a huge difference if we dont import the old ME1 savegame? Mine is gone and I dont want to play through the whole game again.

http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect_2

That is all that is known, so far all that has been said is you can choose the background information/what events have happened, but what events exactly and what background info happens hasn't been stated yet so I don't know. I would recommend playing through it again since some of the importing may not happen and you might lose some story.

Some game previews seem unnecessary considering I'm definitely getting them anyway ;)  But it's good to hear Bioware hasn't just been sitting on their laurels.

The article it made it sound as if "heat sinks" and paragon/renegade commands didn't exsist in ME1...Is it that the actions are more meaningful in terms of the story and not just some extra items/stats?

Anyway I have a feeling this one is going to be a lot harder to play simply because of the expendability of your team.  I got attached to my team in the first game and having perma death will probably force me to play lvls countless times to perfection til everyone lives if thats even possible.  Just gonna have to wait and see.

I'm aching to play this game, and I'm happy for any coverage it gets. Thanks for the update, MMORPG.com!