14 DAY TRIAL // In yesterday's first look at Mass Effect 2, we paused the tale just as the prologue ended and we were about to be sent on our first mission. With Cerberus believing in both the Reaper and the Collectors menace, The Illusive Man sends us to the last colony to cease its radio communications, Freedom's Progress in order to investigate the happening.
We then find ourselves smack down on the planet, as the Mako part present in the first game has been completely cut out and we no longer have to waste our time crossing a terrain that would make the Paris-Dakar rally hide in shame.
The human colony that we find on the planet is a deserted community, with no one left in the base, but with no signs to their disappearance either. The hollow buildings echo soundly as our N7 armors trudge across their floors, disturbing the perfectly serene setting.
Everything is in its place. The photos are in their frames and the dinner plates are on the tables, awaiting the colonists. There's no sign of a disturbance, of a struggle, a fight. No gunshot or explosion marks on the walls, no damage to the building structure or interiors, but there are no colonists to be found either.
The only thing left behind is the dormant security mechs, but as we proceed further to the heart of the human colony, the machines begin to awaken. While the robots should have identified Shepard and his team as friendly parties, the machines suddenly spark to life and open fire. Pushing through the LOKI and FENRIS Mechs, we eventually run into a group of Quarians, and to our surprise, an old friend, Tali'Zorah.
The Quarians are here to retrieve one of their own, a Quarian that came to Freedom's Progress to complete his Pilgrimage. In an open conflict with Cerberus, The Quarians quickly draw guns, but fortunately for them, more than for us, Shepard and Tali's relationship helps calm the situation. As a sole survivor of the Collectors stack, the Quarian Veetor is a great asset for our investigation, and while we don't reach a conclusion with his Quarian brethren, we agree that we need to find him first before we decide who gets to take him away.
While the plan was for our team to make a frontal assault on the rest of the mechs and provide a distraction while the Quarian team extracts Veetor, Tali informs us that they went ahead of us and plan to take him away before we get there. But they don't get very far. Retreating at full speed, we see the Quarians trying to fend off a heavy YMIR Mech, to no avail, as they are one by one shot down by his heavy weapons.
The YMIR is the first challenge in the game, but as long as you've read your codex and learned what guns and powers work against which type of protection, be it kinetic barriers, shields or armor, he can be brought down with only minimal losses.
Upon defeating the YMIR, you'll finally find a fear-broken Veetor, hiding in a control room. The data we can extract from the security footage confirms the Collectors as being behind the attack, and with confirmation of the threat, we can now start preparation for the conflict. Returning to Normandy, we now get to start looking for our future team members, and the first one we will see recruited is the Archangel, who will turn out to be another familiar face. But you go to sleep now, child, for this is a tale you'll hear tomorrow.
