BioWare, the developer of Mass Effect 2, has revealed that it is refining the unpolished aspect of the first game in the series. And one of the things that players whined about was that they needed to complete a whole playthrough of the game, a pretty long one, in order to be able to play it all over again on the Insanity difficulty level.

In the first Mass Effect, this happened because, as one developer wrote on the official forums, BioWare had “to show that it is possible to beat the game with all classes without any bonuses from achievements. We can't release a difficulty level where it's impossible to complete.”

In Mass Effect 2, the player has the option of importing a character from the first game, which is already well developed, meaning that the Insanity difficulty level can be tackled directly by those gamers who are looking for a real challenge.

Christina Norman, who is the lead system designer on the series, has said that “additional dimensions” are looked at in relation to difficulty in the second game, with the aim being to make a tougher game because enemies are smarter and more able to employ different tactics rather than simply having more hitpoints and firepower than the player. Norman added that “Beating insanity on ME2 is going to be a real ‘achievement’, a badge of honor, get ready.”

Mass Effect 2 emerged as one of the biggest releases of 2009, with BioWare promising a complex role playing game that provides both compelling dialogue and tough fights while delivering an epic story centered around Commander Shepard and, of course, an intergalactic threat to humanity. The developers have set themselves a pretty high bar, given the fact that they have likened Mass Effect 2 with The Empire Strikes Back.