14 DAY TRIAL // Even before the release of the first title, BioWare told all gamers that Mass Effect was set to be a trilogy. So, since the end of the first game, people have been wondering about the tone of the sequel. Initial impressions are that it's going to be something entirely different, with the first trailer shown suggesting that the protagonist of the first title might be dead.
Casey Hudson, who is the producer on Mass Effect 2, said that “So your choices don't just affect what's happening in the story, they affect all that's happening in the first game and really start impacting the world you experience in Mass Effect 2. And by Mass Effect 3 you'll see things really diverging and end up in completely different kinds of conclusions to the entire trilogy.”
BioWare seems to be suggesting that the title will be somewhat akin to The Empire Strikes Back, the second movie in the original Star Wars trilogy, which left the heroes in pretty tough positions. Of course, BioWare is not yet saying anything about how the dark element will manifest in the game, only alluding to a counterpart of the Citadel, where the scum of the galaxy gathers.
One of the things promised for Mass Effect 2 is that the planets will feel like distinctive entities with personality, not carbon copies of the moon dotted with the same wrecks, rocks and structures.
Casey Hudson told IGN that “In Mass Effect 2, everything you do really ties into the way things come into fruition in the end. If you do go off and explore the galaxy, you do a subplot, these things start to really matter to the people you are accumulating on your ship. As you get towards the end your decisions really start to snowball.” This is tied up with the overall idea of BioWare that consequences from the first game in the Mass Effect series will be felt in the final one.