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Mass Effect 2: Four Huge Things We Know From the Trailer

• By McKinley Noble
• February 26, 2009 11:22 AM PST
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We've finally gotten our first tease of Mass Effect 2, and GamePro's editorial office put their heads together in an attempt to answer the biggest questions about the upcoming space epic.

We've finally gotten our first tease of Mass Effect 2, the long-awaited, highly anticipated sequel to Mass Effect, 2007's RPG of the Year. (And one of OMGRPG's Best Games of 2008.) Bioware's definitely stirring up some hype with the second part of this massive space trilogy, and they're doing it right. GamePro's editorial office exploded in debate and speculation upon seeing the mysterious trailer, and we've all put our heads together in an attempt to answer the biggest questions about this upcoming science fiction epic. Feel free to join in and tell us what YOU think about the clues in the trailer -- maybe there's more than meets the eye to Shepard's KIA status.

#4: Cerberus Could Be Hunting Down Shepherd

The Mass Effect 2 trailer shows a video feed labeled with the insignia of Cerberus, a black operations unit that used to be part of the Alliance, now operating in illegal biotechnological experiments. In a side mission from the first Mass Effect, Commander Shepard and the Normandy crew was tasked with raiding three Cerberus research facilities on the planet Binthu as a favor to David Anderson's comrade, Alliance Admiral Kahoku, who was trying to uncover the secret behind the deaths of some of his missing soldiers. Not only did players discover that the missing marines had been lured into deathtraps, but Cerberus was behind it all. What were they trying to protect?

After the mission, Admiral Kahoku's body turned up in one of the many Cerberus bio-research facilities, with the details of his death quickly covered up by political spies and reported as natural causes. Going on to attack the main Cerberus base on Nepheron, the Normandy crew collected files from the main database, although we never do find out exactly what the information is. In the aftermath, Cerberus's facilities and experiments are completely, totally eradicated by Shepard's crew.

All this ties back to one mysterious figure known only as the "Shadow Broker," an entity wielding a great deal of intergalactic influence who apparently orchestrated the event from behind the scenes. The Shadow Broker offers to buy the information from Shepard, where gamers had the option of complying or refusing. Either way, you were already on Cerberus's bad side. Did the Shadow Broker have an agenda against Cerberus, or was Shepard simply being set up to take them on? And more importantly, what is Cerberus doing with the background and profile information on Shepard's crew that is seen flashing throughout the trailer?

#3: Some Members Won't Make It

Thanks to the tie-in novel "Mass Effect: Ascension", it's known that Cerberus's main goal is to make humanity the ruling race in the galaxy. Safe to say, they have an obvious dislike of aliens, which make up a good chunk of Shepard's crew on the Normandy. But, Cerberus apparently knows or suspects that Shepard has been killed in action, yet that information is nowhere present in its list of "Known Alien Accomplices."

Would Wrex, Tali, Garrus, and Liara be worth Cerberus's notice if they weren't going to play some major role in Mass Effect 2? And what about Kaiden Alenko and Ashley Williams? Only one of them can live through the events of Mass Effect, but how will the sequel's storyline compensate for the possibility of losing either crewmate? Despite initial balking claims that a possible absence of Shepard renders Mass Effect's achievements and level-building moot, Bioware's developers have been explicitly telling fans to hold on to their save data -- and maybe that's the key to selecting which characters will take the main stage in players' next Mass Effect adventure.

#2: The Geth's War Likely Rages On Against The Alliance

Saren's been defeated, so the Geth have no herald and no leader under which to fight against the Alliance. But, the trailer shows that the Geth are definitely going to remain at the center of the battle between the Alliance and the Reapers. The only thing that fans can't agree on is the final image of the lone Geth drone with the N7 Alliance armor. Is the blood on the armor really Shepard's? And just what is that Geth drone looking at -- Shepard's corpse?

Or, is the lone Geth in the trailer simply wearing the armor, instead of carrying a limp corpse to be turned into a Husk? Have the Geth been taken control of by a new group? If the Cerberus group was ex-Alliance to begin with, could the N7 Alliance armor mean that Cerberus has taken control of the bio-organics and outfitted them with illegal Alliance resources? Will the Geth, a living mix of organic and synthetic life, become a new experiment headed by the remains of the Cerberus organization? The real mystery in Mass Effect 2 might be who are the Geth working for now, and how it will affect the war between the Alliance and the Reapers.

#1: Shepherd's "Dead," But Probably Not "Dead-Dead"

The trailer's ominous message of "Killed In Action" suggests that not only is Shepard dead, but there is a body, or else the info would say "Mission In Action". But is that really true? All we see in the trailer is blood-covered armor and Shepard's trademark assault rifle, which, while probably belonging to Shepard, don't indicate a corpse.

It's also a clear fact that David Anderson knows of an existing Cerberus presence within the Alliance military. This means that no matter how the Normandy crew seeks to stop the Reapers, there's someone out there that could track their movements. Enter Cerberus. Also, Commander Shepard is now a very prominent figure in the fight against the Reapers, especially after Mass Effect's conclusion. Wouldn't it make sense for Anderson to cover up Shepard's active Spectre status by faking his (or her) death?

We certainly hope that Shepard isn't dead -- or doomed to die -- in Mass Effect 2. It's commonly agreed on that this trilogy is telling the story of the first human Spectre, and more importantly, a character that many people spent hours crafting and perfecting. Bioware's not a group that's afraid to shake things up, but we're assuming that there's some way they're going to bring back our beloved customizable commander.

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