I haven't really mentioned the first Mass Effect game pretty much... at all here, but I did rather like it. I guess my opinion of it was kind of soured because I didn't find out the extent of the DRM Electronic Arts had included until I was hooked on the game - and then it felt a bit like discovering a book that you can't put down has spring-loaded hinges that'll snap shut and lock if the book decides you're up to no good. It kind of killed my buzz for the thing.
It also embodies something that I notice quite often with 'epic, cinematic' games, in that it seems to include a lot of lengthy, humourless, not especially interesting conversations because, I suspect, the developers have got quantity and quality confused when it comes to dialogue (interestingly, I think Bioware's other epic role player, Dragon Age: Origins, does a better job with its dialogue, for reasons I may go into at some point).
Still, any game that lets you fly a space ship around, explore distant planets and accumulate a motley crew of slightly retro-style aliens is going to tick a lot of boxes for me, and I find that all of a sudden I've become very excited about Mass Effect 2. It started when I first heard that Martin Sheen was doing one of the voices, and now the mini-trailer for Tali (an IGN link is as good as any, I suppose) has reminded me how much I liked her character.
I'll admit that I was one of the many nerds disappointed that Mass Effect included possible romances between the player character and several different love interests - not including the mysterious member of a dying and marginalised race who gets swept up in your adventure and never removes her tinted space helmet. There's hints that maybe Bioware are giving in to the fans in this case (a good thing, I'd say, at least when I'm one of them), but even if romance is kept off the table, I'm hoping that Tali may get a little more of the spotlight this time.
Also, Martin Sheen.
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