BioWare had a little chat with IGN about a couple games at GDC but we’re most interested in Mass Effect 2 at the moment. Using feedback from reviews and fans BioWare put together a list of features that were lacking in Mass Effect and applied it to the sequel. BioWare knows some of Mass Effect’s faults were with texture pop-in and occasional slowdown and has taken the steps to improve and maximize them both. One of the bigger gameplay changes Mass Effect 2 will have dealt with is the shooting. Firefights have been amped up to really drive home the idea that Mass Effect 2 is a shooter RPG. Another improvement, albeit a vague one, is more moment to moment control over the characters. BioWare will elaborate more on that later this year. DLC for Mass Effect 2 is also a very important to the overall philosophy of BioWare. It acknowledges that players will experience Mass Effect 2 for different reasons and the DLC will take that into consideration.

There were a lot of planets in the first Mass Effect that could be explored but weren’t really all that interesting to visit. This time around BioWare wants these optional planets to contribute to the main storyline more. Two things are certain however: We should keep our saves from Mass Effect and everything we saw in the teaser trailer is true, meaning Shepherd will apparently at least at some point in the game become a geth.

As for a PS3 version of Mass Effect 2, BioWare just won’t come out and say it’s definitely not happening. When asked whether Mass Effect or Mass Effect 2 will make it to PS3 alongside the PC and Xbox 360 versions BioWare’s CEO Ray Muzyka said,”We haven’t disclosed that, but the development efforts are simultaneous.”