Betrayal. Revelation. Amputation. The second installment of the original Star Wars trilogy was the most deliciously downbeat entry in the series, jettisoning the warm, fuzzy feelings of the first movie out the nearest airlock to become the best sequel ever committed to celluloid. Its an example that Bioware hopes to follow for the “darker, harder” Mass Effect 2, which according to company co-founder Greg Zeschuk, is positioned to be the three part space opera’s Empire Strikes Back.

“Yeah we have definitely designed it in that fashion,” Zeschuk told IGN AU. “If you recall, Empire Strikes Back was the darker chapter and that is how we designed the ME2 story and experience: to try and make the player reflect on the challenges of the character. If you put ME2 next to the original it is definitely a darker, harder game.”

As long as Mass Effect 3 doesn’t spend half its time on a planet full of teddy bears, the liberal application of science fiction’s most tried and true formula seems a perfect fit for this series.