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NMGB: So what is your name?

Chris: Chris Buzon

NMGB: And what do you do on Mass Effect 2?

Chris: I’m a design analyst, which is a lead Q&A tester

NMGB: So what are some of the improvements of Mass Effect 2 over Mass Effect 1?

Chris: Our shooter controls are out of this world. Your going to enjoy absolutely everything we’ve done to improve the shooting in the game. We tweaked all the controls. When we release all the other classes your see that all the other biotics have been tweaked and improved drastically. No more graphical popping, our digital acting has been greatly improved. Basically everything, every problem we had with Mass Effect 1; they’re gone.

NMGB: Did you guys announce a release date yet?

Chris: No official, but it should be Q1 of next year.

NMGB: What systems is it coming to?

Chris: We announced Xbox360 and PC.

NMGB: Is that it? Have you tested for PS3?

Chris: I can’t say.

NMGB: Is there a multiplayer component for Mass Effect 2?

Chris: We are researching different ideas but have not announced anything yet.

NMGB: How long is the game to complete? Is it equal to Mass Effect 1?

Chris: It is bigger then Mass Effect 1, much bigger. Your find the exploration of UNC is an entirely different concept. It’s amazing.

NMGB: How have the side missions improved? I know you guys got some flak for rolling around the planet with not much to do. How have you improved this for Mass Effect 2?

Chris: While I am not allowed to talk about them yet, I can say they have gotten much better treatment.

NMGB: What about the voice acting, are the same actors coming back?

Chris: Yes, there are some returning characters. I can’t announce whom but you will be happy with them.

NMGB: How do your character stats move over?

Chris: We haven’t fully talked about that yet. It is important that you save your old game saves though, all your decisions will affect Mass Effect 2.

NMGB: Does the carry over work for both pc and Xbox 360 or just Xbox?

Chris: I’m actually not sure. Were testing both right now, but right now I can’t tell you anything about it.

NMGB: So you have it playable for the first time here at PAX. What are you guys showing?

Chris: We are showing the "Thane Aquisition" mission, basicly the the recruiting of Thane. Who is basically a badass assassin. Can’t tell you much about him but he is from the Drell race which is new to mass effect. Their race has a fantastic back-story.

NMGB: Does he come on your team as a companion?

Chris: Yes he does.

NMGB: In the first game you could sleep with Ashley or the hot blue alien chick, how many girls can you sleep with in this game?

Chris: While I can’t give you an exact number. I can say romance plays a big part of Mass Effect 2.

NMGB: Can you sleep with two girls at once?

Chris: Like I said can’t tell you details.

NMGB: So you mentioned you streamlined the combat and made it more action oriented. Is this going to alienate the other fans, who like the RPG elements?

Chris: It feels much much faster. If you’re a shooter fan, you can tweak your controls however you like them, and basically never enter the combat and power wheel we know from Mass Effect 1. If your more like me a tactical player, you still have full access. You can pause combat check things out, make your decisions and everyone will have a great time.

NMGB: There are many different breaching paths in this game. One of them you guys have talked about is you can die, theirs consequences. Have you talked about how many different endings there are?

Chris: We haven’t released that information I can say there are more than one.

NMGB: Are their more classes this time? There use to be two paragon or renegade will we see more?

Chris: No, um I can’t explain exactly how that works yet. But I can say it is a little different than Mass Effect 1.

NMGB: The dialogue tree use to be kind starting form the top, good then going down bad. Is it different then that?

Chris: The decisions you make now have a lot more grey area. It’s not just bad and it’s not just good. They’re really realistic which I think is really good. Your choices will make much bigger decisions too.

NMGB: Do side missions from the first game affect anything in the second?

Chris: We can’t go into that yet.

NMGB: Did you guys decide now if when you start playing, and bring over your character can you choose a different character or you are your character from the first game?

Chris: Mass Effect 2 is a stand-alone game; a lot of the decisions you made when you import your character will make a difference. But if you want to make a new character you can start completely from scratch.

NMGB: I mean will it just pull over your decisions, not your class, and can you change your class and keep your decisions?

Chris: Oh I understand, we have not announced exactly how that works.

NMGB: Are you guys announcing any new info here at PAX?

Chris: No but there will be new information soon. We just released information on Grunt the Krogan.

NMGB: Does that mean Wrex is dead?

Chris: I can’t say, but I will say your Mass Effect 1 decisions made a difference. So if in your game he was alive he may make an appearance.

NMGB: In Mass Effect one you have to choose Kadan or Ashley to die, what happens with this in Mass Effect 2?

Chris: If you have or haven’t made a decision their will be an answer to that in Mass Effect 2 but right now I can’t talk about what that is.

NMGB: Can you get characters from Mass Effect 1 to be in your party?

Chris: (shrug)

NMGB: Some people complained about the innovatory and it limits. Has that been improved?

Chris: I can say yes.

NMGB: What about all the Graphics pop in? Has that been fixed?

Chris: Fixed 100%

NMGB: Now when I played the game, I don’t remember the class name, forgive me. But I was more biotech powers then guns. So I couldn’t use shotguns and rifles, is that similar in this or can now you use all the weapons.

Chris: It depends on your class. They have unique and new load outs for each class. I can’t say what they are but they are really fun.

NMGB: What weapons have you confirmed?

Chris: None, but in this demo you see an assault rifle, shot gun, pistol and missile launcher.

NMGB: Will this PAX Demo come out on Xbox Live soon?

Chris: Sorry again no comment.

NMGB: Thanks For your time we can’t wait to play this.

Chris: Thank you and enjoy PAX.