A ton of videogame news is coming down the line from Germany, where Gamescon is in full effect. Bioware picked the con as the perfect time to deliver some new plot details on Mass Effect 2, and my God, it’s full of stars.

The big overreaching story this time is that you’re trying to find out why humans have started to disappear from the galaxy, but your quest soon becomes a suicide mission. You once again play as Commander Shepard and can pick every member of your squad. But this time your choices will directly impact whether you’re able to succeed and who will survive in the end- if anyone in fact does. Yes, it’s completely possibly that you’ll get to the end of the game and your decisions will have led to your own, permanent death… meaning that you will not be able to play as your character in Mass Effect 3

A new possible squad member called Grunt has been revealed, who is another Krogan. Similar to Wrex from the first game, Krogans are those big creatures who love to fight, and this one doesn’t seem any different. Grunt is violent and unpredictable and “has never faced true defeat.” He’s physically strong and a real asset to your team, but can you trust him to listen to your orders? He’s voiced by Adam Baldwin, who is probably best know as John Casey in Chuck. Check out the new trailer for the game.


“The Mass Effect trilogy is an epic, action-filled saga with consequences that will carry through from chapter to chapter,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Group General Manager and Senior Vice President, Electronic Arts, and co-founder and CEO, BioWare. “Building out a diverse and loyal party is one of the features that makes the Mass Effect series quite unique. The characters Commander Shepard recruits are not only pivotal to the storyline, but essential to the player’s overall success.”

Mass Effect 2 hits early 2010. If they can really deliver on this story and fix up the few places where the original needed work (namely, the pointless and time-consuming side missions) this could be something amazing.