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BioWare Details Mass Effect 2 Save Import

by Matt Bertz on Dec 27, 2009 at 06:47 AM

With the Mass Effect 2 release date less than a month away, BioWare finally divulged the details about importing your character from the first game. In a post on the developer's forums, community coordinator Chris Priestly broke down the import procedure and also hinted at some perks players will gain from carrying over their versions of Commander Shepard.

When starting a new game from the main menu, players are prompted to import their character save from the first Mass Effect. If you're a rabid completist who finished the game multiple times and earned all 1,000 achievement points like our own Joe Juba, BioWare has you covered; you can import up to 11 different end-of-game saves. This allows you to experience the sequel with your Paragon who magnanimously saved the Council, your Renegade who shrugged in disinterest as he exterminated the last of a potentially resourceful alien race, and every variation in between.

Priestly also hinted that importing your character from Mass Effect imparts certain perks depending on your moral decisions and experience level. "If you finished ME1 as a level 35 character, you will receive a bonus, but if you finished ME1 as a level 50 character, your bonus will be larger," he wrote. "That being said, these bonuses will not put new playthrough characters at a severe disadvantage." The perks he mentioned include monetary bonuses to start the game and additional research resources for use on the Normandy.

If you haven't wrapped up the first Mass Effect, now is the time. Mass Effect 2 hits stores on January 26.