If you're thinking of watching this at work, or with little ones around, be warned: there is an exploding space worm.

Looking through it, I don't see any plot giveaways, although "Cat's in the Cradle" might raise some interesting questions of a character's parentage. Then again, I could be reading too much into that.

Here's the full list, 50 in all for the maximum 1,000 gamerscore. The link at the bottom has the achievement icons.

Missing in Action (5)
Save your crew from an overwhelming attack

Very Elusive (10)
Return to active duty

The Convict (10)
Successfully recruit the biotic Convict

The Krogan (10)
Successfully recruit the krogan

The Archangel (10)
Successfully recruit Archangel

The Professor (10)
Successfully recruit the Professor

The Quarian (10)
Successfully recruit the quarian

The Justicar (10)
Successfully recruit the Justicar

The Assassin (10)
Successfully recruit the Assassin

Friend or Foe (10)
Obtain geth technology

Colony Defense (25)
Defend a human colony from attack

The Prodigal (10)
Gain the loyalty of the Cerberus Officer

Ghost of the Father (10)
Gain the loyalty of the Cerberus Operative

Catharsis (10)
Gain the loyalty of the biotic Convict

Battlemaster (10)
Gain the loyalty of the krogan

Fade Away (10)
Gain the loyalty of Archangel

The Cure (10)
Gain the loyalty of the Professor

Treason (10)
Gain the loyalty of the quarian

Doppelganger (10)
Help the Justicar resolve her mission

Cat's in the Cradle (10)
Gain the loyalty of the Assassin

A House Divided (10)
Hack a geth collective

Ghost Ship (25)
Complete the investigation of a derelict alien vessel

Suicide Mission (50)
Use the Omega 4 Relay

Mission Accomplished (125)
Save humanity throughout the galaxy from certain annihilation

Against All Odds (15)
Survive suicide mission

Insanity (75)
Complete the game on the "Insanity" difficulty level without changing the setting

No One Left Behind (75)
Keep your team alive through the suicide mission

Long Service Medal (75)
Complete Mass Effect 2 twice, or complete it once with a character imported from Mass Effect 1

Paramour (50)
Successfully pursue a relationship with a teammate

Head Hunter (10)
Perform 30 headshot kills with any weapon on humanoid targets

Brawler (10)
Shoot and kill 20 enemies while they're knocked back by a punch

Big Game Hunter (10)
Thresher Maw defeated

Tactician (10)
Hit 20 different targets with multiple biotic powers to combine the effects

Master at Arms (15)
Kill enemies with 5 different heavy weapons during the game

Merciless (10)
Make 20 enemies scream as they fall or are set on fire

Overload Specialist (15)
Disrupt the shields of 25 enemies

Warp Specialist (15)
Warp the barriers of 25 enemies

Incineration Specialist (15)
Incinerate the armor of 25 enemies

Operative (15)
Complete a mission discovered by scanning an unexplored world

Agent (50)
Complete 5 missions discovered by scanning unexplored worlds

Prospector (5)
Retrieve mineral resources by scanning and probing a planet in the galaxy map

Explorer (10)
Visit 100 percent of the planets in an unexplored cluster

Power Gamer (10)
Reach Level 30 with one character

Scholar (15)
Unlock 15 new Mass Effect 2 codex entries

Technician (15)
Obtain (10) technology upgrades

Weapon Specialist (15)
Fully upgrade a weapon

Scientist (10)
Complete any research project in the Normandy's laboratory

Fashionista (5)
Personalize your armor in your quarters on the Normandy

Power Full (15)
Evolve any power

Highly Trained (15)
View all advanced combat training videos at Shepard's private terminal.

Mass Effect 2 Achievement List [Xbox360Achievements.org, thanks Dan B.]

With Mass Effect and Dragon Age both leading the way as far as Western RPGs are concerned, they're a company well-placed to know what's good, and what's not so good, about the Japanese entries in the field.

"The fall of the JRPG in large part is due to a lack of evolution, a lack of progression," BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk told Destructoid last week. "They kept delivering the same thing over and over. They make the dressing better, they look prettier, but it's still the same experience".

"My favorite thing, it's funny when you still see it, but the joke of some of the dialogue systems where it asks, 'do you wanna do this or this,' and you say no. 'Do you wanna do this or this?' No. 'Do you wanna do this or this?' No. Lemme think — you want me to say 'yes.' And that, unfortunately, really characterized the JRPG."

"We have big debates on whether GTA is an RPG, for example", he adds, highlighting some of the differences between Western and Japanese approaches. "It's got all the elements, it just doesn't have the numbers. And what gamers here want is that higher depth, that higher integration of features...Mass Effect 2 is in some ways a continuation of that evolution."

Ah, there's the BioWare plug. Still, he's got a point; the more you push those traditional RPG elements under the hood, the more accessible you make the game. The more accessible you make it, the more people will play it, the more money a company makes. Easy!

BioWare co-founder: JRPGs suffer from 'lack of evolution' [Destructoid]

Shacknews reports that Casey Hudson, the series' project director, told a press event in Edmonton that, "'Mass Effect 3' will be easier because we don't have to worry about the continuity into the next one."

There's no way BioWare will walk away from a money-printing IP like this, even after three titles, so it invites speculation on just what exactly they'll do with this universe they've built after Mass Effect 3. A prequel might be enticing, but you'd also have the whole "in what order do I play these" debate for people just coming to the series.

So anyway, enjoy Shepard and all the others while you've got him, which is for the next two games. Tops.

BioWare Already Looking Forward to Mass Effect 3 [Shacknews via MTV Multiplayer]

It's where both Luke and Anakin Skywalker got their starts, and where an unfortunate incident with some Sand People set the latter off on a path that would eventually have him sounding suspiciously like James Earl Jones. Back in the Old Republic timeline, Tatooine is even wilder and more desolate than it was in the movies. The Republic uses the former Czerka Corporation outpost at Anchorhead as a pit stop, while Imperial forces have garrisoned a regiment in Mos Ila, using the Jawa-restored spaceport there as a base of operations as they seek the ruins of Czerka's weapon labs.

Between the two? A terrible secret. Insert dramatic incidental music here.

Check out Tatooine's Holonet page at Star Wars: The Old Republic for more on the planet where love and just about everything else is like sand.

The Sentinel is essentially the Paladin of the Mass Effect universe, with a variety of offensive and defensive skills and the ability to use both tech and Biotics, making them the most versatile class in the game. They even have armor with a shield around it that harms enemies when it goes down. All they need now is a hearth stone and they'll never fall in battle.

The Mac release of Dragon Age should be fairly identical to the PC release, thanks to TransGaming's software portability technologies. Like the PC game, the Digital Deluxe version of the game comes complete with the Warden's Keep DLC, exclusive in-game items, the digital soundtrack, and a selection of wallpapers, while both releases will include the Blood Dragon armor and Stone Prisoner DLC, free of charge.

"We are very excited to bring this award-winning title to the Mac community," commented Vikas Gupta, President and CEO of TransGaming. "Our Cider technology allows us to rapidly enable and deploy high quality titles like Dragon Age, and we are pleased to be delivering this exceptional caliber of gaming to the ever growing Mac gaming community."

Dragon Age: Origins for the Mac will be available for download on the 21st at GameTree, Direct2Drive, Best Buy, GamersGate, and GameTap.

Mass Effect 2 [IGN]

Of course the biggest addition to the Mass Effect 2, Martin Sheen as the Illusive Man, has already been outed, but he's just the tip of the iceberg as far as new cast members are concerned. BioWare has pulled in talent from multiple television and movie properties in order to help facilitate a more emotionally engaging story.

We've got Tricia Helfer and Michael Hogan from Battlestar Galactica playing the voice of the new Normandy and Captain Bailey respectively. From NBC's Chuck comes Yvonne Strahovski as genetically engineered Cerberus operative Miranda Lawson, joined by co-star Adam Baldwin, better known as Firefly's Jayne Cobb, who'll be taking on the role of Kal ‘Reegar. Marina Sirtis from the original Mass Effect taps out and fellow Star Trek: The Next Generation cast member Michael "Worf" Dorn taps in as Gatatog Uvenk. The Matrix's Carrie-Anne Moss portrays Aria Y'Loak, the crime lord who rules the planet Omega. Finally we have Emmy-award winning House of Saddam star Shohreh Aghdashloo will play the role of Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay.

And of course we can't forget returning cast members Seth Green, who had some of the first game's best lines as Normandy pilot Joker, and The Chronicles of Riddick's Keith David, returning as Admiral David Anderson.

BioWare co-founder Dr. Ray Muzyka took the announcement as another opportunity to spout his catch phrase.

"Emotionally engaging narrative is a key design pillar for BioWare, and the top-notch voice talent in Mass Effect 2 helps drive this goal. Credible, powerful personalities are vital to delivering a compelling story experience in BioWare's games, and we have assembled an amazing ensemble cast that surpasses the very high bar set in the original Mass Effect!"

Here's what was said back in April, by BioWare's Ray Muzyka:

We have a completely new system to handle transitions between areas that speeds the load times and turns the loads themselves into part of the game experience. It's one of many points of feedback we've heard and directly responded to in enhancing the gameplay in Mass Effect 2.

Now here's what was said on Friday, by BioWare's Thomas R. Roy:

The elevators were made in ME1 so we didn't have to show boring loading screens. However there were a lot of complaints, so we've gone back to loading screens and movies. We still have elevators in ME2, but you don't wait inside them. We'll cut to a loading screen instead. [emphasis added]

We've tried to make the loading screen more interesting this time by adding interesting visuals and information.

The elevator conversations had some funny moments, but hopefully people will enjoy this new system better than the old one!

BioWare's taken a lot of crap for the Mass Effect elevators - it's sort of their horse armor - and really, it's unreasonable to expect a game of this depth to not have loading screens. It'll be on two discs, after all. Maybe they have sped up the wait times. Provided loading times are not ridiculously long, loading screens are a minor and expected inconvenience of gaming, and really not worth outsmarting ourselves over it.

Of course, there still are people who are lovin' an elevator. Within the same thread, one writes (everything sic'd):

I (seriously) would like some old Mass Effect One type elevators in Mass Effect 2. Ya know, for that nastalgia feel. With out slow elevators the ME Universe won't seem the same to me.

Speak for yourself, bub.

"Please insert Your 2nd Disc" and Say Goodbye To Elevators [The Save Points via Destructoid]

Engineer players who hack into and control mechanical enemies will find their control over their pets is more complete - more like a "charm" ability seen in other RPGs. Engineers can also summon combat drones and, added to hacked enemy AIs, plus two squadmates, the engineer will command the largest force of any class.

Says Norman:

I think Engineers will really appeal to players who like thinking their way through combat. More than any other class, the Engineer has the ability to shape the flow of battle by summoning, hacking, and debuffing enemies. For a master engineer, shooting an enemies is seen as an overly simplistic brute force approach to battle.

There's much more revealed in her discussion, plus gameplay vids, through the link on IGN.

Mass Effect 2: The Engineer [IGN]

The conference call was an odd one. Instead of asking questions directly, we either submitted them ahead of time or delivered them to a moderator while on the call, who then imparted them to Dr. Ray, so I've no real idea who asked what questions during the call. For all I know, I was the only one there. Hell, I might not have been there. It's all fuzzy.

The call mainly covered ground that we've already covered in one form or another, so rather than rehash points we're already aware of, I thought I'd simply harp on how much Dr. Ray enjoys using the phrase "emotionally engaging."

Dr. Ray on memorable moments in Mass Effect 2...

"The memorable moments for me are the ones that have emotional impact. The ones that have emotionally engaging consequences that really pull you in and grab you on an emotional level. Mass Effect 2 is just full of those kind of moments. What struck me playing through the game - I recently did a completionist pass of the game...was how many of those memorable moments were in the optional content. The fidelity of it is the same as the main game - it's virtually indistinguishable.

It's about these emotionally engaging moments. These memorable moments. The game's full of them."

Dr. Ray on carrying over storylines from Mass Effect 1...

"The way we developed certain (story) threads was that we tried to pick the ones we felt were the most emotionally engaging in the first game and made sure the fans who played through Mass Effect 1 get that payoff. "

Dr. Ray on Mass Effect sex scenes...

"I see games as an art form. We try to do things that are true to the emotionally engaging experience we are trying to deliver. Video games are an emerging art form that more and more people are playing and more and more people are playing and finding compelling and satisfying on an emotionally engaging level."

"The key is to understand that this is part of a grand whole. It's an art form and it all fits into its larger context. When you play through it you'll understand that actually is done very tastefully and appropriately, and I think it's emotionally engaging and very satisfying. "

Dr. Ray on the future of BioWare...

"I think our future is brighter and our best work is ahead of us. I think the vision we have of creating, delivering, and evolving the most emotionally engaging game experiences in the world is a vision that has no endpoint to it. You can always improve, you can always strive, you can always get better at that. Mass Effect 2 is the next step in the evolution of our craft. I think our best work is always ahead of us."

Dr. Ray on creating strong characters...

"I think we've really focused on emotional engagement. That's our vision for our all group. I think the outcome of that is that when you focus on making characters that are emotionally engaging, really compelling, you develop love/hate relationships with some of them."

I get the odd feeling they've really focused on emotional engagement myself. Call it a hunch.

I might have missed a couple of instances there, but you get the basic idea. Dr. Muzyka also touched on the intense combat system in Mass Effect 2 as well as the importance of the choices you make and the optional content you take part in on how the story unfolds, but emotional engagement was clearly the winner of the day.

Help out a sick Santa by maneuvering your yeti through town, avoiding police and delivering as many gifts as you can within the time limit. An advent calendar tells the back story of the game on a daily basis, while leaderboards help you keep track of what a good yeti you've been.

"Gift of the Yeti is BioWare's digital holiday card to its fans. We use social networking as a powerful tool to connect meaningfully with our tremendous fan community," said Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder of BioWare and the Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group at EA. "Gift of the Yeti is a fun, engaging holiday present from BioWare to our fans, the first in a series of compelling social experiences from BioWare Labs."

The game is cute, but it's goal is what's more important; each play of The Gift of the Yeti raises 1 penny for gamer children's charity Child's Play, to a maximum of $10,000 dollars. I've already played three times, so that means you folks have only got 999,997 plays to go before they reach their goal.

"Child's Play draws the bulk of our support from video gamers and the games industry, and we are honored to be part of BioWare's Gift of the Yeti campaign," said Kristin Lindsay, Program Coordinator, Child's Play. "Now gamers can help support pediatric hospitals in the US, Canada and worldwide simply by playing the game and having fun! When gamers give back, it makes a big difference."

As an added bonus, folks visiting the Gift of the Yeti game are entitled to 10% off the purchase of Dragon Age: Origins from the EA Store.

Charity, discounts, and yetis. What else could a gamer want for Christmas?

Fans following the development of Star Wars: The Old Republic are probably already familiar with Threat of Peace, the weekly web-comic written by BioWare's Rob Chestney and drawn by Alex Sanchez. Dark Horse Comics will be publishing the first portion of the series as a 96-page trade paperback in April. Dark Horse also delves into the Old Republic universe on a monthly basis with its Knights of the Old Republic comic series, in publication since 2006.

Fans of words without pictures are in for a treat as well. In July, Del Rey Books will be publishing Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance, a hardcover novel by bestselling author Sean Williams, and there's another book already in the early planning stages from Paul Kemp. know for his work on the Forgotten Realms series of AD&D novels.

That's two novels. The Old Republic's script alone has enough text for forty. Looks like someone has a lot of writing to do to catch up!

The Expanded Universe of The Old Republic [Star Wars: The Old Republic]

While that won't mean that much to owners of the PC version—it's a two-disc install—poor Xbox 360 owners will suffer the galactic inconvenience of a disc swap at some point. Chris Priestly, community coordinator of BioWare, says it's not so bad.

"Even though there is a disc swap, it occurs at a carefully planned place in the game (that does not interfere with gameplay) and is done once," Priestly wrote on the Mass Effect 2 forums. "You do not swap back and forth. 1 swap and then done."

As for that third disc mentioned in the headline of this post? That's only included in the Collector's Edition version of Mass Effect 2, offering "making of" content on a dedicated DVD. Whew!

So, 2 discs then? [Mass Effect 2 Community]

I get that they're supposed to be a more badass version of a Sith Warrior with different ranged abilities. But if that's the case, wouldn't all players playing as Sith Warriors graduate to Inquisitors after playing long enough? Jedi Consular — the other new class revealed — confuses me less. "Consular" sounds like a political position; one you'd have to train for specifically as opposed to a rank you achieve over time.

So I guess I'll be playing on the Jedi faction simply to avoid asking myself uncomfortable questions.

What Is It?
Star Wars: The Old Republic is a massively multiplayer online game set way, way back in the ancient history of the galaxy far, far away. The Sith and the Jedi are rival factions and apparently things are getting explosive between the two. Enough so that players who choose to play on one faction side or the other will have plenty to shoot at, lightsaber cut or otherwise inconvenience on various planets in the Star Wars universe.

The classes are Jedi Consular/Sith Inquisitor, Jedi Knight/Sith Warrior, Smuggler/Bounty Hunter, Trooper/Imperial Agent. Companion characters will figure heavily into gameplay, as will storytelling (come on, it's BioWare). Space travel has yet to be revealed or discussed.

What We Saw
I played through about 95% of a quest we'll call "The Tomb of Tulac Horde" because I'm not sure what its official name is, but that just about sums it up. I was in the role of a Sith Inquisitor acolyte with a nice rack and red hair — and I was role playing her with an attitude problem that somehow didn't get her Force-choked even once during the play through. The quest involves going into a tomb to collect three tablets and returning to your Sith master. Additionally, you could accept a quest to activate something in the tomb called the Red Machine for some other dude standing outside the tomb. Also, you could talk to and accept another quest involving mind-raping a Jedi being held in a Sith dungeon, but I was told by a LucasArts representative not to pursue that quest.

How Far Along Is It?
It's hard to say with so limited an experience. Furthermore, no release date has been suggested and while names have been collected for the closed beta, there's no word on how that's progressing. I think I was playing on a very unfinished product on account of some missing text, the fact that I wasn't allowed to explore very much and the part where I was playing an MMO strangely devoid of other players.

What Needs Improvement?
I can't tell the difference between Sith Warrior and Inquistor: Just looking at the list of powers suggests that the class difference between Warrior and Inquisitor is supposed to exist. But while playing my big jugged female character, I just didn't feel any different from a Sith. I shocked people, I drained life force, I cut ‘em up with lightsabers. How is this different whether I'm a Warrior or Inquisitor?

Wow, is the whole galaxy a size D or just the Sith chicks? I'm not as annoyed as I am bemused by the boobs I saw in Old Republic. I almost missed half of what my acolyte was saying during the opening quest cinematic because I was watching her bosom stay oddly stationary while the rest of her body would shift when she sighed in boredom at her boss. Then, I practically ran into the bosom of another Sith female just trying to walk out the door. Finally, the Sith who assigned me the Jedi mind-rape quest I wasn't permitted to explore must've been using the Dark Side to keep her rack from sagging. Seriously, they took up one third of the screen in some camera angles during her quest-assignment cinematic.

What Should Stay The Same?
Excellent Voice Work: This is where BioWare really feels different than other MMOs to me. Every character I talked to had a different voice and sounded like they could actually act. It definitely speaks to the quality of the product LucasArts is encouraging BioWare to produce.

Good Use of Camera Angles: During cinema scenes, the camera would cut angles – much like they do in Mass Effect cut scenes. It kept things interesting and gave me more opportunities to look at things other than my character's chest. Also, they didn't over-use it, which is crucial to its success as a storytelling tool.

Hey, It's A Star Wars MMO: The quest involved navigating a series of rooms around an open space. The enemies were all slime-filled worms, reprogrammed droids or escaped Sith slaves. There was also a larger worm near the Red Machine — but it died just as quickly with a quick life drain followed by a lightsaber ground pound. Overall, the experience felt exactly like I'd expect an MMO to feel. The controls worked exactly like you'd expect them to (WASD to move, M for map, numbers or clicking for attacks, etc.), the menu system was familiar and it wasn't hard to master the combat once you got used to lightsaber fighting. Old hats of MMOs will have zero trouble adjusting and the rest of us will overcome the learning trauma for the sheer joy of swinging a lightsaber around.

Final Thoughts
I'm happy I got to see the game, but I'm sad that it was such a limited experience that basically amounts to your average fetch quest in any other MMO (only with more story behind it and higher production values). Also, I would've really liked to see that Jedi mind-rape quest because that sounded like it would yield more of the BioWare dialogue I'm addicted to.

But, from what little I saw, I can say that it's coming along. And no matter how many times I see that E3 trailer, it still looks badass. They actually let us re-watch it in LucasArts' super-huge theater with surround sound. LucasArts Old Republic Producer Jake Neri actually cautioned me when I headed for the third row back from the screen, "Don't sit there, you'll throw up." It was awesome.

"Find peace in the embrace of the Goddess," indeed. Judging by the video and screenshots, Samara will serve as a stark contrast to the first Mass Effect's softer Asari, Liara T'Soni. Possessing extremely powerful Biotic powers, Sammie here has forsworn family, given up worldly possessions other than weapons and armor, and set off across the galaxy in search of justice. Will she find it at Shepard's side? That's probably up to you.