I recently read an ME2 story in Game Informer that was relatively free of major plot spoilers and was more exciting to me that the recent preview impressions posted online. It contains information I had not seen elsewhere. I've had this issue of GI for a while and just stumbled other the story this week. Being a slower print publication, this article has been out there for a month or more. Odd.
While the most recent previews and class reveal videos convinced me that ME2 would be a very competent shooter, I was wondering about the RPG elements and ancillary things that made Mass Effect so appealing to me in the first place. Exploring the galaxy did become repetitive but it was a wonderful Star Trek element, exploring uncharted space and all that. Was that content reduced, sacrificed for a more mainstream action oriented experience? I had skipped over the more spoiler filled previews so I might have missed this information somewhere. Thankfully, Game Informer's article revealed that the ancillary features of ME2 have not been forgot; in fact, they are expanded.
The one mild spoiler that it revealed by necessity was the appearance of the Normandy SR2, a larger, substantially upgraded Normany stealth vessel. This Normany has 4 decks, one of which is a full-on Captain's quarters with a wall-sized fishtank. The player can buy a variety of alien fish species for the tank injecting an MTV Cribs in Space feature to the game. The player also takes direct control over the Normany while exploring certain systems. It is necessary to pilot the ship around a system in order to scan and survey planets. Doing so comes at a cost of spending fuel. There is speculation that the Normany will also be upgradable in order to enhance its fuel reserves. Scanning is far richer than in once was. Now to ascertain the value of a planet or even determine if your team can land on it, the player has to engage in a scanning minigame. Mining is another elevated feature. Instead of being mere quest related items for UNC missions, finding gas and heavy metals provide direct resources to your ship-board scientist, a Salarian. The orbital scan game reveals the richest areas of mineral deposits then the Normany launches a mining probe to recover those resources.
Other interesting tidbits include information about the 19 weapons types in the new game. Pistols are apparently being given a feature overhaul and classes like assault rifles and shotguns are being given some more depth. Some assault rifles fire short bursts; some shotguns are automatic while other are pump. The article also referenced the inclusion of grenade and rocket launchers but did not list all "19" weapon types.
If there is further interest, I would be willing to post some scans.