Mass Effect 2 is Empire Strikes Back: totally dark, broody

You've probably already made this inference after viewing the demise-filled teaser trailer (or last week's E3 sneak peek), but BioWare's second space opera installment, Mass Effect 2, is going to be a downer. Much like The Empire Strikes Back (the angsty middle child in the Star Wars trilogy), ME 2 will be the series' "dark act," according to producer Casey Hudson, who sees the game as "an opportunity to really explore the tougher, more brutal parts of the universe."

Hudson went on to describe the themes of the Mass Effect trilogy's story arc, explaining, "In the first act you put a guy in the tree, in the second act you throw rocks at him, and in the third act you get him down." And how do you get the guy out of the tree? With a really slow elevator, of course!