In the past multiplayer wasn’t considered a big deal, for the most part because many titles only multiplayer feature was a deathmatch option that seemed tacked-on at the last minute. With high speed internet connections becoming more common developers started focusing more and more on multiplayer content, even to the point of some titles being designed solely for multiplayer.

Titles like Halo 3 and Resident Evil 5 have explored the idea of online co-op, a feature which for years was only available locally. Since little information has been made available thus far regarding Mass Effect 2, fans have contented themselves with rumor mongering and speculation. One feature that people had been whispering about was online co-op which would be an excellent fit for the squad based shooter. Yes, that’s right, I’m calling it a shooter because in truth the combat sections functioned as one, despite the RPG flavor to the rest of the game.

Folks from BioWare had come forth previously saying that the buzz about five player online co-op in the sequel wasn’t based on any fact. That’s far from a flat-out confirmation that we won’t see co-op in Mass Effect 2 and when asked about the potential of the trend carrying over into the game Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk said that although they hadn’t disclosed a feature set for the game multiplayer is something they’re considering for all future titles. It’s hard to glean any Mass Effect specific details from their statements because they say that they’d only include co-op if it fitted seamlessly into the overall experience, citing games built around co-op like Left 4 Dead. Yet with the squad-based nature of the previous title putting in co-op gameplay seems quite perfect.