Key Moments in "Mass Effect 2" Quiz

Answer: Joker

Joker had a strong emotional attachment to the ship, and was convinced he could still save it, even as it was falling apart. While everyone else got into the life pods and launched to safety, Joker stubbornly stayed in the cockpit. Shepard went to force the pilot to acknowledge the reality of the situation, and get him into a pod.

Unfortunately, after securing Joker, Shepard was hurled away from the life pod.

Answer: Miranda Lawson

Miranda was a Cerberus officer, and one of the poster characters for "Mass Effect 2" (Shepard and Thane being the other two). After reviving Shepard, she became the second-in-command on the new Normandy, and Cerberus' eyes and ears on the ship. She was also a valuable squad member on missions with her biotic and tech abilities, and her passive bonus to all team members.

Answer: The mechs

The security mechs on the station started behaving erratically, and killed most of the staff on Lazarus station. The only non-mech security was Jacob; the scientists did not stand a chance. There was a series of side quests to investigate the faulty mechs and shut down the factory, but it was not tied to main plot of the game.

Answer: Tali'zorah

Freedom's Progress was a human colony, but one quarian was also living there, on his pilgrimage. Tali was leading a team of quarians to save Veetor, and they ran into Shepard. It was the first time Shepard had seen someone from the original game since being revived. Unfortunately there was no time for a long reunion, and the quarians did not trust Cerberus.

Answer: Mordin Solus

The Illusive Man recommended Shepard recruit Mordin first. While all squadmembers were useful in the field, Mordin was a scientist, and opened the Research Lab on the Normandy. Shepard could then start researching upgrades to weapons, armour, biotics, and tech abilities. The Horizon mission would not trigger until the first four squad members were recruited, which included Mordin, so he could create his anti-Seeker device.

In the cutscene before the Horizon mission, Mordin was shown working with a live Seeker in a box, but it was never shown where the Seeker was acquired.

Answer: The Virmire survivor

In the previous game, Shepard had to make a choice on the planet Virmire. One of the two Alliance Marine squad members, Kaidan Alenko or Ashley Williams, had to be left behind. The one that survived would meet Shepard on Horizon. While happy to see the Commander alive, they would be upset with Shepard for working with Cerberus.

Answer: They used husks as troops

Husks were seen in the first game alongside the geth, but Shepard learned that they were not geth technology. It had been given to them by the Reapers. When husks appeared on Horizon alongside the Collectors, it confirmed that they were somehow in league with the Reapers.

Answer: Yes

The Collectors had broadcast a turian distress signal as a lure for their trap, which the Illusive Man heard, and passed along. The turian signal had a corrupted secondary signal. The Illusive Man had written the algorithms to detect this second signal, and would have definitely known that the distress signal was fake.

The Illusive Man's manipulations had a strain on his relationship with Shepard. When talking to him after the mission, one possible response was, "You have one job: information. If I can't trust your intel, you're useless to me."

Answer: Identify Friend/Foe

The Collectors were known to come from the Omega 4 relay. No other ship had ever returned after traveling through it. Shepard needed an Identify Friend/Foe so the Normandy would not be immediately destroyed by the automated defenses on the other side.

Answer: Legion

Legion was one of the most surprising and loved squad members in the game. The geth were a synthetic race, and the main enemies Shepard fought throughout the first game. To find a non-hostile geth was an incredible surprise. To have the geth join Shepard's squad was novel and exciting. Legion provided the first opportunity to learn more about the geth culture and evolution firsthand.

Legion was featured in the teaser trailer for "Mass Effect 2", but apart from a geth wearing some N7 armour, no one knew what its role was.

Answer: It broadcast the Normandy's location

The Normandy had to be shut down while the Identify Friend/Foe device was installed, so Shepard took all the squad members in a shuttle to go on the next mission.

While installing the Identify Friend/Foe, it secretly started broadcasting the Normandy's location. The Normandy was in the middle of empty space where it should have been safe from prying eyes. EDI discovered the signal and told Joker about it mere second before the Collector Cruiser jumped in beside them and sent boarding teams. The whole crew, apart from Joker, was abducted.

Answer: EDI was unshackled

Without Shepard or the squad to fight off the Collectors, the crew did not stand a chance. EDI was a true artificial intelligence, which was already very risky and illegal. As safeguards, many restrictions had been put in place, "shackling" her. To save the ship, EDI needed full control of all the systems, which involved unshackling her. Knowing the consequences, Joker decided to trust his AI crew mate, and remove the shackles, which would never be able to be reinstated.

Answer: False

There were only two Praetorian fights in the whole game, not three. Despite being the main focus of the game, the Collectors were only fought during three different missions: Horizon, the Collector Cruiser, and the Suicide Mission. A Praetorian was the final enemy on the Horizon mission, and another was fought near the end of the Collector Cruiser mission.

Despite often being sited as the hardest fights in the game, one did not actually appear during the final mission. Joker saw one in the Normandy's core during the Collector attack, but it was behind a window, and there was no fight.

Answer: The Normandy's engines

Each squad member could provide plans for one upgrade if Shepard asked. Some crew had personal improvements, like Grunt's Claymore shotgun, or Jack's improved biotics.

Jacob provided plans to improve the Normandy's hull plating, Tali had new kinetic barrier schematics, and Garrus, always a fan of big guns, offered a way to improve the Normandy's firepower.

If the hull was not improved, a Occulus beam would penetrate the hull and kill a squad member. If the shields were not upgraded, then they would overload the core when flying through the debris field, and vaporize the squad member working there. Without the Thanix Cannons, the Normandy would have to engage the Collector Cruiser at close range, causing it to take more damage that would cause another death.

Answer: To create a new Reaper

Reapers, it turned out, were a way to preserve species. New Reapers were made from the organic material of a species, and made in their likeness. This way, the species would live on even after the galactic purge.

Shepard's final fight in the game was to destroy the partially completed human Reaper that the Collectors were building. The Human Reaper reveal and fight is often considered one of the weakest moments of an otherwise fantastic game.