Mass Effect 2 for PS3 runs on Mass Effect 3 engine

Wondering why Mass Effect 2 looks so good on PlayStation 3? It might be because BioWare‘s running the Mass Effect 3 engine on the port.

A recent BioWare podcast talks a bit about the PlayStation 3 version, with producer Jesse Houston providing the insight.

“One of the first things you’re going to see is improved graphics,” said Houston.

“We actually created the engine for Mass Effect 3 and used that to make Mass Effect 2 PS3. So we took the content, the story and all of the other assets that made up Mass Effect 2 and we put it into the Mass Effect 3 engine.

“We’ve also gone ahead and made the experience much more solid on PS3,” he added. ” So for example the controls are geared towards the PS3 controller [although] you can switch it back to the old Xbox [layout] if you like. Other things like planet scanning have been improved; we’ve rolled up all of the patches; done a whole bunch of bug fixing.”

Mass Effect 2 on PlayStation 3 also bundles all of the premium downloadable content released for the Xbox 360 and PC versions post-launch on-disc. It’ll all also come bundled on a single disc, as well, considering blu-ray storage space.

Unfortunately, PlayStation 3 owners won’t get the first Mass Effect along with the second, but will get an interactive comic allowing them to make all of the major decisions they’d make playing the first game to make up for it.

In other news: the game has gone gold and is now being made into discs, which are being put into boxes. Exciting stuff. Mass Effect 2 launches on January 18, 2011 for PlayStation 3.

Thanks, Eurogamer.