Mass Effect 2 release date announced

Inferno Armour. Looks ... snug.

Finally dispelling the blanket “Q1 2010″ release date, EA has announced that BioWare’s much anticipated Mass Effect 2 will be available on shelves January 26th for America, and on January 29th for the rest of us.

Gamers who pre-order their copy through approved outlets will also be awarded with some bonus DLC.  Depending where you order, you’ll be picking up either the Terminus Gear (which includes armour and a heavy weapon) or the Inferno Armour.  Here’s the details:

The Terminus Armor is designed for use in extreme planetary conditions, increasing run speed and personal shields, and augmenting weapons with an additional magazine of reserve ammo. The M-490 Blackstorm Heavy Weapon generates a high-powered localized gravity well, accelerating particles to near-infinite mass, and ultimately expanding the selection of heavy weapons available to players when they gear up for combat missions in Mass Effect 2.

Players that pre-order Mass Effect 2 at other retail outlets will receive the potent Inferno Armor, which is used by officers to monitor battlefield conditions by recognizing elevated heart rates, and regulates sub-systems with extreme efficiency to allow for greater response times – together these abilities translate in-game into a negotiation bonus for Commander Shepard and an increase in run speed and augmented damage from combat powers.

Mass Effect 2 is being released for PC and 360.  Recent rumours that the title would also be available for PlayStation 3 seem to have been throughly squashed, with BioWare’s Jay Watamaniuk stating in no uncertain terms on BioWare’s forums that the game is only being released for 360 and PC.

There is a report circulating today based on an appearance I made in Poland yesterday. Seems there was a misunderstanding about ME2 coming to PS3.

Let me clarify today: ME2 is coming to PC and X360 only. Look for them both on Jan 26 in NA and Jan 29 in Europe.

-Jay Watamaniuk, BioWare’s Community Manager

I suppose this doesn’t exactly rule out the idea of an eventual port, but it seems pretty clear that it won’t be any time soon after the game’s release.

Oh well, only a three month wait then!  Take a gander at the press release for yourself, if you like.