EA and BioWare have issued a launch trailer for Mass Effect 2. Though virtually bereft of gameplay, the clip serves as a showcase for the sci-fi epic’s beautifully crafted cut scenes.

We could probably have done without the monologue from film legend Martin Sheen. In an attempt to convey the scale of the threat facing Shepard, BioWare have saddled Sheen with a melodramatic action movie script that feels at odds with tone of the original Mass Effect.

One of the key features of Mass Effect 2 is the capacity to import your character from the first game. However, the trailer again highlights the difficulty in promoting a title in which players are encouraged to customise their protagonist. As Sheen drones on about humanity’s fate being in the hands of “one very specific man”, I couldn’t help but recall that my version of Shepard is a woman.

Mass Effect 2 is due for release in Australia on Thursday 28 January 2010.