According to EA and BioWare, the highly anticipated space RPG follow-up Mass Effect 2 won’t be available until early next year.On the bright side, those who preorder already are offered quite a few added bonuses in the form of downloadable content, such as extra weaponry and armor for Commander Shepherd. Of course, these items won’t do you a lot of good until the game is released, but we appreciate the gesture.

If you order the game from GameStop you are eligible for Terminus Gear; this includes a useful Terminus Assault Armor that ups your personal shields and increases run speed, plus a handy M-490 Blackstorm Heavy Weapon that generates some sort of gravity field. Sounds somewhat familiar.

But on to the information that you’re probably looking for right now, namely when the game will hit the shelves. According to BioWare, Mass Effect 2 arrives January 26 in the US and January 29 at the other side of the pond.

Preorder it now from GameStop.

Tags | Bioware, Mass Effect 2