Every PS3 copy of Mass Effect 2 comes with a redeemable PSN code to get it for free, and the download is around 650MB. Strangely, this motion comic doesn’t come on the actual disc, and must be downloaded. EA has thoughtfully teamed up with Dark Horse to create a beautifully-drawn motion comic that fills players in on the events of the first game and lets them decide which of the several critical choices Shepard will make.

But wait! Where does that leave us PS3 owners? We never had the first game, so we won’t be able to make the choices that determine how the second game stars, right? Wrong.

If you know anything about Mass Effect 2 already, then you’ll know that the decisions players made in the first game carry over and inform various events in the second game. As you might have guessed, Shepard succeeds, but has to make a number of critical decisions along the way. Shepard’s mission was basically to recruit a crew and stop the Reapers, an ancient race that wipes out all organic life in the galaxy every 50,000 years or so.

A Spectre, by the way, is a Galactic Alliance operative with the authorisation to do whatever is necessary in the defence of the galaxy – legal or otherwise. The first game told the story of how the player character, Shepard, became the first human Spectre in a galaxy where aliens were obviously favoured for positions of prestige or power. Mass Effect, in case any PS3 owners don’t know, is a series of superb sci-fi role-playing action games from Bioware, the creators of Dragon Age. First we had Bioshock, then Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, and now, amazingly, we have Mass Effect 2. PlayStation 3 owners are a lucky bunch sometimes – this certainly isn’t the first time we’ve received a late version of a sterling Xbox 360 title with some kickass extras included to compensate for the wait.

Mass effect 2 ps3 download free