Price: $59.95  | Release Date: January 26, 2010 | ESRB: M | Review System: PC | Also Available: Xbox 360

5 Stars - Amazing, a must buy game

If you like, you can read Travis' impressions of the first ten hours of Mass Effect 2, before you get into the review itself.

BioWare's first game in the Mass Effect series was fantastic for the sole reason of how personal it was. You customized not only your character's looks, but their actions too – and these actions had a tendency to have a mass effect on the world around you. Your relationships, your choices; every word you said in Mass Effect changed things around you.

And now, with the option to import your character from the original, the choices you made carry over into Mass Effect 2, the sequel to BioWare's hit. Mass Effect 2 takes everything great about the first game, fixes all the bad things, and ends up being the single best game I've played in the past few years.

The only thing I found severely lacking in the original Mass Effect was the combat. The combat felt chunky and stiff, as if they had made no changes at all when carrying it over from the Xbox 360 version of the game. Gunplay was heavily limited, and I found myself just wanting to rush through the combat sections so I could get to the amazing story-heavy sections.

In Mass Effect 2, things changed. The combat has shifted completely from that of the original – for the better. Mass Effect 2 plays more like a straight up action game; similar to Gears of War. You run for cover, you aim, you shoot, you reload, and you repeat. In short, everything flows beautifully. The weapon choice in Mass Effect 2 is also completely revamped, with a new heavy weapons class full of fun stuff like grenade launchers and particle beams, and several variations on your more traditional sniper rifles and shotguns.

Another thing in Mass Effect 2 that has been changed is the armor system. Instead of buying complete sets like in Mass Effect 2, you now roam the galaxy looking for different leggings, shoulder pads, and other pieces of armor, while each piece has a unique attribute, such as raising your shields or health. Going even deeper, you can customize the colors and patterns on your armor, giving an intensely satisfying level of personalization to your character. You also have the option to choose what casual clothing your character wears for when he is not out on exploration.

The story in Mass Effect 2 is the only part I found lacking in comparison to the first Mass Effect. While the story is by no means boring or unoriginal, it's missing the immensity and powerfulness that the first carried. The end of Mass Effect 2 makes it feel more like a “bridge” between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 3, and while this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's a bit of a let down.

Despite the disappointing story, the characters involved are phenomenal. You return as Commander Shepard who, without giving anything away, is put through a traumatic experience at the beginning of the game. This experience causes Shepard to travel across the galaxy recruiting members for a team departing on a “suicide mission”; all of whom are unique and absorbing. The conversations you have with these characters were the strong point of the game for me, as they were in Mass Effect, and they gave me deep insight into each character. I particularly enjoyed their reactions to the things I told them. The characters in Mass Effect 2 were extremely fun to learn about, and I'm looking extremely forward to seeing them in Mass Effect 3 – that is, if they survived.

You see, the suicide mission on which Shepard departs in Mass Effect 2 has a completely different outcome depending on how you play it. It's hard to talk about it without spoilers, but I can say this: anyone you recruit for the mission can die. Depending on how well (or how badly) the mission goes, your entire team (including Shepard) could die, your entire team could live, or you could simply lose a couple of team members. The way the last missions plays out in this manner gave it an incredibly creepy vibe as I was on the edge of my seat hoping my team would survive.

If I had to talk about negatives in Mass Effect 2, it would be the loss of some RPG elements from the first, among some other minor issues. The inventory system is taken out completely, and customization options for your character's skills seems dumbed down a bit. However, when thinking about the faster pace of Mass Effect 2 in comparison to the first, this makes sense.

Some other minor issues include longer loading times (thankfully now with loading screens as opposed to waiting in elevators), the size of some areas (the Citadel is much smaller and limited in the areas you can go), and a couple of other small glitches. Thankfully these issues are minor and hard to notice unless you are nitpicking.

The Verdict: Mass Effect has been one of my favorite games since its release a couple of years back. With the release of Mass Effect 2, I can happily say that it too is one of my favorite games. I eagerly await Mass Effect 3 and the mass amount of choices it will hold for my dear Commander Shepard.