Mass Effect 2 not only builds on what made the previous entry great, but expands the original formula in spectacular and exciting ways. Much of the fat of the previous entry has been trimmed off, replacing the in-depth RPG aspects of Mass Effect with more lightning quick gameplay and quite simply more fun.

The story elements are especially highlighted this time around, as your crew are no longer just companions but are actually integrated into the game as a whole. You'll spend a lot of time getting to know the diverse cast of men and aliens on your ship, and as you gain their trust you'll unlock special missions particular to a certain character. These missions are some of the best in the game, and simultaneously bring you closer to an understanding of the motivations driving the character. Top it off with a wonderful villain in the form of the mysterious and deadly reapers, and you have a story that rivals the original three Star Wars movies.

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I loved the first one, some of the changes were harder to to get used to, but once I did, I can't put this game down. Many things are improved over the first, many reviews go over the differences, so I'm not going to repeat everything. This story is phenominal, the exploration fun, the combat much improved over the first. How long till Mass Effect 3? Best Sci-fi game out there besides System Shock 2.

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This game has an even greater story than the first. Graphics are amazing. The only real complaint I have is that this game plays way too much like Gears of War, which I hated. The traditional rpg elements have been thrown to the wayside so this game is not nearly as challenging or fun as the first, but the detail in the story makes up for this. The story definitely starts off much slower compared to first one. I had to bite my lip for about the first few hours before things really started to pick, but from there on it was worth it. I really can't wait for the third game to come out to see what happens next.

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I just finished this game last week. The gameplay was improved over the first one. I didn't miss exploring planets in that moon vehicle. Of course I don't know why they incorporated the "scanning planets" in order to collect your resources for upgrades. I found this the most tedious part of the game and one I could've done without. Even with the scanner upgrade, it takes far too long to scan one planet and is extremely boring. Other than that, I thought the voice acting was superb. Yvonne Strahovski (Miranda) does an awesome with her part. Since I'm a big fan of the TV show Chuck, having her as part of the game was a big bonus. LOVE HER! But back to the game, very enjoyable. Excellent graphics. A few glitches where your character gets stuck on a table or in the ceiling were unexpected. The only way around this was to restart from your last save, which was annoying. I would recommend making frequent saves. Also, if you played the first game, it was cool to import your character. I like the way they reference the first game with certain characters as it shows there is some history between them. I'm looking forward to Mass Effect 3!

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Mass Effect 2 has reserved itself a space in my heart. The game moviesque dialogue and action sequences give the the game a really suspensful narrative! The visceral combat has improved since the first one and offers more action as well. The dialouge is more in depth and realistic. The acting done by the cast is superb and very well acted! I would recommend this game to anyone. Even if youi do not enjoy sci-fi thensleves! This series will go places!

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There are more than enough reviews for this game so I will only give my heartfelt opinion instead of a game break down. Except for a few minor annoyances (mining) the game was beyond my expectations. I have already finished the game 3 times and I picked a different path for each of them. And there are still paths that I want to look into for future game plays. Can not recommend this game more for lovers of shooters and story driven gameplay.

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This game is great, love the exploration, and battle system. However it is not really an RPG. When comparing this game to Fallout 3 which is the best shooter RPG ever this game almost makes it. Yet not having the ability to customize your character or outfit the team with weaponary and armor is a drag. They simplified it to open up to the casual gamer, but the hardcore RPG fan will be disappointed. What's up with the illusive man level end screen? This game has a great story, great graphics, and great action. However I miss adjusting how much influence I have on characters by leveling up my skills. I was so persuasive last game that people loved to do my bidding. I never had to fight Saren in his human form. If they can add what they took away, and keep a lot of the new ideas, this game would be the grand champ. However this is still the best game of 2010 so far. (And yes I know its only February).

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An awesome, interactive game where choices you make and your interactions with others determine if you live or die. A more real life gaming experience, mixed with romance, sadness, and action, Mass Effect 2 is one of the most advanced games I've ever played

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This game is really a lot of fun if you are a looking for a Sci-fi RPG, it takes what the first game had and improves it in almost every way. The main set back is the explorability of the worlds. In ME1 you could land on almost any planet and drive around in the MAKO hunting ore and salvageable parts, but in this game, unless there is an area with some kind of event, you cannot land on the planet, you are stuck in space shooting probes for minerals. This is fun, don't get me wrong, I just wish you could land on more planets. If you enjoy Bioware's games, you are sure to love this one, even if it does have that EA badge.

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Four games later and I am still not disappointed. I loved Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2 and thoroughly enjoyed Mass Effect 1 and the same goes for Mass Effect number 2.

I could write a big long review about its many layers of excitement, drama, love, story, twists, INTENSE decision making and of course ACTION, but I find it sufficient to say that I enjoy every minute of gameplay within this rich Mass Effect universe...which is more than I can say for many games (*cough* sorry, Jack Black). If you like sci-fi and RPGs, then look no further.

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This game is awesome! If you played the first game you got to play this one.

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After being skeptical of the first Mass Effect, I was pleasantly surprised when I logged well over 120 hours through multiple playthroughs. I knew Mass Effect 2 would not disappoint and it has met nearly all of my expectations.

If ME2 does not win game of the year, I would be very surprised.

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Since there have already been about 200 gushing reviews, I'll focus on just a few topics that might still be fresh or useful:

PC vs. XBOX360 version:

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I have both. Started with the PC one, and I'm in my second playthru there. About 1/3 way thru my first on the 360. Which do I recommend? Depends.

XBOX360

+ If you have a big screen + 5.1+ home theater, this favors the X360, unless you have kitted out your PC to your home theater

- 2 discs to switch. I loaded the first onto the X360 drive, haven't gotten to the second). So so far, not an issue.

- Slower loads, but not ME1 "elevator" bad (more on this in PC section)

- Probably the biggest minus: the planetary resource scanning is much slower in the XBOX version. One of your first upgrades should be to get the advanced scanner. Trust me! And even so, it is drudgery on the X360 (compared to just mildly annoying on the PC)

Note the slow texture loads of ME1 are a thing of the past, so not an X360 issue this time.

PC

+ lower price

+ Mouse usage in combat is superior (once you get used to it), and FAR, FAR superior for the resource scanning.

+ In theory, better graphics and higher resolution.

- But in reality, I found I had to play at no higher than 1280x800 on my Core 2 duo 2.66 GHz + modest nVidia 9500 PC. And I had some pretty bad stuttering which I haven't seen yet on the 1280x720 XBOX (admittedly, I might not have gotten to that same part of the game). So for now, I prefer the X360 here!

+/- load times. In general, faster. But I, and many others, had a problem with very slow loads.

**** SOLUTION: If you have this PC load problem on a Core 2 PC, after loading ME2, alt-tab to the desktop, ctl-alt-del to the taskbar, choose Processes, r-click the ME2 process, select Set Affinity, uncheck CPU 1, select OK, repeat and recheck CPU 1. Presto, load problem solved!

Otherwise, I find them pretty equivalent. The keyboard mapping on the PC is a little more flexible than the 360's limted button mapping. But in some ways I prefer the 360 wheel anyway.

Here's what I think should be the deciding factor: which did you use for ME1? Having an imported ME1 character adds another dimension to the game that makes it well worth choosing the same version for ME2.

Other random thoughts/guidance:

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Regardless of my last point above, I actually recommend playing thru the first time with a new (non-imported character). Then using the ME1 character import on your second playthru will make it it that much more fresh and special.

If you play on the default Normal difficulty, you will miss out on a lot of the combat nuances. You'll find that the heavily shielded (or Barrier'd) enemies in a Hardcore playthru make character class, away team selection, weaponry choice and upgrade much more important. Perhaps some that decried the loss of RPG elements in ME2 would be at least in part mollified. Though I might even suggest the same theme as before: playthru 1 on "Normal", 2 on "Hardcore" to again keep that sense of discovery enhancing replayability.

Last, if anyone has made it this far. And in the very unlikely event that you are deciding whether to play ME2 without having played ME1:

Full Stop! Do NOT get ME2! Get ME1. It is a great game (I won't guibble about which is "better"). It is cheap. By the time you play it through, ME2 will be cheaper. And you'll enjoy ME2 more not just for knowing the full back-story, but also having the character to import. This is as close to a no-brainer as it gets.

Enjoy!

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I recently traded my buddy my playstation for his Xbox. My friend requested it so that he could play exclusives such as God of War III, Heavy Rain, and Uncharted 2 among others. I have gamefly so the first and only Xbox exclusive that really came to mind was Mass Effect 2. Granted its a PC game too, my top of the line gaming pc is basically worthless now and I'm a starving student so a new rig is out of the question which is why the console will continue to thrive. I have played most bioware games including kotr and the recently released dragon age orgins. after seeing gameplay demos trailers etc i began intrest with it. As soon as i got it I dove in. I have played some of the first game but otherwise I have no comparison to the original. The controls are perfected to a balanced combat/cover system that is as rpg oriented as it is action. Gameplay is smooth and shooting is great. no matter your class sniper or assault the weapons are different easy to use and are upgradeable. The graphics are smooth, somewhat detailed environments and epic settings. it may appear to be more of an action game than an RPG by first glance but this is as deep as RPG elements go. Great Leveling and uprgrade systems, living on the normandy is an ecosystem of a home base and through navigating the universe you come to meet stellar NPCs all with side quests and backstory to complete a large universe. besides the normandy, you literally explore the universe navigating to solar systems ranging from ours to distant galaxies. I heard complaints of the first having generic planet side missions and in this it has been narrowed down to just some planetary missions that vary in plot and setting. I really think that this story is up there in space classics like Star wars and Star Trek among others and is approaching the depth of those universes. The story, dialogue is almost flawless. choice is a strong key for the game and plays a great role of allowing you to evolve your characteristics that range from diabolical to heavenly and unlike most games that try to implement similar features you can become morally grey with equal footing on both renegade and paragon. This creates a much more realistic and balanced character IMO. all in all a great game the only flaws that i see are a few glitches, some boring dialog with the occasional character but there is very little that detracts from the experience. a finely crafted game that is somehow just shy of nirvana and being the masterpiece. if mass effect 3 contains subtle improvements from the second it will no doubt be the crowning achievement of the series and perhaps the publisher as well. a must have. I wish i could have played through the first and continued the story in the second and in the furture with the third. there is absolutely no reason the game could not be ported to the playstation and I still have hopes the series will come to the playstation. I'm no fanboy but the games I want are always ps3 exclusives. besides this game which is also on PC and the new splinter cell I have few other 360 exclusives I desire to play. I have played every halo game so far and while the multiplayer community is great the actual game is far from unique or special

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I first played Mass Effect 1 back in 07 when it first came out, and it was an instant must play to me. I anticipated the arrival of this game for over 2 years, and finally a 2 months ago the wait was over. This game did not disappoint in the slightest. The awesomeness that is ME2 cannot be overstated. This is the THE action sci fi game, and none can match it. If you hated the first one then please give this a try. Virtually all annoyances about the first have been eliminated. It's almost like a different game comparing to the first.

5 out of 5! Pure awesome!

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