Bioware have really outdone themselves this time. Mass Effect 2 is just awesome on so many levels. There's the cinematic feel of the cutscenes, to the fast-paced action, and of course, the character interactions and moral options. Everything has been expanded in this one, including the romantic relationships, and full loyalty missions for each recruit. Nearly every one of these is played out brilliantly and you really develop connections with the characters, and each one has some moral decisions you need to make. The overall plot may seem a little simplistic, but it forces you to play the game patiently and not rush through the story missions. It's also hugely replayable, with different moral paths for virtually every mission. I spent the majority of the game doing side missions, exploring locations and wandering the ship talking to people. I'm a huge fan of Knight of the Old Republic, and unfortunately they didn't go all the way with the character developments in Mass Effect 1 like they did in that series. Mass Effect 1 was a good game, but it had some fairly obvious flaws. Nearly every one has been fixed for this installment, and this game now feels truly rewarding from an action standpoint and an edifying one. The inventory system has been made way more manageable, but maybe too much, as it sometimes feels like there isn't enough variety of weaponry. I was also confused by the key bindings screen, which promised some sort of vehicle combat, not like the clunky mako, but something, then there were no vehicles in the game. Why have key bindings for them then? Also the hacking puzzles were way too easy in this game. They should come up with some different ones. Anyways, I am eagerly awaiting the 3rd installment in this series. They have the potential for this series to go down as an all-time gaming classic. Every race has a story arc that has things unfulfilled in it. There's a lot to do in part 3 besides just the defeating reapers. The krogans have to defeat the genophage, the quarians have to retake their homeworld or make peace with the geth, the geth have to break free of the reapers, and of course the different individual character arcs. Maybe they could delve deeper into who Sheperd is as well. The potential for the finale is palpable. If you haven't played the first game, it's not really a requirement, but you need to play this second one if you haven't. The only game I can say I've enjoyed more is Fallout 3.
