Mass Effect 2 does what only great sequels can do. It makes you forget about how great the first one was for a while.
But every once in a while, a sequel comes around that makes you forget your longing for a recreation of the first. Empire Strikes Back, Godfather 2...while the debates go on over which was better, the second or the first, while you experience it, it makes you forget the other, and simply allows you to get swept away by it, while feeling no betrayal to the spirit of the original that came before it.
Unlike the first game, where the true objective unfolds over the course of the game, Mass Effect 2 drops you in the thick of a grey world, where right and wrong are constantly in doubt, but one thing is clear...bad stuff's coming, and it's your job to stop it.
What's not clear, is how you're going to do it, or who's going to be helping you along the way.
The game, more than the first, revolves around your team. You spend the early portion of the game assembling your team, and another large portion helping them with their personal issues. Thankfully, every character on this new team is downright intriguing. Even the members who return from the first game, are more compelling this time around, Shepard included.
I caught myself often thinking to myself while playing "I know this is the same Shepard from the first game...but MAN is he a hell of alot cooler now!"
The tone of the game is alot darker this time around as well. Where in the first game, much of the game's universe remained a mystery up to the climax, and the only guiding compass was to do right or wrong, the second game takes place in a more morally dubious universe. It's only the mission, that remains the one constant.
Action, as many have pointed out before me, is far improved. Streamlined, more visceral, and true shooter with a smooth feel.
The story, while not as large as the first game, is just as compelling, mostly because of the morally questionable world in it operates. Everyone from your squad, every world you visit, even your superiors can't quite be trusted. Sometimes right and wrong take a back seat to just getting the job done.
On that note, the universe of ME2 is far more claustraphobic than the original. While the original feels expansive and neverending, the sequel feels closed in, both in tone, and by design. Worlds are much smaller, and have less terrain to cover. The citadel is no where near the size it was in the original, which is understandable, but this lends to a feeling of a game with more tunnel vision than it's predecessor.
While I preferred the story of the first game to the second, I enjoyed playing the second game more. Mostly cause it felt complete. But also, in large part, the the more compelling cast of characters with Shepard this time around. Any one of them is far more interesting than the best character from the first, and learning about them, helping them along the way, made this game a joy.
As middle games go, though, Mass Effect 2 leaves little left to be desired. It changes the tone, brings an impending sense of threat missing from the first, and sets up the next installment to come perfectly.
And, while it is more closed in, partially by story design, and partially in an attempt to trim out what was not so great about the first game, and while it trades some old annoyances for new ones (scanning planets seemed like a good idea to who?!?), the game mostly succeeds at what it was supposed to be. I had no trouble sinking my teeth into this game at all. From the presentation, to the story and characterization, to the finale, I could not get enough of this game while I played it.
The best compliment I can give Mass Effect 2 is that Mass Effect 3 has a hell of alot more to live up to now!