Mass Effect 2 is a game of games this year.
Game Play: 9/10
The gp mechanics were changed a lot from ME1, much of it is good. With increased mobility (meaning we can jump over low cover now), a new ammo system, and an intuitive and minimalist command window.
The addition of being able to jump over low cover was a smart choice, it helps perpetrate the feeling that you are advancing aggressively toward your enemies, making their reactions seem more realistic. The one flaw with the design is that you have to have a weapon drawn and it forces you to draw your weapon when your try to execute a jump.
The thermal clip idea was just ingenious. While I do miss the overheat system, after a play though in ME1 you could get weapons that would never overheat. With this system you can run out of ammo, which means you have to fight tactically and conserve your ammo when ever possible.
The new, and smaller, commands window makes things easier to find and execute.
Music: 10/10
Music is something I live for, to me it can be a game breaking thing. If you do not create the right atmosphere, then your are screwed. BW has nothing to worry about there. ME2 has some of the best music and fluidity in any game I have seen this year. It flows with the action and nuances of the game beautifully. Like when you go to fighting Shadow Broker, as he smashes the console the music picks up into a more threatening beat.
This game is leaps and bounds ahead of ME1 in terms of music.
Story: 9/10
I have to concede with a few of the conspiracy theorists out there that ceaselessly claim that ME2 is full of Plot holes. There are a very few things that are plot holish. Those combined with the fact that Legion mixed Virmire and Ilos up, dunno how they missed that in the QA, make me have to knock a point off.
Other then that the story advances very smoothly in this game. Some people complain about how its only about team building or other obvious stuff like that. When in fact that is what the game is about, building a team to take on the Collectors while setting up the events in ME3.
Graphics: 10/10
Graphics in this game are very well done. The only downside is that many non-important characters have ME1 res clothing while everyone else has the higher res. Weapons also seem to sometimes be a lower res. But graphics are cosmetic, they don't make a good game, they just enhance immersion.
Some of my pet peeves:
So, here are some things that I did not like about ME2.
No inventory system.
There was not an extensive Inv system like in ME1. I hope they bring something similar to ME3 with more weaponry and customization choices. That is what I like most about ME1's weapons, you could customize them.
No Mako.
I know, you might think I am crazy, but without the Mako, and until they release more Hammerhead missions, we have no highly explorable planets. I know why they did this though, not because people b****ed about the Mako so much but making an entire world in ME2's texture res would take up massive amounts of space, ram, and gpu/cpu power.
I hope they find a way to bring back something similar to the planet exploration system they had in 1.
Even with those, I still have to rate this game as a 10. They are overshadowed by what this game has achieved.
ME3 is looking to be one of the most epic games ever created, it is certainly going to be the most ambitious. It will be a very hard task for BW to close out ME3's story within the span of one ME sized game (between 20 and 30 hours).