BioWare once again takes us on a revolutionary joyride in Mass Effect 2 showing us that no one does it better than them.
Let's start out with the story. The beginning of the game throws for a loop to start things off. Your old crew disbands and the Normandy gets destroyed by unknown forces. Shepard apparently dies, and it leaves you wondering what the hell just happened. You then get reconstructed by the Cerberus Organization who you had encountered in the previous Mass Effect if you played it. This already leaves you with some major moral choices, just because you know what they do to humans. They are called "Biological terrorists" just because of the experiments they do on humans, but they saved your life. Do you side with them for saving you, or turn your back on them? That's just to start the story out. The rest I could delve into, but I doubt you want to hear all of it, and it would be considered spoilers. Let's just go out there and say what you do in the game will effect how the story ends, who on your crew survives, and whether or not Shepard survives as well. BioWare went out there and put some heavy, heavy burdens on the gamer to make the proper decisions.
The gameplay is fast-paced as usual, but offers some new abilitites and styles. There aren't as many weapons in ME2, but in a way, this is a nice change. You no longer have to constantly be comparing stats with the Pistol you just picked up and applying a bunch of upgrades and stuff. It's really nice to change weapons on the fly, and have your choice between Assault Rifles, rocket launchers, and pistols to keep things fresh. I like the introduction of Thermal Clips as well, even though people thought they downgraded adding this feature. Think of it like this: instead of having your gun overheat like it did in ME1, just eject a clip and keep firing instead of waiting for you gun to cool down. I think that is a winning feature myself. I had a couple of issues when getting into cover where Shepard would vault over cover and get himself killed, which was highly frustrating at times considering I was 15 minutes away from my last save. I also really liked the ability to link Biotics together to make a devasting combo to totally cripple foes. It looked really cool when I would Lift someone and then have Garrus hit them with a concussion shot to send them flying to the back of the room flying through a glass window. However ,the one thing I thought needed to be more interesting was harvesting for minerals. This is Bioware trying to add a more economical approach to their game, which is a good idea, they just need to refine it for ME3 because it can get really, really tedious. I made a vow to go over every planet and stuff, but I didn't realize how much of a task this was, so I backed out. Even with the upgrade for the scanner, it's still really slow and can get rather boring. I could spend hours harvesting minerals, or blowing stuff up. Obvious choice.
The value for ME2 is off the charts. There are so many different approaches to take this game on, that I find myself playing it at least another 4-6 times. A lot of time: Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutley. When I get all the achievements for this game, I will feel a sense of accomplishment when I do so. Games like this are what I invest my time and my money into, because it's well deserved.
ME2 should not be left alone. If you have been considering getting it, wait no more. This game is near perfect. I am a proud supporter of BioWare, just because I know they pump out solid game after solid game and give the gamer exactly what they want. In the dying age of single-player games, BioWare holds the standard high for us to enjoy a solid story and game by ourselves. If you're an RPG enthusiast, or just want to play a solid game, look no further than ME2.