Mass Effect 2, like its predecessor, is a good game, but it is not a good RPG.

I enjoyed playing the game, and I am now on my 3rd playthrough, but as a old school RPG buff I find the game severely lacking in many regards. Contrary to what reviews might tell you, you are not really offered choice, only the illusion of it. You will still end up doing exactly what the developers want you to.

Which isn't to say that what the developers want you to do, isn't good. The story in the game is surprisingly good, and the characters are on the whole well written. Mordin, the alien scientist you recruit early on, is absolutely hilarious without being slapstick and is on the characters you really should explore fully if buy the game.

Mass Effect 2 is not a short game, but sadly often I found myself bored by the repetitive and shallow action sequences, of which there are many. ME 2 is not a hard game in any sense of the word. The combat mechanics are simple, perhaps too simple, and even on the hardest setting it just feels shallow. The difficulty setting could scale a lot better.

One thing that should make you pause and consider if buying this game is a good idea, is BioWare and EA's policy on downloadable content. There is a lot of it, and it is extremely annoying that if you want to get the most of the game and get all the followers, you end up paying for your game one more time.

In conclusion, Mass Effect 2 is over a slightly above average experience. If the game is put in the bargain bin, get it. If not, there are better games to spend your hard earned cash on.

Mass Effect 2 is a RPG/Third person shooter set in space. You play as Commander Shepard, biggest hope of the human race. Commander Shepard is assigned to destroy an ancient Collector race. In order to survive, you need to collect info and recruit the best men/women in the galaxy.

This game is a great 30+ hour experience and one of the best games of this year (so far). Although I do not recommend Mass Effect 2 if you haven't finished the first Mass effect game, since it's a story driven game.

If you liked the fist Mass Effect, dont think, buy! Its about the same game with the same weekness (not very long) and the same strengh. Phantasic Graphic, story and gameplay. More action this time through and the Endboss is a bit hm strange but see for yourself. Definately worth the money but i had to use no-cd Crack to get it to run if you dont know what this is you might have some problems.

Mass Effect 2 is a revolutionary step in the evolution of role playing games and a very good single player experience. If in Dragon Age: Origins BioWare went back to tradition and its roots and delivered a very old school game in Mass Effect 2 the developers aimed and succeeded to deliver a much more focused experience, which actually puts the player in the heavy space bots of Commander Shepard and forces him to think about the choices needed to save the galaxy from a huge threat. The shooting is hugely satisfying as long as players pump the difficulty to at least Hardcore (to make sure that team tactics and power use actually matter)and it's always fluid. The dialogues are also well crafted, offering unique insights into the universe. BioWare has put together a great cast of characters, some side quests capable of generating a true emotional response and has thrown in a variety of references to the first Mass Effect. Sure, some might not like the limited inventory, the lack of control over the loadout of allies r the cover based shooting, but I feel that BioWare has managed to trim the fat from the experience while keeping the essential RPG feeling o inhabiting a character with all his coices, his flaws and uniqueness.

Put short: great for casual gaming, but lacking in depth and complexity of story as well as gameplay mechanics.

There's a main plot featuring a number of free choice side missions and a small number of mini-missions (<5 minutes, little to no storyline) you may discover.

Combat, which is 90% of what you are doing, offers a small variety of mechanics: taking cover, shooting the bad guys from cover, using special ammunition and magic powers to hurt them, using heavy arms to destroy tank-like enemies.

Sadly, shooting everything works just fine even without the right ammo or applying special powers. Your two PC-controlled teammates of choice will use their own powers to the best of their ability. While not dead for bad cover-taking habits, at least.

While fun for a short time, the game is not doing well enough as a shooter to be driven by one mechanic alone. After learning it, combat amounts to simple repetition of cover - shoot - cover against a growing number of enemies that come in the flavours melee, ranged and tank.

The RP side of the game is nonexistant. You get obviously marked choices of GOOD and EVIL which will change the game insofar that your main character will have scars disappear or grow.

For the main story, you are put to work for a bad guy leading a company with a bad reputation. While you dont have to be nice to him, you do end up doing his work anyway. At two times in the game, you get to make main-story related decisions, however, you will still be doing the same story-mission with just a few different words to describe it.

For sidemissions, which are all related to finding team mates and gaining their loyality it looks mostly the same, only you really get to choose if you want to do them. In some parts, these make you feel like you have actually made a difference to their pixely life; a feat the main plot fails to achieve on its Save-The-Human-Race scale.