Mass Effect 2: RPG in space rocks

A few years back came a revolutionary game called Mass Effect. It combined RPG and shooters to create a truly unique outer space adventure. As John Shepard, you could recruit others to fight against the Gek, a mech species bent on world destruction. Like any other RPG, you had worlds to explore, cities for side quests and plenty of new items to drool over. It was a lot of fun.
Now comes the new one with a different feel to it in which most of it works and some falls flat. Your still Shepard only now your fighting a group called the Collectors who have taken colonists and done god knows what with them. The game play is astonishing. Much improved over the last game, it borrows heavily from Gears of War (that's a good thing) for duck and shoot gameplay. The AI is slightly better although your companions still have a tendency to wander in front of you when your shooting.
The cities are more compact which allows for quicker exploration but fewer side missions. Building your character and NPC's are vital to survival and allow for some cool biotics (spells) like slow time, freeze enemies, and my favorite, create a battle bot. This thing is shaped like a large marble but deals death in the highest settings. I wish there had been more places to explore but it was fun with what was had.
The biggest disappointment was in space exploration. It was boring as hell. The last game had you actually landing on planets and exploring them in a badly controlled dune buggy. Instead of fixing the controls, they eliminated the buggy completely and had you explore from the ship. This meant hours of scanning the surface for needed materials or anomalies for landing sites which were few and far between. Yawn. Exploration in this game was much more of a chore than the last one and I hope when the third one comes out they fix this awful part of the game.
But that was really the only problem with the game. The story is great, the last bad guy is WAY better than the horrible ending of the last one. In Mass Effect, the big bad at the end can be taken down with a single shot. WHEEEE. This one had a large half metal, half human reaver that was very difficult to kill and a lot of fun to take down.
All in all, its a great game. Characters you grow to like are offed, others betray you if you don't win their loyalty. Just like in real life. I for one can't wait for part 3

4 out 5 stars