I say go with Normal. Normal in ME2 is a lot easier than Normal in ME1. Not to mention the combat is much improved as well. Normal for me shows off the fun of the combat, without the annoyance of it that you get on the higher difficulty levels.

I feel that when one plays normal people tend to get lazy and use the usual moves. When they have hard they are forced to tactically change their game plan and become resourceful. Dying is a lesson and makes you a better gamer. Also I don't know what you're doing but with the hardest settings the enemies are more relentless and forces you to truly use your characters powers, use special rounds and truly think about your characters level and what to do the first time around. The second time around everyone knows what they want to do and nothing is really a mystery.

well I always try to play on the hardest difficulty on that kind of game just to pull out more hours for the buck lol... but I found mass effect pretty easy once you get how to use the combat system efficiently... so in any case normal should be fine.... and you can always dosn grade if you want at any time.... I confirm DLC is good

Well, all I know is that I played the game game on veteran difficulty, the one above normal on my first playthrough and it was easy except for one ridiculous mission.

Dragon Age is like 15x more difficult though. 63 hours in and yet can't see the end anywhere.

Actually, I kind of tried using biotics and powers on my first playthrough, but it made for a frustrating experience none the less. I didn't want to play Mass Effect for the action in the first place, so being annoyed with it just annoyed me even more.

Hey if your really into Mass Effect and want to prepare for it some more, i'd definitely suggest buying the 4 comics-Mass Effect:Redemption, I know your not playing anything but it's still part of the story and the only way you'll know the events that happen betwen the opening scenes of Mass Effect 2 and the main game.

They're a really good read and you should be able to pick them up for around £10. Or if you have an iphone then you'll pick all 4 up for around £2, which is super cheap and well worth the money if you want fill in some gaps of the story.

Also i'd suggest starting Mass Effect 2 on Veteran difficulty just so theres a tiny bit of a challenge there.

I don't know why anyone would play as just solider, as they are really missing out on some cool shit.