Mass Effect 2 Impressions. For everyone.

[mrstickball]

My thoughts:
I'm about 25 hours in, and have 7 crew members and 3 loyalty quests done. So I'd like to think I'm approximately halfway through the game, give or take.
Here are my thoughts in a pro/con format:
Pros:

• Graphics. Jaw-dropping. Are there better games out there, visually? I am sure. However, no game could argue that they have the size or scope of what Mass Effect 2 provides. It provides great graphics, but over dozens of unique landscapes.
• Story. One of the few sequels that takes a fantastic storyline from the original game and expands and actually improves upon it. It does great justice to ME1 in terms of codex entries and understanding of how the world has changed. It does it in a very respectible way. Honestly, ME2 begins like ME1 ends - ME1's strongest point was the last 3 hours, and ME2 has been its strongest during the first 3. This is the most epic RPG, ever. I've been playing RPGs for almost 20 years and can say this has the best crafted story in history.
• Sound. Right up there with ME1. The audio soundtrack is just as incredible as ME1. ME1 was a 10/10 for me, and ME2 continues with some incredible tracks.
• Presentation. Jaw-dropping. The dialogue/discussion format has been ramped up to be even better. ME1 was fantastic, and ME2 is even better. Not only do you have paragon/renegade-tinged answers, you now have QTE events that are very time specific that ramp up the action. Paragon leads to usually saving a life in a split second. Renegade usually results in a hole in someone's head. Also, the fact is that the characters are far livelier. They move around, and act more genuine in their emotions and movements. Shepards VA isn't the tops, but everyone else is AAA.
• Combat. Combat is lightyears ahead of Mass Effect 1. Screw the haters that may dislike it, its much better than ME1. Combat actually matters, and I find myself using tactical commands far more in ME2 than I ever did in ME1. Setting up ambushes, and utilizing shooting angles are very important. Especially in the battle at Helstrom.
• Side Quests. Much improved from ME1. I liked the traveling in ME1 in the Mako. I guess I was one of the few that did. However, it did get repetitive when you did it the same way 20 times in a row. In ME2, every side quest is unique, feels incredibly varied, and leads to very good story arcs.
• Weapons. Some are arguing the new way they pan out. I really like the way they handle it. Weapons are actually different. I just got a new SMG and it handles hugely different than the one prior. Yes, it'd be nice to have a few more, but the differences between two guns of the same type is a great depiction of what firearms should be like. Plus the Cain launcher is insane! I used it on the Thresher Maw, and had him beat in under 2 minutes with it!
• Frame Rate. ME1 had problems. I didn't mind them, but I will admit that the frame rate, jaggies and texture pop-in were issues in ME1. ME2 has virtually none of that prior to installing the game. In 25 hours, I have seen 0 pop-in issues, and maybe only one or two times there was a drop in frame rate.

Cons:

• Credit acquisition. I really like the new system, but so far, the only way to earn money is via missions and quests. As much as that's great, you need a lot more credits than what this brings. ME1 gave you too many credits, ME2 gives you too little. I'd like to see them add as DLC, some sort of resource market that allows you to sell excess resources (or buy them) for creds.
• Ship Upgrades. So far, 75% of the upgrades have been mission-specific ship upgrades and do not do anything really helpful for mineral acquisition, probe quanity increases, or fuel usage. It'd be nice if they did. I'd like to see a 3rd upgrade for the scanner to allow for easier resource acquisition.
• Loot. Lack of loot from baddies is sad. I'd of liked to see some loot, even if its just bounties from killing enemies. You get creds from scavenging some enemies, why not some of those that you blast?
• Loading times. I think this is a trade-off with the lack of frame rate issues in the game. I don't mind the loading times in return for the better frame rate. However, its still something noticable. Every time you transition from one major area to another, there is about 10-15 seconds of loading. Fortunately, loading outside of those loading areas, its almost non-existent.

Overall: I'd give this game a 9.5 if ME1 was a 9.1-9.2. ME2 is 80% of what made ME1 awesome, 15% improved upon ME1 in various ways, and 5% worse. If ME3 improves upon ME2 in the same way that ME2 improved on ME1, then we may not have just the RPG of the generation, we may have the RPG of forever.

Personally, this is the best game on the Xbox 360 if not one of the best of the past 2 generations. I can only think of maybe 2 or 3 RPGs I've played that were better at their time of release. Its just that good.