Well before I state my opinion, I would like to state I thought Mass Effect 1 was my least favorite Bioware RPG they made. Which of course isn't saying much but I was let down a lot in that game. It was short, wasn't much of an RPG, and the choices you made didn't ever seem to have an effect... felt like a gimmick basically.
Now going into Mass Effect 2, I was hyped for it, but not psyched. But I do feel that Mass Effect 2 was a better game than the first. But some similar issues and some different ones. First, still doesn't feel like an RPG at all. Definitely has some elements, but ya know. Second, the story really isn't that great. It draws you in to see what happens, but they focus way too much on Shepherd and his relation to his crew. Story is few and far between and the moments ya do get don't have much to them. If that game was simply played for the sake of story, think I could have beat it in 15 hours which is rather short. But the main thing I did like about the game was the attention to detail on about everything. You really did feel like you were playing out a mission rather than living through it. Definitely a plus. Gameplay was fun and varied along with the missions you went through.
Overall it was a great game, and I'd definitely agree with a score of about a 9.0. However, I wouldn't say this game is the upper echelon of video games, nor would I say about the first one. Bioware's previous games before this were definitely much better. But it is nice to see them taking strides in characterization in video games, something that is well pathetic in most. Only think that hurt their characterization, is emotions were displayed so badly through character facial responses. Definitely something the industry as a whole needs to work on.
