After the original Mass Effect, Bioware had a tough job on their hands. They made an excellent game, but one that was hampered by complaints from the players. So during the two plus years since the original, Bioware has spent their time making the necessary changes. The final result is leaps and bounds ahead of the first.

Before you start off on your next adventure with Commander Shepard, you must first decide if you want to start from scratch or import a save file from the first game. The way the game imports files is very advanced. Every time you played through and beat the original game, it lets you select between any of them. It then gives you a brief review of your choices and stats from the original. If you start from scratch, the game assumes you let Wrex die and you did not save the council.

Mass Effect 2 even starts off with one of the most incredible sequences in video games to date. Without giving any spoilers, it sets up the rest of the game perfectly. Once the opening sequence is finished, you find yourself with Cerberus, a pro-human group. You can then change your look and your class before moving along with the story.

You then meet the Illusive Man, head of Cerberus, and he informs you that the human colonies are disappearing without a trace, and believes it to be the work of the Collector's. He has set you up with an initial crew and a brand new, upgraded Normandy. This begins the meat of the game and you can start doing missions to recruit team members or travel around finding side missions to handle.

Recruiting your crew this time around is not as easy as before. You tend to have to do a lot of information gathering, fighting and even some missions for others. Even once you have recruited a character, they are not initially loyal. After awhile your team members start making request for personal mission they would like your help with. These are what the game calls Loyalty Missions, and they will help you gain the loyalty of your team. They also let you see that team member in a whole new light. By making that team member loyal, you increase their chances of surviving the mission.

Thankfully side missions aren't driving around deserted planets in Mass Effect 2. This time you actually have to scan planets looking for an Anomaly. Once this shows up, you send out a probe and it will give you permission to land and begin the mission. No longer do you use the Mako for travel, but instead you are shuttled right into the beginning of the mission.

Conversations this time have even more substance than before. You can go down many different paths when investigating and talking to people, which can even cause you to miss information at times. The charm and intimidate are back with their options similar to then original, except this time you can now interrupt conversations. During some interactions a Paragon or Renegade symbol will appear on the screen. Depending on which one you choose, you will interrupt with good intentions or with force and sometimes downright nastiness.

While scanning planets for side missions, you now also scan for the minerals you will need for upgrades and research projects. Thanks to those upgrades and projects, this actually gives the player a reason to collect. You can mine Element Zero, Iridium, Platinum and Palladium. As you can for these minerals, there is a meter on the side that spikes with activity in it's respective column. Making these upgrades will also determine the survival of your team as well.

Combat has seen a huge upgrade in this sequel. The cover mechanic has been tightened up and no longer has the feeling of a generic third-person shooter. You no longer have to worry about overheating either, as you now reload your weapon with Thermal Clips, and you will usually find all the ammo you need from killing enemies, so this need not be a worry. You can also direct each individual teammate to a spot, instead of having to command both like in the original.

Another thing Bioware removed was the inventory system and most of the stats. Instead of an inventory, you now choose between weapons for each squad member before every mission. As for stats, each character has their own stats dedicated to their class, and one special stat that is specific only to them. You can upgrade them as you see fit, and even reassign stats through research projects if you like.

One of the things I found to be annoying with the game is the need to purchase fuel for the Normandy. You don't need this most of the time, but when you travel between Star Systems. Even with a fuel upgrade, it still sometimes feels like not enough.

The only disappointment I came across was the final boss. After being engulfed into the experience, Bioware makes the mistake of pulling you out of it with a typical video game boss battle. It even behaves in patterns and all you have to do is learn those patters to defeat it. Luckily it wasn't a big deal, as I was immediately sucked back in following the fight.

Mass Effect 2 is essentially everything fans wanted out of the sequel. They stripped it of all the negatives, and added new ideas and much needed improvements. Mass Effect 2 takes the great experience from Mass Effect, and immerses the player even deeper. Decisions carry much more weight, and even loyalty and ship upgrades help determine if characters will live or die. Bioware has done a fantastic job of making the player care and becoming emotionally invested into Shepard, the people you have around you, and the Mass Effect universe as a whole. This is one of the best games and the most fulfilling experience I've had in gaming.

Don't forget that your Mass Effect 2 saves will carry over to Mass Effect 3, so keep playing until you have the one you want.

*Disclaimer: Mass Effect 2 CE was purchased by Michael and played on XBox360 for the review.