Once again you get to don the mantle of Commander Shepard of the Normandy. The only human Spectre and the hero to the humans. This time around you will have to investigate the mysterious disappearances of full human colonies. Along the way you'll have to employ the help of some old friends, an assassin, and more. The odds are stacked against you, but you are something special. If you've played the first Mass Effect to completion you can export your save into this game and gain some assistance right off the bat. Also, a point of advice, complete this one so that you're ready for Mass Effect 3.

Graphically this game is stunning. The character models are crisp and refreshing. The assortment of your allies shows that Bioware took a lot of time craft these characters. Sure some of the cutscenes really don't make sense (ie. Shepard using an assault rifle when your character class can't use them), but overall this game looks beyond polished. There are some very slight texture pop ins that still occur, but nothing like the first game. Also the worlds you get to explore don't look cookie cutter like the first.

The sounds of the game are spot on. It gets me pumped up to hear the sounds of battle. Nothing feels cheap about the experience. There is some music thrown in there and its artfully done, in areas where there should be a change, you'll find that that's exactly what it is.

The controls feel right at home on a 360 controller. Taking the Mako out of the game (you know that all terrain vehicle from the first) made sure that the controls weren't going to frustrate the player. With the increased detail to the shooter aspects in the game expect to find that attacking and coordinating attacks is going to be a much smoother experience. 

There are quite a few twists and turns in this game and if you're willing to ride the rollercoaster, its a hell of a ride. You'll get the chance to explore worlds, and mine for resources, experience intricate story lines and more. I mentioned mining, and I have to say that in many ways its vastly improved from the first game. Now on planets you can't go down to you can scan the surface for spikes in resources, you then launch a probe and pull in the spoils. On planets where you will have side missions you will detect an anomaly which once you've launched a probe in the correct spot will create a landing mission for you. For those who are looking for the romantic aspect of the first game, I'm happy to say that it is alive and well in the second game. I can't really think of anything else to say except that this is a must have, especially if you've played the first. You're going to have a ton of different allies to add to your party for missions, and the time you put in this game, though long, will fly by.

So what are you waiting for, start playing this game and create your own story. There are so many different outcomes that can occur, but only you can craft the one for you. This game gets a 9.6 out of 10.