Mass Effect was a flawed masterpiece. BioWare, obviously tired of dealing with the restrictions of the Star Wars franchise, launched their own space opera, complete with a universe as well thought-out as  Lucas' own. The attempt at truly uniting a third-person shooter system with a deep RPG story was, for the most part, a success, though some issues bleed through. Running on the Unreal Engine in 2007 meant awkwardly long loading times and some of the most obnoxious texture pops ever seen in gaming, and the combat, while ambitious, fell short, leaving gamers looking for a polished shooter experience high and dry. These problems didn't get in the way of Mass Effect's brilliance, and the promise of a sequel that would not only fix the issues, but carry over players' characters from the first game was an alluring proposition, and helped justify seeing the journey through to an end. Now, starting off 2010 in a big way, BioWare has released the second chapter of their series, hoping to live up the potential they fell just short of two years earlier.

After being given the option of importing their character from the first game, transferring over their choices and physical appearance, players jump back into the shoes of Commander Shepard, ready to continue defending the galaxy from the Reaper threat. Before players have a chance to even assume control, the stakes are raised tremendously, and it becomes obvious that the only way to face the enemy is in a head-on attack. It's made very clear early on that attempting such an assault is a suicide mission, but that's never stopped Shepard before.

This time around, Shepard isn't working directly with the Citadel. Frightened of what it might mean for the galaxy, the Council refuses to admit the Reaper threat is a reality, meaning the Commander's talents are wasted waiting for diplomacy and bureaucracy. Instead, he finds an uneasy ally in Cerberus, a pro-human activist group that is considered a terrorist organization by a majority of the galaxy. The leader of the organization, The Illusive Man, is fantastically voiced by Martin Sheen, giving even more character to the shady group, and showing how far gaming has grown over the past few years. Other big names, like Tricia Helfer and Adam Baldwin, fill the game's cast with Hollywood-caliber talent, while returning cast member Seth Green expands the Joker character to the levels he deserves. It's all part of the overwhelmingly epic story and scale that is Mass Effect 2, which proves to be better than its predecessor in just about every way.