Editor’s note: This review was written by Patricia Gerard, a game design student at Full Sail University. Patricia grew up near New Orleans. She spent 10 years in Charlotte, N.C., working for one of the largest financial institutions in the country. Patricia is an avid player of all genres (yes, even casual games). She has been involved in Web development for more than 13 years and is hoping to switch her focus to game design upon graduation.

Although I have not been fortunate enough to play the first game, Mass Effect 2 surely did not disappoint the hype. The story is set in the year 2183. During a routine patrol, my ship, the Normandy, comes under attack. The crew and I are forced to evacuate; only, I don’t make it. I am hit by flying debris while trying to save a crew member and am propelled into space, floating aimlessly until death.

Fortunate for me, my body is retrieved by Cerberus, an extremist pro-human organization, and after a couple of years, I am brought back to life through a project known as “Lazarus.” Commander Shepard, my character, is awakened by an attack from security mechs. After assisting agents Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor in escaping the attack, I am taken to a headquarters of Cerberus and granted an audience with the Illusive Man. The Illusive Man goes on to explain that I was revitalized in return for aid in taking out a new threat where human colonies have been attacked and now are missing.

The conversation sequences in Mass Effect 2 are truly amazing. Communication in games I have played previously is either a quick one-liner or the conversation rambles and the audio and video never sync. I personally love the way Bioware included me in the conversation. I have the ability to respond in a couple of different ways. Generally speaking, I can’t say for certain because I have not finished the game, yet I can respond in a positive, negative or a neutral way. I, as the player, have the ability to affect the gameplay.

The conversation seems so natural. The characters facial expressions even match their responses. I noticed in one sequence in which I responded with the quick short answer to see what would happen that the character I was talking to backed up and continued doing what she was doing prior to our conversation. Some of the movements are subtle; you have to watch closely.

Your response choices are presented to you as more of a way in which to respond — not the dialog itself. I found this intriguing, pondering what was going be said. It was interesting that I could navigate through the conversation and investigate further if I wanted to drill down into the story or take a quick out to get back to the action. It’s nicely done. The more I get into Mass Effect 2 and gain skill, the more conversation adapts. The only negative thing I could say, and I am reaching on this one, is that sometimes — depending on the background — it is hard to read the options.

Now onto the graphics ... what can I say? They are phenomenal. I am the type of gamer who will look at the graphics on the package to help make a purchasing choice. So, usually it is all in the marketing. I cannot give enough credit to the designers, engineers and developers on this one.

Lastly, let’s look at gameplay. Although my team consists of four possible partners (who knows ... I could even gain more as I continue to play), I can bring two with me. I noticed when I leveled up that so did each of my team members — not just the two I was actively playing with. That is cool! I got to a point where I had to open a door to fight the next enemy and by accident found that I could assign my team members to a particular spot and allow me to take cover. This is very useful.

The fact that my team members are actually effective at shooting is really cool. In other games, where you can switch to different players, the one you are playing is the team lead, and the others just get in the way. This causes me to have to go out of my way (often in the way of potential danger) just to get the members of my team (who are supposed to be helping me, right?) out of the way.

I have noticed that rather than having to switch between team members to perform an action or complete a task, the ability is based on the collective skill of the squad. This is totally cool. While I am OK at shooting, I am better at analyzing options, solving problems and getting to the bottom of it — Mass Effect 2 allows me to do just that. That is not to say that the game does not include some first-person shooter action, but I don’t have to be a sharpshooter to play and enjoy it.

Overall, my experience with Mass Effect 2 has been great. As I said earlier, I am not finished yet, but this is a game that, once I do complete it, will keep me coming back to find out how my choices will affect the outcome. I will continue to explore that. That being said, I can only imagine how Mass Effect 2 could be enhanced even more with downloadable content.

Mass Effect 2 will be the game that I compare all future games to. Admittedly, I have not been a real big RPG fan, but the more I play, the more addicted I get. I was asked if I would recommend this game to a friend, and simply put: absolutely. I am completely sold.