Editor’s note: This review was written by Carlo DiGiantommaso, a student at Full Sail University. Carlo is learning the psychology and importance of games in the entertainment space. He believes there is no doubt gaming will take over as the main form of media in the near future, and Carlo is going to work on making that happen for everyone. He believes that instead of going on dates to the movies, there will be date games both girls and boys enjoy. Carlo thinks there is much work to be done in that space, and he plans on making it happen.

Mass Effect 2 is the sequel to the extremely popular Mass Effect game that caught gamers by surprise. The series of Mass Effect games have an intriguing story and character development that reaches into the core of role-playing games — all while keeping the story action-packed and gameplay seeming like a third-person shooter. There’s no doubt Bioware, the studio behind the game, is a studio that helped develop past genius RPGs, but with Mass Effect, there really is no game like it with the components that make the story compel you enough to care about characters and the missions.

The game’s story starts with a big bang — literally. After the opening scene, I questioned what the story was going to do and where I was going to have to go from here. The story of Mass Effect 2 has an ominous feel to it, and not knowing who is good and who is using you makes Commander Shepard a bit on edge, because he would not let anyone take advantage of him. There’s a lot to this story that makes you piece together a team for a final push for victory, but with twist and turns, there is so much going on you almost feel lost in the words. It compels you to keep going and to get to the bottom of the debacle, because it’s the fate of mankind at stake.

Mass Effect 2 really excels when it comes to the gameplay and storytelling. They strike an almost perfect balance between keeping the hardcore RPG fans satisfied and making the game seem welcome to all who enjoy third-person shooters. Gameplay wise, the game does very well making controls easy to use and quicker to understand while keeping the functionality we come to expect out of the franchise. It’s fun controlling your team and having them execute kills on the fly with a pop-up interactive control panel that allows you to stop time and pinpoint what and who it is you want your team and yourself to target.

The team synchronization was proven repeatedly to be vital to the success of most of the missions. As you go between galaxies, there were fun minigames, and you could search planets for usable elements to better your guns and other equipment. This scanning of planets can also lead to the discovery of downed ships and some unbelievably intense search missions on the planets. Using the mass relay system to jump between galaxies, the game offers a realistic view on the supposed future of mankind. The way the game is set up, you can see how, with the right technology, this fantasy world is not too far from becoming a reality.

Mass Effect 2 lets you choose your background story and where you came from, so the people that interact with you give you personalized communication. With the game class selection, it lets players choose what style of gameplay they want to use to defeat the enemy. Choose soldier class to use firepower and strategic placement of team members, or choose one of the other five classes that use different abilities, ranging from bionic manipulation to environment control and many more. The classes all play to the strengths of the players’ game strategies.

Visually, Mass Effect 2 has its own rich sci-fi feel combined with stunning graphics and character features that stylize every character in the game. Even Commander Shepard is customizable down to every last facial feature. The graphics are definitely up there for some of the best-looking graphics the Xbox 360 and PC are pushing out on current games on the systems. Their artistic style give this game some amazingly structured lighting sequences and make a memorable impression on each level and the characters you interact with. The graphics did suffer on occasion to pop in or late loading textures, and there were a good amount of load screens. However, it did not detach me from the game. The overall feel of this game is intriguing mainly because it is easy to play, and if you have the time, there is so much to do, it’s almost never ending. Even when the game is done, you can continue searching the galaxies for more enhancements and side missions.

I am not usually a fan of RPGs, and I definitely don’t play games that are fantasy-based, but Mass Effect 2 is a great mix of RPG and shooter that makes you wonder if the things you can do could actually become a reality. This game is a definite recommendation from a person that really loves a good story that makes you question the very essence of the people of higher power using their power to manipulate what it is you will do. Mass Effect 2 is a story not to be forgotten and surely has replay value, because playing the game as a “Good Guy” is how I did the first time; now I will go back and play as the not so nice guy and maybe even try a different class. The story is compelling and makes me feel there should be more games to do what Mass Effect did to the two major genres of gaming.