A step downhill in storytelling and RPG elements from Mass Effect 1, Mass Effect 2 refined the graphics and action shooting elements so is considered by many to be better than Mass Effect 1. It has some great characters, but the core story is basically a glorified side quest compared to Mass Effect 1. They removed planetary exploration in favor of things like scanning mini-games. They removed armor and weapon customization in favor of giving more "unique" weapons instead.

All in all I despise this game for marking the end of Bioware's ability to make great RPGs, yet at the same time if I do not look at it with rose-tinted glasses it is a great game. For that reason I recommend it to the average story-driven shooter fan, but if you got into Bioware's games with their older games (like Neverwinter Nights, KOTOR, Jade Empire, etc) you might find the experience in this game to be a bit disappointing.

A solid 8/10 game that is a 7/10 RPG, while I would rate the first as a 9/10 in both aspects. It is like Halo Reach was to Halo 3 - a game which drew in a new audience, but simultaneously abandoned certain aspects that fans of the original games loved. That doesn't make it a bad game, but it did unfortunately write Bioware into a corner which ensured Mass Effect 3 could never be great, let alone their future games.