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Quick ‘n Dirty Review: Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360)

So, I'm just going to say it: Mass Effect 2 is the best game I've ever played in my life. It's not something I say lightly, as Bioware's latest outing manages to shove its way to the top of a very prestigious ladder littered with top-notch titles like Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Oddworld: Abe's Oddysey, Half-Life, Flashback, Secret of Mana and many, many more. But, there it is: Mass Effect 2 has managed to make me care for a fictional universe and its inhabitants more than anything else I've ever experienced in my life.

For me, it's hard to think about Mass Effect 2 as a game. Sure, there are plenty of game staples: you shoot stuff; you navigate menus; you, against all odds, overcome what seem like insurmountable odds and combat a threat to the entire existence of life. It's all very grand and larger than life.

Throughout all of this, Mass Effect 2 mimics so much of my own character as a human being. I'm not role-playing in this game to enact fantasies of being a different person. Shepard is me. I am Shepard. And the decisions I made along the way felt wrong, felt good and, sometimes, challenged my upbringing and ethics as a person. No other game has ever made me pause to contemplate the ramifications of actions in a fictional universe because I cared.

You can compare it to Fallout 3 or Oblivion or any other entry in the genre and say both games ostensibly let you be a good or bad person (or something in-between), but Mass Effect 2 wins out because its universe feels so much more lifelike and I exert ownership over the main character. I never felt that way in Bethesda's games -- which admittedly did a great job of presenting a lifelike world for me to traverse, but in doing so never managed to cross the barrier from being a virtual playground into the realm of being my world and my people. There just was never any ownership there.

Each character I meet is unique and different from the last. Yes, even the one-off sidequest NPCs feel real and it all comes together in an almost magical way unlike any other experience that's been presented to me through a television screen. I've shaped the destiny of this galaxy and I cannot wait to see how it all plays out in Mass Effect 3.

Highs

• Vast improvements across the board, including every single issue with the first game. Seriously, every single issue

• Characters and motivations: each person I come across has their own features and set of character flaws and strengths -- everyone is unique

• Combat is actually fun this time around and never bores, thanks to the elimination of meticulous menu and item management

• Initially, the game feels more like a shooter, but as you progress, the great dialogue system still keeps that RPG flavor in there

• The sequel is almost twice as long as the first game, with lots more to do (admittedly, there are double the discs this time around)

Lows

• Until you power up your planet prober, it can be a bit of a pain to scour planets for minerals

• You can't choose the end of Mass Effect 1 without importing a saved character; Bioware selects the conclusion for you

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