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The first Mass Effect managed to pull off one of the most difficult maneuvers in video games: it was great despite how it actually played. Suffering through clunky, unintuitive combat, ill-conceived vehicular segments, and a laughably convoluted inventory system was all worth it since the payoff was one hell of an exciting story wrapped within one of more creative and compelling expanded universes ever imagined.

For those of you who don't know, Mass Effect 2 is a space opera; in my mind, the true legacy of the original Star Wars. The setting is a galaxy teeming with strange aliens, exotic worlds, seedy spaceports, mercenaries and starships. You reassume the role of protagonist Commander Shepard waking up from a cryo-sleep two years after the events of Mass Effect. The insidious race of sentient machines called the Reapers may have experienced a setback after you stuck it to 'em last time, but they're still out there, and now entire human colonies are simply vanishing without a trace. It's up to you and the crew of your making to figure out what's going on and put an end to it.

I was excited for Mass Effect 2, curious to see how the second chapter would enrich an already expansive narrative, and fully expecting Bioware to address some of the criticisms heaped on the original. What I didn't expect was for them to completely overhaul just about every single aspect of the game and end up delivering not just an improved sequel but truly one of the most ambitious, deep, and I'm happy to say, finely crafted games to date.

At first glance, Mass Effect 2 might seem like a repudiation of its RPG roots, and in many ways, it is. Much of what made Mass Effect an RPG in the sense that fans of the genre understand it, has been completely removed, especially with regards to the game's combat -- this is no longer a numbers/stats game. Before, whether or not your shots hit their intended target was largely dependent upon a behind-the-scenes odds algorithm built around your current level. No longer. Now if you want to make it through a firefight alive, you'll need to have sure aim, quick reflexes, and an ability to command your squad on the fly. Make no mistake: the combat of Mass Effect 2 is unambiguously action-oriented.

But what's so impressive, is just how strong the action feels considering it's a total structural redesign. It isn't just that Mass Effect 2 is now an action game, it's a damn good one. Everything about it feels fluid and natural; commanding your squad is effortless and intuitive; weapons and biotics behave as you would expect; and skill is a definite factor. Whereas in Mass Effect, your characters felt like puppets, mindlessly acting out your commands, now the combat is more controlled, tactile; you are the one actually doing the shooting.