I’m pretty sure that I’m almost done with my first place through. I’m a soldier, no special biotics for me, but I haven’t gotten bored and I’m looking forward to going through again once more before passing the game along.
As a sequel, they avoided the usual problems. The story is still good and a natural follow up from the first one. They didn’t dumb down the main character to make him weak so that he could build up again. Sure, you have the same options as far as learning new skills just like a brand new character, but I never felt like Shepherd was some newbie. As far as controls and the world, they kept the best things, removed some of the annoyances, but stayed true to what the game was. A lot of games either take no chances and make the same game twice, or go too far making something new and lose the essence of the game. Mass Effect 2 remains a space opera story with a first-person shooter / RPG hybrid. It’s pretty, polished, and a lot of fun. Mass Effect 2 is a worthy member of an RPG lineage that started back with Baldur’s Gate and company some fifteen years ago (yeah, it’s been that long).
That said, I am starting to take umberage at these Day 1 DLC releases. I understand the reasoning, but making me download content on the first day is just annoying. Mass Effect has at least done it fairly well by making most of it free with the initial purchase of the game, but require purchase for anyone borrowing the game. That’s a little less egregious than what Dragon Age pulled with $10 expansions out practically before the game was.
