To surpass its predecessor, Mass Effect 2 needed to be near perfection. It had to have a thrilling storyline, vast galaxies to explore, meaningful characters and more slick shooting. So does the biggest game to come out this year, so far, live up to its expectations?

For those who haven’t had the chance to lay their hands on the first of the series, Mass Effect 2 offers new players a quick flashback of what ended the first instalment. Once again, you play as Shepard, but are able to customize him as little or as much as you want.

New players are also eased gently in to the Mass Effect galaxy with a series of questions prior to the adventure. The purpose of which are to identify how you would’ve played through the first instalment of the game. For people who played the original, the game is still as accessible as ever. You’ve the opportunity to export your original saved game over to number 2, therefore keeping ‘your’ Shepard that was previously created.

During one cut scene my housemate turned to me and said: “Dude, are you watching a movie?” I think this really sums up the game graphically. It’s beautiful. Every little detail has been considered, from the slight rust on a mechs head, or the twisted body of a fallen foe it, all looks amazing. I think many a game these days usually suffer from slight animation problems, but not Mass Effect 2, it really is that good. It’s clear that the developers really stretched the 360 to its limits, making sure that every aspect pushed the capabilities of the machine.

The game has been labelled as an Action RPG, after playing I can safely say its action with a hint of RPG elements. A simple levelling up system and skill assigning are what contributes the RPG element, so maybe die hard RPG fans wouldn’t fully get their kicks from this. Throughout the game you’ve a squad with you, each with their own ‘powers’. These powers are sometimes really helpful, but sometimes as helpful as slapping someone with a wet fish. Apart from these minor flaws, the gameplay is overall very good.

The game utilises a solid 3^rd person shooting system, same as its predecessor. Choosing powers and changing between guns is simple to do, which is always helpful in the heat of combat. Selecting waypoints for squad members is also really easy to do, making the whole experience seem a bit more tactical.

On the 360 the game comes on 2 discs and Mass Effect 2’s galaxy is a mammoth one to explore, and can offer at least  25 hours of intensive action.

Unfortunately, I’m unable to comment on the replay value of the game, even though i’ve been putting in the hours, I still haven’t even tapped into the massive universe on offer... But by looking at the decisions you need to make at the beginning of the game, and the vast galaxy where you can choose where you want to go, Mass Effect 2 will keep you going for a while.