If I were a betting man, and you could actually bet on these things; I'd say we've already found the Game of the Year in January. The sequel to Bioware's sci-fi epic, Mass Effect, was always going to be a special event, because Bioware are masters of their craft. It's like they create a simple, yet competent shooter, and then proceed to add a dash of the simpler role-playing aspects; and lastly, let it set into an epic, well-paced journey to save the galaxy that is surprisingly not as corny as it should be. How they do it, I'll never know, but I'm sure glad they do. That being said, is Mass Effect 2 everything its predecessor was and more? While I've seen no evidence of alien side-boob this time around, I've seen a lot to love about this game.

So let me catch you up, you're Commander Shepard. That's about all I could say, because the rest is up to you. His (or her) background is yours to choose, as is his class; I'll use mine purely for reference. I am an earthborn survivor, and I chose the Soldier class so please bare that in mind, as you read my critiques. After staving off the Reapers, a race seeking to grimly extinguish humanity, the Normandy comes under fire, as a colossal vessel looms from slip space. Attempting to save his crew, Shepard is killed in action and thrown overboard and into the vacuum of space. You then awake, two years down the track, rebuilt by Cerberus – hostiles from Mass Effect – and at the disposal of their leader, the Illusive Man (who is just that). Much like the original, Shepard is supported by a diverse intergalactic militia – each with their own gripping motivations to be explored. The ensemble develops well throughout the story and you'll find yourself deeply invested in their lot in life – it's truly marvellous storytelling in that respect. It's all well until the narrative hits its peak about mid-way with twists and turns that are a genuine surprise; from then on though, the story pretty much staggers along until the questionable climax which is almost a slap in the face to the rest of the game. It doesn't quite destroy the experience, as the previous twenty hours were simply unforgettable, but this final chapter of the saga left me unfulfilled.

From the get go, the selling point for Mass Effect 2 was ‘your choices'. It's an alluring concept when you, the player, can mould your own destiny within a game – Bioshock is one game that didn't succeed in portraying the gravity of your moral choices. Mass Effect 2 is all about choices – whether it's interacting with your entourage as a hardened leader, or have a quiet deep n' meaningful as you butter up Miranda (or Tali, if that's your flavour) – and every choice has a reaction, and you'll often gain paragon, or renegade, points. If you're not smart about how you deal with your cohorts, you might find their loyalty is unattainable, making your end game a gruelling task; which is incentive enough to satisfy their needs so they'll return the favour. New to Mass Effect 2 are context-sensitive paragon/renegade events, which allow Shepard to intervene with events with either positive, or negative, influence – these events are executed with the respective triggers when the on-screen prompt appears; it gives a cool feeling of control during the story and the renegade option usually results in some bad arse, and memorable moments.

The original Mass Effect was a well packaged role-player wrapped neatly in a third-person shooter. And while the successor does follow this formula, the gameplay has been streamlined for the sole reason that the original's combat was seen as cumbersome and clunky. The role-playing aspect has been greatly scaled back in this romp; an example of this is the lesser emphasis on intricately developing your squad with skill points. Where you once had a handful of skills to strategically bind, you now have just four or so. A questionable move by Bioware, in my opinion, as the balance of genres is what made Mass Effect great, and to see the sequel tilt the scale toward one is disheartening. This isn't to say it's bad, because it's certainly not. It's still gripping and grossly addictive, sucking your life force until you can no longer take it. The experience system has also undergone heavy changes as experience is no longer awarded for each individual kill. Now you're awarded your pre-determined points in a post-mission scene, which also briefs you on your other loot from the job (from resources, to weapon upgrades). For me, it was an unwelcome alternative to the original – which, I might add worked perfectly fine.

Bioware, thankfully, have remedied a number of painful gameplay flaws from the original, as the cover system is far more solid and, this time, level design and enemy placement actually warrants tactical approach – and with an emphasis on tactics, it allows more flexibility and experimentation with your biotic and tech upgrades. All in all, it makes Mass Effect 2 a treat to play while not being burdened by niggling issues.

There are also far less guns to go gallivanting around with. This is presumably so the player isn't tasked with sifting through hours of menus to equip their arsenal – it's a big time-saver, and coupled with the weapon upgrades found on your travels (which are then researched on board the Normandy) it makes gunplay simpler, and quite satisfying. Ammunition effect upgrades no longer need to be attached to the weapon, as the player can bring up their ‘power wheel' and make their selection which immediately takes effect (whether it's incendiary or other ammo types). Mass Effect 2 is far less of a role-playing game than the original; but it isn't all bad, as it allows Shepard to spend far more time in conversation – which is as solid as ever – and performing universal alien genocide.

Of course, when you're not campaigning to save the galaxy, you'll be no doubt embarking on any of the side-missions on show. This time around, there are no laborious drives in the Mako – instead, it's replaced with monotony-incarnate, as you're now able to mine planets for resources in a mini-game where you scan the planet surface from your Normandy and, pending a spiked reading, launch probes to farm the sought-after resources (which are used in upgrade research). On the rare occasion, you'll detect an anomaly and reveal a side-mission to undertake. It's rather arduous, and can become old quite quickly. Thankfully, at least the tasks are diverse, and should keep you occupied post-campaign until the inevitable onslaught of downloadable content – although I don't know what the people on the populated planets think about you stealing their precious resources.

On a technical level, Mass Effect 2, like the original, has the odd problem or two. I've had the occasional game freezing, and even audio issues as the sound drops out and some image stuttering mid-way through a cinematic. It doesn't happen constantly, and it's probably only because the title demands so much of the hardware that there are some intermittent issues.

Even from the early build when we first set eyes upon Mass Effect 2, it was clear it would be just as pretty as its predecessor; and boy, is it. Playing through the game is surreal due to everything looking so beautiful. I remember the first time I was genuinely awe-struck was when I entered Afterlife, the nightclub on mercenary-controlled space station Omega. The game simply oozes majestic locale, much like Afterlife, and you'd be missing out not to experience every one of them in your travels. Not only do the places leave you reeling, so do the people as each race and individual in the Mass Effect universe is realized perfectly; from the characteristic angst of the Grunt (a Krogan) to Thane's (a Drell) unexpected serenity, each nuance of each character is on the money. And far removed from the original is the frequent texture-popping which was so detrimental to the effort put in by the art team at Bioware.

With over 31,000 lines of dialogue in Mass Effect 2, there's a lot of listening to be done by the player. Thankfully, the talent doesn't miss a beat, as conversation is certainly one of the game's highlights. Mark Meer returns as (the male) Commander Shepard, and is typically charismatic and at home in the role. Seth Green and Keith David reprise Jeff "Joker” Moreau and David Anderson respectively, neither falter in their role – especially Green, whose dialogue is riddled with laughs as expected. Other big names include Martin Sheen, Carrie Anne-Moss and D.C. Douglas (of Albert Wesker fame). On top of all of that, the orchestrated score speaks grandeur, as it manages to capture the intended emotion of each and every scene without stealing focus.