I finished up up Mass Effect 2 over the weekend, finally. I am an OCD completionist on these games, so I scoured every uninhabited rock in the galaxy in search of sidequests and loot.
I don't think I've ever seen such a frank, uncompromising self-assessment between sequels. The first game did very well, both critically and commercially, but Bioware looked deep and hard at the game they created, and they were not sparing of themselves. Mass Effect has emerged from its chrysalis leaner, smoother, and more streamlined than before. The wretched, borderline torturous inventory system was completely scrapped, and replaced by a highly streamlined collection of hardware. And when I say streamlined, I mean there are only three or four entries each type of gun. That's a far cry from the 150+ (per gun category!!) that you had to juggle the first time around. Armor upgrades are now just permanent stat boosts, and ammo types have been relegated to powers rather than items. You even have a personal assistant to tell you when you have e-mail.
