Taking place two years after the events of the original game, Mass Effect 2 sees good old Commander Shepard teaming up with the human supremacist Cerberus organisation, and investigating the mysterious disappearence of entire planets, seemingly into the ether. It’s all fought on an impressively grand scale, with twists and turns promised at regular intervals, and a splendid set of villainous characters to battle against.

In other words, it’s still the epic space opera it always was. And that’s fine. Mass Effect delivered a startlingly well paced adventure of truly epic proportions, and its sequel doesn’t look to change that. The sense of scale is immediately apparent, with vast cityscapes surrounding the tightly designed levels, alien spacecraft darting through the air, mere specks in the distance. The art design remains flashy and recognisable, but still bursting with detail. Thankfully, the irritating texture pop-ins that plagued Bioware’s last space-age epic are nowhere to be seen. It’s all seamless, and hugely vivid. Read more