A work of art! One of the best games I have played to date.
The story itself is brilliantly immersive, the protagonist, the antagonists and everyone in between is portrayed perfectly, from the dark and unknown world of the Collectors to the suspicious Illusive Man. I was completely hooked from day 1, and as I have never played the first game it was very easy to pick up from where 1 left off and I wasn't left out of the loop at all.
The characters are a varied and colourful group of individuals who are well voiced with morals and problems that seem so real and personal I find myself willing them on all the way. Everyone forms a part of the adventure, even if it is simply members of your crew expressing their fears for their family as you head off into your quarters.
The only slight concern I have with this game, and I really do mean the only problem is the combat. The AI is good, the graphics are excellent, it's just that the maneuverability of Shepherd during battles isn't quite at 100%, vaulting over cover into enemy fire without my consent seemed to happen a little too often, and because of the camera's tight range, changing direction while sprinting is impossible without stopping. But this is it in terms of criticism. Everything else is fantastic.
I have genuinely never seen a game with so much secondary content as this, It's difficult to describe the level of content even within a single space station, almost every conversation you overhear on your travels can lead to an adventure of some sort, you can fly across the galaxy in your spare time, discover planets and even investigate distress signals which lead to even more adventures.
You can talk to members of the Normandy and help them out, which will not only grant you a reward could help you in ways that you wouldn't never think off.
The replay value is also through the roof, playing as a "bad" or good guy changes how everyone sees you, even changing your gender on your second time round considerably changes things. It's just impossible to do everything the first time round.
Recruiting the most specialist team in the galaxy is brilliant fun too, travelling across the stars in search of the best involves making many friends and enemies along the way which can affect you in the most surprising ways later in the game.
I could go on for at least twenty minutes but I think you get the picture. I really couldn't recommend this game more.
Happy travels!