I had the pleasure of visiting the Bioware booth at PAX this past weekend. One of the highlights of the expo for me was the playable Mass Effect 2 demo. I only recently picked up the original Mass Effect (the review of which you can expect later this week), but while I was impressed with the game’s engaging plot, the combat left much to be desired.

The Mass Effect demo station at PAX 09

The moment I got my hands on Mass Effect 2, I could tell that Bioware had taken notice of players’ complaints towards the original’s combat mechanics. The guys at the Joystiq podcast were especially vocal about this shortcoming. Even in just the short sequence that I was able to play, Mass Effect 2′s combat is simpler, more fluid and all around more enjoyable. The weapons feel more powerful, the abilities are easier to use, and the teammates are far more intelligent. A major gripe I had with Mass Effect was the lack of autotargeting when I wanted to use a biotic or tech ability. This often resulted in misfires and wasted abilities. Literally every complaint I had with Mass Effect’s combat system was gone in the demo that I played.

Any plot hints that the demo provided were mostly lost in the cacophony of the PAX exhibition hall, but the demo did provide a brief glimpse at Thane, one of the new characters (and species) in the upcoming title.

–Jeff (gamertag: Decksathron)