Mass Effect 2
=== Setting and characters ===
Mass Effect 2 is set within the Milky Way galaxy during the 22nd century where interstellar travel is possible through the use of mass transit devices called Mass Relays, a technology believed to have been built by an extinct alien race known as the Protheans. A conglomerate body of governments known as the Citadel Council controls a large percentage of the galaxy and is responsible for maintaining law and order among races of the galactic community. Races that belong to the Citadel Council include humans, asari, salarians and turians. Other alien races seen in the game include the reptilian krogan and drell, the environmental suited quarians, and a hostile race of networked artificial intelligences called geth. During the events of the original Mass Effect, a geth army attempted to open a portal for the Reapers, a highly advanced machine race of synthetic-organic starships that are believed to eradicate all organic civilization every 50,000 years. The galactic community has since lived in fear of another possible invasion. Meanwhile, a human supremacist organization called Cerberus believes that humans deserve a greater role in the galactic community and supports the principle that any methods of advancing humanity's ascension are entirely justified, including illegal experimentation and terrorist activities.
The protagonist of the game is Commander Shepard (voiced by Mark Meer or Jennifer Hale), an elite human soldier who is the Commanding Officer of the SSV Normandy and Normandy SR-2 starships. Shepard's squad members include human Cerberus operative Jacob Taylor (Adam Lazarre-White), human Cerberus officer Miranda Lawson (Yvonne Strahovski), salarian scientist Mordin Solus (Michael Beattie), turian vigilante Garrus Vakarian (Brandon Keener), human criminal Jack (Courtenay Taylor), genetically engineered krogan soldier Grunt (Steve Blum), quarian engineer Tali'Zorah (Liz Sroka), drell assassin Thane Krios (Keythe Farley), asari Justicar Samara (Maggie Baird) or Samara's serial killer daughter Morinth (Natalia Cigliuti), and geth mobile platform Legion (D. C. Douglas). Other characters include the Normandy's pilot Jeff "Joker" Moreau (Seth Green), Cerberus leader the Illusive Man (Martin Sheen), and the Normandy SR-2's enhanced defense intelligence, also known as EDI (Tricia Helfer).
=== Plot ===
One month after the events of Mass Effect, the SSV Normandy is patrolling for geth resistance when it is suddenly attacked by an unknown vessel, forcing the crew to abandon ship. After pushing Joker into the final escape pod, Shepard is blasted into space and dies via asphyxiation after a suit breach. His/her body is pulled into the orbit of a nearby planet and recovered by Cerberus, who begin the "Lazarus Project" with the sole purpose of bringing Shepard back to life. After two years, Shepard is revived on an operating table and escapes a research station under attack by its own security mechs alongside Cerberus operatives Jacob Taylor and Miranda Lawson.
Shepard is brought to meet the Illusive Man, who reveals that entire populations of human colonies have been disappearing all over the galaxy. Now working for Cerberus, Shepard is sent to investigate a recently attacked colony, where he/she finds clues about the Reapers working by proxy through an insectoid species called the Collectors. The Illusive Man explains that the Collectors reside beyond the Omega-4 Relay, a place from which no ship has ever returned. Shepard is given command of a new starship, the Normandy SR-2, piloted once again by Joker and equipped with an onboard AI named EDI, and begins to assemble a team to stop the Collectors. Shepard recruits Mordin Solus, former squad member Garrus Vakarian, Jack, and (optionally) Grunt, before receiving intel from the Illusive Man that another human colony is under attack. With the help of Mordin's studies on Collector biology, Shepard successfully defends the colony, but is unable to stop a large portion of the population from being captured.
Shepard then recruits former squad member Tali'Zorah, Thane Krios, and Samara (later optionally replaced by Morinth), before being sent to explore a supposedly disabled Collector ship. There, Shepard learns that the Collectors were originally Protheans that were turned into slaves of the Reapers. With EDI's help, Shepard also finds out how to bypass the Omega-4 Relay before being ambushed by the Collectors. Although Shepard's squad escape, his/her relationship with the Illusive Man is strained due to his prior knowledge of the trap. After optionally earning the loyalty of the squad, Shepard visits a derelict Reaper and acquires an IFF necessary to safely travel through the Omega-4 Relay. Shepard may also acquire a disabled geth that, if activated, voluntarily joins the squad and is named Legion.
The Normandy integrates the IFF into her systems while Shepard and the squad leave in a shuttle. During their absence, the Collectors attack and board the Normandy. Only Joker avoids capture and, with EDI's help, is able to extract the Normandy to safety. After Shepard's squad returns, the team uses the Omega-4 Relay to reach the Collector base, located in the Galactic Center. The team rescues any surviving members of the Normandy's crew and fights their way to the central chamber. Squad members will either survive or perish depending on their loyalty to Shepard, the upgrades made to the Normandy, and the tasks they are assigned in battle. In the central chamber, Shepard discovers that the Collectors have been constructing a new Human-Reaper made from the genetic material of the abducted colonists.
Shepard destroys the machine powering it and prepares to destroy the Collector base. However, the Illusive Man contacts Shepard and gives the order to sterilize the base instead with a timed radiation pulse so that it can be used against the Reapers. Shepard must either follow the Illusive Man's orders or defy him before destroying the awakened Human-Reaper and escaping with the surviving squad members. If no squad members survived, Shepard fails to escape and dies. Back on the Normandy, Shepard speaks with the Illusive Man, who is either pleased or furious with Shepard's decision. As Shepard meets in the Normandy's cargo bay with the survivors, Joker gives the Commander schematics of a Reaper. Humanity now has the full attention of the Reapers, who awaken in dark space and descend upon the galaxy.
good versus evil, violence