The Mass Effect series has some of the best story elements in RPG history. From the immense details of the varying alien worlds to the frightening imminent arrival of the genocidal Reapers, BioWare developed a space adventure like no other.

Although Mass Effect 1 presented a brilliant opening act in the trilogy, its gunplay and overall combat were subpar. Guns in the first game operated on a cooldown system, meaning, Commander Shepard and the crew's weaponry did not require ammo or reloading. The cooldown system wasn't necessarily at fault for the poor combat in Mass Effect 1, but it certainly didn't help the issue.

Adjusting to traditional ammo and reloading helps the flow of combat in Mass Effect 2. The majority of shooters utilize normal ammo and reload functions, making that change a familiarity to the sequel's gameplay. Picking up ammo will restock Shepard's weapons to the max, so having to frantically search for ammo shouldn't be an issue.

Finding a suitable cover position in the middle of a firefight can be the difference between life and death. In Mass Effect 1, Shepard must've lacked upper body strength because they were unable to vault over cover to advance on defeated enemies. Things have changed this time around, as the Commander can fully scale over obstructions to gain better tactical positioning.

Like the newly added gun ammo, being able to vault over cover reinforces and improves Mass Effect's action. There are still moments where Shepard will hide behind the wrong side or seem to be superglued to the cover, but overall this feature has improved. BioWare even designed certain environments that could only be accessed through vaulting.

Mass Effect 1 suffered from its generic, yet awkward, inventory system. There was no real sense of organizational thought put into its structure. Weapons discovered in the wild could not be compared with currently equipped weapons, allowing Shepard's inventory space to grow exponentially. Armor sets that weren't compatible with certain characters were still visible on the menu with the inability to just hide them.

To clean up the inventory, BioWare essentially scrapped the inventory system completely and replaced it with loadouts. Shepard will still find weapons and armor sets, but the amount got drastically reduced. There's no time wasted trying to compare weapon stats. Once players find a suitable gun, there's a good chance that it'll be in the loadout for the entire game. Unlike Mass Effect 1, not every character can use every gun, so consider that, along with power sets, in determining Shepard's fireteam.