Krogans and Geth and Space Hamsters, oh my!

So I've already gone through the worst features of Mass Effect 2 that truly deserve to be blasted out the airlock, but what is it about this game that keeps me coming back for more?

Commander Shepard getting down with his bad self in The Citadel

I <3 Krogans

Maybe it’s the small town boy in me, but all aliens look alike to me. I can’t tell one scaly life form from another, but this doesn’t matter with those warmongering Krogans since they all think and act exactly the same. Shepard’s relationships with the Krogans he encounters are easily among the highlights of series. It was nice to see them get such a complex back story as well, is it possible to feel sorry for a Krogan? I know I went back and replayed Mass Effect just to see how Wrex would fair in the sequel.

That’s Jack?

Yes, that is indeed Jack. From the outset, with her release from her very own cryo prison, we all knew we had a brilliant and troubled character to get to know. I'd struggle to think of a more fierce-yet-fragile piece of trouble like Jack anwhere else in gaming. I’m just glad she is on my side.

The Normandy

Star Wars had the Millenium Falcon; Star Trek had its Enterprise and Mass Effect? Well we have the Normandy! Much like Shepard, the Normandy is destroyed at the start of the game.  So being given the keys to a shiny new one came as a pleasant surprise, especially as it becomes such an important part of the final fight. Exploring its decks (which you will do, at length) never becomes a chore, you become as attached to that ship as you do its crew.

The Geth

Another remnant of the first game that seems initially to come up a little short changed by the sequel is the Geth.  Painted as mere servants of the original Reaper, Sovereign, they not only remain a credible threat in Mass Effect 2, but you also get dragged into their civil war.  The masterstroke being Legion, a Geth who joins your crew - the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I’m dying to see how this factors into Mass Effect 3.

Space Hamster

You know it. I know it. Space Hamster stole the show.  The best purchase I’ve ever made on the Citadel.

What are your favourite bits of this intergalactic epic?