Oh, was that disorienting? Were you expecting to talk about Samara? You see, the ME2 plot pacing is about as smooth as a box of nails on a Slip 'n Slide.
Poor pacing aside, the overall plot and writing have some problems. Consistency is one of them. For example, whether or not people know Shepard is alive shifts dramatically depending on the conversation. Some people react like they've seen a ghost. Other people act like dead people walking in their door is an every day occurrence.
Similarly, knowledge of the Collectors is treated much the same. They're described as ghost stories that most people don't believe, but then every other guy you talk to seems to know all about them. Also, if you let the Council die in ME1, the role of humanity supposedly shifted in the universe, and aliens hate humans on account of this. Past the intro, you will never hear this mentioned again, and aliens everywhere greet Shepard with open arms.
"Any alien shopkeeps wanna give me a nice-guy discount?"
This is the problem with having a massive writing staff, and it's also the problem with having big scale changes in a linear world. When you have tons of people writing on one project, it's sure to become fractured and inconsistent. And the game simply can't support consistently reflecting a large change, like the role of humanity shifting in the world.
Because all of the characters are optional, the Normandy has the strange sense that no one on it knows one another. What do Garrus and Tali think about being on a ship together again? How does Thane, a man who abandoned his son, feel about Grunt, a child-like killer? Who knows! These people have no interpersonal relationships whatsoever.
Then again, they don't really have relationships with Shepard, either. Bioware games tend to interpret 'character development' as 'learning a character's backstory.' The vast majority of your interactions will involve grilling people about their histories. Character histories should exist to drive who they are now, not to be the entirety of their personalities.
Now, as far as the plot itself, there isn't much to say at this stage in the game. The whole game builds up to a reveal story, so the majority of it is spent puttering around the universe with a question mark over your head. All that is clear for most of the game is that the Reapers are employing the Collectors who are employing some gangs to do... something that involves kidnapping humans.
And when you face the Collectors, Harbinger, a villain from an 80's cartoon, with start talking in your head. In all honesty, this villain could not be any more stereotypical and annoying if he tried. “I will show you true power!” Great. Maybe you should psychically connect to someone who didn't get his villainous dialog from Symphony of the Night's Dracula.
My favorite Intermission moment is when you bump into Ashley from ME1, and she proceeds to go ballistic about how stupid the flimsy motivations the game gives Shepard are. She was a shining, reasonable beacon in the cloudy mess of ME2.
Of course, you could have let Ashley die in favor of Kaiden in ME1. I didn't see this scene, but given how skin deep the changes in Bioware games are, this is how I assume it goes:
My favorite Intermission moment is when you bump into Ashley Kaiden from ME1, and she proceeds to go ballistic about how stupid the flimsy motivations the game gives Shepard are. SHe was a shining, reasonable beacon in the cloudy mess of ME2.
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