So I attempted to play Mass Effect, and got bored very quickly. It seems to be like any other TPS and didn't offer much to me. The graphics are great and as well is the story. But, I couldn't find myself to grab attention to the game. I got bored very quickly. The controls and customizable characters were great features. I wish I could like this game but I just can't. Call me crazy, but I just don't like this game.

I'm not going to say that this game is bad, it just doesn't know what it wants to be. The story is dood but the way it is told is better. Dialogue trees are pretty cool, but you rarely see your ever see your choice in dialogue affecting the
world(s). The leveling is fair. You barely notice a difference when you level a stat unless you level dialogue or hacking, etc. Exploration is also not fun at all. In this way the rpg elements are not a full blown Oblivion, but hold their own. The combat has some fun gameplay. The controls are floaty. It is fairly fun to go into combat but you get 4 weapons the whole game. Yes you get upgraded versions of them, but the way you play with them stays the same. In this way the shooting is not a full blown Halo or Gears. Overall, the game is good, but critics seem to have more of a taste for it than regular gamers.

This may be my favorite next gen game I've ever played. Where to begin....

Graphics: Character models are exceptional, looking very real. Their is a cool film like grain over the visuals that make it feel as if you are watching an epic Sci Fi movie. The environments are nicely detailed and very diverse. The character models are seriously amazing, though.

Sound: Quality voice acting. I love how conversations branch, and every outcome leads to a very well voice acted line. The music is cool too. You can almost feel the ship take off when you hear it's engine roar.

Story: The Story is the amazing tale of the human race trying to earn it's place in the galaxy all while an evil alien named Saren is trying to bring an ancient race of destruction back to unleash chaos on all that is organic. It is compelling and gripping to the end.

Gameplay: I was suprised how fun the 3rd person shooter/RPG action was. It's like playing Gears, but with magic and RPG like skills. It's a blast all the way through and it it's cool how different ammo effects different enemy types.

Overall: Don't miss this game! If you own a 360, you owe it to yourself to buy this game!

Unfortunately, the game isn't quite as good as either Knights of the Old Republic or Halo, but it's close enough and hella fun. Easily the best RPG I've played this gen, and I highly recommend this game for fans of either shooters or RPGs. I never really liked just clicking on an enemy, ordering my character to attack, and then sitting back and watching the action unfold in RPGs. Thankfully Mass Effect lets you take a more active role with the combat and plays like a very basic Halo or Gears of War. The RPG elements are just like KOTOR and fairly deep for a console RPG. There's a lot of fun side quests on different planets, but unfortunately they're all cut from the same mold. There's also a lot of loading, texture pop-in, and other strange minor glitches, but the game is good enough that they're quickly forgotten and forgiven.

I have been playing RPGs since Forever. Love of the genre is a major understatement, but Bioware's Mass Effect had me hook, line and sinker. Where to begin. The character customization had depth and variety. Creating my Avatar was a breeze. The hardest part was choosing how she looked and how many times I was going to replay this game just to create more of them. Controls were sharp and pretty responsive although I did notice some slowdown if alot was going on on-screen. The visuals are to die for, light years ahead of the fantastic KOTOR series. Story wise the pacing was pretty smooth and it would be a shame if you didn't dig deep enough to learn about your crew (Wrex is unbelievably great and Saren can be perceived as tragic). Audio kept up with the action on-screen to create intense and engaging ambiance. Personally I would have liked more planets to survey and land on but that's just me the 40 or so hours you will spend may be enough for you but I could have played for a couple of hundred hours (but I'm kind of nuts like that). 2 words, Get It!