I just picked up the Mass Effect Trilogy for the PS3 (as I don't have an Xbox). After hearing how great the series is I've been looking forward to giving it a shot. :)

So what I'm asking here is, since I know very little, what should I be aware of going in?

What are the pros/cons to different classes? Pros/cons to Male/Female Shepard? Thoughts on custom Shepards?

Those are about the only questions I know to ask... So maybe there's more information I should know. I'd love some good advice. :) And please - no spoilers, as I know virtually nothing about the series... Though with all the chatter about how the trilogy ends, I'm a little concerned. As an aside, is there anyone out there that really likes how it ends or was at least satisfied? (Again, please no spoilers - thanks!)

I usually always went with the solider. Other classes become viable once you get to Mass Effect 3. Choosing a class other than solider in 1 and 2 just makes the games needlessly harder.

I had the most fun in ME1 playing as a sniper, I sometimes go for an Adept, but that means the beginning of the game can be catastrophically hard but makes you pretty much invulnerable later. For 2 and 3 I implore you to play the Vanguard class, because it gives you the charge-ability, which makes your character fly into an enemy (from a pretty good distance too!) which hurts them and recharges your barrier.

And play as a woman. The lady who does female shepard is kickass, and if you're gonna spend dozens of hours looking at the back of a character, make that character a pretty lady.

Male/Female is down to 3 things I guess: 1) Do you prefer a female or male protagonist? 2) Jennifer Hale does FemShep's voice, Mark Meer does BroShep's voice. 3) Depending on your gender selection, different love interests will be available to you.

Not a fan of Custom Shepards, especially with teh disonance you may feel watchig marketing and other footage of other people's Shepard. (though, I can see why you would want to play a Custom Shepard, certainly much more "yours").

Unfortunately, classes changed a lot between ME1 and ME2, and I don't exactly remember how they played in the first game. Overall, playing a Soldier makes the games act much more like Shooters though. Adepts can be a lot of fun in ME3, once you figure out combos/biotic explosions.

... and don't care too much about what anyone says on here, just start the game and play as you want to. You don't really need to know anything. You're just running the risk of spoiling the experience for yourself!

@Metric_Outlaw: Not true at all. Once you learn the class they make the game a better experience versus playing a soldier.

@Mike_Sandbag: Female Shepard vs Male Shepard is just your own personal preference. I chose female because I vastly prefer Jennifer Hale's voice over Mark Meer. I used a custom shep because I always like to customize, and the default choices looked boring to me.

I would suggest not using soldier. The other classes are way more interesting, and this isn't a game you just want to run and gun through. Adept is my favorite class, but use whatever sounds interesting to you. If you're used to something like Gears, the cover system in the first Mass Effect will take some getting used to, there's not really a snap to it.

I'm not sure how much, if any, the PS3 version fixes any bugs. Be prepared for occasional frame rate hit here and there. Mass Effect 1 has the best story of all three in my opinion, and it's a great universe to experience for the first time.

Biotics are fun. People will tell you they're shit in Mass Effect 2, but that's really only if you're playing on a high difficulty level. I liked Infiltrator in ME1 for Sniping/tech abilities (later on you'll be able to basically turn your sniper rifle into a rocket launcher thanks to ammo mods), go Vanguard and enjoy charging all over the place in ME2 & ME3 and mixing your abilities with a fellow biotic for fun effects. I can't imagine playing the series strictly as a shooter, while you still get access to cool abilities through your squadmates picking soldier and just playing the game exactly like Gears of War sounds painfully boring compared to lifting dudes in the air and sending them flying with throw etc

Don't pick a soldier, pick something with Biotic abilities or something with Tech abilities, the game is much more fun that way as far as I'm concerned. If you're concerned about the game being "needlessly harder" because you didn't choose soldier play on Normal difficulty, I don't get what the big deal is.

There are people out there who enjoyed ME3's ending, I did, myself, even before the extended cut. I won't say it doesn't have problems, but I wasn't enraged by it and actually liked it. On the internet it seems people like me are relatively few and far between, but I'd imagine it's more of a 50/50 thing.

@Metric_Outlaw said:

I usually always went with the solider. Other classes become viable once you get to Mass Effect 3. Choosing a class other than solider in 1 and 2 just makes the games needlessly harder.

I wouldn't listen to this guy.

If you want boring borderline sub-standard shooter gameplay at a game that isn't excellent at shooting choose shooter. You engage more with the universe if you try some biotics. Plus you NEED an Engineer in ME1 to unlock things, you could use Tali or heavily dump points in Garrus but the Engineer just gets better and better in later games.

Definitely don't choose standard soldier shepard, I mean I've hated all marketing for ME3 since the Shepard used just looks bland and generic compared to mine when you can make your own so unique looking. You want the personal experience? Make a custom shepard.

@Driam said:

I had the most fun in ME1 playing as a sniper, I sometimes go for an Adept, but that means the beginning of the game can be catastrophically hard but makes you pretty much invulnerable later. For 2 and 3 I implore you to play the Vanguard class, because it gives you the charge-ability, which makes your character fly into an enemy (from a pretty good distance too!) which hurts them and recharges your barrier.

And play as a woman. The lady who does female shepard is kickass, and if you're gonna spend dozens of hours looking at the back of a character, make that character a pretty lady.

Also ignore this, it's the dumbest reason I've ever heard to play a female in a game and it's insulting to hear it a lot. Besides it's a throwaway comment, the backside of the character is either mostly offscreen in combat in games and covered in weapons and androgynous looking armour. Some people say Femsheps VA is better but I'm working on a ME1 repeat playthrough now and I don't agree, she sounds like she has less tones and nuances to her voice than Manshep.

Though really it's such a small matter, really if you want choose a sex based on the potential romances. Think the ladies look pretty, take manshep, like getting it on with freaky aliens choose Femshep. There's a gay option in 3 for men and a lesbian option in 1 and 3 and humans and aliens for both sexes (though I think Femshep gets more alien partners than Manshep) .

@Mike_Sandbag said:

I just picked up the Mass Effect Trilogy for the PS3 (as I don't have an Xbox). After hearing how great the series is I've been looking forward to giving it a shot. :)

So what I'm asking here is, since I know very little, what should I be aware of going in?

What are the pros/cons to different classes? Pros/cons to Male/Female Shepard? Thoughts on custom Shepards?

Those are about the only questions I know to ask... So maybe there's more information I should know. I'd love some good advice. :) And please - no spoilers, as I know virtually nothing about the series... Though with all the chatter about how the trilogy ends, I'm a little concerned. As an aside, is there anyone out there that really likes how it ends or was at least satisfied? (Again, please no spoilers - thanks!)

Do not pick a soldier. EVER. The shooting is not what the game is known for so go for classes that allow you to shoot out powers like biotic or tech abilities. Every class has the ability to shoot a gun. Don't limit yourself to only shooting a gun. I played every game (1-3) as a biotic using class and I couldn't imagine using a soldier.

Beware of the technical issues that plague the first game, but don't give up on it.

Another push for Femshep, and a recommendation against playing as a soldier. Went that route initially and had more fun messing with my squad mates abilities than the shooting. Also, when you get too the point where you can pick which order to do the missions in the first game, do Noveria last.

If you're interested enough, I suggest picking up Lair of the Shadow Broker and From Ashes DLC when it comes time too also.

Default Shep looks so much better than anything you could possibly make in the character creator. Play the first game on normal.

Vanguard!

Fly to enemies! Explode their face with your shotgun! Toss them around with biotics! Roll face!

Custom Shepard!

Make your own hero! You're going to choose how they are personality wise anyways, why not choose how they look!

No going back!

Make your choices and stick with the consequences! Treat the world as a reality where loading your last save is mumbo jumbo hocus pocus! Iron Man that shit!*

*occassionally dialogue choices may deceive you; reloading a previous save in cases of genuine miscommunication is acceptable.

Don't play on too high a difficulty. You have a lot of Mass Effect in front of you, and you'll burn out quick having to play multiple sections over and over - unless you're into that sort of thing. Personally, I'm in it for the story, and shooting shit is just a way to set up the next story beat. The gameplay is fine, but really, it's a cover based 3rd person shooter.

Hey I just bought the Trilogy for PS3, I've beat them on 360 already but need an excuse to play through them again

Pro tip: Mass Effect 1 is significantly harder than the sequels. I'd say play ME1 on easy.

@TheHT said:

Vanguard!

Fly to enemies! Explode their face with your shotgun! Toss them around with biotics! Roll face!

Custom Shepard!

Make your own hero! You're going to choose how they are personality wise anyways, why not choose how they look!

No going back!

Make your choices and stick with the consequences! Treat the world as a reality where loading your last save is mumbo jumbo hocus pocus! Iron Man that shit!*

*occassionally dialogue choices may deceive you; reloading a previous save in cases of genuine miscommunication is acceptable.

Yeah, pretty much this. I played Soldier through 1 and 2, as I'm usually inclined to pick jack-of-all-trades classes, but you should definitely pick something that'll let/make you use biotics.

Pick either sex. Personally, I like the male Shepard's voice better--and I nearly always design my characters to reflect myself anyway--but your experience will be essentially identical whichever you pick. Find some dialog audio clips to see which VO you prefer.

And don't give up on ME1. I got bogged down about a third of the way through, but looking back it's one of my hallmark games of this generation. Quirky, problematic, frustrating at times, but, like Dead Rising, it must be experienced before this generation is finished.

@Mike_Sandbag: I want to recommend playing ME1 as an Adept. They become very powerful in that game. The only problem is how BioWare changed the power cooldowns in 2, and I'm assuming you will want to stick with the same character throughout. Adepts in ME1 could spam their powers pretty much all day long and throwing dudes around is surprisingly fun. You might be able to get to that point in ME2 eventually as well, but I don't know because I didn't like it and actually switched to another character.

@Metric_Outlaw said:

Choosing a class other than solider in 1 and 2 just makes the games needlessly harder.

This is categorically false. Everyone has their way of playing, of course, but certain classes are gamebreakingly good.

In my opinion, the notion of playing through Mass Effect without powers for yourself is ludicrous. It'd be like going back to Knights of the Old Republic and--after being proclaimed a Jedi--sticking zealously to using guns on the basis of logic that looks like, "Welp. The other dudes on my team are Jedi as well so I don't have to worry about it."

Read: The powers are the whole point. There's a direct correlation between the people who argue Mass Effect doesn't play well and the people who played through as a Soldier. The game has unfurled before you like an immense scroll a menagerie of wonderful super powers and you willingly avoid using any of them? Just because your party members can? Why are you even playing if you're on an active personal objective to not play the game?

I don't know, man. That logic has never held much stock for me. Again, I respect people and their varying playstyles. But, whew.

ALSO: In Mass Effect 1, max out either Charm or Intimidate. Regardless of class. You'll thank me later.

femshep's voice is good broshep's voice is actally microsoft sam in disguise. Nuff said.

I also recommend Femshep.

@SharkEthic said:

Don't play on too high a difficulty. You have a lot of Mass Effect in front of you, and you'll burn out quick having to play multiple sections over and over - unless you're into that sort of thing. Personally, I'm in it for the story, and shooting shit is just a way to set up the next story beat. The gameplay is fine, but really, it's a cover based 3rd person shooter.

For ME1 I would agree, because that game does a poor job teaching you the mechanics and some fights will get very frustrating if you don't know what you're doing. For ME2 however I recommend playing at least one notch up from Normal because they basically tuned Normal to be beatable by people who don't play many games. You can play as a "caster" class and still beat ME2 on Normal just using weapons, no problem, which is bad because then you're not encouraged to explore the interesting parts of the combat system. Even on Veteran most enemies don't have any additional protection layer, it kind of breaks the game IMO. In ME3 it doesn't really matter what you play on because the combat is stupid easy no matter what except for a few random difficulty spikes. They completely neutered Insanity.

@MEATBALL said:

Biotics are fun. People will tell you they're shit in Mass Effect 2, but that's really only if you're playing on a high difficulty level.

They're not shit even on higher difficulty levels. Adept is by far my favourite class in ME2 even on Insanity.

But yeah, DON'T PLAY SOLDIER.

@kyrieee said:

some fights will get very frustrating

That goddamned Matriarch Benezia.

Play however you want. The only tip I may have is to not make changes to Sheppard appearance, because a) it won't ever look any better as the custom on and b) it then gets fucked when going to the next game so you'll have to do it all over again and it never stays the same.

As far as I could tell, Female Shepard is just a rehashed Male Shepard. I recommend against playing as her.

I also don't recommend customising your appearance, as it will always go bollocky when transitioning to the next game (unless you go female, in which case it does this anyway).

I prefer female Shepard over the male counterpart because the voice acting is so much better from Jennifer Hale. Although I've played both ways and the romance options are more interesting for the male Shepard. If you want the "perfect" ending for ME3 you may want to switch to paragon at some point. I didn't do this and don't regret it.

You can switch classes between games, I went from a soldier to biotic. Biotic was my favorite by far, pretty much the range/wizard class in a standard RPG.

The games have a bottle neck in difficulty, after a few upgrades you'll begin finding the game really easy. I started ME2 on normal but eventually bumped it up to Insanity.

Your level also carry over so you may want to start the sequels at a higher difficulty if you want a challenge, but the main draw is the story. I would also go with stock appearance since importing can be a bit buggy.

There's a lot of game here but not as much as you think, ME1 ~15 hours, ME2 ~30 hours, ME3 ~20 hours and that's with a lot of fucking around exploring every dialogue tree.

Don't listen to anyone who tells you to play a soldier. Tech and Biotic abilities are really, really fun.

@Mike_Sandbag

definitely play as soldier in the first. the other classes are more useable in the next two games (aside from maybe adept in 3).

do all the side missions (that aren't just about collecting things) as they will expand and enrich the narrative of the world. some of the best parts in 2 are the loyalty missions. basically, don't rush your way through. take your time to converse with people, do the missions, and read the codex. you will get much more out of the games this way.

For the love of everything that is good, play as a Vanguard. I don't remember how they play in Mass Effect 1, but there's no way that anything can be more fun in 2 and 3 than throwing yourself at enemies and shotgunning them to death.

Also, your Shepard ain't no real Shepard unless your Shepard is female.

Never play as the Soldier class, it makes it less fun without have all the force powers and makes it play like any other third person shooter. Don't care about play evil or good just judge each decision individually or you will get into the act of only picking the good or evil choice everytime. Let Wrex Live. Also spend a while making shepard look how you want at the start of ME1, it's worth it in the long run, I had this Asian\Hispanic hybrid with a massive scar and Eminem hair it was my Shepard unlike the majority of people that use generic Shepard there are some creation guides to play as celebritys as well.

@musclerider said:

Default Shep looks so much better than anything you could possibly make in the character creator. Play the first game on normal.

I disagree, I spent over a hour creating my Shepard in ME1 and everytime the new one came out I had a massive smile on my face each time I saw him in the game again. I think you get more attached than just playing a cookie-cutter Shepard, it made bringing your custom shepard from game to game real awesome and you felt like you were bringing this character though games other than just decisions. It's a RPG make him look how you want.

Play whatever class you think sounds the most interesting. I prefer Adept or Vanguard in the first game, Vanguard or Engie in the second, and Vanguard or Shotgun Infiltrator (Mass Effect's version of the backstabbing assassin) in the third game. Soldier is pretty damn boring to me. It is effective in the first game, but I'd say Adepts are the most OP in it due to the ridiculous amount of crowd-control.

Don't play the first Mass Effect on Insanity unless you really really want that achievement. It's not fun on that difficulty (especially in the middle sections of the game before you get all the OP gear) because enemies just have way too freakin' much health (and lots of them have the Immunity ability, which makes them more resistant to damage for a while). You can spend a solid minute shooting at some enemies (mostly on side quest locations), while also hitting them with Warp and Neural Shock. I've played Mass Effect about a dozen times and only went a full game on Insanity on my last go at it. Hardcore is the perfect difficulty for it. Insanity is a slog.

Between your major missions in the first game, you'll be able to have new conversations with your squad members. Take advantage of this. It leads to good things. Also, new missions show up on the Citadel after you do a few missions, so you might want to return there.

And the most important advice: Do not collect Matriarch writings/Salarian IDs/Turian insignias. It's not worth it, unless you really like the Mako for some reason.

I'd personally second a lot of the things that have been said here. I played adept (biotics guy) and had much more fun with that stuff than I would have if I had played soldier.

But in general, I'd say don't let anybody tell you how to play Mass Effect. A lot of the fun of that series comes from making your own decisions and living with the consequences of those actions.

@Metric_Outlaw said:

I usually always went with the solider. Other classes become viable once you get to Mass Effect 3. Choosing a class other than solider in 1 and 2 just makes the games needlessly harder.

I disagree. I went with a soldier my first time through, which was fun and I think it's a great way to start. However, after playing through with a Vanguard I don't think I'll ever go back to "just guns".

OP, if you're feeling a little more adventurous I do suggest going with something other than a soldier.

Anyway, in all three games there are two different bars - Paragon and Renegade. You fill up the Paragon bar by picking the top right choice at all times, and the Renegade bar by picking the bottom right choice. If you don't want some bad stuff to happen, or if you want to get "the best" endings to certain scenarios, then you have to concentrate fully on one or the other. The first time I played through the series, I just haphazardly picked whichever one I thought was the right one and it ended in me having to make some choices in the games that I didn't want to make because the ones I wanted were grayed out because those bars weren't full. It's an unfortunate way of doing those things, but it's there and you need to stick with one.

Finally, fill up Charm and/or Intimidate in the first game. I know, they seem useless, but do it.

@killacam said:

@Mike_Sandbag

definitely play as soldier in the first. the other classes are more useable in the next two games (aside from maybe adept in 3).

What's wrong with Adepts in 3? They removed the ME2 mechanic of giving everyone armor / barrier / shields so biotics are better than ever. Well, not quite as OP as in ME1. Singularity in ME1 = LOL

Sniper in the first one, Vanguard in 2nd and 3rd one.

In the third game, you can use powers all the time using certain combos.

I'm going to say don't play soldier. It's the most boring thing you could possibly do.

@Bourbon_Warrior that custom face is fucking awesome. Barack Shepard, intergalactic peacekeeper!

All I would say is don't collect any of those insignias, medallions, or writings. I don't think they do much for you in ME1 and jack shit in 2 and 3.

Class wise, do what you feel. I played Soldier all the way through the first time and I love the games. This choice is definitely up to you.

I played as a soldier in the first game and it was okay. Definitely enjoyed playing a Vanguard in 2. I always played as male Shepard because I wanted to romance female characters. But if you want the other way around then choose that. I played as the default Shepard because he looked better than anything I could make.

As far as other advice, do the mission where you get Liara first in the first game. You'll get to choose between 3 planets and one will be to find a Asari scientist. That is the one. In the second game do every side mission you can before you go to the derelict reaper. You'll know it when you get there. I won't say any more to avoid spoilers but just trust me. Take the time to talk to your crew after every main mission. That's how you develop romances and in the second game its how you get loyalty missions which are super important. Finally, until the third game it is wise to either go straight good or straight evil as you'll want to max out one side or the other by the end of each game if you want to talk your way out of tough situations. Some things can go really bad if you don't have your morality bar maxed out. In the third game doing a bad thing doesn't lower your good bar and vice versa. Still do mostly one or the other, but in that game it's okay to mix things up a bit more.

Forgot the most important thing. BEST ADVICE IN THREAD:

In Mass Effect 1 you'll drive a vehicle called the Mako when you explore planets. The Mako has a cannon on it that does much more damage than your normal guns so you are going to automatically try to take out turrets and the four legged Geth (The giant tank-like ones) with it. Don't. What you need to do is shoot out all of the shields on these enemies with the cannon, then get out and finish the enemy off with your gun. Why? If you use the cannon you get as much experience as you would taking out a normal soldier with Shepard. If you use Shepard you'll gain 5x as much experience or more. This is the ONLY way to max out your character in one playthrough. Since levels carry over to the next game, you want to be maxed out going into Mass Effect 2. So be sure to use this technique. Best advice I can give. Will make the whole series easier on you. If you don't do this you will likely not max out Shepard in any of the three games on your first playthrough.

Vanguard is super fun in 2 and 3 once you understand how amazing biotic charge is. Sentinel was my insanity class due to survivability

I kind of discourage soldier in this series just because the biotic powers give it a more unique feel. But whatever floats your boat. Assault rifles are effective, after all.

And I really liked 3 and even enjoyed the ending. Best in the series by far, imo. You lose some of the character stuff from 2 but the gameplay and main narrative more than make up for it. 3's focus is more on reuniting with old friends, while 2 is where you first got to know em. Probably why people preferred it.

Female shepards voice starts out really good, but I think it degrades over the 3 games. Male Shepards voice starts out really monotone and Canadian as hell, but gets better over the 3 games. By 3 I think Male Shepards voice is better.

In 1 soldier is a pretty good choice, but in 2 all of the other classes become more unique and solider becomes the most boring.

Vanguards aren't great in 1, by 2 they become a really fun berserker class, and in 3 they are so strong that they are broken.

Infiltrators are probably, over all, the most consistently good/fun class.

The character creator is pretty bad and you should just not sweat it and stick with the default heads.

Try using the cyro ammo. I got immense joy at freezing enemies then melee attacking or biotic slamming them til they shattered. Used less ammo as a result. Vanguard or Adept are really fun classes. Hope you enjoy the series.

@ExplodeMode said:

Female shepards voice starts out really good, but I think it degrades over the 3 games. Male Shepards voice starts out really monotone and Canadian as hell, but gets better over the 3 games. By 3 I think Male Shepards voice is better.

In 1 soldier is a pretty good choice, but in 2 all of the other classes become more unique and solider becomes the most boring.

Vanguards aren't great in 1, by 2 they become a really fun berserker class, and in 3 they are so strong that they are broken.

Infiltrators are probably, over all, the most consistently good/fun class.

The character creator is pretty bad and you should just not sweat it and stick with the default heads.

I couldn't agree more with this entire post. I enjoyed both Male and Female shepard but prefer male Shepard as a character. It probably doesn't help I don't particularly like Jennifer Hale's voice either.

I played Mass Effect 1 as a Vanguard and while I Loved it the final boss on insanity is so insanely tough that I eventually switched to Infiltrator and never looked back. I wish I would have stuck with Vanguard as it turned out to be a pretty awesome class in 2 and 3 but having finished given the choice I switched to Infiltrator and loved every minute of it. There are still some hard fights but I found it was easier to take out whole squads of units before they even got to my team and coupled with some biotic or tech's just made some hard fights trivial. No way I would have S-ranked 2 or 3 without it.

Infiltrators are nice in the first one due to all the locked chests, lockers, and safes that you have to hack. Also maxing that Electronics and Dampening yourself is nice and it means you can bring better teammates to augment your deficiencies.

Also a note of reminder Mass Effect 1 does not have a true aiming system. All to hits are base off dice rolls and even aimed in at something that you clearly have a headshot on you can still miss. It doesn't happen very often but it's annoying when it does.

Jennifer Hale did use a bit too much aspiration in her voice in ME2/3, especially for the Renegade replies, I'll give you that, but I still think she's much better than Meer.

Thanks for all the different insights!

I'm leaning towards playing as a woman because I'm actually quite a fan of Jennifer Hale. I loved her as Sheena in Tales of Symphonia and have picked up on her voice in games and shows many times since then. Though I'm curious about the romantic interests. Is there a way to know who they are in each game for both male and female Shepard? Do they spell it out or is it more subtle?

And as for classes, does the game (the first in particular) give a good synopsis of what each of them do?

Thanks again and feel free to keep giving advice to both this question and my original post. :)

@Mike_Sandbag said:

Though I'm curious about the romantic interests. Is there a way to know who they are in each game for both male and female Shepard? Do they spell it out or is it more subtle?

Romance-able characters are usually in your party (though in Mass Effect 3 there are exceptions to this). Generally speaking, you can romance most party members of the opposite sex. And if you're female, at least one of the same-sex aliens will be romance-able. You can wiki the specifics if you're into scouting it out further. Or someone will come in with a more detailed list. You'll probably identify a character within the first few hours that you'll want to bump uglies with, and that character will likely be totally down. So I wouldn't worry. The key is conversing with them all the time between missions.

@Mike_Sandbag said:

And as for classes, does the game (the first in particular) give a good synopsis of what each of them do?

Yes. Though, in the first game, the classes are a bit less obviously varied than in the sequels. It's mostly just a matter of Tech vs Biotics (The Force, basically) vs Guns, with some altered values here and there. Classes branch out away from each other pretty substantially by Mass Effect 2. You really can't go wrong with any of your choices, so don't trip over it.

EDIT: If you're playing female in Mass Effect 1, your romance choices might be pretty slim, now that I think about it. Someone, I'm sure, will opine with a bit more accuracy.

I'd go with any class other than Soldier and avoid FemShep. Don't be part of that silly hive mind. They love to label themselves. Honestly though, it's mostly what you want your romance options to be.

@Mike_Sandbag:

I guess it's a testimony to ME's uniqueness there's so many varying opinions.

There's not so much a rundown but you can see bars rating the characters on Tech/Biotic/Combat and those are easy to do.

Tech is about control, with high tech you can hack AI enemies and turn them on one another, destroy shields, 'silence' enemy powers, paralyse enemies. It's also in charge of healing and repairing/unlocking things so you'll get less loot without a good tech person.

Biotics are crowd control spells essentially, you can hold enemies in place, launch them back through the air or just let them float around helplessly. It also has a really useful barrier ability which stacks another layer of biotic 'shields' on top of your current ones.

Combat determines your efficiency with guns. Every weapon has an ability that allows you to shoot faster, more accurately and with higher damage for a brief time, though I think this effect varies depending on the weapon (Sniper rifle's ability only makes one REALLY strong shot I think). It also will give you access to the better heavier armours, the damage reducing immunity ability and adrenaline burst which resets the cooldowns on your "more dakka" abilities.