2. I just loved everything about it. 3 was great as well, despite the ending and some dumb story beats. 1 comes in third, but that's not saying that it's inferior in any way, just that one of them had to take third. I prefer to take it in as a single giant experience.

3. Tightest gameplay, cool emotional story, great character moments, fun multiplayer, and a memorable ending. Good times.

2 > 3 > 1

While 3 was incredibly awesome and a great end to the trilogy, I preferred the 'gathering the team' aspect of 2.

ME1 has the best story, maybe not the best characters but they are still fairly good. I even like Ashley and Kaiden now since I've played the game 4 or 5 times. Also all the universe is just so cool and thats the game that introduced us to it. The style is also much sleeker than in subsequent games.

I also greatly prefer the combat since the assualt rifle can be modified so you never have to stop shooting and so that it is always pin point accurate. Put that on a adept and its the most fun i've had with physics based combat. I felt so overpowered even on the hardest difficulty because the adept could life people and you just keep shooting until they leave the the atmosphere. Also entering a room and using singularity on everyone is pretty cool. In ME2 and 3 you don't get the same godly power that the adept had in ME1.

ME1's side stuff (Mako, side dungeons) were absolutely horrible. I would strangle a goat if i had to play a completionist playthrough again.

ME2 on the other hand, showed you what exactly you needed to see and polished the hell out of those levels. It felt like the world is lived in, unlike ME1 where every planet no matter how many lightyears apart had the exact same buildings.

ME3... man I really wanted to like ME3. The side stuff just wasn't good. Repetition's there, but at least not BAD repetition like ME1.

Mass Effect 1 because of the awesome RPG mechanics.

ME1. Had a much cooler vibe to it, the whole 70's/80's early Sci-Fi stuff. Had an amazing soundtrack. Loved all the mechanics and the side-stuff. Loved all the characters. ME2 really lost me in a lot of ways (plot, pacing, amount of characters, overall tone). Never played 3.

BINARY DOMAIN

This is a really tough choice. I loved all three of the games.

@csl316 said:

3. Tightest gameplay,

@Nottle said:

In ME2 and 3 you don't get the same godly power that the adept had in ME1.

I thought that 3 had the tightest gameplay until i realized the weight system was exploitable to the point that you could start an imported character off at the beginning of the game with a fully evolved Double Throw with practically no cooldown, add to that Liara's singularity, and you're so overpowered you don't even have to take cover, just pour out a constant BAMF at enemies and watch them fly about. Fun for five minutes, until you realize the game has no comeback. This was on Insanity! It killed it for me.

anyone else experience this?

Mass Effect 2 because it is the only good one

I'll agree that ME2 had some better mechanics than ME1 and one of the best opening sequences ever. In contrast, until I finished ME3 I thought ME2 had a terrible ending. Looking back now, it still isn't great, but it is in no way as terrible as the writing in ME3. The quality of the writing and the story itself is a huge component for my choosing ME1 as the best. ME1 had the terrible Mako missions and the clunky inventory, but overall I liked it far more than the other two.

The one with Shepard in it. Just kidding, I go with ME 2. I don't have an Xbox or a gaming PC. I didn't get to play the first game. I had such an awesome time with ME 2. Getting into that universe for the first time, the characters and the power fantasy of playing as Commander Shepard. I consider ME 2 one of the best games I ever played. Finishing ME 3 and the way things were done - story, music, avoiding the reapers and the fetch quests - in that game was bit of letdown.

2 was probably better but I'll say 1 because it changed gaming for me. I have pushed 3 out of my memory.

I liked all of them for different reasons. I can't say I really like two over one or the other way around. Three was good but not on the same level.

I love Mass Effect 2, but I'm surprised it's beating the first game in this poll.

I voted Mass Effect 2 mainly because I think it's the greatest game in the series on the standpoint of all the characters and from a technical viewpoint; That first game will always have a special place with me, I still make a point to play through it every year. The entire series has been phenomenal however