One of the best games released this gen.
If you like shooters and/or RPGs and have not played this game you are probably also a little slow.. Mass Effect is one of the most fun and interesting games to come out in a long time. It might take some people a little while to get into this game, it starts off a little slow, but once you do it is epic. I have never played a game that actually had my emotions attached to some of the characters until I played Mass Effect.
The story is absolutely the best part of the game. It is ridiculously deep if you really want to get into it, and if you only do what is mandatory you will only scratch the surface. This is cool and all but the game really shines in character development. You feel like you get to know the crew you have and come to actually care about them. This is very powerful and makes the game engaging and sometimes even morally challenging.
While the story/character development are really what make the game as great as it is, the gameplay is pretty damn good too. I am not a huge RPG fan, but I really did enjoy leveling up and distributing skills to my squad in this game. The combat is also much more engaging since its not turn based. You almost feel like you are playing Gears of War with RPG elements.
With all of that said Mass Effect is nowhere near perfect. This game is VERY glitchy and definitely could have used more polish. You will also find your squadmates can be pretty dumb at times. Another big problem is the lack of variety in the side missions. Most have you go to an abandoned planet, drive in the NATO (which controls so badly its probably the worst aspect of the game), enter a bunker, kill bad guys, pick something up, repeat. Its also pretty lame that most of the planets the side missions take place on are completely empty.
It might sound like this game has alot of problems, and I guess you could say it does. Yet when you look at the game as a whole they don't really bother you at all. The story is so engrossing, and the game is so fun to play, you can overlook all the issues and have an amazing time with it. It is a masterpeice and I would recomend Mass Effect to anybody that owns a 360 or a PC that can run it.
