This is another game that totally exceeded my expectations. Essentially, it is a role-playing game where your skill as a gamer takes the place of dice. You have levels, classes, stats and equipment, and they do define your character, but in the end it's you that controls movement and combat, and for me it works great. You get a lot of freedom to explore the setup; there are a lot of different planetary systems to travel to, and you are encouraged to visit them all. Every location holds some reward, and some secondary quests can be unlocked this way. Unfortunately, most planets look the same, with only basic colors and mountain steepness that change from place to place.
When you are exploring, you usually control a 6-wheeled tank reminiscent of the space buggy from Moon Patrol. When things get close and personal, you get a simplified version of Rainbow Six Vegas: two members of your crew always accompany you, and you can give them basic commands or even directly control their… more »

This is another game that totally exceeded my expectations. Essentially, it is a role-playing game where your skill as a gamer takes the place of dice. You have levels, classes, stats and equipment, and they do define your character, but in the end it's you that controls movement and combat, and for me it works great. You get a lot of freedom to explore the setup; there are a lot of different planetary systems to travel to, and you are encouraged to visit them all. Every location holds some reward, and some secondary quests can be unlocked this way. Unfortunately, most planets look the same, with only basic colors and mountain steepness that change from place to place.
When you are exploring, you usually control a 6-wheeled tank reminiscent of the space buggy from Moon Patrol. When things get close and personal, you get a simplified version of Rainbow Six Vegas: two members of your crew always accompany you, and you can give them basic commands or even directly control their special powers. You can take cover behind obstacles and choose from a several weapons, depending on what the situation calls for.
There is ample room for improvement here. Pathfinding is weak at best, with squad members sometimes refusing to move when you command them to go somewhere, or getting stuck against the most irrelevant objects. Their AI is lackluster, and they frequently get in trouble when they shouldn't. Another minor demerit comes from the cover system. It kicks in automatically when you approach a suitable object, but it would be better to let you control it explicitly as it sometimes is a nuisance and slows you down when you would want to run, and sometimes it doesn't work as expected, leaving you exposed. But at the same time I really enjoyed combat and the variety of tactics you can employ, depending on your skill set and your allies'. You have combat powers, plus technical and psionic skills. I never got bored along two playthroughs.
I'm very impressed by the SF background. If you take the time to read the notes on your codex, you'll realize that the good guys at Bioware have invested plenty of time to create a believable and coherent universe, rather than go for the generic space opera setup and forget about details. These notes are not directly related to the game, but they really helped me feel inside the game.
I also liked the cinematics and the space music themes a lot. This is a game with very high production values. To best enjoy it, I suggest you go for the hardcore difficulty, which is unfortunately locked the first time you play. Don't worry too much at first: the game gets gradually easier as you progress, because your equipment improves at a higher rate than your opponents' skills. Also, I suggest you don't go for the pure non-combat classes, as they are less fun to play. Soldier or vanguard give you plenty of variety but also allow you to be the centre of the action, while a pure biotic heavily depends on his squad mates and slows the pace of the game (I haven't tried out ALL classes though).
I won't go into the details about the sad DRM scheme they decided to employ for this game, but it prevents me from giving a full star rating. I suggest you make sure to read about it before you buy the game, in order to make an informed purchase.

Just finished Mass Effect and all i can say is this is a jaw dropping game!

From the top, everything you say and do really does seem to shape and mold the storyline - making you carefully pick your words. Its incredibly immersive, and will captivate you (it did me anyway!) for hours and hours on end.

The storyline is, admittedly, a little weak - but its very easy to work with. It feels 100% dynamic all the way through - you even face tough descisions deciding wether members of your team live or die. It twists and turns all the time - making this an incredibly more-ish title.

Graphically, Mass Effect is outstanding. Facial and body movements on characters are all synched to correspond to whats going on in the environment. Vast amounts of explorable world across loads of solarsystems boast epic, exciting and interesting atmospheres and climates. Mass effect will demand a little more of your machine than todays average, but its not too hungry.

You may be thinking… more »

Just finished Mass Effect and all i can say is this is a jaw dropping game!

From the top, everything you say and do really does seem to shape and mold the storyline - making you carefully pick your words. Its incredibly immersive, and will captivate you (it did me anyway!) for hours and hours on end.

The storyline is, admittedly, a little weak - but its very easy to work with. It feels 100% dynamic all the way through - you even face tough descisions deciding wether members of your team live or die. It twists and turns all the time - making this an incredibly more-ish title.

Graphically, Mass Effect is outstanding. Facial and body movements on characters are all synched to correspond to whats going on in the environment. Vast amounts of explorable world across loads of solarsystems boast epic, exciting and interesting atmospheres and climates. Mass effect will demand a little more of your machine than todays average, but its not too hungry.

You may be thinking its all story based chatter, but there is Shooter side to mass effect. Highly customisable weapons, armour and equipment makes the combat situations very satisfying - knowing your filling your enemy with the Sheild bypassing toxic rounds you purchased earlier!

For those who like to collect stuff, this games for you aswell, constantly finding upgrades and additions to your teams weapons and kit.

Another thing i've noticed with Mass Efffect is (most of) the characters are actually interesting - you feel inclined to talk to your squad and ships crew about their personal issues; the ongoing racial disuptes, and their thoughts on missions.

Mass Effect should definitely, definitely not be missed by anybody with a decent taste in games.

Picking up on a couple of negatives (as i always do!), it was a shame to learn you cannot continue once you have completed the game, maybe finish the side missions etc. But in Bioware's defence - Mass Effect 2 is on the way! I'd also suggest that the games fairly short - maybe 20 hours of gameplay if your really explored.

Overall:
Graphics: 9/10
AI: 8/10
Characters: 10/10
Storyline: 7/10
Gameplay (action): 8/10
Gameplay (role-play): 9/10
Overall: 9/10

Near perfect!

Ran very well on the following (stuttered slightly during the final battle - highly demanding on your system)

Nvidia Geforce 8800GT
AMD Athlon62x2 4600+
1.5GB RAM

Thanks for reading!