An ambitious rpg with a dissapointingly short story, Mass Effect is one of the most remarkable games of the year
it's fairly easy to get a good idea of what this game looks like, it uses the highley popular Unreal Engine 3, which is unfortunately deseigned for consoles, so be prepared for a lack of in game AA support and loads of texture pop in when you load a save game or enter a new level. The level deseign for the main quest missions is rather impressive, with incredible variety. Landscapes range from Desolate, frozen wastelands to lush, green environments, to massive urban cities. the smaller planets where side quests take place are mostly very barren and rocky, with a couple of points of interest scattered about the map. this is where the vehicle sections come in. you get to drive the MAKO, a kind of armored personell carrier of the future, with big bouncy tires and somewhat useless jets. now this thing handles like it only has one wheel. if you just tap a button to steer to the left or right, you will find your self doing a 90 degree turn. driving in a straight line is almost impossible, and you will be weaving all over the road completley out of control. the vehicle has 2 guns, a machine gun and a rocket launching thingy.
now lets get down to the gameplay. you will spend most of your time doing two things; shooting and talking. the dialogue is very well done, with extremely detailed facial animations, and superb voice acting. You are given a choice in what your character says, with a conversation wheel. usually the choices you are given have little outcome on what happens in the conversation, it just lets you decide how rude you want to be. it does, occasionally, have an impact on what happens, like about accepting quests, or deciding whether or not to kill someone. the combat is decent, with a somewhat buggy cover system, and weapons that overheat rather than use bullets. you can also use a number of biotic powers, such as lift or throw your enemies, which you can use your self, or order your squadmates to use. you can select your weapon from your inventory, and atttatch a couple of mods to it, which i didn't really find that helpfull until the end.
overall, Mass Effect is an incredible game, with a compelling story, amazing character development (i found myself connecting with some characters and hating others), and entertaining gameplay. i would reccomend this game to rpg and shooter fans alike, but i'd reccomend doing side quests earlier in the game, it's easier and will extend your experience.