A few flaws but overall superb game.
While creating your character you can choose variety of classes as I mentioned earlier, to start off on your adventure. If you're a shooter fan you can choose the soldier class which focuses on weapons. If you're into magic or stuff like that you can choose the Biotic, which lets you use powers to lift your enemy up in the air. Each classes has their own unique advantages and disadvantages. If I'm a Biotic I can use a pistol, but it just won't be that effective. When I'm a soldier I can't lift enemies off, but I can shoot a really powerful beam off my gun which the Biotics can't do. There are still many more classes like Techs which lets hack into enemy robots or overload their shields.
Unlike many RPG out there, this game is plays like a third-person shooter. There is actually cross hair and you can to run around in real time shooting enemies down like a normal shooter. The RPG part of the game is upgrading your character's states, customizing your weapon, exploring vast lands, buying/selling from shops, visiting cities, and all those aspects found in most RPGs.
There aren't that many different types of weapons, there are only the standard pistol, assault rifle, sniper rifle, grenades, and shotgun. Throughout the whole game you'll be finding the same type of gun, but a more stronger version of it. The cool part though is that you get to customize them with special powers. I can add a equipment to add poison to my bullets or have a sniper rifle with incinerator bullets.
Throughout the game you will be accompanied by your squad. You can only choose 2 out of 6 characters to follow you throughout the game and change them when you exit your ship the Normandy. Each squad member is capable to use their own power, depending on which class they're in. You can also change their armor, customize their weapons, change their weapons or armor, and upgraded to their states.
The combat in this game can get very intense in this game. During a fire fight you can hold the right bumper which immediately pauses the screen and open up a circle menu for you to select. In this menu you can choose the powers or weapons you want to use or your squad mates to use. The shooting is pretty solid and should appeal to shooter fans. The use of powers, healing, and supporting your squads with your powers should appeal to RPG fans.
The main part of the game though is the really depth dialog system. During each conversations you will be given multiple options of what to say to the characters you're speaking with. Each chose you choose flow through the conversation nicely and smoothly. The dialog is just the best thing in the game because of how well it is scripted and it sometimes feel like you're watching a movie. There is usually something bad you can say or something good you can say. This is all then stack up on this bar that is in your character menu. Paragon is based on all the good things you do and Renegade is based on all the bad things you do. This will heavily effect the gameplay and ultimately the story depending on what you do. There are some parts of the game that you need to make really hard decisions that will have a major effect on the story and have some severe consequences that will be further in the game.
If you been wondering if you can explore huge places then the answer is yes. There is tons of galaxies and planets to explore. To explore planets you will be traveling around on a vehicle which can be a little difficult to handle depending on the situation. There are also a handful of cities to explore. One of my favorite city is the Citadal which is a huge metropolis to explore. There are civilians who walks around the cities and talking to each other. The civilians can also provide you with side quests. There is tons of place to explore in the city like a bar, shopping center, a vast courtyard, and even a strip club. The disappointing thing for me is that the planets doesn't look that much different from each other. Most of them seems like a dessert plain with a few ground texture change, the weather, and the sky changes.
The graphics in this game is the best graphics I've seen on the 360. You can see everything from the sweat on the characters and the wrinkles. The expressions in the character's faces are superb and I haven't seen anything like it sense I first played Half Life 2. The texture on the environments and objects are also really well done. The shiny surface of the cities floor and walls makes the city looks really futuristic. There are also some vast objects in the game like a giant space ship which looks really epic and excellently detailed.
The sound is also superb and really makes this game nearly perfect. The soundtrack is amazing and it gives you that epic feel in some moments through the game. The intro music and the cutscene is really epic and if you see it you just know you're in for a treat. The dialog is really well done and the character voices fits each character very well. Again I haven't heard this good of a dialog sense I first played Half Life 2.
The replay value should keep you busy for a long time. The main quest will probably take you around 15 hours if you go straight through, but there are still many side quest to do which will add many hours to the game. If you're interested in achievements or want to see a different outcome in the story then you can choose to play through the game again with the same character you started on your previous file or start a brand new character. All of your states, weapons, equipments, and powers will be carry on to your next playthrough and even your squad will too. For some of the achievements you are require to start a brand new character because some achievements can only be only achieve in certain classes.
Overall this game is just amazing with just a few flaws which can be ignore. The story is one of the best I've heard in a video game and the cinematic is really dramatic. The epic scope and feel of the music and cinematic is something a gamer should experience. I would recommend this game to anybody who like squad base games, RPGs, shooters, anybody who is looking for a long game, and anybody who likes a good story. This is a game I'm crossing my fingers to be GOTY of 2007.