A rare RPG gem that doesn't quite work like an RPG
The premise to ME is that you are a commander in the Marines and end up becoming a Spectre (kind of like a super cop with diplomatic immunity), your job is to save the galaxy from an ex-Spectre named Saren. The way you accomplish your job is by gathering clues from side-quests and random missions that will help guide you to your later goals. The first thing that I noticed off the bat about ME is that is beautiful, I went as far to tell one of my friends that during certain parts of the game its prettier than Halo 3. The environments in the game are very, very diverse; although some of the planets are fairly bland (because they aren't areas for a main objective).
Although the game is in all technicality an RPG, the combat is a third-person shooter. The combat is solid and fairly easy to accomplish; you change weapons by using the left bumper and use abilities by pressing the right. There is an aim assist in the game and depending on the level of difficulty you'll have more assistance. The only thing that really sucks about the combat is that you only have 4 weapons to choose from. You have a pistol (which is actually useful in the game!), an assault rifle, a shotgun, and a sniper rifle. They each have their own unique traits and help in certain situations. The pistol is quite strong and accurate, which breaks the stigma of weak pistols in shooting games. The assault rifle for once is actually really innaccurate but at closer to medium range it can dish out a good plenty of damage. The shotgun is almost useless to me but certain people enjoy it, and for what it does it does well. The sniper is extremely hard to use simply because there is no single way to still the sights.
Your guns never run out of ammo which makes the combat a little less intense, they do overheat though. When a gun overheats it takes somewhere between 4-5 seconds to be useful again, which can mean death. It's very easy to steer clear of the overheating but it just happens sometimes. Another new thing to me is the way that you heal people in the game; you use a form of medicinal goo called medi-gel. You acquire it by buying it or getting it from fallen enemies. When an ally is low on health you simply walk up to him and press Y and volla! If an ally is knocked out then you simply wait and he eventually comes back to life, which is also kind of cheesy.
The leveling up in the game is fairly simple, just shoot and kill. The EXP is given to every party member, even those not in the shore party with you. Leveling up means that you gain health and that new abilities are unlocked. You are also supposed to gain what are called Talent Points but that has yet to happen to me. To gain EXP in a certain weapon you simply need to use it, although for some reason other guns will gain EXP at times. Equipping your crew is simply as well, you pick up items, go to your equipment menu and scroll through the different equipment options. You can equip new weapons at any time and new weapons are always compared to the one that you currently have on you. The same goes for armor and upgrades. Upgrades are a little confusing but once you understand it it becomes quite easy. You can upgrade the ammo that you have in the gun or the gun itself or other components; you can also upgrade your armor and grenades.
When not in battle the game is mostly talking and figuring out where to go next, which is a very simple task. The only major problem with this is that the action oriented missions are far and few between. You'll spend most of your time leveling up and earning credits (the monetary unit in the galaxy); while this is nice if you are an RPG fan, this is tedious if you are not. Meeting and talking to new people gives you EXP and credits sometimes; other times it rewards you with items and side-quests that can help you earn credits.
The main missions are mostly quite fun but a lot of times you'll be stuck for a while because the hallway you had to go through is hidden by fire or because you can't see where to go next. Half the time the missions don't even seem to have any real purpose to the story, but it ends up having relevence to the story.
The cut-scenes are well done with the fact that you can control what your main character says during the game. You are given 2-6 options most of the time and can effect whether you are good or bad or even the actions that you undertake at the end of a conversation. The only thing is that the dialogue is a little ridiculous at times and your options don't always come out the way they seem they will.
One of the most interesting things about ME is the character creation, it's much like Saints Row where it seems the list of things to do goes on forever. The only thing that would have been nice to have a little more control over the hair and facial hair features of your character. The NPC's in the game are interesting as well, there are several different species and races of aliens throughout the galaxy, all with their own background and story. This can make the amount of information to undertake confusing and tedious at times though. Overall, the characters in the game are well done, especially your crew.
The game isn't perfect though. During the game I have noticed several glitches such as my character getting stuck or the graphics not completely loading. The most annoying that I have encountered (only once) is when a sub-menu won't go away, thus making it impossible to play the game. There are other small glitches in the game and I have also found myself missing some scenes and even a boss fight was randomly skipped, but I will chalk that up to the fingerprint on the disk. Also the combat does get a little stale after a while, seeing as there isn't really much to it. The major thing that sucks about Mass Effect is that you know absolutely nothing about it when the game throws you into the first mission. There was no tutorial and no easy way to figure out the controls and how they relate to the game. The fact that the engaging missions can be far between is also another thing that would probably make several people want to stop playing the game to find something new to do. There isn't a whole lot in the game that keeps it REALLY refreshing.
All in all, Mass Effect is definatelly an amazing and unique game that takes new ideas and puts them to good use. Despite the small shortcomings of the game it is probably one of the best RPG's I've ever played. I would recommend any 360 owner to go out and buy this game.