I'm sure there was a ton of work needed to make this game, but there is probably more that could be done to finish it.
There are many things to like about Mass Effect, from the high detailed graphics, user interface, and the first person shooting to the missions and storyline. The graphics and user interface are a huge technological breakthrough for the RPG genre. My favorite was the ability to create the main character to look as near as I could get to myself. That alone helped to immerse me in the game. Oftentimes, a cut scene would make me jump back while thinking, "Geeze that's me!" That was really fun. The user interface was also really nice in the effect that you really picked the tone or the mood of your responses and the actual scentence or action was along the same lines and sometimes surprising.
The first person shooting was also a nice touch. Who doesn't like to mix it up a little in their video games anyway? Mass Effect's first person shooting was well done and gives the player much needed control in an action game, but while doing it during an RPG is even more amazing.
As always Bioware had an interesting story and missions, but here is where my opinion starts to turn sour. First off, you can't interact with your party members while outside of the ship. You can talk to them, but you get the generic, oftentimes non-specific, responses. The personal storylines don't seem to come out when you are out on missions and your supporting cast IS TRULY supporting with minor statements, but nothing earth shattering. In KOTOR, certain characters in the party had an affect on the outcome or what happened on the missions. With ME, only the skills of the party members may affect wether or not you can get into a locked crate. The other thing about the storyline that irked me was that the responses of the crew didn't change unless the main plot had been advanced and if the crew member wasn't a NPC, but instead just dressing for the ship, they almost never changed their responses. To me that's just a lack of putting the time in to make the game entertaining. This is a fatal flaw, because it really made you feel like you were the ONLY character in this story. In KOTOR the NPC's had many lively discussions that were advanced often and they ALL had their own main story, but in ME there is only really one or two stories that are of any relevance. One other quick note, if you finished a mission, it didn't change the little mission reminders on other planets. For example, you finish a mission in another solar system at the beginning of the game and several times much later in the game you are being told of the problem you fixed in that system, which obviously is no longer a problem. In KOTOR, when that problem was fixed and you stumbled across another character in the game, they would acknowledge that you were the guy that fixed it, not tell you about it again.
Along with the lack of character development, there was little to no world development. Many of the solar systems were imaginative, but there would only be one planet to land on and that planet wasn't much different than the others...bleak, very little to no life, no pubs or towns to explore. Each planet you'd land besides a few, you'd get in your land rover and drive to a spot to find a new mineral or metal, then drive to another spot and salvage some fallen satellite, then find some debris or transponder and salvage that, and then go to the one spot that had a building or cave, which was the same on every planet, and fight some bad guys and get more equipment. B-O-R-I-N-G!! I mean at first it was alright, but after the 15th planet it becomes pretty lame. The planets that did have a new environment to explore kept you from really enjoying it by having very few if any side missions that would enhance your abilities or your equipment. Those planets were pretty straight missions that kept you from sticking around and seeing the sights. Also, oftentimes you couldn't go back on your ship and change out your party so once you picked your party you were stuck with them and there was no going back.
Supposedly, this is the first of a trilogy. Hopefully, since they have all of the hard stuff figured out, graphics, engine, and design, they can go on and really make the next two games great ones. I still recommend this game, but if you were hoping for a game as great as KOTOR or Oblivion, you'll be sadly disappointed.