Mass Effect is a much better game than Gamespots 8.5 lets on. A must buy for anyone with an XBox 360.
You play as a character named Commander Shepard. An interesting part of this game is the character customization. You can change his/her appearance, what there childhood was like, what there military background was like, during the game you can choose what they say, and you can also changes what powers/abilities your character has. Ths effects what other characters say to you, think of you, and also changes some of the missions that you can recieve.
In this game there are many races of alien species which are all unique. The character models of the aliens are amazing and the voice acting in this game is tremendous and it gives each civilization and character there own personality and characteristics.
The combat has a very interesting twist where you and your companions each have there own set of powers that can damage enemy shields, lift them high into the air, throw them back into the wall, etc. This feature allows battles to be more interesting and fun and can really help you get out of an intense battle alive.
Mass Effect didn't come in with too much hype but Bioware and Microsoft Game Studios delivered a very good game. In my opinion was the runner-up t ogame of the year behind COD4. I give it a 9.5.