Between working, being a husband, and raising 2 children I have finally managed to finish Mass Effect and I have to say that this is by far the best gaming experience that I have had in years!!!!

From top to bottom Mass Effect delivers pretty much on everything they promised. Gameplay is terrific with, at least for me, a very easy to use interface with regards to upgrading your squads attributes, and managing your squads equipment. The use of the shoulder buttons to control your weapons and biotic powers did take some time getting used to, but after a few hours into the game it pretty much becomes second nature to use.

Bioware have done also done an incredible job in making sure that each character within your group (except Kaiden, I just couldn' t stand that guy) has their own unique personality. Each has their own background that you just can' t help but end up almost caring about where they came from, what they are doing out in the galaxy before you find them or they find you, how they got to where they are, and where they will go in the future (most likely they all have contracts to come back for Mass Effect, LOL).

Now what makes this game, for me at least, the best game I have played in years is the story. I have read reviews online and comments on other forums in which people say that Lost Oddysey is more of an interactive movie than a game. While this may be true as I have not had a chance to play the game yet, Mass Effect can be put into this category as well. From beginning to end, you really get the feeling that you have been put into the Star Role in an Epic Sci-Fi movie. The storyline has been together better than most Hollywood attempts in recent years have been at making an Epic Sci-Fi movie. I have played a lot of games in which the story has jumped around so much, that I feel that I miss alot of stuff that is important to the plot. Mass Effect guides you through its story perfectly. You can really see the time, effort, and skill from Bioware which isn' t surprising at all. Instead of building a story around a game, they build the game around a great story. Good on ya!!!!!

On the graphical side, Mass Effect ranks right near the top this gen so far in my books. While some of the female human character' s faces do look a little bland, the detail that has been put forth in the environments, the human male characters, and alien races are spectacular to say the least. My only real complaint would be the shadowing on the faces of the characters can be a little annoying as they flicker quite a bit, but this is something that can easily be overlooked once you are pulled in by the story. One little thing I did want to mention that blew me away is something very small that I am not sure anyone noticed. I was on a side mission on a planet with a Blue Dwarf Star very close to the planet. Now everytime I am dropped in the Mako, I always take a moment to look around the environment because I like to see how " Pretty" it all is. Now I looked up into the sky to look at the Blue Dwarf Star, and I could see the surface of the planet moving like lava across it' s surface. Maybe it is something small and unimpressive to some of you, but for me I was absolutely blown away that Bioware took the time and effort to include something so small into their game.

Now I know this isn' t as good a review that we get from Eddie and Majik, but I just finished this fantastic game and needed to post my impressions before my brain loses them. All in all a great gaming experience from top to bottom. 9.5/10.

Wow! That' s encouraging! Maybe I should start playing it!

Of course I also just got Lost Odyssey, Folklore, DMC4 and Uncharted!

I' m agreeing with you pretty much with you on this Canada. I' ve nearly finished the game (I had to take a break to satisfy a cod4 craving), but this has absorbed the time I' ve had available for gaming since xmas. While you' re right the facial shadowing can be a bit glitchy, graphically it still is fantastic. I also think (and I' m prepared for getting shot down by some on this) that it is a better and more rewarding third person squad shooter than games such as GRAW and Gears.

My only worry is that I' m going to have to play through this again at least twice to get everything. I' ve played currently as a pargaon tech specialist; so now need to try as some sort of psychopathic a-hole and see how that plays out.

One wonders if bioware are working on kotor3 they can' t go too far wrong with taking ME and shoving a couple of lightsabres in.

Well I' d say

http://games.kikizo.com/reviews/xbox360/masseffect_p1.asp

Other than that I finished it twice, however I thought I was playing on hardcore as I changed it in the options, only to discover when I played as the same character second time it had saved the in game option of medium difficulty. It was a bit of a breeze

I' ve given it to a friend just now but I' ll go back and play as a biotic or tech character as I was just a soldier the first time.

Just curious, when you all play these games in which your character is presented with moral choices and you have the opportunity to be a character somewhere on a scale of saint to a******, what do you prefer to do? Do you play basically as you would if it were a real life situation? Or do you indulge in doing things that you would never do?

Just curious, when you all play these games in which your character is presented with moral choices and you have the opportunity to be a character somewhere on a scale of saint to a******, what do you prefer to do? Do you play basically as you would if it were a real life situation? Or do you indulge in doing things that you would never do?

I do whatever involves the most ass kicking. For the main quest I like to go after the bad guy, just to show them who' s boss. However, whenever some poor fuc.k needs my help I like to take a giant shit on their day. " Help I' m trapped" " What? GTFO of my way" , *pulls trigger*.


What about you Zoy?

I usually play it through as naturally as possible to begin with. Not necessarily as myself, but picking what I think will get the best outcome.

Then during the 2nd playthrough I see what happens if I' m a complete bastard. It usually becomes completely absurd and falls apart, even in mass effect, when you say stuff like " Arg, I hate you all, I wish you would all die horrible deaths" , and then the next line be forced to co-operate to advance the story the way it was written.

It' d be groundbreaking to create a truly free conversation structure, that you can take where you want.

I tend to just play as my self, which is to say... a saint to be revered through the generations! Just kidding, but it' s true that I actually feel kind of uncomfortable playing as a scumbag. The problem is some of the funniest things happen when you take the scumbag approach!

I find that problem too - I just can' t play star wars games as a dark sider because I just can' t be that nasty to anyone - Same thing with mass effect. I' m going to try next time though and force myself just to see how some people react.

Ornodeal and zoy, embrace the dark side of the force, it' s within you , you cannot escape your destiny... you cannot...

I played both KOTOR games as a Sith (theyhave the better powers) but ME definetely works better if you play a good guy.