If I had to rate the different aspects of the game, I would put it in this order:
1). Story/characters -- both of these play into each other and combined makes Mass Effect one of the most immersive RPGs ever made -- and think about it, RPGs are many things but they're not typically "immersive" like an action shooter. The characters are quite memorable, especially your own party, who do offer up exchanges with each other at random moments, but mostly when you're in elevators for some reason. But when it happens, it's pure gold.
I'm at the 23 or so hour mark and I'm still pretty obsessed. The story is very well done, although there is the occasional melodrama that doesn't quite click (actually, I'm only really referring to one scene in particular that was like suddenly seeing B movie quality acting and lamenting in what's been so far a triple-A experience -- I dunno, some of you may not have a problem with it).
There is so much rich characterization and dialogue and exposition in this game. Bioware is really not afraid of giving you a ton of backstory (all of it is optional, and if you do explore the satisfyingly meaty dialogue trees, you gain a small amount of XP as incentive) to a very interesting universe. There is so much I could say here, but it's hard without giving up some spoilers so I'll refrain.
2). Graphics and ambience (including soundtrack) -- The graphics continue to be fucking insanely next-gen, despite occasional problems with slowdown and tearing, something Gears of War didn't really have much of a problem with if memory serves correct.
One thing to note is that I am playing Mass Effect off a "green disc", which is a pre-retail DVD that is sent to journalists. Green discs load much slower than retail discs and they have contributed to some of the jerkiness I've experienced. We ran into the same problem with the greens we sent out for Forza 2 as well, to the point where we actually considered sending them discs they can install to their debug HDDs.
Anyway, the game is jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and like I said in my earlier posts, you really can't do the sort of ambitious space opera type of scripts (where you're staring at character's faces all day while they emote) without really good graphics that can express subtle emotion.
Another really nice thing about Mass Effect, and still amazing to me when I think about it is the fact that all of you will have a vastly different image of the game in your mind, simply based on your custom avatar charater's face. You do spend a lot of time staring at it, so my advice is to create a face you really like and one that you would like to see in an epic sci-fi movie or serial.
Personally, I really like my character Mako and when I think Mass Effect, I see Mako's face in my mind, much like others would see Master Chief or Sam Fischer's face in their mind when they think Halo 3 and Splinter Cell.
It's too bad the cover art for Mass Effect is so generic in terms of the leading character. He's just such a square-jawed Biff-type. In reality, the game, both visually and narratively, allows you so much leeway for customization, it makes the cover sleeve a little misleading. In fact, when I saw it earlier in this thread, it was almost jarring for me because that's not the Mass Effect I'm currently experiencing.
. Combat System -- This aspect of the game will definitely be the most controversial. To put it in very rough terms, the action-oriented combat system in Mass Effect (and yes, it's very fast, very chaotic, and sometimes very unforgiving) is more fun, and works better than say, the melee (or ranged) combat system of Oblivion.
Strip away the stats and powers and modifiers and you've got a 3rd person shooter a la GRAW and it's pretty fun. Add in all the customization you can do and the character stats/evolution and party management/pausing action and you've got a pretty unique marriage of KOTOR and something like Gears of War (it's pretty obvious Bioware played a ton of Gears).
Right now, I'm playing a soldier class, and since I did quite a lot of "grinding" (i.e., random exploration of planets and leveling up by finding loot or killing enemies), my character is pretty handy with guns, allowing me to engage combat more like a straight shooter affair (take cover, pop out, fire off a volley, throw grenades). Meanwhile, I've got 2 "biotic" experts who use decent pistols but they're deadly with all these crazy powers. As soon as we get into a skirmish, these biotic guys are lifting fools and throwing them across the room and casting gravitational blackholes, etc. Anyway, the combo works.
There are two negatives about combat so far -- one of them you can workaround and the other doesn't happen that often but it's definitely noticeable.
First of all, since there's really no slowing down time or anything, combat is fast and furious and you will die often if you get gangbanged from all sides while your shields are down. This isn't that big a deal since, like a good shooter, every time you reload the game, the action happens differently and you learn various tactics depending on the layout of the room/environs to not get caught with your pants down again. The important thing to do is to save often -- as often as you would in any PC shooter or RPG. The other more annoying aspect of combat is the occasional framerate chug when the action gets insane, like there are 8-10 guys shooting you in the room, and your biotic characters are lifting enemies and furniture and all sorts of crap into the air with these crazy plasma effects AND you're firing like crazy, trying to survive. If you're a framerate whore, consider this your warning.
Anyway, I'm going to get back to the game now. It says volumes about the game at 23 hours in when I've got an unopened copy of COD4 on my desk and have no real desire to turn off Mass Effect.
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