So, I have been reading a lot about how reviews these days are incredibly inaccurate and want to offer a different take here - multi-part reviews as we get into and play the games.  I agree with Gabe over at Penny Arcade - you cannot just sit down and write a review based on a deadline.  You need to play at your own pace and really enjoy the game.  Play it because you want to - which might mean a short review if I can’t play a bad game for more than a few hours.  So, here is what I think so far of Mass Effect after about an hour of game-play:

All in all, it is a great game so far.  There is a nice mix of RPG elements, choose your own adventure and third person shooting.  The choose your own adventure piece is the most interesting so far.  From what I understand you can really alter how things play out based on your decisions - only problem is I don’t have any idea what the story is supposed to be like so I am not sure I will really be able to tell how my decisions impact the outcome.  Anyway, I have not noticed anything earth shattering so far.

The shooter aspect is similar to Gears of War but a lot less polished with a leveling and equipment upgrade system built in.  Perhaps similar to COD4 in a way - I need to actually play COD4 a bit more before I can comment on that.

From character creation you get a lot of choices on background story, class choice, and a good deal of options to choose your appearance.  I thought a lot of it was a bit much when you dive right in though - you don’t get very much info on the classes so it is hard to really choose.  I just chose the default character (it was nice that this was an option) and got right into the game - I guess I can pick another if I end up really liking the game and play through again.  You actually control three characters that appear to be of different classes so I guess that gives a good impression on how the other classes work.

The story really comes to life because Bioware invested in some great voice actors, immediately hearing Seth Green in the first scene was pretty cool.  I even heard the voice of Dianna Troy (sorry, don’t know her real name).

Anyway, those are some initial impressions so far - more to come as I find more time to play…