Ahh mass effect. I have one word to describe this game. Kick ass (ok thats two)

Im going to give a review, i know some of you will call it a biased score because i am pro MS, very much (will be evened out this christmas though.....least better) but if you do not believe me then check any of the reviews, gametrailers or IGN and they will concur

Now on to the review

I rate games on 5 things Presentation/Quality (overall the amount of effort put into the game), Sound, Gameplay, Story, and graphics. THis is not an average. I will mention what brings down the score for each catagory.

Ill start with

Presentation/quality: Mass effect is a one in a kind game. Becoming one of the most hyped games on the 360 this year, it has reason to be. THe amount of effort put into this game is unbelieveable and puts almost any game to shame. The voice acting is some of the best ive seen, the amount of voices in the game, all the different choices, just add up to become one of the most quality games ive ever played. The amount that is in the game will keep you here for a huge ammount of time and if any game is worthy of a purchase you are looking at it. The only thing that brings down the quality is the framerate and issues with loading. The game at some points can barely maintain a frame rate (in very intense battles). However this barely takes any hits at the score because of the overwhelming effort.

9.7 for quality

Sound: I shouldnt have to say anything about this, just take one look at the trailer and you can easily spot this is one of the best soundtracks ever in a video game. Completely spot on. And dont get me started on the quality of the voice acting.

10 for sound

 Gameplay: Ive heard many times people have stated how the gameplay in Mass effect looks basic, however they have yet to play this. Its a game where it will take a few hours to get into (if your into major RPG elements the shooting is right off the bat) the real fun with the gameplay. The shooting is rather well done and the cover system works really well. The whole RPG elements or moves or skills or whatever you want to call them work very very well. Used by themselves they can be quite useful and theres nothing like disenegrating a geth (knowtice the bad spelling) with the carnage ability with your shotgun. Alone they work very well, however there can be some true fun with the combos you can achieve. Used together you can create total ownage. Examples would be the lift then throw ability to send enemies off cliffs or into the sky. Another would be throwing a singularity down then throwing a grenade in the group it atracts and blowing the heck out of them.

However these moves dont make the game quite that easy, on normal difficulty on some lvls i found myself dieing constantly. You cant slouch on the game, which i did more then i should have. You never know when some random rocket is coming at your ass or you think your safe behind cover only for one of them to use lift on the cover thats in front of you. Ive yet to try on harder difficulty but im guessing its going to be an awsome experience (btw i was a vanguard now being a soldier)

The ending was completely satisfying and awsome. Seriously mass effect 2 just became one of my top anticipated games. I cannot wait, just so awsome.

Things that hurt the gameplay: Overall the gameplay was fun, however it had a few things that wont make gameplay its strongest feature. One thing that bothered me was the lack of really awsome moves. Some of the moves were awsome but i just wanted more. Another would be that while fun, certain enemies you just hate facing and you get sick of them. However some can be very very fun. I really dont know how to explain it but the gameplay was not as satisfying as the rest of the game, however ive yet to experience all that it has to offer. The gameplay is not the strongest feature but that can be seen with such a game of this high caliber. Side quests, while fun, some of them were way to basic or you repeated pretty much the same thing but your doing different objectives.

9 for gameplay.

Story: Quite possibly one of the best stories in video games ive ever played. I was just wanting more and more and few video games do this. The amount of choices make for one compelling story, and there is so much to offer and so many ways the story can go different. Im as we speak playing as a renegade soldier, now being a total bad ass cause i cant wait to see how things occur different and what happens different. There were so many moments in my first game i just wanted to punch the hell out of someone or shoot them but i was a paragon so i had to be "good". I dont want to give spoilers, but if your a gamer who thinks story is one of the most compelling features i dont know what to tell you other then to pick this up.

There are a few things that hurt this score however: The main story is very very good, but its a tiny bit to short. The game itself can easily last 30+ hours (i was at 35 and had not done all the side quests) but most likely 10-15 hours of that was side quests. Also to many of the side quests were to basic, there were a few that were quite interesting or compelling, howeve to many were rinse and repeat and i hope they either extend the story or make those better.

story 9.8

Graphics: as we have all seen mass effect looks fantastic: Whether its cloe ups or environment it looks all around great. I have nothing really to say here other then the game looks fantastic, possibly not the best there is but for a game of its length and caliber it doesnt get much better then that.

However, i knew i had to dock it for the framerate issues and problems with loading. There are to many times where cutscenes occur and its still trying to load textures, while after a load its alright to an extent, but during cutscenes its unacceptable. This will dock the game for its graphics however if you really are not that upset about technical issues then you wont really care like i did.

8.3 for graphics (9.3 if it didnt have issues)

Overall 9.5

You know peoples opinions will be different here. If you are a gamer who loves story then you wont find much better games. If you can get by the technical issues, this is easily goty contender and one of the best games you will ever play. Mass effect 2

GET IN MY 360 NOW!

If only the 360 wasn't so expensive and an unreliable piece of hardware I would get one to play games like this.

Thats the only reason for me to not buy one, lol...

3 year warrenty hello   .......you should buy one .......

FJ and GGE - The new consoles are more reliable.

Should be safe to purchase a 360, unless of course you where both just trolling and had no intention of ever getting a 360.

Some people don't see it as worthwhile (myself included). 3 year warranty isn't worth constant hassle.

I keep hearing comments like these but the new hardware is out there... It has a smaller cpu and gpu, additional heat sink, screws replacing the x-clamps, new dvd drives from lite-on, and HDMI ports.  It's not a complete redesign but it is pretty damn close.  You still get a 3 year warranty on the RROD which is the longest warranty in the biz...  You are missing out on some great games. 

a 3 year warrenty doesn't justify anything other than the purchase of a 360 by someone who got their's before this hardware issue came to light.

Also, maybe I don't want to have to replace my console every 1-3 years.

The extended warranty isn't a bandaid. It doesn't change the fact I'm still buying a broken piece of hardware or that it doesn't have full BC. People who act like the 3 year warrently justifies purchasing a 360 is just kidding themselves. It shouldn't break in the first place and the new hardware version comming out shouldn't be breaking like I'm hearing they are now.

wow how did this turn into cheap shots against the 360

enough with the trolling, ive had mine since launch and yet to have a problem

Again, none of those issues should be a problem with the new consoles.