ME2 is the best. ME3 for the ending of the trilogy is a bit dissapointing; a great game on its own; but as the conclussion of the trilogy it needed for stuff, more RPG elements, more epicness, more badass moments, and a better ending considering that "all what you do affect the game" which is an lie in in the 3rd game, because everything you do no affect the game directly (just some score lol), as changing some missions or having new ones for example; or at least see all that stuff in a cutscene at least.

You need to finish it. It started slow for me, too, but it gets better and the ending is an amazing work of fiction. ME2 is a better game with a slightly worse ending. I've yet to play ME3 but I will in time. But you absolutely need to finish ME1.

Maybe Call of Duty 1000 is more of your thing champ

ME1 was pretty good, yet didn't really invite me to do many side missions. I did a side mission with the Mako once, that was enough. The main story was great, as was exploring the Citadel. Great ending too.

ME2 let me down, less exploration, less rpg, more cover based shooting. The whole universe consists of connected areas and warehouses with chest high walls. Some of the character stories were good but the main story was pretty much non existent.

I haven't played the 3rd one yet, demo and reviews confirmed it's not for me.

It depends what you're looking for.

The first one has a good story, heavy on the RPG elements (some of them detrimental imo, I hated going through hundreds of identical weapons in my inventory and the levelling system is a bit meh) but horrible shooting/fighting mechanics and the mako sections were just atrocious. Oh yeah... the elevators... Overall, I thought the game was pretty average but a good introduction to the Mass Effect universe. It had an identity crisis where the devs wanted an RPG with shooting but had no idea how to create decent shooter mechanics.

The second game massively improves the shooting mechanics to the point where it can stand up as a competent shooter. It's refined in that the Mako sections are completely removed but also some of the RPG elements are reduced (levelling is much simpler, fewer weapons). Story-wise it focuses heavily on the characters and you learn a lot about the universe of Mass Effect by doing the well-thought out character missions. The characters really come alive in this one imo.

ME3 is a good title on its own. It further improves the shooting whilst bringing back more RPG elements. It only has one true hub area but that's in keeping with the general story of the game. It's pretty heavy on story and is actually quite dark and depressing in tone. The ending is not great but it's not anywhere near as bad as the internet would have you believe, especially with the free DLC. The multiplayer is actually quite fun too; playing a Krogan Vanguard is quite hilarious.

I enjoyed ME2...but like most people say the RPG element is quite low.

That said when a new game came along i dropped ME2 like a hot potato and never went back, even though i kinda wanted to. Which is always a telling sign for me.

I don't like ME, therefore I'm a lowly CoD casual player.

Stupidest comment I've read in a long time.

The first one is quite slow but it does get a lot better towards the end. The combat grows on you and you start to like the characters a bit more.

ME2 really builds up character relationships and fleshes out the series, I suggest you talk to all your crew after big missions for new great dialogue options during that game. Plus the combat is a whole lot better too.

Basically this. lol

Seriosuly though, the first Mass effect is the weakest one. At least try out Mass effect 2 before giving up. The game changes considerably becoming more of a 3rd person shooter with strong RPG aspects and with much better balance and simpler customisation.