If you liked Knights of the Old Republic, this game will rock your face like a boot the baby maker!
The game play itself is a lot like a 3rd person shooter, there is no waiting for your attacks - you shoot when you want to shoot. It requires more attention to detail, which in my eyes adds an additional level of enjoyment to the game. Now don't get me wrong, it's not really all that skill based, all you have to do is point and shoot - but your gun can over heat and the gun type/mods you use can effect the damage, over heating rate, and accuracy.
I personally just use a shot gun and mod it to do as much damage as it can, effectivly I can only get two quick shots off before the 7 second over heating delay wears off...but to be totally honest my level 50 soldier only NEEDS one shot with it to take your head clean off.
Animations are smooth, and you can use the enviornment to your advantage, as can the AI. If you like 3rd person shooters I think you will reallu enjoy this game, you have a nice RPG/Progression aspect added to game that would be fun to play even if it was missing.
The sound and graphics are both fantastic, the sound track will leave you wanting to hear some song over and over, while the graphics will at times make you do a double take and just say "damn that girl has a nice ass"
When I say girl I mean planet, and when I say ass I mean moon.....
ANYWAY all and all the style of the game is much like Knights of the old republic - stuff happens, people talk, you decide how you want to react to it. Be a jerk and kick every one in the face (or in the baby maker, i wont tell you how to kick ass!), or be the nice little military puppet that does what hes told.
There is always a middle ground too, so you don't have to be mr goody two shoes or billy bad ass. But who wants to be a plain jane am I right? A big part of this game is experimenting with different reactions to different situations - which can lead to dramatically different game play at times. Be a nice guy and someone might just walk away - be a jerk and you might need to put a bullet in someones skull.
The game is fully voice acted - which is done on a fantastic level, the characters all sound and act great. If they did one thing better than anyone else, its easily the voice acting. Your character actually talks too (shocking!), so you are not just choosing a response, you are saying it!
I would like to reitterate that this game is not really that long, but people like me (who like to see the responses to different situations playing as a different character) find a lot of replayability here. The story is a good one, gets a bit dry at the end but finishes fairly nice. So even if you only play through it once, just relax and have fun and you will get 20 hours out of it atleast. Sure you can beat it in less if you are trying, but why bother?
There are tons of different worlds to explore, though most are fairly barren. On the plus side they are nice to look at. The lore in the game is off the chain, there is probably a good hour and a half of back story and game information that some guy will just ready you. They really put a lot of time in the story, characters, and the lore. It shows, and anyone who is interested in the Mass Effect Universe (there will be more games) will really appreciate and enjoy the amount they packed into this game
All and all, sounds great, looks great, and plays great. Aside from driving the vehicle and the short story this game is totally solid.