One of the hardest games to get into!
The first thing I noticed that is the game's best feature is it's amazing and highly detailed FMV's. All of the characters are designed so well, it's hard to know if it's a game or a film. Voice acting and the script is intelligently written with a dash of humour thrown in. Another good point about the dialogue is the option to choose what phrase you want to say and each choice does have effects in the future, which is a thoughtful touch.
My problems with the game are first noticed when I begin playing the game. The controls of the character are probably the hardest I've ever tried to adapt to in a game, the menu screen to upgrade weapons and skills etc is always a welcome idea in my opinion but it is done so incoherently that I just haven't got a clue what I'm doing. I know the basics but this should've been planned better and been designed to be user friendly.
The combat is also another bad point and is rather lame and cumbersome. I found myself shooting at enemies I didn't really know what the hell they we're and I didn't care anyway as I lost interest 10 minutes into the game. Hiding for cover behind walls is a pain in the ass and never provides any suspense or ease of use. Why couldn't they get it right like they did in GTA4?
The visuals during gameplay are large and spacious but don't have that appeal or wonderful imagery you'd expect from a foreign planet. I don't like comparing games but it seems that the designers played the Halo series, then grabbed a few ideas and in theory probably sounded good but, in practice simply fails at all aspects.
Mass Effect could have been an excellent game with outstanding gameplay and sexy, smooth visuals but for me the game was too boring after the first few hours of play.