All round fantastic game!!
Bad:
1. For the first 5 hours or so I thought my initial reaction was right...typical shooter game (opening battle is ridiculous) with nothing overly engaging.
2. This is only loosely an RPG; leveling up is almost meaningless. It's much more an action game.
3. The game forces you to 'scam' planets for resources to upgrade weapons, etc. You'll spend hours doing this annoying activity, breaking your left trigger finger almost off...the single most annoying aspect of a game I have ever seen.
4. The storyline itself is quite brief...you spend the bulk of your time gathering your companions.
...that does it for the bad.
Good:
1. Boy, was I wrong...the game picks up fairly early on and at about the 5 hour mark I was hooked and could barely get up ff the couch to use the washroom.
2. The combat is amazingly fun...you're not just fighting in great environments, you're fighting along side comrades you chose to come with you...there's something cool about it. I never thought I would enjoy just shooting a gun.
3. Weapon selection is pretty good...use the sniper rifle from a distance (use the scope for extra accuracy or the bigger clip for more capacity or the longer barrell for extra damage) or grab the shotgun and get in close to mash em up....don't forget the knife on your hand!
4. The number of characters you meet that are added to you crew is both large and varied. Each mission you have 2 join you and I am betting that the mix is different for everyone...each character has a great and in-depth back story that creates cemistry...one way or another...and this will be different for everyone.
5. The characters again...they're not just 2D, they're fully fleshed out and you can romance many of them...depending upon your taste...great dialogue.
6. Ending is great. I love how it brought all the characters out for 1 mission.
Amazing game. I immediately went out to buy ME3.