Overall, an excellent game (88 to 91 rating). I spent about 4 hours with it and COD4 and was more impressed with COD4 however, because you can immediately jump into the action and feel pretty comfortable with the controls.

Graphically, very nice, especially the space scenes. Oddly, the character models all look great except for YOUR CUSTOM CHARACTER. I spent a long time trying to make my guy look good, but the character generation tool is more limited than I would have hoped. The hair styles are particularly bad, and why are there so many types of facial scars?

The script and voice acting is off the charts. Everyone will be very pleased.

One character, the first woman you meet that joins your crew, is apparently voice acted by the same woman that does Meg in Family Guy, and this ruined the immersion factor for me. But, she does a good job, it's just odd to be fighting alongside Meg.

The biggest gripe is the combat controls, and the crummy NPC AI. If you tell your crew to take cover, they don't. They stand there and get the hell shot out of them, which made me want to restart every time.

Switching weapons is a chore, you have to go to press a button which creates a large radial-type menu that obscures the scene, then choose a weapon, then press another button.

You have to do the same with your crew. It would have been nice if crewmates would have ditched their shotguns and used snipers rifles when the enemy is 100 yards away.

Sorry if I sound overly critical, I am really pleased with the game. It's just that the control scheme is not the best. Everything else is stellar.

Thanks for the review, but how'd you get a copy of the game? It doesn't come out until next week.

How is the actual gameplay, despite the controls?

The girl who voices Meg is Mila Kunis, you might remember her as Jackie in That 70's Show!

http://cdn.maximonline.com/girls/mila_kunis/mila-kunis-gm_l3.jpg
http://www.superiorpics.com/pictures2/sr85-Kunis_88113555.jpg

lol, hope that makes you feel better about her!

I was just wondering, how did u manage to get a copy of the game already?

I remember seeing this video online (can't remember the site off the top of my head) where the (p)reviewers kept going on and on about how your custom character looks so amazing! They kept comparing it to Oblivion's custom characters and praising Mass Effect on that note.

Very much looking forward to this - it arrived in the post today for me.

But I am worried that I am about to get an overload of goodness...

First it was Bioshock (although, red rings of death stopped me from finishing that.. need to go back); then Halo 3 (very fun... but the weakest of this crop); then COD 4 (genius); then Assassin's Creed (wonderful... a little below COD 4 but still a great game in my book); now Mass Effect and Rock Band?

Stop! I can't take it anymore! When will I ever finish World in Conflict and HL Episode 2? I miss Team Fortress already! Too much fun! I fear for my marriage!

I just picked it up... I'm so excited!!!

Based on around 5 hours play now... the game is very immersive, and an entertaining space opera.

It is NOT a FPS, as has been mentioned by others, but truth be told, I had forgotten that it can be fun to scroll through options mid combat and use tactics without the panic of real time.

There is still enough real time threat here - don't get me wrong... you will die from time to time, and occasionally it may take you a couple of tries to get through a challenge. But this plays more like an RPG than a shooter.

The story is quite compelling. Slightly formulaic - and why is it so many alien races boast women with attractive mammaries - but it is paced well enough, poses enough of a sense of mystery and plot progression, that it carries you through some of the more routine tasks.

The graphics are competent if not amazing - this is not breakthrough , but perfectly atmospheric, and the slight shortcuts are forgivable given the size. Internal locations feel quite like KOTOR.

All in a fine RPG. I need to play more!

Played this last night for about 6 hours at a friends house. I'm not huge into RPGs, mostly because of the annoyance of turn based action. However the FPS combat mode makes this game much more appealing to me.

The Good:

The story is very complex and intriguing. The expanse of the playable 'universe' is astounding (though almost all the
planets essentially have the same terrain/buildings with different 'weather' effects). We barely got into the main plot line because we spent most of the time doing side quests, which I'm assuming will add a lot to the replay and game length. It's great to be able to have real time combat while still being able to give interactive commands. The responsiveness of the weapons to the characters traits are superb. Also, the graphics (other than character detail) are astounding, especially in combat scenes.

The not so good:
As mentioned, the myriad of control options are suited more for turn based play, because in the time needed to change weapons, give commands, etc., your usually shot to pieces. Of this changing weapons and zooming have to be the biggest pain in the ass during fighting. However, once you can master the controls fairly well, the ability to dodge around and hide (peek) behind cover (timesplitters style) makes it incredibly rewarding to fight "intelligent" and responsive foes.

One of the biggest frustrations though, which doesn't get as much mention, is how absolutely painful it is to use the 6 wheel vehicle to explore the surface of worlds. You'd think that a society with the ability to travel light years in a matter of seconds would at least have a hovercraft or helicopter or something. The novelty of having to go over monotonous mountains and through ten minutes of desolate 'rugged' terrain (which sends the vehicle backwards usually) to find a base/station/whatever in this thing wears off REALLY quickly. I can see having to maneuver this POS around taking up literally half of a persons playing time, and it's really not fun.

Alright, well aside from that substantial hassle the game has been fun and the combat mode is challenging but unique for RPG's. Again, I really don't like RPG's but if I had a 360 I would buy this game.

Mila Kunis did NOT do any voice acting for Mass Effect. So you can forget Meg Griffin....it's not her.

Did you even play the game?