Yeah, definately, i agree. All i'm saying is that its combat system is definately solid enough for it to play like a shooter during combat. Its definately an RPG first with shooter elements.

A shooter? You got to be kidding me. The way the combat system is set up, does not make for the greatest shooter. Just because a game developer decides to innovate in the RPG genre, does not mean they're changing the genre. Real time combat does not change the genre, although it can make the game more accesibly...which apparently is not the aim with Bioware. If you saw the 1up show, one of them didn't put enough though into leveling their character and they were screwed, the also comes with absolutely no tutorial.

The only complaint I'm going to have with this game is the length, I've loved every Bioware RPG, but I've also come to expect spending a minimum of 25-30 hours (main quest in their games only) in the amazing world's they create.

Anyways, EA will probably force Bioware to make Dragon Age a multiplatform game, so I guess one good thing may come out of it, and I won't be left wanting for long.

Man this game is unbelievable.

Yeah, KOTOR was perfect, it could be as long as 50-60 hours if you explored the world, which was pretty awesome. I was expecting a much more fast-paced game with Mass Effect, but from everything Bioware released, the actual size of the game seemed longer, maybe 40 hours of total play time with all the extras thrown in. O well, hopefully they'll be releasing the next in the trilogy soon. I still can't help feeling they're spreading this out way more than they need to, it sounds like two games would have been perfect.

New Mass Effect characters theme:
Its a Salarian, Ashley, Garrus and Tali on each blade. (surprised that Shepard isn't in it)

New Mass Effect videos:
Character Spotlight 1 & 2

This friday is gonna the best!

IGN review is up. They mention often framerate problems and loading times being irritating :/ Framerate problems? Ouch :((

?? what game dose not have framerate issues this is an epic RPG!!, i'm playing it and i can say that it dose not spoil the enjoyment of the game one little bit.

ign 9.4

txb 9.6

No what GAME.

KOTOR on my pc was smooth as a nut ;)

Funny my mate played KOTOR on his rig and it stuttered for him, my point all games have these issues, no matter how polished.

No as i have seen dips in frame rate on that game also.

LIES your to busy on ME

Damn you, Damn you to hell!!!

I agree with the framerate problems but loading times are short and sweet.

Impression so far:

What can I say, I’m around 20hrs in and I have just acquired the last member of my squad, and am just now starting to get into the meat of the story. The in-game conversations just keep getting better and better, the writing is top notch, I have laughed out loud at some of the off hand quips, IE: in one instance Liara was complementing me on my work (in a flirting way), when Ashley butted in and basically told her stop the flirting and back off! , and the cut scenes (WOW) are more cinematic than I have EVER seen in a video game before, there have been so many instances that have left me amazed, I won’t mention any as I don’t want to spoil anything for you, I also find the animations to be very good, the movement and actions all seem very realistic, Tip: when you’re in the nightclub go check out the dance floor those guys and gals can really dance, the moves are all fluid and very believable , you have not lived until you see a Salarian getting down with his funkyself , I went on the dance floor hoping for an option to join in, but no such luck  damn you Bioware!. I have to say I’m loving the combat and this was one aspect of the game, I was unsure if I would like or not, as an RPG fan all this shooter/action talk had me worried, until I played it for myself that is, RPG fans there is no need to worry the combat is very deep and strategic, and the Levelling up is deep and satisfying, and the equipment and mods WOW! There is an unbelievable amount of tweaking that can be done here (Maybe too much for the standard player) the X06 section i played blew me away, just WOW!, one thing I’m not a fan of though is the shops?, so far I have found no reason to even use them, I mean the amount of loot I am finding is more than enough for me and my squad to be equipped with some bad ass gear, maybe I’ll need it later in the game who knows? Well so far for me this game has surpassed KOTOR, and that’s hard for me to say as KOTOR holds top spot and a very special place in my gaming experiences, but Bioware have really taken story telling to a whole new plateau with this game !, well I’m taking my time with the game cant play it much in the week due to work and commitments, but the longer this game last me the better!.

Any Questions feel free to ask?

Could you give me some more detail on the RPG system? The only RPG I've played is Oblivion, so I'm not familiar with Bioware's RPGs. So, could you enlighten me how the level-up system works, do the enemies also auto-level up (like in Oblivion), how do you assign points to various specialties?

Very basic explanation, you get xp points for combat/side-quest completion/conversation that result in info gained ect, once a certain level of xp points are reached you are told you can level up and are given anything from 4 to 2 points to spend in the level up menu screen, were you can gain\enhance various weapon skills\weapon attacks\tech skills\Biotic attacks (magic) ect..., that you can choose to invest points in. most video reviews give you examples if you dont mind some spoilers.Not sure but there is some definite dice rolling going on under the covers.

dcdelgado, thank you so much, you have restored my faith in Mass Effect, particularly that it can last over 30 hours if you choose to really explore. I really can't wait until tomrrow now!