Funnily enough I've just been playing the original Mass Effect for the first time - really good game, but some pretty serious flaws stop it short of being truly great. Feel as if I'm getting towards the end now, and tbh I'm starting to get a little tired of the near-identical missions.
Easily one of the strongest stories I've seen in a game in a while - the universe is kinda cool - they clearly spent a lot of time thinking up all the background stuff, but I can't escape the nagging feeling that it is essentially equal parts Star Wars, Star Trek, Aliens and Halo.
I've heard mixed things about ME2 - a good friend of mine absolutely adores the first one, but didn't like the second much - said the story was weak, and the RPG-ness was stripped back a lot. Any thoughts? I'll probably end up getting it, but not for a while - need a break after the first one.