Yes, I have been playing Mass Effect at every opportunity for the past week. Happily, I have logged over 20 hours and there’s still plenty to do. Yay for comprehensive single-player campaigns! Here are some quick thoughts while I’m in the Citadel elevator…

1. It’s a bloody brilliant game. I’ll admit, I really love the previous BioWare RPGs and this is no exception.
2. Penny Arcade were not exaggerating.
3. What the heck happened to the right-eye animation? Virtually every character seems to have a problem with their right eyelid. An undocumented side-effect of element zero exposure, maybe?
4. Despite BioWare’s track record, all the marketing that I had seen left me honestly concerned that I would be forced to play as a man. I am very happy to report that this is not the case. Come on boys, there are about a dozen pictures of John Shepherd. A couple of screenies with a female lead isn’t too much too ask, is it?
5. One actual annoyance – the dialogue options seem to bear little resemblance to the actual dialogue. Here’s a sample.

NPC: I never got to properly thank you for rescuing me
Dialogue option: You’re welcome
Actual dialogue: I’m just glad we got there in time.

I get that it’s suppose to be a short gist of what will be said but a) That’s not even close and b) There’s absolutely no indication as to the tone. Completely innocuous-looking phrases can be delivered as outright hostilities. AFter much trial and error, I’ve found that the top-right option is often diplomatic or sympathetic, the middle right is usually neutral and the bottom right can be any one of hostile, sarcastic, or neutral. This doesn’t always hold but it makes things a little less frustrating. A simple KOTOR2-style marker like [Angry] or [Mocking] would have made conversations feel much more natural and controlled.

Okay, break over. Back to gaming ;)