I knew as soon as I saw the first video and when I read that the combat was going to be real-time instead of turn-based like most other RPGs that I would really like Mass Effect, and reading everything else and watching all of the other videos had me so excited to play Mass Effect. I had pre-ordered and bought and I own the Mass Effect Limited Collector's Edition.
When I started playing Mass Effect for the first time I was like WOW this is the greatest graphics that I have ever seen on the Xbox360 or in a video game, and everything else especially the characters seem so real and have life to them. Then the first time that I was in battle on Eden Prime I was even more WOWed as it was really great and difficult because the enemies are so incredibly smart that it is just amazing on how they handle themselves in battle, and the combat was so different from any other game that I have ever played but similar and different at the same time from shooter games.
I knew with time that I would get to understand the gameplay and I did which made and makes the combat in Mass Effect so much more enjoyable and really just an incredible game to play. The combat in Mass Effect is really done perfectly and is alot of fun with so many types armors(with/without upgrades), weapons(with/without upgrades), and the different types of biotic/tech abilities which is one of the best things about being in combat. As every type of armors(with/without upgrades), weapons(with/without upgrades), and the different types of biotic/tech abilities are so different from the other that every single one is unique and has its own purpose that each one works perfectly for what it is used for.
I also really like the level up system and how it is done with the different abilities that your character and your teammates can learn seems endless, because there are different cla$$es for your character and your teammates. With the many different types of abilities that it really does depend/matter on who you have and with what abilities that each teammates has to determine on which teammates to bring with you in each of the many different missions and assignments.
All of the characters in Mass Effect have so much emotions and they seem to have life as if they were alive, as these are things that I have never seen in any other game before.
Walking around the Citadel and the Normandy and traveling on planets with or without the Mako and the few ships/space stations are just so breathtaking as it is difficult to stay focused on what you are supposed to do at that time during that mission or assignment.
Everything I said above fits so perfectly together that it makes up the most amazing and the greatest story ever told in a video game. The story is nothing short of brilliant, as it is so entertaining and so interesting that it keeps you involved and focused that you just do not want to stop playing.
To me Mass Effect is really great as it is a video game masterpiece. It is the best game and is my favorite game on the Xbox360 by far, and it is one of the best video games and is my favorite video game that I have ever played from any console system and/or from pc.

Some of that was just what I had originally thought when I first started to play Mass Effect, and after finishing/completing Mass Effect with 74 hours of gameplay in my first playthrough everything that I have said is what I think about this great game now. I have so much more great things to say, but what I have already said basically sums it up and says what I am trying say about Mass Effect.
Also, I really just can't wait for Mass Effect 2 & 3.

After playing/seeing/watching the ending of Mass Effect I thought of a famous quote that Sir Winston Churchill said and from a movie called Millennium said by an A.I. robot that is trying to save the end of the world.
This quote atleast to me fits Mass Effect perfectly especially after the ending.
The quote is:
It is not the end. It is not the beginning of the end. It is the end of the beginning.