Next-gen games routinely come equipped with astounding graphics, so it should come as no surprise that Mass Effect oozes hi-def hotness out of every pore. What separates this game from the mob of other beautiful titles is exactly what players of the role-playing genre demand from their games: scope.
 
As a member of the futuristic human space soldiers known as the Specters (insert techno theme music here), you embark on a mission to capture or otherwise contain a rogue military general. But, as with most tales of harrowing questitude (good ones, anyway), things get muddled, people become their species' last/best hope, and the fate of the universe starts hanging in the balance. What players decide to do from that point on in Mass Effect guides the path of the multifaceted plotline. Every nuance of your body language, from a sneer to a feigned smile, factors into how you'll interact with the aliens you encounter.

While you'll begin your journey of self-discovery on a gargantuan space station called the Oculon, it doesn't take long before you are off gallivanting across the stars. Part of the vision for Mass Effect is a sense of what it's like to actually live in a universe full of other races and uncharted worlds. It looks to us, like much attention is being paid to nurturing that feeling of discovery.