Some two years after the 'next generation' of console games began, I've finally had a 'next-gen' experience. I've never met a BioWare game I didn't like (even liked Jade Empire , if you'll recall), and the much anticipated, hotly discussed Mass Effect is my game of the year ... which is not to say it's perfect. Gamers hoping for crystalline purity will be disappointed by, among other things, graphical pops, lengthy load times, and some occasionally stupid AI. It doesn't matter. Warts and all, this voyage to the edge of the galaxy and back is some of the best storytelling I've ever experienced in a game. It's like living a movie, a good one, where you decide the ending in a deeply meaningful way. Read on for my impressions of humanity's first steps onto the galactic stage.

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Mark