I'm ten hours into it, and, so far, I'm having a blast.
Honestly, I've read the Metacritic user reviews, and most of them are just a bunch of nonsense. They have people whining and complaining about the inclusion of homosexuality, for Zog's sake. Bioware has, unfortunately, developed a following of trolls who stand ready to hate on each and every game they produce.
First, people need to stop acting like DA:O and ME1 were these awesome, innovative games that no other game can touch. When they initially hit the shelves, the same people were whining about the same old crap they're blubbering about now, and, furthermore, both titles DEFINITELY had their flaw. Secondly, please, get real: ME1 was a game with cut-scenes that featured running around, blasting aliens. Stop criticizing the series for being about cut-scenes and blasting aliens. It's like criticizing salads for having too many vegetables.
Good things:
--The role-paying elements are greatly improved along with the depth of the character interaction.
--Way better story than ME2.
--Cut-scenes roll smoothly into gameplay
--Shepard has a sword!! !!
Bad things:
--Graphics could be better
--Glitches. My imported Shepard went from a gruff Native American to a fat white guy. WTF?
--Game constantly being ragged on by whiny trolls.
Other than that, I'm perfectly happy. Bratty, "I'm so totally going to hate on everything mainstream," emo-kids can get bent.
_________________
"If we fail to anticipate the unforeseen or expect the unexpected in a universe of infinite possibilities, we may find ourselves at the mercy of anyone or anything that cannot be programmed, categorized or easily referenced."
-XFG (no longer a moderator)