Some games pretend to be epic; they promise grand set pieces, they promise romance, and war and humans overcoming strife to reach new heights. They all promise it, but very few deliver it on the same scale as the Mass Effect series. The game is a space opera like none before it; beautiful, grand worlds to visit as you, Command Shepard, face off against alien races that want nothing more than to destroy humanity. You quest across the universe trying to win favour from the other races to protect what shred of humanity there is left.

The game is a third person shooter with Bioware’s strong story telling roots clearly on show, with decision allowing you to become either humanity’s hero by helping as many as you can, or become evil by making decisions in your best interests alone. That element of choice, coupled with the game’s stellar production values and lightning fast gameplay made sure that Mass Effect was a debut to be proud of; and with the game out on all major consoles at the time everyone had a chance to get their hands on it.