Mass Effect Previews

The Mass Effect coverage continues with two more hands-on previews of BioWare's sci-fi Xbox 360 RPG. The first is at TrustedReviews:
But the real beauty of Mass Effect is how you approach the game - the story line really does appear to be driven by the player, to a far greater extent than most games. For instance, you can often avoid combat altogether if you choose your words wisely. Whether you try to intimidate or charm characters that you meet will not only affect how they react to you, but will also affect your reputation and personality. If you build up a rep for being ruthless and brutal, you may find that people you encounter are scared of you and will do what you say out of fear, but then they may not take kindly to your attitude and throw down at the sight of you.

And the other is at Eurogamer:
You also get to assign points to party members who join you along the way, such as Kaidan, a Sentinel with a powerful sabotage power, and Soldier Ashley. They stick with you throughout the game and you can choose which other characters you allow to join up.

This is important, Zeschuk says, "because you have to change your play style depending on who's in your group." And because Mass Effect will let you pause the game in the middle of battles and assign tasks to different characters. "When you first look at the game it seems like an over-the-shoulder shooter. Really it's a tactical squad game where you have to use your colleagues effectively."