Mass Effect

I just finished Mass Effect and I have to say this is one of the best games I've ever played. Quick background: it's advertised as an RPG slash FPS. Think of it more as a movie where the plot is moved along by shooting bad guys. And that movie is pretty damn awesome. If you ever played Wing Commander III or IV, it reminded me a lot of those games. I played on medium and the FPS wasn't difficult at all, maybe too easy, but you really need to play this game for the story. I understand Halo is an online multiplayer FPS, but the story in Mass Effect makes the Halo story look like a comic book, and a poorly writen one at that. No need to read the crap on IGN to fill in the gaps for Mass Effect. In fact the game keeps a journal for you and alerts you when a new entry has been added... and there's all the detail you could want and then some.

One really new thing is that the achievements you earn can affect your character. For example, if you kill 150 organic enemies, you get a 10% boost to your health on top of the gamerscore points. Register 150 assault rifle kills and the next time you play, your character can use assault rifles no matter what class of character your choose.

And it's only the first part of the trilogy...