ME 1 has been dirt cheap for a long time. You can download it for $20 IIRC on XBox Live (what is that, like 15 €?). ME 2 will probably be the same.
I played Mass Effect 1 finally just a few weeks ago...and while I admit I didn't play TOO much of it, I wasn't really blown away. The universe was definitely cool but the rest of it, just kinda struck me as meh.
Yeah, that's why I'm hesitant to overhype it.
I totally understand ME 1's criticisms. It suffers horribly from Xenogear-itis, it was too ambitious and obviously rushed. The buildings and planets are ridiculously repetitive. Driving the Mako was a chore, the planets were too big and exiting at the wrong place on a mountain means you get stuck and have to reset. The decryption minigame was kinda neat except when they want you to "decrypt" fucking rocks and corpses. The sniper rifle was pointless because there's no headshots, and all enemies invariable "snipe" you back. It's buggy - more than once I started a game running around in the sky, or got stuck on a bridge in the Citadel. The music was decent and yet forgettable.
That said, I loved it. The story was meaty enough, the characters interesting and believable, the battle system intuitive and the dialog captivating no matter which path you take.
And if you were a fan of ME 1, you'll LOVE the new one. So far it looks like they've addressed every major complaint, and the game is conspicuously more polished. Also, Mog's not kidding about spoilers - I was immediately blown away in the first 5 minutes and did NOT see what was coming. I'll wait a few more days before passing judgement, maybe give a mini-review (probably beat it at least once by then too). But right now I'm stoked.
Mog said:
Japan (and by extension, Final Fantasy) could learn a lot from Mass Effect. It's really, really, good. The storytelling, narrative, and the plot and universe itself is fucking golden.
See, that's what I'm talking about. Story-wise, FF games tend to feel like mediocre comic books: they start with over-exaggerated characters targeted at a narrow demographic, come up with a setting next, and end up writing plot last. The result is beautiful, trendy characters in a breathtaking setting with a dubious plot at best.