As the first human Specter – sworn defenders of galactic peace – your mission is to halt the advancing armies of a legendary agent gone rogue. But as you lead your elite team across hostile alien worlds, you will discover the true threat is far greater than anyone imagined.

Three hundred years ago the quarians created the geth, a species of rudimentary AIs, to serve as an efficient source of manual labor. But the geth rebelled against their quarian masters and drove them into exile. Now the quarians wander the galaxy in a flotilla of salvaged ships, secondhand vessels, and recycled technology. Other species tend to look down on the quarians, seeing them as scavengers and condemning them for unleashing a dangerous synthetic life form on the rest of the galaxy.

The limited collector’s edition will be offered through participating retailers, and will include the following bonus materials:

• A “Mass Effect” fiction book titled “Galactic Codex: Essentials”
  • A 36-page guide to the “Mass Effect” universe, including a Citadel timeline and a guide to all non-human races, biotics and the key locations in the Perseus arm of the galaxy
• An additional “Mass Effect” art book titled “A Future Imagined”
  • A 36-page collection of BioWare’s concept art for the game
• A bonus DVD of exclusive “Mass Effect” background material and additional content including:
  • “The Vision of “Mass Effect” documentary
  • “The Making of “Mass Effect” documentary
  • “Interactive Storytelling” documentary
  • “Inside BioWare” documentary
  • 18 “Mass Effect” themed gamer pics (three unique sets of six)
  • 16 dashboard themes (four unique sets of four)
  • Ten songs from the “Mass Effect” soundtrack
  • Five historical “Mass Effect” trailers from X05 through E3 2007 and the official TV trailer
  • A demo for “Blue Dragon” and videos for “Lost Odyssey,” “Halo 3” and “Halo Wars”
  • Design galleries featuring 600 concept images fully commented by the Art Directors

The excluive bonus disc will be offered to consumers who pre-order either edition of the game at participating retailers and will include the following contents:

• A short documentary on DVD introducing the game
• 12 “Mass Effect” themed gamer pics (two unique sets of six)
• Eight dashboard themes (two unique sets of four)
• Three songs from the “Mass Effect” soundtrack on a CD
• Four historical “Mass Effect” trailers from X05 through E3 2007 on DVD
• A demo for “Blue Dragon” and videos for “Lost Odyssey,” “Halo 3” and “Halo Wars”

Features :

• Immersive RPG: Determine the fate of mankind as you lead an elite tactical strike force as an epic galaxy-wide conflict unfolds. "Mass Effect" will take the player into new depths of an action-roleplaying game, with choice-based gameplay.
• Rich and engaging storyline. While defending galactic peace and earning a position of respect for humanity in the community, gamers will discover that a greater conflict between organic life and artificial intelligence exists. Players' decisions and actions will serve to shape the destiny of all life in the galaxy as you become absorbed in the story that is "Mass Effect," the first game in an epic trilogy from BioWare. They will become the center of an engrossing story as they battle against alien life forms to save the galaxy from threatening armies.
• Player controls the ultimate fate of the galaxy: The player's decisions and actions will serve to shape the destiny of all life in the galaxy, while raising humanity to the pinnacle of galactic civilization via noble means or via tyranny.
• Real-time squad based combat: "Mass Effect" employs a real-time, squad based, tactical combat system. Players will be immersed in intense, challenging and exciting combat.
• Explore uncharted worlds: In addition to the main story arc of the game, players will be able to visit a large number of uncharted, unexplored planets which are not directly tied to the main story. At any time during the campaign, a player can choose to explore one of these planets in an all-terrain rover in order to discover new alien life, resources, ruined civilizations and powerful technologies.
• Digital actors: "Mass Effect" features a huge cast of in-engine digital actors that you will encounter as NPCs, enemies or as party members. Each will have life-like facial and body movements, and an advanced dialogue system will give them engaging personalities.
• Character customization. Players will be able to choose from a variety of stunning, photo-realistic character appearances at the start of the game, and throughout the game can increase various statistics which will have an impact on their performance during gameplay. Equipment, weapons and armor that are acquired during the course of the story will change the appearance of the characters.
• Next-generation gaming defined. "Mass Effect" takes advantage of Xbox 360's hardware providing gamers with exciting new experiences, including photo-realistic, high definition graphics on an epic scale. As the future of gaming goes online, Xbox360 live features, including premium downloadable content and recognition of achievement will be available via the Xbox Live service.