I went through the game as a Vanguard. Like Jeph, I initially relied on my soldier skills, but as the game went on the biotic powers became more useful, particularly the Barrier power, which gives you a bit of an edge in a firefight.
I beat the game last night with about 20 hours clocked in all told. It would've been at least 32, but I unwittingly initiated the mission that kicks the endgame into action (hint - It's the one the council gives you) and as a result there were at least 12 sidequests that I never went through. I'm going through again as a Sentinel, and it will probably take some time to collect my thought and give a more uniform assessment, but I'll do my best here.
The game as a whole seems to be a continuation of the Jade Empire design philosophy. That is to say, Bioware's focus seems to be on making gameplay more "visceral" and immediate, which I think is a mistake, but I digress. They've worked hard on a (relatively functional) real time combat system and built the game primarily around that. It's more complex and more satisfying than JE, but it still feels off. Dialogue and characterization were typical Bioware, which is to say, above average, but there isn't a lot of progress, all things considered.
I actually think the dialogue system is sort of a step down. At times it's an outright con job. Since the game lacks consistent autosaving and I sometimes forget to save manually, on those occassions when I stumble into combat and get hit with a rocket I usually have to retrace my steps back through some dialogue, and I try and mix it up a little. What I've found is that in a lot of the dialogues there are really only 1 or 2 options, when there isn't a charm / intimidate opportunity. On those occassions when there are 2 given options (right and left) they are exactly the same. So you've got angry and conciliatory. The top two options on the right are conciliatory, and the bottom is the angry one.
I'm no Codexian, but I was still disappointed with the whole "consequences" thing. There are situations in which it seems like your choices might actually have ramifications down the road for the game, particularly the choice given after tracking down the Asari matriarch, but aside from what the Council says to you immediately afterward there's no real effect on the game at all. It's pretty anticlimactic given how important every fuckin' NPC makes it sound. There is one choice that has ramifications for your group and one situation that requires a high dialogue skill to keep one of your teammates from turning on you, but they're more or less part of the endgame. When I beat the game it seemed as though the 4 different endings were entirely dependent upon 2 dialogues you get before the end.
I had a lot of trouble with texture pop-in (damnable UE3) and dialogue that took place outside of the interface (elevator banter, triggered remarks, etc.) were nearly inaudible, although it may just be something with my surround setup. Other than that, technical presentation was highly agreeable.
So, all in all, Bioware remains where it was before. I hope the second iteration in the series varies the gameplay a bit along with the inevitable engine optimization, but that's all I can do, is hope. I never really bought the hype, so this game wasn't as big of a letdown for me as it was for other kids. 8/10.
