Well said. Mass Effect fails to deliver anything spectacular and fails on the promise of a non linear adventure as well. The 'reset' happening in episode 2 is laughable. Honestly it fares very low compared to previous bioware titles. For me it has been a major disapointment.
Are there any computer RPGs which have better plot and character development than even a pretty good book or movie? The only games I've played which didn't leave me feeling kind of ashamed to have finished them (rather than reading a book) were GTA3 and successors, Bioshock, Fallout 3 and Metal Gear Solid 4. Stuff like Starcraft and Battlefield 3 is fun for the action, but the story is kind of forgettable.
I have ME3 on order just because it seems like something worth doing to remain culturally aware, but I'm not that excited by it.
Baldur's Gate 2 comes to mind. And rather than Metal Gear Solid 4, I think the first one deserves a mention. Policenauts by Kojima is another game with pretty good character and story development.
Overall I agree with you, most games are not at the level of good books or good movies. The story value usually fares pretty low. That's why the whole talk of "games as art" misses the point. They are never going to be seriously considered until they reach higher standards.
Yeah, Policenauts is a pretty good game. I hope you enjoy it. There are several versions available, but I believe you can get it easily for Playstation.
I agree that Half-Life was decent, too. Re: RE, I found RE2 to be especially thrilling, with the parallel stories you could explore after finishing the game once.
