Alrighty. Playing ME3. Excellent stuff. I think I'm not too far out from the endgame and I've been thoroughly enjoying the ride so far. Waffle, you'll be glad to hear that the railshooter parts are (very) few and mercifully short. And by short I mean 1, maybe 2 minutes.
I really like what they've done with this trilogy, especially when it comes to character development. I've gotten attached to several of the characters, so it's nice to see how they'll end up. The writing is excellent - occasionally brilliant - for a space soap opera epic like this. Gameplay-wise, I'm glad to see that they've streamlined the cover system. It doesn't feel nearly as jarring as it sometimes did in ME2.
For those of you who play as a Vanguard: don't be discouraged by a bit of a shitty feel to the class when the game starts. That doesn't last. Oh boy, does it not. Flitting about the battlefield like a biotically charged rhino and shotgunning people (or whatever they are) about the facial area is much more satisfying than it was in the previous games.
Soldiers are still shit. Sure, you get a bit of a slow-mo effect from one of your powers, but that's about it. Battles get very boring very fast. Besides, the new gear mechanism - carrying more/heavier gear significantly increases your power recharge times, whilst packing light gives you a bonus to them) means that you can fairly easily bring two types of weapons and throw your powers around like skittles at a children's party. Fun, fun.
Anyway, I figured I'd provide a little service to those of you who a) don't have Tali in your game because she got killed off in your ME2 game or b) aren't going to pursue a romance between your Shephard and Tali, but who'd still like an answer to the question Bioware's been teasing us with since ME1: what the Hell does she look like under the mask?
Without further ado: