Favourite game?

I'd probably give ME2 the edge over ME3 at the minute. Just because I spent so much time replaying it and go to know and love it. Will probably replay ME3 a couple of times too so it may be fairer to judge then.

Having said that I haven't replayed ME1 since I beat it first time. I think a full trilogy playthrough is in order

Tough decision... i think ME2 just edges it. But up until very recently i prefered ME1.

Ive only prefered ME2 since ME3 came out, i think the reason i now prefer ME2 is because the way it essentialy forces you to connect with your crew throughout the game. And i miss this factor as its not really there in ME3.

Quite ironic really as the exact same thing was why i prefered ME1 for such a long time. I always felt that ME2 didnt really progress the story much, that it was more "go to point A, collect squad member" ... "go to point B, collect squad member" ... rinse & repeat. "Obtain squad member loyalty" ... rinse & repeat. But ME1 was more story driven.

Would never have imagined that the thing that made me prefer ME1 would be the thing i missed most.

EDIT: Just thought id add... did nobody else play through the first 2 in the weeks leading upto ME3? Ive also played 1 & 2 again since i completed 3.
Two playthroughs of the FULL trilogy in under a month
If i complete 3 again anyway... got past the coup attempt on the citadel & got bored so started again... again.

At the moment, Mass Effect 2, due to the fantastic (in my opinion) DLC. If I were to take each game at it's base, I'd say ME3 is edging out a little more due to the increased squad interactivity.

ME1.

I just prefer the story up to that point and loved the explorative gameplay. ME2 was great, but i felt it was a bit linear and i somehow felt much more contrained in my options. I also knew nothing about ME1 when i first played it, everything was a massive surprise and the game was shockingly big. Come ME2 i kinda knew what to expect and wasnt so blown away.

Also, though the weapons were better in ME2, i missed the variety and constant upgrades in ME1. Oh and i HATE the "heatclip" weapon system in ME2. Its as if the shoehorned in older technology as a way to make it a more conventional shooter. Bit Pants and too obviously done.

I have yet to play ME3, but its the one im least looking forward to. I was happy to get off of earth in ME1, kinda unappealing to be back.

I don't know.
I'd give both ME2 and ME3 a 9.5/10

I felt that the levels in ME2 were less scripted, and I liked the huge squad to talk to.
There were of course problems, such as the game essentially being based around a few missions, and how while the morality system is often praised for not being black/white, if you don't go full paragon/renegade, you are often screwed.

I though the gameplay in ME3 was much better. I liked modding weapons, the more RPG-like upgrade system, and the larger variety of weapons and armor. Oh, and the ability to take off your helmet in conversations.
I did not like how in side missions they didn't give you that...side bar thing that gets updated and tells you what you've done so far. So many times when I have no idea if I traveled all the way to _______ and got a Prothean artifact for ______. Also, the ending.

I've always felt that the strength of the series has been everything apart from the gameplay, in a nutshell its cover based shooting, theres not really much variety in all 3 games. Bioware seriously missed an opportunity to have some space combat, even some pretty basic Star Wars Battlefront 2 would have been great.

Because of all the unique characters I'd have to say the first two were my favourite. Also the story was great in ME1, plus it was something completely fresh back in 2007. The ability to go down and explore the terrain definatly gave the game a great sense of scale, you only really have the Citadel to go to in ME3.

Mass Effect 3 for gameplay, Mass Effect 1 for story. ME2 was awesome, but not as awesome as the others, and plus I didn't get to play any of the 'super-godtastic-awesome-storydriven' DLC, and Shepard moved and handled like he was made of cardboard.