Originally Posted by mr dave

It really depends on how you define RPG.

There's way more action in the ME series than in KOTOR though I'd say ME is the ultimate blend of styles. The original game is great but the 2nd is superior. The flow of the story in the first one becomes muddied due to the openness of the presentation. The 2nd one is a lot more streamlined and features a clearer distinction between social / conversational elements and action elements. Generally speaking the flow for each mission in the 2nd game is social / explore / social / action / social, I'm assuming the 3rd will follow suit.

One thing to keep in mind is that ME is not a turn based game. You can pause and issue commands and stuff but it's not like the game stops between every shot so you can re-assess the situation. You don't need to play it like a twitch shooter, you can customize your companion behaviours and personal skills to the point where you should be able to handle most combat without feeling like you're playing Halo or some shooter.

Really though, try the original, just the first 10 minutes / introductory area. It drops you right in the middle of some action with a bit of dialog and just enough of everything to give you a good sample of the different ways you can enjoy the game.

I'd also just like to specify that I won't accept responsibility for the fact that trying ME for 10 minutes will likely stretch into 17 hours. Straight.