OMG PLAY IT PLAY IT PLAY IT PLAY IT PLAY IT PLAY IT PLAY IT PLAY IT PLAY IT PLAY IT!
Please, Mike, you have to experience it. Please. It DEFINES the word epic. Do you have an XBox 360? If you do, get the first and play it through and then play the rest of the series on the 360. 1 is nowhere NEAR as good as 2 but you still need it. You'll need to play the whole thing on 1 console because your decisions carry over to the next one. 2 is just....oh my god, it's perfect on every conceivable level.
If you don't have a 360, then watch a playthrough of Mass Effect 1 on Youtube that someone else has played and uploaded, so you get the story, because you do need to know the story from the first for the OPTIMAL Mass Effect experience. There is an interactive comic for PS3 that will tell you the story, but it's not the same. However, you do need to purchase this comic anyway, if you're on PS3 because you can't make the decisions from the first game without it. If you have a 360, though, please go with that, that is the proper way. I'm gonna hound you until you do this, like I said. This series is NOT an option for any gamer.