You can buy Mass Effect Legendary Edition, which comes with all three of the Shepard games, for just $4.79 right now on Steam.
That's less than most places charge for a coffee these days. To my utter shame and embarrassment, I've never been able to get into the Mass Effect series.
I've started the first one twice, and both times I've just bounced off because I've had to review something or another game caught my eye.
It's not that I don't enjoy it, I do, I just get bogged down trying to do absolutely everything so I don't miss a single piece of the action.
I've been told this is the wrong way to play Mass Effect 1, and that the side quests aren't all that special, so it's best to just blitz the story and make your way to Mass Effect 2.