Honestly, it depends on what you like. But the first ME game was an RPG and a pretty good one (despite some flaws) and the 2nd ME game (ME2) completely dropped a huge chunk of what made ME1 great and took it into a different direction.
While it is slower paced, you miss a whole lot by not playing the first ME game since stuff carries over and characters you meet (besides the party members) and interact with in the first 2 games play roles or have small nods or events in the other games.