14 DAY TRIAL // Florian Totu: In the next couple of days, I plan to focus more on either finishing the RDA campaign of Avatar, or spending more time in Torchlight. I recently decided to give the game a spin, having stood clear of it in the past, with other RPGs taking my time, like Dragon Age: Origins, Divinity 2: Ego Draconis or the additional playthrough of the first Mass Effect. The game is a Diablo-ish clone, in Warcraft 3-like graphics, that provides a very addictive, grinding experience. My alchemist is currently at level 19, and, just as many have noticed, Ember Lance is about as entertaining as it is overpowered.
The skill is insanely effective, with constant knockback and a gigantic damage output, many have even complained that using it is almost like cheating. But, if I really want to be bad, I'll break my promise with BioWare to make Mass Effect 2 a day-one purchase, and play the title over the weekend, since while we're still a few days away from its official launch, the "private scene" has already released its version, and its Razor sharp.
Andrei Dumitrescu: After almost completing my replay of the original Mass Effect and with expectations high for the sequel, which is set to arrive in less than one week, I will probably devote this weekend to a bit of Empire: Total War, to get a little bit back into The Creative Assembly-made series, as I begin a rather anxious wait for Napoleon: Total War, which arrives at the end of February.
Empire: Total War was my disappointment of 2009 mainly because of the rather futile attempts by the developers to patch it to perfection after a rather broken initial release. I hear that there are some mods out there that can do wonders for the experience, both making the AI more competitive and introducing a more historical flavor. If I find any good ones over the weekend, I plan on getting a grand campaign going with Sweden and see how long it can hold my interest up.