14 DAY TRIAL // Andrei Dumitrescu: After overcoming some pretty significant obstacles, like the eight-hour power blackout that affected my neighborhood last night, a niggling desire to read spoilers about the game online and a problem with my initial download from GamersGate, I am finally ready to actually fire up Mass Effect 2, import one of the female Shepard characters from the first title and go solve all the problems that the galaxy has by kicking ass in real time and by talking my way out of any complex situation.
Most reviews up until now have offered a lot of praises for the BioWare-made role-playing and action hybrid and I hope not to find any glaring flaws on my own. And for those quiet moments when the burden of being an awesome Spectre is too much for a gamer, I will have access to Tekken 6 for the PlayStation Portable handheld, a fighting game that offers a wide variety of combos and moves to master. Too bad I am hobbled by chubby fingers.
Florian Totu: With a review up and the game finished, you might think that I'm done with Mass Effect 2 and on the prowl for something else. Bad Company 2 PC beta is subtly nudging me and poking me to give it a go, preorders aren't really my kind of investment, so I'm still trying to get my hands on a beta key through the mighty net, while also begging on my knees one of my friends that got it to send me some sort of beta invite.
But truth be told, I'm already on my second playthrough in Mass Effect 2 and I'm having a blast with a Biotic-enhanced soldier. In case you didn't know, after you complete his special quest and a party member becomes loyal, you can learn his fourth skill. And I chose for my Soldier the Biotic Slam. Which is a godsend, working out amazingly paired with the rocket launcher or the hand cannon. As things go with ME2, I might even be in a third playthrough by the end of the weekend, so I'm sprinting home to get things rolling.