You've only got three days to kick his arse, UK readers.

Fact: you’ll enjoy Mass Effect 2 a lot more if you’ve played Mass Effect 1. Going by early reviews, at least. Reportedly, the brawniest of the game’s strong points is its carrying-over of plot dynamics and characters, filling in the picture between the destruction of the Sovereign and Shepard’s reanimation at the hands of shadowy pro-human organisation Cerberus. New allies (and new enemies) are doing the rounds, but you’ll also reunite with former comrades and adversaries, now scattered across the galaxy, visit familiar locales and find answers to some of the original’s pressing questions.

I don’t know about you, reader, but I don’t intend to start this sequel – perhaps Bioware’s best title to date, and a definite GOTY candidate – on the back foot. LevelSkip’s most advanced survey probes have been trawling the ether, scooping up choice Mass Effect haxploits (”Mass Exploits”?) to hasten your progress to the end credits, and thus to a thoroughly well-informed first playthrough of Mass Effect 2.

Don’t read on if you’re a goody two-shoes, or you’re happy to enjoy Mass Effect’s charms at leisure. Do read on if you’re anxious for a glimpse of Miranda Lawson’s underwear.

1 – Print your own credits (infinite cash)

This lucrative work-around is a bit laborious. First, complete the Citadel side-mission involving Dr Michel and her blackmailer. As thanks, she’ll give you a store discount. Avail yourself of it, selling her all your expensive gear. Then trot over to the merchant Expat in the Wards, buy all your gear back at a lower price, return to Michel and sell it again. Rinse, repeat, recline on a bed of cash.

2 – Instant White Knight/Lord of Evil (infinite Paragon or Renegade points)

When you get to the part of the game where Lorik Quinn is deliberating whether testify against Anoleis, it’s possible to chat your way up the morality ladder. Simply approach Lorik once, convince him to testify via fair means or foul, then walk away, walk back, ask him something unrelated, then pick “answer another question” and steer the conversation back to the case. Each time you get him to testify, you’ll bag another 25 Renegade or Paragon points.

3 – From greenhorn to veteran (infinite experience)

In a hurry to bump up your level? Simply chat with Liara the Consort for around a thousand EXP (depending on your progress up to that point), then reload your save and chat to her again. Before long Shepard will be swimming in skill points.

4 – All the armour you can eat (wear any gear irrespective of class)

The most complicated slice of Mass Effect code-trickery of all, but worth doing if only to see fragile pretty-boy Kaiden style some Krogan heavy armor. So here we go: fire up the equipment screen and pick the character you want to equip. Count the pieces of armor from the bottom of the inventory up to the desired item (inclusive). Make a note of the number. Then press X to go to the upgrades screen, and – very quickly – hold Y and press A in succession. If performed correctly, you’ll hear the salvage sound and be prompted to reduce the armor to Omni-gel. Hit B to back out.

You’ll be returned to the upgrades screen, which should now contain duplicated data. Count up from the bottom by the same number of places as before. Now press A to equip the upgrade you’ve lighted upon. Voila, the character should be wearing the “unequippable” armour. Tricky one to get right, this, but persevere.

All these tips apply to the Xbox 360 version – PC users may reap different results. Hope you enjoy Mass Effect 2.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Just been watching Trumpf’s latest Modern Warfare 2 blowout on Youtube, embedded above. In it, the goodly pro and close chum SeaNanners talk us through a Search and Destroy match over Xbox Live on the Favela map.

The vid’s a little under eight minutes long. Too long? Here’s our scalding hot digest: never take the same route twice, think before you shoot and double back a lot.

Over and out.

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I'm too young to die!

Poor old Left 4 Dead. Just over a year old, and already consigned to the backseat of history by Valve’s uncharacteristically headlong rush to sequel-dom.

Well we’re not quite ready to let go, chaps – as befits the PC version at least. Here are some reasons to put off uninstalling the original zombie co-op FPS for a few months longer.

Because Left 4 Dead wasn’t broken, hasn’t been fixed.

Bit of an obvious point, this one. Left 4 Dead is still utterly, utterly fantastic, and worth experiencing alongside its younger sibling. Those soggy North American forest, industrial and residential maps aren’t getting any less gripping or well-balanced. It’s a whole five quid cheaper than Left 4 Dead 2 on Steam, too.

Because Valve’s keeping its word as to downloadable content.

OK, they took their sweet time bringing out Survival mode, the new “Crash Course” campaign and Versus functionality for the original maps, but Valve seems to be building momentum on the DLC front. We downloaded a 4v4 matchmaking update only a week or two back. Watch this space.

Because Left 4 Dead now boasts hundreds of custom maps and campaigns.

There are plenty of prolific would-be Valve employees out there, it seems. This writer’s favourite custom maps include Claustrophobia, a cramped, two-storey Survival arena featuring some stunning broken wood geometry and shadows, L4D Dust 2, for all the Counterstrike freaks in da house, and Who’s Laughing Now?: The Evil Dead Cabin, a bastard hard homage to Sam Raimi’s stuffed-crust B-movie classic.  Hunter Training is great for putting a little extra spring into your pounce.

Custom-campaign-wise, you might want to consider this Silent Hill remake, or this sequence ripped from Resident Evil Outbreak File#2. Cream of the crop, though, is Death Aboard, which takes you from the depths of a prison to a gloomy dockyard and onto a precariously balanced ship. Fans of the surreal should check out Night Terror and its daring hot-air balloon rescue. Gadzooks.

Because you can stuff all the original game’s content into the sequel.

Those lynch-pins of the underground code-breaking scene at L4Dmods have figured out how to transfer all Left 4 Dead campaigns (and, excitingly, custom campaigns) to Left 4 Dead 2 – well ahead of the release of Valve’s official SDK.

Hold on though, doesn’t this make the first game rather redundant, we hear you protest? Ah, my son, but you’ll need a fully paid-up, squeaky-clean legit copy of both games to pull the trick off. Plus a bit of technical know-how, naturally. And the patience to endure a fair few non-crippling bugs. Hit the link for a tutorial, and check out the video evidence below.

Because Zoey is way fitter than Rochelle, innit.

Look, let’s not beat around any bushes here (after all, one of them might contain a Boomer). If we had the chance to leap into the sack with either of the Left 4 Dead ladies, it’d be pasty girl-geek brunette Zoey all the way. Rochelle’s too respectable for our unhygienic, society-averse tastes. She’s a TV producer, for God’s sake. Plus she wears a Depeche Mode T-shirt (admittedly it’s got a stencil of Gordon Freeman on it). Stupid establishment chick.

So what’s keeping you glued to the original Left 4 Dead, oh well-informed reader?

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