the-cerberus-network posts

We all love stuff for free and today players of Mass Effect 2 got something for nothing with a new weapon that players of BioWare's hit sci-fi RPG can download on the game's Cerberus Network. If you love weapons like Quake's lightning gun you might enjoy the new Arc Projector.

The new handheld weapon can not only fire off a lighrning bolt to its target but an unseen ion laser can target nearby enemies to be hit by the same lightning bolt as well. We are still awaiting another new free download for the game, which will adds a new vehicle and five new missions. That should be available for download in late March.

BioWare promised last week that some free downloads would be coming for Mass Effect 2 players and today they revealed that a new armor and a new weapon will be made available via the game's Cerberus Network sometime on Tuesday. The first item, the Cerberus assault armor, increase health, sheilds and heavy weapon ammo by 10 percent for the player character that uses it.

The new weapon that will be included in the update is the M-22a Eviscerator Shotgun which uses armor-piercing rounds and has a longer range than normal shotguns. If you use it be aware that this weapon "violates several intergalactic weapons treaties." Which of course makes us want this even more.

Mass Effect 2 continues to be a game that generate both a lot of praise and also a lot of debate among gamers. The sci-fi RPG from developer BioWare already has given its players some free extra content via its internal Cerberus Network. Now it looks like some more free content is coming our way much sooner than anticipated.

BioWare's Twitter web site reports,"Free in-game content in a couple weeks for those who have activated Cerberus Network!" The network already has a new free mini-mission to download for new players of the game. It also adds a new character, Zaeed, to the storyline.

It's the same song on a different day. Much like how BioWare had some DLC issues when Dragon Age: Origins was released back in November, the developer is dealing with some of the same issues for the just released sci-fi RPG Mass Effect 2. Folks on the BioWare message board have complained about not being able to sign into the game's DLC-based Cerberus Network. BioWare's Chris Priestly has posted up word that, "We are actively pursuing a fix to this and will update everyone once it is fixed on the server-side."

Priestly also has some workarounds and advice for folks who have had other download issues particularly for folks who have the PC Collector's Edition of the game.

Earlier this week Electronic Arts announced that the upcoming BioWare RPG Mass Effect 2 would be able to download new content for the game for free if you owned a new copy. Now comes word via Bitmob that if you buy your copy of the game used you will have to pony up $15 to sign onto the game's download portal The Cerberus Network and get the newest DLC updates.

Of course, this shouldn't affect most PC gamers since their copies of Mass Effect 2 can't easily be traded once opened and used, unlike used console copies which are traded constantly at GameStop and other outlets. Meanwhile our sister site Joystiq confirmed with BioWare's co-founder Dr. Greg Zeschuk that The Cerberus Network is just for the download of free DLC for the game, saying, "We'll definitely have for-pay DLC down the road too."