Normally, Valentine's Day provides folks with two options: 1) Gorge yourself on chocolate and somebody else's face, or 2) weep bitterly as everyone else gorges themselves on chocolate and other people's faces. This year, however, you'll have a third avenue for holiday merriment: saving all life as we know it from total annihilation. Or at least, foiling a nefarious Reaper plot or two, via Mass Effect 3's long-awaited demo. According to BioWare, the tantalizing teaser will give players a peek at “the all-out galactic war against an ancient alien race known as the Reapers from multiple fronts, including the mind-blowing opening attack on Earth that kicks off the single-player campaign.” Co-op's in the mix as well, so this is looking like quite the heavyweight as far as demos go. Massive, one might even say. Effectively so. And then, in a just world, they'd hurl themselves out the airlock shortly after.

It's one thing to claw your way to the top of the lightsaber-swinging heap -- to let Yoda ride in your backpack and relentlessly crush your self-esteem the old-fashioned way. It's something else entirely, however, to cheat the system and un-balance the Force with your ill-gotten loots. The latter, BioWare claims, is the reason it can justify controversial temporary bans handed out to lower level SWTOR players who've ventured to the level 40 planet of Ilum. But is that really all there is to it?

BioWare? Making an RTS? Hold the phone! Is the thing we would be saying if this wasn't being developed by a renamed Victory Games under BioWare's sagely direction. That said, BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka did drop an interesting tidbit: “We’re bringing BioWare’s vision for emotionally engaging gameplay and great attention to quality to the strategy genre and the Command & Conquer franchise.” Yes, China, you may have nukes, but how will you fare against this witty one-liner dialog option? OK, we doubt they'll take it that far, but – at the very least – it'll all look drop-dead-and-then-come-back-to-life-just-to-drop-dead-again gorgeous thanks to BF3's Frostbite 2 engine. See for yourself in a (sadly brief) trailer after the break.

Yes, yes, the rumors are true. Mass Effect 3 is boldly going where no series entry has gone before it: the Internet. If you're worried that BioWare's mindlessly running and gunning for Call of Duty's throne, though, you can go ahead and call off your precision orbital strike. Instead, Galaxy at War – as it's known – is a series of four-player co-op missions that can ultimately impact your single-player ending. Fortunately for those who'd rather keep the spotlight all to themselves, though, it's completely optional. Check out the trailer below for a full explanation that could only be better if it was read in FemShep's soothing you-just-wait-I'm-going-to-murder-you voice.