First impressions:
It's StarCraft. Blizzard didn't muck around with a good thing. They didn't change a whole lot about the UI, except that it's gotten a graphical upgrade. The game is very good-looking, but I really love Blizzard's art style so I am not particularly objective in this matter. The screenshots and movies available up to now did not do this game justice, visually. I've only played one match so far (as Protoss), but each of the units which carried over from SC1 felt just right, and each of the new units felt like it had a unique role to fill on the battlefield. None of the new units I experimented with felt shoe-horned in or out of place. There's a new screen on the post-match report that shows your build order and your opponent's side-by-side. Considering how much I suck at this game (and sucked at SC1 in multiplayer. . . and WC2. . . and WC3) and how much of that suckage is related to build order, this seems like a great tool for improving one's skill.

Ron, I just got my beta invite. You are free to be jealous.

Finished a play through of ME PC this weekend, also. Finished as a level 50 Paragon Infitrator (Commando specialization). I did some hex editing of my character profile to grant my character all of the achievements that I earned on the 360 (over six playthroughs, so. . . all of them), so I hope that doesn't bone my character import. As soon as I finished the game I was still in the mood for more Mass Effect so I started a new playthrough with that same character.

Help. . .

[Spoiler]

The ending is hilarious though, during credits and ending audio disk after credits .

Spoiler for Hiden:

Excerpts from Hulk

There are also

Spoiler for Hiden:

two more funny audio logs that unlock after the end of the game. One with Deadpool and another with Hulk.

It's very possible to enjoy the entire story - or at least as much as you'll see in one play through - and still beat the timer. You don't need to worry about it too much.