My father in law just purchased a Beretta Extrema 2. It's a nice gun. With that being said, my buddy just bought a SBE and loves it. It too is a nice gun. If you're mainly goose hunting, you'll be shooting heavy loads. Beretta's new kick off technology and the fact that is gas operated makes it the softest shooting semi auto on the market (so they claim). No, the Beretta does not need to be shouldered in order for it to cycle. Check out the video at http://www.berettausa.com
Ultimately, you want to buy a gun on how it fits you, but with all of the adjustments you can make on both guns, you should get it to work for you. Good luck.