Review: ‘The Arrival’ DLC – Mass Effect 2
A few of you might know or even care that I tend to view the Mass Effect series as Bioware’s only saving grace in the last couple of years. When I play duds like Dragon Age 2, I have to hope that somewhere, somehow, they have a bright team writing great stories that flow well into game play. So far, that team has been on Mass Effect. While some might argue that the games are a bit rigid to play, they still have great story. I tend to forgive a fair amount if the game takes me out of reality a bit and gets me into the characters.
I will admit I was looking forward to the new DLC content for Mass Effect 2. I’ve played through the game so many times that even I was having problems finding new things to do in it. So, I set aside a few hours yesterday to download and play through the DLC.
Admiral Hackett sends a message to Shepard to go to a Batarian colony and rescue a deep cover operative from a prison. The catch? Shepard has to do it alone, without his team of hardy heroes. After the prison escape he heads to an asteroid base where things are not as they seem. Badness ensues… death, destruction, madness, and a big boom. Story over, almost!
Ok, that’s a new one. It was an interesting experience to do alone, as it demonstrates how much fire the team members actually draw. It was also ridiculously easy for my adept to complete. Time spent on the DLC content… One hour and seven minutes to complete the mission. I almost threw up in my mouth after paying for this. The one saving grace out of this experience? The possible lead in to Mass Effect 3. If you’ll allow me a bit of speculation here. The rumors have been flowing on the net that Mass Effect 3 happens on earth. If that is the case, the setup for that situation has been put out by Bioware in this download. Without giving too much away from the story, Shepard is in big trouble after this mission. If sacrificing the Earth Alliance fleet wasn’t bad enough in Mass Effect 1, this will surely get the attention of the Alliance Government. That court martial is looking more and more likely Commander Shepard. Time for you to clean up your act!
Score: 7.5