DLC Review - Mass Effect 2: Arrival

"The number of people Shepard has just disappointed with this DLC."

Let's say you've made a video game series that has just taken the industry by storm: an in-depth, absolutely gorgeous, and intriguing space opera that has sold millions of copies around the world. While fans hold their breath for the sequel, you decide you want to send this last game out with a bang before the inevitable conclusion to the series: an epilogue, if you will. Wouldn't it behoove you to make a bookend that will just...gosh...blow the player away, so that they have no choice to wait for the next chapter on pins and needles?

Wouldn't it?

BioWare?

...Wouldn't it?

To those of you who have not played this last add-on for Mass Effect 2 - dubiously-named "Arrival," since nothing technically arrives just yet - I'll keep spoilers to a minimum. But, honestly, there's not much to spoil; your best guess is probably better than what this add-on has to offer.

The add-on begins as all of them inevitably do: "You have a new message waiting for you at your private terminal." This time, Shepard takes it in his office, and it turns out to be Admiral Hackett, who contacts you through your...model ship display. I kid you not. Basically, the good admiral needs you to rescue one of his contacts, who has hard evidence of a Reaper invasion and would like her rescued because of this.

But let's back this up real quick and analyse this. First: Why would a model ship display double as a monitor? Shepard has like 100 real monitors at his disposal. Secondly: You have to realize that Hackett is asking you, Shepard, to rescue this scientist because she supposedly has the Reaper's smoking gun. Because, certainly, Shepard has never had any dealings with the Reapers in the past, and has absolutely no evidence to back him up - well, depending. But anyway, Hackett's basically looking you in the eye and saying those two games' worth of action weren't enough to convince anyone (still!), so you'll have to do a bit more.

"Okay," says I. And suddenly everyone forgets that the Alliance Navy spent the entirety of ME2 snubbing Shepard on account of his ties to Cerberus.

But here's the real kicker. Admiral Hackett wants Shepard to go in alone. Why? Because he feels that any more than one person going in and shooting up the place will result in the scientist being killed by her Batarian captors. "Go in alone, or don't go in at all," he tells me. So, perhaps fearing Hackett's omnipotence, I agree. Even though, if it were up to me, I definitely would have brought Garrus along. Just saying.

This kicks off what is essentially an hour's worth of running and gunning, with little substance beyond what occurs in the last ten minutes (and even that wasn't all that impressive). There are no real decisions to make other than to agree eagerly or indifferently. There is one outstanding moral dilemma, but the game will not let you make it since Shepard automatically agrees with the entire thing. So, for pretty much the entire hour, you're on moral autopilot.

And let's not forget the twist, which I found so laughably bad and cliched that I got myself killed from the shock of it.

After being so disappointed by Dragon Age 2, I cannot believe I've been stung twice by BioWare in a single month. This was not the add-on or the epilogue that "Arrival" should have been. This wasn't worth all the promotion, hype, and the little advertisements that were sent along inside copies of DA2. What this $8 add-on amounts to is an hour of shooting guards and a revelation of what might happen in Mass Effect 3, though I doubt it'll be all that impactful, since you're still going to have players who won't get this add-on. The story can't change dramatically for some.

If you've bought all of the DLC and just have to buy this, then I won't stop you, but I can tell you that I was very, very disappointed by "Arrival". Heartbroken, might be a better word. It's a huge shift in quality that I wasn't expecting after the very good "Lair of the Shadow Broker." I find myself saying the same thing after Dragon Age 2. All they had to do was match the quality of the last game (or DLC) and they would've been golden. Instead, they slapped together something for a quick dollar, selling people on their reputation instead of the quality I know they're capable of.

1 out of 5 Stars