Mass Effect 2 – Exploring DLC
God Bless BioWare; not only do they produce KILLER games, but they are becoming adept at keeping their IPs relavant with timely downloadable content, and good content at that. So after the early game of the year discussion, I felt the itch to get my Mass Effect 2 groove on and try their DLC. There are three packs available to you right now. One is FREE (To Cerberus Network users), one is OK but provides something you will definitely want, and the third is quite simply one of the best DLC adventures I have ever had. Let’s take a look.
The first pack that you will want to get is the Firewalker pack. This pack is FREE to Cerberus Network users and gives you the new Hamerhead fighting vehicle to explore planets with. One of the omitions from Mass Effect 2 that I truly enjoyed was elimination of the Mako. I found the Mako missions to be rather clunky and they changed the pace of the game in a way that I didn’t like. People complained about the controls and how some parts of the map were difficult to reach, even with six wheels. BioWare told us that they were working on a replacement for the Mako, and here it is.
The Hammerhead is a hovercraft with one rather large cannon on the front. It provides fast horizontal and limited vertical movement. Learning how to navigate with the Hammerhead was pretty intuitive and the first few missions with it flew by rather quickly. The pack itself gives you five additional vehicle missions and trophy that is viewable in your cabin. It’s not a ton of content, but it is free and provides those who missed vehicle travel and combat something to play with. Sadly, I’m not one of those people. In fact, I LOVED not having to tool around in a vehicle getting from one place to another, it kept my Mass Effect 2 pacing right where I wanted it. Regardless it seems the Hammerhead is here to stay so you better get used to piloting one. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fine vehicle and better than the Mako. I just wish it had a better indicator when shields were failing. I found myself in may close firefights with Geth Destroyers only to blow up realizing “hey I musta taken too much damage.” Here’s a hint…THINK RANGED and you will do fine with the Hammerhead.
The second pack you will want to check out is the Kasumi – Stolen Memory pack. The pack will cost you 560 points ($7) and is a steal considering what you get. Kasumi Goto is the galaxy’s most notorious thief and she needs your on a dangerous heist. Master criminal Donovan Hock is throwing a party for some of the galaxy’s richest and most deranged criminal minds. Your job is to sneak into this party, break into Hock’s vault and recover some data that is important to Kasumi. The mission itself isn’t all that long, I think finished it in about an hour or so. But it is a pretty sweet and quite different mission. It has a very “Casino Royal” feel to most of it as you sneak around looking for clues on how to break into the vault. The vault is very cool and has some nice Easter Eggs inside it as well.
But the real reason you want to get this pack is to get Kasumi herself. I’m here to tell you, this chick is BAD ASS!! Oh how I wish I had her during my play through of the game, I would have used her exclusively. She has a power called Shadow Strike, and I think it’s one of the strongest powers in the game. When things get nasty Kasumi will cloak and then sneak up on an opponent and hit them with a devastating backstab. She’ll then re-cloak and appear right back where she started from. Not only does this usually instakill her target, but it distracts the other foes as well. Dudes who used to be shooting at me will turn around to see what the heck is going on and then I can waste em. It’s simply awesome! Kasumi would have been an interesting full member of my team and one I would have loved to have has “relations” with. But she’s on my team now and boy is she fun to use in the other DLC for Mass Effect 2. Oh, you also get a second casual outfit, new gun and an achievement for this pack as well.
Now comes the reason why I wrote this article in the first place, the Overlord pack for Mass Effect 2. DLC packs can be either hit or miss, and usually all they really do are provide excuses to play a game we love for just a little more. Left 4 Dead 2’s “The Passage” was fantastic adding not only new maps and gameplay options, but it added to the Left 4 Dead canon as well. It’s rare that we see this in DLC, but Valve took the risk and made everyone, especially Lefty Brown, extremely happy. While not as expansive as Valve’s attempt, the Overlord pack is a fantastic example of mastery storytelling within DLC.
In the Overlord pack, Sheppard is sent to investigate a Cerberus research base that’s mysteriously gone silent. Upon arrival you find that the Geth have overrun the base. The sole survivor, Chief Scientist Archer explains that an experiment to fuse a human with a virtual intelligence created a dangerous hybrid “VI Overlord”. The Overlord is out of control and has already attacked three other Cerberus bases, controlling any technology it finds in an attempt to break free. Archer suspects that the Overlord wishes unleash the Geth not only on this planet, but on other systems as well. You and your team need to explore the Cerebus bases and shut them down before the Overlord can escape.
The DLC pack is again 560 points ($7) and took me about 2 ½ – 3 hours to complete. One could argue that’s a lot of money for just three hours of new game play; but that depends on how good that game play experience is. The story is solid, but the atmosphere in the DLC is super creepy. Because the Overlord has taken over station systems, random scary things just happen. There are cameras that follow you and your team and tons of jump scares in each of the five new areas. I found myself on the edge of my seat the entire time wondering what might happen next. However, this isn’t the coolest thing about the experience. The narrative in the story and how that is delivered to you is simply amazing. I got a sense early on that something else was going on around here and it turns out I was right. There is a mystery surrounding the Atlas Station and BioWare cleverly plants pieces of the puzzle in places and ways that I not only didn’t expect, but have never seen before. This all culminates into an endgame experience that simply blew me away. I’ve spent more on DLC and gotten way less, for Mass Effect fans this pack is a must buy!
One other note that needs mentioning. Not sure when or how it happened, but the mining experience seems to have gotten an upgrade. The tracking system is about twice as large and you can rotate your planet much faster than before. It’s as if Barry Allen (aka The Flash) supped up my planet scanner. I had noticed that in the regular game I had purchased an upgrade to that system, but never really noticed anything. Maybe it was broken for me and now it’s fixed. Or perhaps the developers got sick of all the mining complaints and simply fixed it for everyone. Either way, it’s wicked fast and I don’t dread mining so much.
Bravo to you BioWare for making great additions and improvements to an already fantastic gaming experience. It’s my hope that they continue to create compelling stories like this one to help me keep one foot planted in the Mass Effect universe. See you in space my friends!
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Tags: Bioware, Commander Shepard, DLC, Hammerhead, Kasumi, Mako, mass effect, Mass Effect 2, Overlord
July 15th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
They did and update on ME2 for the planet scanning because people bitched about it. I actually like the Mako in ME1 b/c I could dawdle around on a planet and listen to podcasts. Grinding the space way.
July 16th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Good article, Ryker. Let me start by saying I love the Mass Effect series. That said, I bought and played the Kasumi DLC the day it was available. While it was certainly enjoyable, it was way too short considering the price. For $7 you get a new squad member and one new mission that only lasts an hour, or less. I’ll admit that Steam has spoiled me, but even so, what I got for my $7 was not worth it IMO, considering that for $50 (PC) I got 11 squad members and plenty more than 11 missions.
This is why I have not bought the Overlord DLC, but from what I’ve read (your article and elsewhere), it does seem like it’s worth the $7 price tag. So I’ll likely get it eventually.
July 16th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
I agree Kasumi was way too short, but she Freaking rocks and as a playable character I think you’ll want her in your game. I hope she transfers to 3 cuz she’s amazing. You’ll be much happier with Overlord I am sure.
July 16th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
Kasumi is a cool character, no doubt. I guess that DLC would be worth the $7 to someone who plans to do additional playthroughs of the game after acquiring Kasumi.