Anthem

Original Release: February 22, 2019 for PC, Playstation 4, XBox One. Version Reviewed: Playstation 4, Update 1.7, 2020.


THE PLOT:

Bastion is a dangerous land, rocked by frequent Catacylsms - unpredictable forces of nature that can rip apart reality itself. Silencing these events used to be the job of Freelancers, famed warriors clad in exosuits known as Javelins. Until the day the Dominion attacked the prosperous city of Freemark, setting off an enormous cataclysm known as The Heart of Rage. Freelancers fought, both to protect the city and to silence the cataclysm... only to fail completely.

Ten years later, one of the few survivors of the Heart of Rage is working out of the small outpost of Fort Tarsis, taking any odd jobs that come up for the now-disgraced Order with help from a Cypher named Owen. When they stumble across renewed Dominion activity, they learn that a man known only as "The Monitor" is making plans to enter The Heart of Rage - determined to bend creation itself to his will!

The game's greatest joy: Flying around Bastion in your Javelin.

CHARACTERS:

Anthem actually does fairly well with its major characters. Dialogue options allow you to be sarcastic or sincere, brusque or compassionate, but the character remains essentially likable regardless. The support team - Haluk a grizzled ex-freelancer who now largely acts as a mechanic, and Owen and Faye, two different Cyphers who are haunted by their pasts in their own ways - are generally well-characterized, with just enough bickering and jealousy to believe them as different people with differing priorities but not so much as to alienate them from the player.  It's a Bioware game, so it should come as no surprise that voice acting ranges from good to excellent.

Other NPC's vary. I quite liked two of the main quest givers: Sentinel Brin, who is socially awkward and abrasive, but who gradually develops into a friend; and Arcanist Matthias, whose story takes an unexpected direction after a close encounter with a Shaper relic. Other NPC's are less engaging. The game expects me to find charming the character of Ryth, an irresponsible fellow Freelancer who inserts the word "sexy" in front of virtually every noun ("sexy danger"); I quickly found myself wishing for a dialogue option that would leave her to deal with the consequences of her "sexy bad choices" without me. And the less said about a distraught mother who mistakes you for her long-dead child, the better.

Chatting with the bartender at Fort Tarsis.

GAMEPLAY:

One of the bizarre things about Anthem's failure is that the gameplay... is actually pretty darn good. I've seen it dubbed "the best Iron Man game ever made" for its fun, intuitive flight controls. Combat is rapid, encouraging the player to mix it up with various weapons, grenades, close-quarters melee, and burst attacks that can range from explosions to poison sprays. Just flying from one objective to the next can be a joy, only briefly interrupted by the flight system's cooldown.

Unfortunately, the game struggles to create objectives that fully utilize the flying and combat systems. Too many missions consist of fighting swarms of enemies while picking up Object A to deliver to Drop Site B. Or defending an area from enemies while your Cypher... um, does something. Followed by clearing the area of enemies before going onto the next location.

A few missions offer enough variety to at least hint at the gameplay's potential. One quest cuts you off from your support, leaving you to battle giant Titans on your own. The final boss battle is an enjoyably challenging three-stage combat in which each stage requires an entirely different type of play. Other missions take away your flight abilities due to enemy interference. But these change-ups are few and rare, with most quests ultimately falling into very familiar and repetitive categories.

The battle with The Monitor - the game's best fight.

THOUGHTS:

Anthem is a notorious failure. Indeed, my decision to kick off my Bioware reviews with it is entirely because of EA's unsurprising decision to halt future development on it. Sure, they're keeping the servers up for the foreseeable future - but smart money's on the game disappearing entirely in the next 2 - 3 years.

I should emphasize that I never endured the Anthem launch day experience, when the game was apparently riddled with bugs and crashes and boasted loading screens that lasted longer than the actual missions. I learned long ago that gaming is the one major entertainment medium that actually punishes consumers for buying its products new.  Buy new, and you pay too much for something broken; wait, and you pay much less for something that works much better (see also: No Man's Sky; Assassin's Creed: Unity; Mass Effect: Andromeda; and more recently, Cyberpunk 2077) - an issue that's worthy of discussion in itself.

In any event, I am only reviewing Anthem as it exists now.  I did not pay $80 for a broken game; I paid $10 for a game that works just fine.  The problems that remain - and there are many - are largely ones of misjudgment rather than incompetence.


ANTHEM VS. DESTINY

It's clear enough that Anthem was made to compete with Destiny. And I'll say it: With a full three-act story and about 40 hours of content, Anthem's core game is far more complete than Destiny's was when it launched in 2014.

There's just one problem... Anthem wasn't competing with the 2014 version of Destiny. By the end of 2015, Destiny started making its stories and characters as enjoyable as its gameplay, with its excellent Taken King expansion effectively transforming the game. By the end of 2017, Destiny 2 had launched with a story-intensive campaign that offered a frankly much stronger narrative than Anthem's.

Finally, even at launch, Destiny provided players with a unique and detailed universe, and a variety of different worlds and setting. Anthem's game world is gorgeous... but it's also quite small, and comparatively generic.

A mission in a mine. Most underground
settings look pretty much like this.

MISJUDGMENTS AND MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

Anthem wants to tell an exciting action tale, much as Bioware's single-player games have done. Had it been released as a single-player offline game, perhaps with a multiplayer option, then it likely would have succeeded. But as a would-be MMO, Anthem also wants you to explore Bastion, to team up with others, and to take contracts from its various NPC quest givers. Worse, it doesn't trust that you will do this on your own - So the game repeatedly pushes you away from its main plot.

Early in the story, you rescue old friends Faye and Haluk from an ambush at a pirate base, gaining vital information to reach The Heart of Rage. This is well-presented, with a cutscene that manages to balance amusement with a sense of menace, followed by genuinely exciting gameplay as you fight through the ambush. It should mark the moment Anthem kicks into high gear.

Instead, you're immediately forced into hours of Freeplay, as you go scouting for four Tombs you need to open. This mission is reportedly less annoying than it was at launch, as the Tombs' locations are now tracked and the odds are good that you'll have completed most of their required "Challenges" by the time you get there... But that only underscores how little point there is to it! It exists solely to make sure you experience "Freeplay" - effectively transforming a fun multiplayer sandbox into a chore, which likely ensured that many players thereafter avoided a feature they otherwise would have enjoyed.

The tomb quest is not the only time the game undercuts its own story. The Monitor beats you to an objective, gaining the very thing needed to reach The Heart of Rage. So the situation is in crisis right? ...Except it's really not, because we're immediately told that the Magic Object won't work. We are then forced to do full side stories involving Matthias and a Sentinel named Dax. These quest chains are fairly enjoyable - the Matthias one is actually far more engaging than the main plot! - but they absolutely kill the pace. I'm stymied as to why these strands weren't saved to unlock after the main campaign - which would have also provided some much-needed endgame content (something Anthem sorely lacks).

In the interests of keeping this review reasonable in length, I'll avoid delving into other misjudgments, save for quick mentions of two issues; (1) If you're a company known for offering in-game romance options, then why would you eliminate that feature while still presenting multiple characters who obviously should have filled that role?; and (2) Fort Tarsis is the dullest quest hub in Bioware's history. Remember the village in the first part of Dragon Age: Inquisition, before you went to the real quest hub? That village was better than Fort Tarsis!

Sentinel Brin - one of the game's more endearing NPCs.

OVERALL:

I paid $10 for Anthem. On that basis, I got my money's worth: roughly 40 hours of highly entertaining action gameplay in a visually beautiful world. Oh, and with a story too. For around the price I paid, the game is a good buy - as long as you buy it knowing that it probably won't be around for longer than another year or two.

Still, I'd have to agree that Anthem is a failure, one plagued by misjudgments. It's an Internet-based game that never should have been one, with a story campaign that actually plays better solo. I suspect many of the story problems trace to compromises made with the online-based format. The result is a narrative that's competent enough, but that lacks any sense of urgency.

Did I enjoy Anthem? Yes, as far as it goes. If you're looking for an engaging sci-fi shooter/flight simulator, and can pick it up for around $10, then you'll likely be satisfied with your purchase. But there are enough glimpses of what the game might have been that, even while enjoying its virtues, I couldn't help but be disappointed by its failures.


Overall Rating: 4/10.



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Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Original Release: Mar. 21, 2017 for Playstation 4, XBox One, PC. Version Reviewed: PS4, 2017.


THE PLOT:

The Andromeda Initiative was conceived to colonize another galaxy. Volunteers who pass the screening process are put into cryogenic hibernation for the 600 year voyage, with an Ark of sleepers sent for each of the Council races: Asari, Turian, Salarian, Quarian, and human. Each ark has its own Pathfinder, who uses a specially designed AI known as "SAM" to assist in establishing settlements on the prescreened "golden worlds" of Andromeda's Heleus Cluster.

But 600 years is a long time. The human ark, Hyperion, arrives to find the once beautiful cluster ravaged by a dark energy cloud dubbed "The Scourge." The planet originally intended for the human colony has been rendered uninhabitable - and has also been taken over by a hostile species known as The Kett.

Scott and Sara Ryder are the children of human Pathfinder Alec Ryder (Clancy Brown). While investigating that first planet, an accident destroys the helmet of one of the Ryder siblings. With no time for an evac before his child dies from the toxic atmosphere, Alec gives up his own helmet and transfers his SAM - making the younger Ryder the new Pathfinder.

Alec's children never trained for the job, and there are plenty of doubts about this fledgling Pathfinder. The challenges are formidable. The other species' arks remain missing. The advance group tasked with founding the Citadel-like Nexus was decimated by the Scourge, with the intended leadership all but wiped out on arrival. Decisions by the new leaders created resentment and even open rebellion, leading many Nexus exiles to turn to banditry to survive.

At least there seems to be a chance to settle the Golden Worlds, thanks to the terraforming properties of technology left by a mysterious race known as "The Remnant." But the Kett also want control of Remnant technology, and they will fight to the death to obtain it. Leaving the inexperienced Ryder tasked not only with finding a home - but possibly also with winning a war in the process!

Alec Ryder (Clancy Brown): The hero the Andromeda
Initiative needed, but not the hero they ended up with...

CHARACTERS:

Ryder: In contrast to the larger-than-life Commander Shepard, the Ryder siblings are decidedly life-sized. Depending on your dialogue selections, your Ryder might vaguely resent or warily worship their father. Either way, there's a strong sense that both Scott and Sara have lived their lives in his shadow. In a smart design decision, you will end up playing as both your selected Ryder and the other sibling - though that doesn't happen until late in the game, which I consider a bit of a missed opportunity.

Alec Ryder: "If you can't run from it, use it." Alec is a former N-7 officer, like Shepard. He keeps his emotions closed off, pushing his people, including his children, toward his selected goals through force of will. Voice actor Clancy Brown makes him a dominant force, and a game-spanning mission involving unlockable memories (flashbacks) mean that he's kept alive as a character even across the roughly 80 hours of game that follow his demise, as your Ryder uncovers the final secret Alec left behind... assuming, that is, that you're willing to track down every memory trigger on every planet.

Cora Harper: The default love interest for Scott Ryder and the second in command. She's a human soldier who trained with Asari huntresses. She also marks a refreshing change for the Mass Effect series: A character who's supposed to be a combat expert is actually one of the game's better combat units! She was meant to be the backup for Alec, his successor as Pathfinder, which means that your Ryder has effectively stolen her job. There was some dramatic potential in this, but unfortunately any sense of resentment on her part disappears too early and far too easily.

Liam: The other human squad member, and he's... kind of a jerk, actually; but unlike Mass Effect 2's Jacob, I think this is intentional. His "squadmate banter" while driving around planets consistently sees him being judgmental or confrontational. His loyalty mission (arguably the best of the game) involves cleaning up a mess created by his own impulsive actions. So... points to the writers for making him consistent. It's not enough to make me like him, though; as soon as other squad members were unlocked, he got benched for most of the rest of the game.

PeeBee: The Asari squad member, a scientist studying Remnant technology. She fills much the same role as the original trilogy's Liara, but in character terms she's practically Liara's opposite. PeeBee is flighty, impulsive, and prone to wanderlust. By her own admission, she doesn't like to stay very long in any one place or with any one person. Her "Rem-tech" obsession makes her one of the better squadmates to bring on story missions, because many of them are Remnant-related and she often has interesting comments during those quests.

Drack: By far my favorite character, Drack is an elderly Krogan who was alive during the Krogan Rebellions - the conflict that ended with the deployment of the genophage. Unlike most Krogan, he has a large contemplative streak, likely due to a combination of a very long life and the constant physical pain from the implants that have replaced half of his original organs. A late game cutscene sees him discussing with Ryder how raising his granddaughter saved him from depression. This moment contains some of the best writing in any Bioware game - though sadly, this quality of writing is far from the standard for the rest of Andromeda.

Jaal: He is an Angara, a member of the race native to Heleus. Decades earlier, the Angara met their first alien race: the Kett, who claimed to come in peace only to betray, enslave, and murder. Unsurprisingly, the Angara are wary of Ryder and the new arrivals from the Milky Way. Jaal opens up quickly - maybe a little too quickly for my tastes, but this does at least fit with who he is. Trust comes easily to Jaal, and he tends to give the most positive reactions whenever Ryder responds to dialogue with open emotion rather than with sarcasm or cold analysis.

The Team: Vetra, the Turian squadmate, is one step removed from being a smuggler and outlaw herself. Her primary concern is protecting her younger sister, Sid, whom she basically raised. Kallo, the Salarian pilot, loves to gossip, but he's tight-lipped about himself. Gil, the engineer, likes to tinker with on-the-fly modifications, which leads to clashes with Kallo. Suki, the science officer, balances a fascination for science against religious faith. Lexi, the Asari medical officer, is dutiful to the point of being a workaholic, and she is particularly protective of Drack. All characters get at least a couple of good scenes, though inevitably some work better than others.

Combat is fast-paced and rewards frequent shifts in tactics.

COMBAT:

Mass Effect: Andromeda's combat is very different from the trilogy's. For the most part, the trilogy was a cover shooter. Hunkering down behind cover and sniping was a reliable way to win battles, with the hardest battles maybe requiring you to occasionally dash from one bit of cover to another.

As I discovered many, many times during the tutorial mission, this will get you killed in Andromeda. The combat here is fast-paced and movement-based. Finding cover remains essential, particularly when up against boss enemies such as Architects and Remnant Destroyers. But stay in one piece of cover too long, and you will quickly get flanked and/or overwhelmed. Success requires frequent, rapid changes in tactics. Tough battles will require to dodge and charge both to and away from enemies. If a particular fight is defeating you, it can make all the difference to swap to a different set of powers, or a different profile, or a different strategy.

I came straight to Andromeda from the trilogy, and it took me quite a while to adjust to the combat. Once I mastered it, however, I had a great deal of fun. If pressed, I would still pick Mass Effect 3's combat as my favorite of the series... but Andromeda would earn a close second, and many of even the game's harshest detractors have labeled it the best combat of the series.

Scott and Sara Ryder share a moment of grief for their father.

"MY FACE IS TIRED:" RELEASE DATE ISSUES:

There's a point early in Mass Effect: Andromeda, when Ryder meets Director Addison of Colonial Affairs. She is rude and dismissive, then apologizes by saying four words that have gone down in infamy:

"My face is tired."

Detractors immediately seized on this one line to sum up the release day state of Mass Effect: Andromeda. It's not entirely fair, but I also can't entirely blame them. After years of teasing the game, Bioware released Andromeda in a state that could be politely described as "unfinished." The results was immediate backlash.

I never played the release day version, but I have seen videos of bugs that include characters falling off the game map or getting caught in infinite death loops. Character animations were a particular sticking point, with the release day character art looking less like a Playstation 4 release than like something you'd have expected on the Nintendo Gamecube.

Bioware spent the following months releasing patch after patch, and the worst bugs were fixed. Character animations now range from "fine" to extremely good. There are still glitches, some amusing and some annoying, but nothing that ever threatens to break the game. The only bugs that actually frustrated me were: (a) a single incompletable fetch quest; and (b) a handful of conversations that lock you into a very awkward camera position that doesn't let you see the person you're actually talking to.

Had it been released in its current state, I suspect the overall reception would have been a lot better, and I do give credit to the company for fixing the worst of the problems. Even so, I can't blame any buyer for being mad at paying $60 - $70 for a product that took months to finally mostly work right.

The Angara are understandably suspicious
of the Milky Way colonists' intentions.

OTHER MUSINGS:

I'm a bit torn in reviewing Mass Effect: Andromeda. I think it's a better game than initial fan reaction to it would indicate. Even with the various patches, though, it still has plenty of issues.

The story opens well. Cutscenes introduce the Andromeda Initiative, the rough arrival, and Alec Ryder's relationship to his children. Moving around the ship familiarizes gamers with the basic movement controls. Then the first mission showcases both exploration and combat mechanics, with the complexity gradually rising. This prologue ends with a dramatic sequence that sets up: the battles in Kett bases that will be a big part of the game; the use of Remnant technology to terraform planets; and Alec's death and the inheritance of the Pathfinder role by the younger Ryder. Both as a tutorial and as a first chapter to the story, it is efficient, effective, and enjoyable.

The ending is equally good. The final story mission builds momentum with a smart mix of well-directed cutscenes and gameplay. Combat, which has been engaging throughout, is particularly challenging in this final section/ Even on the highest difficulty setting, however, it stops short of ever being too frustrating. The final mission calls for constant shifts in Profiles and Skills - meaning that at the end, your Ryder mirrors Alec's own rapid Profile shifts from that first mission. There's even a post-credit epilogue, boasting more than an hour of content, that allows you to check in on all the characters and gives some hints about what might have happened next, had this game been successful enough to warrant a sequel.

In between that excellent opening and closing, however, Andromeda struggles to maintain its pace, and a big part of the reason is the open world format employed for too much of it...

Ryder explores vast alien worlds - a little too vast,
stuffed with a few too many repetitive tasks.

MASS EFFECT - INQUISITION:

This is the fourth Mass Effect game, but it's really a successor to Dragon Age: Inquisition. Like that game, it mostly relies on an open world format, with you and your chosen party exploring vast areas, following main story objectives and side quests while also uncovering bits of lore. Also like that game, companion quests and most major story quests jettison the open world format in favor of Bioware's more traditional linear pattern - and yes, just like in Inquisition, these linear story missions end up being the most enjoyable in the game.

I actually think the open world format is better used here than in Inquisition. For one thing, it better fits the story. The characters came to Andromeda to explore. Even with the Kett, that remains their priority for the bulk of the story, so it makes a certain amount of sense for them to meander around the worlds they discover.

It still falls into the open world trap, though: All that space has to be filled with something - and far too much of that something ends up falling into the categories of "enemy encounters" and "fetch quests" - including a few untrackable quests that I doubt any but the most die-hard of players bothered completing. "Drive to every Kett camp on the planet searching for datapads." Umm... thanks, but no.

Andromeda also repeats one of Inquisition's biggest missteps. Eos, the game's first major planet, is this game's Hinterlands: It's the least interesting of the major settings, and you spend far too much time there before the game allows you to go to more eye-catching worlds. The Hinterlands defeated many an Inquisition player, and Bioware knew that. Why would they make the exact same mistake with their next game?

Pathfinder Ryder uses Remnant technology to restore a world.

OVERALL:

At Andromeda's core is a very good 50 - 60 hour RPG/action game. Too bad that this core is so often buried under a mountain of fetch quests, meaningless enemy encounters, and open world traversal. In design terms, I think it improves on Inquisiton. The combat is better, and there are no areas that are narratively pointless (two words: Hissing Wastes).

The opening hours are excellent. The ending is also quite good, and many of the story and companion missions in between are highly entertaining. Unfortunately, the whole ends up feeling like less than the sum of its parts. There's a lot more good than bad in Andromeda, even allowing for the bugs and the open world bloat, and I genuinely enjoyed playing it - but I rarely felt compelled to play it the way I did with the trilogy.

In the end, it's not a bad game - but it's still a bit of a disappointing one.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

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Mass Effect 3 - DLC.

Original Release: Mar. 6, 2012 - Mar. 5, 2013. Released for PC, XBox 360. Version Reviewed: Playstation 4 Legendary Edition, 2021.


INTRODUCTION:

The first Mass Effect offered only two pieces of downloadable story content, only one of which was at all substantial. Mass Effect 2 went to the other extreme, with so many pieces of DLC that I thought some of them diluted the game's main story - though its three final "big" expansions were all impressive in their own ways.

Mass Effect 3 splits the difference. There are five DLC expansions, and they are all significant - though on original release, one amounted to putting core game content behind a paywall and another essentially was a patch.

As ever, I will look at these individually, according to release order.

The last Prothean: Javik. He is not what anyone expected -
but given his life, everything about him makes sense.

FROM ASHES:
Release Date: Mar. 6, 2012.

This entire saga began when the first Normandy received word of a Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. Now another Prothean artifact has been unearthed. Shepard and crew expect to find a second beacon. Instead, they discover Javik, a Prothean soldier who was cryogenically frozen at the end of the last Reaper cycle. Instead of the font of wisdom they expect from a Prothean, he is... well, pretty much what an individual whose entire life was a struggle for survival would be: bitter, brutally pragmatic, and scornful that the "primitives" of his cycle are now in charge of the current one.

From Ashes was Day One DLC, and it was instantly controversial. Not because it lacked value: Javik is a fantastic character, and the interactions with him are some of the most interesting in the game. The issue for many was that, save for the forgettable Eden Prime mission, all of the content was already on the disc; buying the DLC amounted to paying for an unlock code.

The Legendary Edition re-release includes this and all DLC fully integrated into the main game. But if you're playing the original version on XBox 360 or Playstation 3, then you'll still have to pay $10 for Javik. If you're in that position, I would reluctantly recommend gritting your teeth and ponying up, as the character adds too much to the story to skip. But I won't argue that making the character into DLC was bad form.

The Extended Cut doesn't make the ending good,
but at least it makes it better.

EXTENDED CUT:
Release Date: June 26, 2012.

The "Extended Cut" was Bioware's attempt to appease fans who were angry about the original ending. It was released free, making it less a DLC than a patch. This add-on grants players new dialogue options during the final scenes, and it also provides context surrounding the final choice and the reasons behind it. Narrated epilogues make the endings unique, rather than just a choice between "red, green, or blue." The epilogues even include variations based on choices, Paragon/Renegade status, and total war assets, making it feel more meaningful and complete.

As I noted in my main game review, it doesn't fix everything. The ending is no longer a disaster in this form, but it remains underwhelming. A short scene with the Normandy coming down to pick up Shepard's squadmates is actually a change for the worse, because it makes no sense; if Alliance ships can drop down, why are the troops making a suicidal infantry dash?

Still, the extensions to the final conversation and the epilogues make sure that the trilogy feels like it ends rather than merely stops. Had this been in place on release, I doubt there would have been such an outcry. Gamers might have been underwhelmed... but I doubt they would have been as actively mad as they were with the original "red/green/blue" ending.

Shepard comes into contact with Leviathan. Face to giant face.

LEVIATHAN:
Release Date: Aug. 28, 2012

Dr. Bryson, an Alliance researcher investigating myths and legends surrounding the Reapers, is murdered by his assistant - who has no memory of having done so. The assistant shows every sign of having been indoctrinated, leading Shepard to retrace Dr. Bryson's steps while investigating an entity known as "Leviathan."

This the first of Mass Effect 3's proper expansions, and it's a good one. The final revelations addmore context to the entire Reaper conflict. They even help to further improve the game's weak ending. More importantly, it's enjoyable to play.

Leviathan includes multiple missions across multiple planets. As with the main story missions, you can do Normandy "rounds" between Leviathan quests, hearing new dialogue and getting additional interactions from your squadmates.

Gameplay is varied. When in Dr. Bryson's lab, you'll be doing detective work, clicking on items and objects to find clues. The three main planetary missions each provide a different style and atmosphere. In one, you will move up ladders and platforms, fighting Reaper forces to reach a contact at the top. Another has a horror movie vibe, as you move through a facility whose entire staff has been indoctrinated. The third is combat intensive, with Shepard battling waves of enemies. The frequent shifts in tone help to keep the gameplay fresh throughout.

In short: Leviathan is good as a story, good as a game, and good as an expansion to the Mass Effect lore. I would label this DLC as indispensable.

Too bad I can't say the same about the next one...

Aria T'Lok is determined to retake Omega.

OMEGA:
Release Date: Nov. 26, 2012

Aria T'Lok, crime lord and former ruler of Omega, has been displaced by Cerberus. She wants Shepard's help to regain control, and she promises resources for the war effort. They form an uneasy partnership with Aria's former lover, Turian freedom fighter Nyreen Kandros, to push the invaders out. But Cerberus has a secret lurking the corridors: Reaper-like creations known as Adjutants...

I suspect individual gamers' tolerance for Omega will depend on their opinions of the character of Aria, who is all but ever-present here. If you find anything interesting about this self-proclaimed badass, then you will likely enjoy the many, many cutscenes in which she tells us how tough and cool she is. Me? I find her incredibly tedious. There is nothing less "cool" than someone who constantly insists upon her own "coolness."

For most of its run, the story seems to be setting up a choice between Aria and Nyreen for control of Omega. This could have been interesting, a sci-fi parallel to the Bhelen/Harrowmont choice in Dragon Age: Origins, in which the better person was also by far the worse ruler. Unfortunately, this potential thread is unceremoniously dropped. The biggest moral decision is between suffering a minor inconvenience and perpetrating a terrorist act that will kill thousands of civilians. Never mind renegade. This choice asks the question: Is your Shepard a psychopath?

As is painfully clear by now, I don't have much good to say about Omega. It's wall-to-wall combat... painfully repetitive combat as you mow down hordes of Cerberus baddies through generic corridor after generic corridor. The main villain is dull. The supposedly terrifying Adjutants are visually goofy and remarkably easy to defeat. The main game's Banshees are nightmare fodder; this DLC's Adjutants are like an off-brand knockoff.

A party on the eve of the apocalypse: Shepard
and crew, past and present, enjoy some down time.

CITADEL
Release Date: Mar. 5, 2013

From the worst DLC to the best...

As the Normandy undergoes a retrofit, Commander Shepard and crew enjoy some much-needed shore leave. Shepard's break is interrupted by intelligence analyst Maya Brooks, who warns that an unknown party is trying to hack into the commander's personal accounts. This sends Shepard in pursuit of an unknown conspiracy - with a very familiar face at the center of it all...

The most notable aspect of the Citadel DLC isn't its story. Don't get me wrong - It's a fun action caper with some surprisingly challenging gameplay and a few priceless character interactions (Two words: Traynor's toothbrush. A third word: Wrex). But the real meat of this expansion comes after you've finished the main campaign.

Once the story is done, a new area is unlocked: The Silversun Strip, a sort of mini-Vegas on the Citadel that includes Shepard's new apartment along with a casino, an arcade, a combat arena, and a ton of background conversations and foreground character vignettes. Highlights include: Grunt's hilariously rowdy birthday bash; Wrex's problems with Krogan mating; Zaeed's obsession with a claw machine; and Samantha Traynor's arcade confrontation with an Asari bully. It's all great fanservice in the best possible way - and it's a lot of fun to see the characters relaxing (or failing to relax) during down time.

It culminates in a grand party at Shepard's apartment, in which characters who have often rarely interacted converse, argue, or conspire. Everyone gets at least one good moment. Zaeed - whom I strongly disliked in Mass Effect 2 - is actually funny and likable, and this is accomplished without changing his characterization; he's just a lot better-written! This is a relief, given that this DLC was actor Robin Sachs's last performance.

It's a delight from start to finish, and the Mass Effect trilogy and its characters are so much richer for its inclusion.

Shepard stares out at the Normandy before returning to the war.

OVERALL:

From Ashes is an unfortunate case of paywalling core game content, and I found Omega to be pretty bad. However, the rest of Mass Effect 3's downloadable expansions are worthwile additions. The free Extended Cut DLC makes the ending a bit more palatable; Leviathan offers players a good story and some varied gameplay; and Citadel is a joyous love letter to the trilogy and its characters.

Overall, a fine package of expansions, all of which are included, fully integrated, in The Legendary Edition of Mass Effect 3. If for whatever reason you're playing on Playstation 3 or XBox 360, though, you might want to just skip Omega.

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Mass Effect 3.

Original Release: Mar. 6, 2012 for XBox 360, PC. Playstation 3. Version Reviewed: PS4 Legendary Edition, 2021.


THE PLOT:

The day Commander Shepard has warned about has finally come: The Reapers have invaded. They first hit Batarian space, turning the survivors of the race that had been the scourge of the galaxy into scattered refugees. Their next target is Earth, and it isn't long before the massive enemy ships descend upon humanity's homeworld.

After months in prison for working with Cerberus to stop The Collectors, Shepard is now restored to a leadership role and given an impossible mission: Unite the other Council races, with all their grudges and prejudices and rivalries, into one massive force against the Reapers!

Getting the band back together: Shepard reunites with old
squadmates. The ones who are still alive, at least.

CHARACTERS:

Commander Shepard: As with the first two games, the main direction of Shepard's journey is fixed. Within those boundaries, however, gamers again have freedom to shape the commander's personality. Shepard can be an inspiring hero, or angry and bitter, or worn down with exhaustion... or pretty much any combination. I started my Shepard with mainly "Paragon" speech options; then, as stress began taking its toll, I started to opt for more short-tempered "Renegade" options. This worked well... but it's far from the only option available.

Liara T'Soni: Mass Effect 2 greatly improved her characterization (along with most of the rest of the ensemble). Its Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC overhauled her role in the series, and that plays a big part here. Liara is strongly supportive of Shepard, with several scenes that gain added resonance if she's the selected love interest. Shepard is forced by circumstances to play politics, but it's an uncomfortable fit; Liara, who was born to that environment, is often able to assist. Her enthusiasm for the long-extinct Protheans remains as well, prompting some choice interactions with DLC character Javik. 

Kaidan/Ashley: The survivor of the first game's Virmire mission returns in a substantial supporting part. Refreshingly, though both Kaidan and Ashley fill the same role in the story, much of their dialogue is different. Kaidan talks about his students; Ashley worries about her family. Both cling to suspicions about Shepard's past ties to Cerberus, with voice actor Raphael Sbarge again making his resentment of that choice feel like something personal. I prefer Kaidan's scenes overall, but it's worth playing both versions.

James Vega: Is introduced as a hothead, arguing with Shepard over the choice to leave Earth, but he's also a generally decent guy. Unlike Mass Effect 2's Jacob, this is conveyed not by having people talking about how nice he is, but rather through his interactions: with Shepard, with the crew, and with shuttle pilot Steve Cortez. Voice actor Freddie Prinze Jr. proves a deft hand at comedy (ask James to do something techie on one of the Rannoch missions - the results are gold), but he also can dial that back to convey more serious emotions. Against my expectations, I ended up liking Vega a lot. It's a low bar, but I think he wins the award for "Best Human Squadmate" across the trilogy.

Samantha Traynor: Mass Effect 3 features what I believe was a Bioware first: two exclusively same-sex romance options. Unsurprisingly, the woman gets far more characterization. The good news is: She's a delight. Samantha Traynor, the Normandy's new Comm Specialist, is not someone who ever expected to be near combat. She's a tech nerd: hygiene-obsessed (with a very expensive toothbrush), a bit of a hypochondriac, and a chess and games enthusiast. Voice actress Alix Wilton Regan brings her wonderfully to life, and the character comes across as effortlessly likable.

Steve Cortez: The male same-sex counterpart is Shepard's shuttle pilot, and he basically has three traits: his longtime friendship with Vega, his piloting, and the death of his husband to the Collectors. Some of his interactions with James are amusing, and the Citadel DLC fleshes him out with a few more varied interactions. But there's a spark that Traynor has (and Mordin, and Wrex, and Garrus, and Tali, and... well, all the characters who really work) - and that spark just isn't there with Steve. I liked him just fine - but I'd be lying if I said I never pressed the "skip" button during his conversations.

Returning Characters: Garrus and Tali get interactions with Shepard and with each other that are a joy to watch. Tali's role builds on her loyalty mission in Mass Effect 2, with her position among the Quarians potentially very different depending on the results of that mission. Garrus's adventures with Shepard have made him the Turians' expert on Reapers. Artificial Intelligence EDI gets an expanded role - one which, on first playthrough, I was initially concerned would fall flat, but which ends up working well within the story. Wrex, Mordin, Thane, Legion, and Miranda don't re-join the crew, but they get decent supporting roles - particularly Mordin, who is at the center of the story's strongest arc.

Not all characters are equally well-treated. It's little surprise that Kasumi and Zaeed only receive cameos, as they were optional DLC characters in the first place. However, fan favorite Grunt is only seen in one mission; the same is true of Samara; the same is true of Jacob. The "Citadel" DLC makes up for this to an extent. In the core game, though, many previous "regulars" barely end up qualifying as walk-ons.

Shepard is charged by a Reaper creation known as a Brute.

COMBAT:

The combat in Mass Effect 3 is mechanically similar to the combat in Mass Effect 2 - which, as I noted, I didn't much enjoy. It's been tweaked, however. Controls are more responsive, and it's much more enjoyable as a result.

Darting from one piece of cover to the next is now keyed into button presses and direction controls, rather than having to be done manually each time. When in cover, you can also perform "quick kills" of enemies directly next to you. There's also an enjoyably overpowered feature: In battles involving Cerberus mechs, you can snipe the mech's pilot and hijack the machine, which will transform a tough battle into a one-sided slaughter.

In short, with just a few modifications, a combat system I gritted my teeth through in the previous game has been transformed into an absolute joy.


ADDITIONAL GAMEPLAY:

Mass Effect 3 pares back some of the dialogue options. In many cases, particularly when talking to the characters on the Normandy, no dialogue wheel appears; instead, the NPC will give a scripted comment about events. Full dialogue options are only presented for major interactions, rather than every time.

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, doing the Normandy "rounds" in between missions is much quicker and easier. I do not miss clicking through the same responses over and over again just to find out if a given character has anything new to say. However, it also means that when a full conversation does become available, you pretty much have to have it then or lose it forever.

The planet scanning that was everybody's favorite (sarcasm) part of Mass Effect 2 returns. Fortunately, it's a lot less cumbersome. Instead of mining for resources, you are searching for a single target area, usually to fulfill a fetch quest received on the Citadel. There's also an element of jeopardy introduced, as Reapers will "detect" your scans and come after you... though it must be said that, for Lovecraftian dark gods, they are amazingly slow. If you want to see the Reaper "game over," you pretty much have to stop the ship to let them catch you!

Wrex and Mordin prepare for the Battle of Tuchanka...
unless either or both died in the first two games.

DEALING WITH PAST DECISIONS:

Mass Effect 2 already had to prepare variations of certain scenes to address some of the choices and events in the first Mass Effect. Depending on what was chosen and/or which characters survived, Shepard would encounter either Kaidan or Ashley on Horizon and either Wrex or his vicious borther Wreav on Tuchanka, resulting in differences in the scenes set on those worlds.

Mass Effect 3 continues this, but on a much larger scale. Instead of a cameo, Kaidan/Ashley gets a major supporting role. Wrex/Wreav also has a substantial role, and these two characters couldn't be more different. Wrex wants the Krogan to be a part of galactic society; Wreav wants revenge for wrongs perpetrated on his people. Given the implications of their respective outlooks, you might entirely reconsider one major choice if Wreav leads the Krogan instead of Wrex... and you might well be right do so!

Any of Mass Effect 2's squadmates could die at the end of that game. That leaves Mass Effect 3 to come up with two variations for eleven different characters. This is comparatively simple for those who only receive cameos: The mission in which they appear plays out either with an NPC stand-in or just without that character.

Other replacements are more significant. If Mordin died in Mass Effect 2, then Padok Wiks, another Salarian scientist, takes his place. It's well worth doing a playthrough to see this variant, as Padok is an excellent character in his own right. He fills Mordin's role in the story, but he is very much his own man. He's less humorous and is also less of a pragmatist. Mordin defended the genophage as a necessary evil; Padok considers it a wrong, insisting that every species has value. Mordin develops a friendship with the female Krogan, Eve; Padok and Eve have "an agreement not to kill each other."

If Tali died in the Suicide Mission, then her role in the Rannoch campaign is filled by the Quarian admirals. This takes one potential resolution to the conflict completely off the table. In addition, it creates a noticeably darker atmosphere. Without Tali, there is no Quarian whom Shepard can fully trust.

Shepard struggles toward the Reaper skybeam. Because
you can't have an apocalypse without a skybeam.

AN UNWORTHY ENDING:

When Mass Effect 3 was first released, it didn't take long for the discussion to focus on one aspect: the ending. Particularly in its original form, the ending was... really, really bad. So bad that within weeks, Bioware released a free "Extended Cut" DLC that patched it with multiple improvements - which has not stopped it from becoming one of the most infamous endings in video game history!

You'd just about have to try to play the ending in its original form anymore, so I'll briefly describe it. Fear not; there are no meaningful spoilers. Shepard makes the game's final decision, whose momentous consequence is... What color explosion happens: Red, green, or blue. This is followed by a brief, wordless scene in which Joker and another character will climb out of a crashed Normandy to stare pensively into the distance. Roll credits!

In its patched form (the only one available on the Legendary Edition re-release), I wouldn't label it a disaster. The focus of the decision ties in with a recurring theme of the trilogy, one that's particularly relevant in the third game. More context is given to the final choice, with more dialogue options for Shepard.  There is also an epilogue that shows the effects of Shepard's choice, making use of the individual decisions you made prior to that point, allowing for: which characters and races survived; various power dynamics, from whether a bomb was stopped to whether a peace agreement was reached; how successful Shepard was at accumulating war assets; and whether Shepard followed a Paragon or Renegade path. There's even a stealth fourth option.

Had this care been taken in the first place, I suspect much of the outcry would never have happened. That said... Even in its current form, Mass Effect 3's ending is its single weakest aspect. It doesn't nullify the roughly fifty hours of very good story and gameplay that precedes it. Still, you tend to remember the final impression left by a book, movie, or game - and Mass Effect 3 does not leave a very good final impression.

Tali pays her respects to a fellow Quarian who
reached his homeworld, only to die in battle.

OTHER MUSINGS:

Despite that weak ending, Mass Effect 3 is still my personal favorite of the trilogy. It has the best combat. It features several of the best character interactions, including some of the most emotional moments in the series. It delivers an effective sense of dread that builds steadily and is felt even during the humorous moments.

The use of the Citadel is more or less what Dragon Age 2's Kirkwall should have been, in that it changes throughout. Early in the game, C-Sec Commander Bailey complains that people keep behaving as if everything is normal and there is no war. Each return sees the Citadel's situation deteriorating. The hospital goes from clean and mostly empty to so busy that patients are on stretchers in the halls. A holding area is assigned for refugees from overrun worlds, and it grows increasingly crowded. Background conversations show people first becoming aware of the war - and then becoming afraid.

Then there are the background conversations, which provide miniature narratives. A human soldier, disowned by her family after marrying an Asari, desperately tries to get her daughter to her spouse's family on Thessia before she ships out. A Volus merchant bloviates to a naive human woman about his certainty that the supposedly safe colony world of Sanctuary is a giant scam. An Asari commando grapples with memories of a Reaper attack on a world she was evacuating. A young refugee forms a bond with a Turian guard while waiting, with increasing hopelessness, for her family to arrive. And many others, ranging from amusing to touching to horrifying.

Not all of these vignettes work. The conversations between a military wife and her Asari lover, who urges her to leave her husband while he's on the front lines, mainly left me wanting to show both ladies to the nearest airlock, for example. Still, these background stories combine to create a mosaic of the war's impact on people whom Shepard would otherwise never meet.

An Asari falls to a Reaper creation,
in an image straight out of a horror movie.

A FEW SIGNS OF RUSHED DEVELOPMENT:

I have no substantial complaints about the first two thirds. Not every mission is equally well designed, but that's been true of every game in the series. Up through the Rannoch arc, the story is well structured. There's a nice sense of rising action, with Shepard gradually gathering allies and notching a few big victories - but always at a cost, which helps sustain the grim tone even when calling down an air strike on a Reaper. There's a mix of shorter missions and more extensive mini-campaigns. There's a sense that the story is building the way that it should.

As the story approaches its later stages, the tight deadline starts to show. A key part of the late story brings Shepard to Thessia, the homeworld of the Asari, who are the most advanced civilization and who have been one of the most prominent alien races throughout the series. You would expect an arc of missions, as happened with the Krogan on Tuchanka and the Quarians on Rannoch. Failing that, you would at least expect an extensive, multi-stage mission with multiple dialogue breaks to absorb different facets of Asari culture - as, again, happens with both Tuchanka and Rannoch.

Nope. Thessia is one of the shortest and most linear missions of the game. Shepard takes a short walk across a bridge, down a ladder, and up a corridor, fighting routine enemies along the way. There are some good observations and interactions at the destination (particularly if you bring Javik) - but it's far from enough to disguise how rushed the entire sequence is. Both the revelations and the emotional follow-up would have meant far more had it been more of a fight to get there. I strongly suspect this was a case of the deadline forcing the developers to create something shorter and simpler than was ideal.

Earlier, I discussed how well this game does in "catching" most of Shepard's potential decisions. There are a couple of exceptions. Players who picked Morinth over Samara in Mass Effect 2 are treated to... zero alternative Morinth scenes or interactions. All that happens is that Shepard receives one email early in the game, before eventually running into a standard enemy labeled "Morinth." Something similar happens if Legion was sent back to Cerberus. It's disappointing, as I suspect interesting variations could have been created. However, in both cases, the percentage of players making those choices was probably extremely small. As the deadline loomed, I expect that more fully addressing those routes was sacrificed to making sure that alternate paths for Tuchanka, the Citadel, and Rannoch were properly available.

A Turian watches helplessly as his planet burns.

OVERALL:

Yes, the ending is weak, even if its current form isn't the disaster of the original release. Yes, the developers should have had a three-year development cycle, as with Mass Effect 2, rather than being forced to squeeze the series' most ambitious title out in a mere two years; and yes, that deadline starts to show in the later stretches.

For all of that, I mostly love Mass Effect 3. I love the character interactions. I love the background conversations. I love the fact that, even if your past choices have minimal effect on the ending, they are addressed through noticeable variations throughout the game.

If the ending wasn't so wobbly, this would get full marks even with the other issues. Even as it stands... This is my favorite game in my favorite video game series. There's no question that I'm rating it highly.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Mass Effect 3 DLC

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Mass Effect 2 - DLC.

Original Release: Jan. 26, 2010 - Mar. 29, 2011. Released for PC, XBox 360. Version Reviewed: Playstation 4 Legendary Edition, 2021.


INTRODUCTION:

The first Mass Effect offered two pieces of downloadable content: Bring Down the Sky, which introduced the Batarians, and Pinnacle Station, which... um, existed. While Bring Down the Sky slightly expanded the fictional universe and introduced a character who would later (potentially) appear in Mass Effect 3, neither could truly be labeled an essential piece of the saga.

Mass Effect 2 was considerably more aggressive with its DLC content. There were multiple weapons and armor packs, which I won't be reviewing; they're inventory items, there's really nothing to review. There were also seven pieces of narrative DLC, two of which added squadmates to the full game and two others that I would rank as essential parts of the overall series narrative.

As ever, I will look at these individually, according to release order.

Shepard explores the crash site of the original Normandy.

NORMANDY CRASH SITE:
Release Date: Jan. 26, 2010

After coming back from the dead, Shepard travels to the Normandy crash site. While recovering the dog tags of the fallen crew members, Shepard also finds the personal logs of Executive Officer Pressley and recalls the old ship and its crew.

Best played early, this is a small-scale mood piece that adds a bit of closure to the ship from the first game. There is no combat. You just wander around the wreckage of the ship that was once Shepard's home, recovering dog tags, reading personal logs, and eventually placing a memorial. There is no combat, no villain, no pirates seeking to scavenge the site... which I actually like, because it makes a nice contrast with the rest of the game.

Zaeed wants revenge and will stop at nothing - nothing,
that is, except becoming an interesting character.

ZAEED - THE PRICE OF REVENGE:
Release Date: Jan. 28, 2010

Shepard receives a recruitment dossier: Zaeed Massani (Robin Sachs), a legendary mercenary who formed the infamous Blue Suns group. Zaeed is willing to join the attack on the Collectors, but he has a price: Revenge against his old business partner, who betrayed him and left him for dead long ago. Shepard accompanies Zaeed to track down and kill the man - only to be faced with a choice between Zaeed's vengeance and the lives of innocents!

In addition to the mission, this DLC adds Zaeed as a team member and presence on the Normandy for the full length of the game. If he's in your party, he will appear in cutscenes and comment on missions. In between missions, he will reminisce about his past adventures. All of which makes this a pretty high-value DLC, except for one small problem...

I hate Zaeed. His every piece of dialogue amounts to him bragging about how tough he is. "Did I ever tell you about the time I got stranded for a month and had to cook a steak out of my own left thigh?" He's like the embodiment of the running gag in Spy, in which the Jason Statham character related increasingly implausible stories about himself - only here, it's not played for laughs.

Shepard takes control of the Hammerhead,
initiating a series of generic vehicle missions.

FIREWALKER
Release Date: March 23, 2010

Shepard is sent to investigate after a Cerberus research ship disappears. The researchers are long gone, but Shepard is able to take control of Hammerhead, the prototype vehicle it was carrying. Using the vehicle, Shepard is able to retrieve data indicating that Dr. Cayce, the lead scientist on the project, is being tracked by Geth - leading Shepard to try to track the missing scientist across a series of worlds, battling Geth along the way.

I had to re-read mission briefs to prepare that summary, because the story for Firewalker is what the website TV Tropes labels "an excuse plot." You get the story mainly through opening and closing mission reports, which give context to the five vehicle missions that make up this DLC.

There's some fun to be had with the Hammerhead, a hovering vehicle that can hoover up minerals and data packs and can also leap tall mountain ledges in a single bound. It's not so good for combat, as the ship appears to be made out of papier-mâché; get used to hearing the "ship is about to blow up" alarm. Unfortunately, the entire mission pack is entirely expendable, adding nothing to either the main plot or the larger universe. If you enjoy vehicle missions, then you'll probably have fun with it. Otherwise, you won't miss anything if you choose to just skip it.

Kasumi targets the man responsible for her partner's death.

KASUMI - STOLEN MEMORY:
Release Date: Apr. 6, 2010

Shepard receives a dossier for Kasumi Goto, a master thief who volunteers her services in return for help in recovering her late partner's memory box from the vault of interstellar gunrunner Donovan Hock. The two infiltrate a party Hock is throwing, with Shepard locating the items and information needed to bypass security and access the vault. But once inside, it becomes all too clear that they have walked right into the criminal's trap!

Kasumi is the game's second DLC character. Unlike Zaeed, I actually like her quite a lot. Once she settles into the Normandy, her dialogue is chipper and upbeat as she comments on missions and shares crew gossip.

The Stolen Memory mission is genuinely enjoyable. The first half strikes a contrast with the main game's endless cover shooting as you infiltrate the party: exploring Hock's mansion, working your way into restricted areas, and taking down the various pieces of his security system. Hock's collection inspires some entertaining commentary, with an amusing Planet of the Apes reference thrown in. It eventually turns to combat - but the cover shooting doesn't overstay its welcome, and the final fight against a heavily armored airship is actually a nice challenge.

In short: I liked this one.

A failed experiment threatens to unleash a Geth invasion!

OVERLORD:
Release Date: June 15, 2010

Overlord is a Cerberus research project under the direction of Gavin Archer. Its goal is to find a way to to control the Geth, thus making impossible any other attacks like the ones on Eden Prime or the Citadel. An experiment using a human volunteer as a hybrid Virtual Intelligence has spun out of control. The VI has gone rogue, and Geth are swarming the base... leaving Shepard in a race against time to shut the experiment down before the Geth escape to wreak havoc through nearby systems.

Overlord melds narrative and gameplay to strong effect. The first section presents the standard corridor crawl/cover shooter combat, building to a large-scale fight to prevent the Geth from escaping the facility. Once this opening Act is concluded, the DLC opens up, sending Shepard to a pair of substations. One utilizes the Hammerhead to vehicle-hop around a volcanic setting. Another evokes a survival horror atmosphere, as you move through a substation full of dormant Geth while learning what happened building up to the fateful experiment.

The final Act is also the most memorable part. Shepard enters a virtual world to confront the rogue VI. While gameplay is standard, the visual design is extremely well done, as are the bits of memory that allow the last pieces of the story to fall into place. The ending cutscene is effective, and the music score enhances the emotion to a strong degree.

Though almost universally praised on release, Overlord has earned some retroactive criticism for reinforcing some stereotypes about autism. It is absolutely guilty of this, which could have been avoided by ten minutes of Google searching and a very modest rewrite to a handful of lines. That said, the base story is quite good, and the entire DLC does a splendid job of making the gameplay truly complement the narrative. I can understand the criticisms, but I would still rate this highly in spite of them.

Shepard must save Liara when she gets
too close to uncovering the Shadow Broker!

LAIR OF THE SHADOW BROKER:
Release Date: Sept. 7, 2010

Shepard's former squadmate, Liara T'Soni, has been hunting the Shadow Broker for two years. When Shepard passes Liara new information, it triggers an assassination attempt, sending her into hiding. A search of her apartment unveils a secret meeting she had scheduled with a contact - but the meeting turns out to be a trap, one that Shepard and Liara will be lucky to escape alive...

Lair of the Shadow Broker is widely regarded as Mass Effect 2's best DLC. I would agree wholeheartedly, with one proviso: I'm not sure if this and the remaining DLC pack, Arrival, are truly part of Mass Effect 2. They don't relate to the Collector plot; Cerberus is namechecked, but not particularly important to the story; and the focus is very much on setting up story points for Mass Effect 3.

This expansion is divided into two halves. The first half takes place on the Asari-controlled trade world of Illium, as Shepard searches for Liara with the aid of fellow SPECTRE Tela Vasir. Then the focus shifts to the Shadow Broker's lair: a giant spaceship that maintains itself within a permanent storm.

As with Overlord, there is a nice variety of gameplay. You investigate Liara's apartment, clicking on items and receiving information and insights from them, until you eventually find the primary clue. The search for Liara is mainly the standard corridor crawl/cover shooter. However, it's well-paced, with no one group of enemies blocking progress for long enough to become tedious. This is followed by a brief vehicle level, then a hunt for the level boss, and finally a boss fight.

The Shadow Broker's ship offers an engaging visual palette as you and your team fight enemies while moving along the outer hull. Disrupting enemy gravity will cause them to fly off into space, while shooting capacitors will cause lightning to strike enemies - and you, if you happen to be in the impact radius! All of this leads up to a final boss fight that follows the patterns of the main game, but that is also quite clever in its design.

Most players should be able to beat the full DLC pack in about three hours. Within that time, however, is a well-plotted, varied, and meticulously designed piece that outshines most of the game it's theoretically expanding on!

A conversation with a Lovecraftian god:
Shepard confronts the Reaper known as Harbinger.

ARRIVAL:
Release Date: Mar. 29, 2011

Admiral Hackett contacts Shepard to ask for a personal favor. Dr. Amanda Kenson, an Alliance scientist, has been arrested as a terrorist by the batarians and is being held in a prison. Shepard sneaks into the prison to break her out. After making good their escape, Dr. Kenson reveals that she and her team have been studying a Reaper artifact. She confirms that the Reapers are coming - and that they will arrive in the batarians' system in just two days!

Arrival was the final DLC expansion, and it is a narratively significant one. It makes clear that the Reaper invasion is imminent, and that the Alliance is not ready for them. Its ending also establishes Shepard's situation at the start of Mass Effect 3. I strongly recommend playing this last, because it really is more of a prologue to Mass Effect 3 than a true part of Mass Effect 2.

Like Lair of the Shadow Broker, the action is divided into two Acts. The first half focuses on the prison break, allowing players a choice between going in guns-blazing or stealth. I recommend stealth: It feels more correct for the situation; a stealth approach offers more of a contrast with the normal gameplay; and the conversations that you'll overhear add more context to the situation.

The second half, focusing on the Reaper invasion, is the more narratively interesting part. Unfortunately, this section gets bogged down by the combat. Shepard is alone during most of this DLC, and it quickly becomes apparent why Mass Effect's combat has been designed around teams. Most players will spend each skirmish huddled behind cover, waiting for shields to regenerate before popping up to take two or three more shots... a loop that gets extremely tedious.

Even so, the story is interesting, and it benefits from a top-notch music score. The cinematics are also splendid. It ends with a confrontation between Shepard and the true villain of this piece: the Reaper known as Harbinger. This is a great scene, man vs. dark god. Shepard is defiant, while Harbinger more or less states that the human is - or by all rights, should be - beneath its notice. It's beautifully framed, playing for all the world like a climactic scene from a particularly good blockbuster movie.

In gameplay terms, I prefer both Overlord and Lair of the Shadow Broker. Nevertheless, this is the most narratively essential of Mass Effect 2's expansions, and it's well worth putting up with a few combat annoyances.

This playthrough's Shepard runs out of patience
in the midst of a very bad day.

OVERALL:

Mass Effect 2 has a lot of DLC - arguably a little too much in a game that already has issues with narrative focus. Firewalker is the most expendable of the expansions, with a thin excuse plot stitching together a handful of admittedly enjoyable vehicle levels. I enjoyed one DLC companion (Kasumi), but I would have happily dropped the other into an active volcano (Zaeed).

Unsurprisingly, it's the final three expansions that are the most interesting. Overlord isn't important to the main story of either the game or series, but it offers some of the best gameplay of Mass Effect 2. Lair of the Shadow Broker and Arrival are mainly focused on setting up Mass Effect 3, but both are narratively crucial.

Overall, the best of the DLC offers more engaging level design and storytelling than the main game does, while the worst takes the flaws of Mass Effect 2 and doubles down on them. Still, all are included in the Legendary Edition re-release. If you have the re-release, there's no reason not to play them all. If you don't, then the ones most worth getting are Overlord, Lair of the Shadow Broker, and Arrival - and I'd argue that Kasumi - Stolen Memory is worth your time as well.

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