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 - DLC.

Original Release: Mar. 11, 2008 - Aug. 25, 2009. Released for PC, XBox 360. Version Reviewed: Bring Down the Sky, Playstation 4 Legendary Edition, 2021; Pinnacle Station, XBox 360, 2009.


INTRODUCTION:

Bioware generally releases Downloadable Content (DLC) or - in earlier times - expansion packs for the vast majority of its games. The only major releases I can think of that did not feature these were Jade Empire and Mass Effect: Andromeda, the former of which was financially unsuccessful and the latter of which had DLC planned but cancelled in favor of Anthem (and yes, Anthem did receive one expansion).

Mass Effect received two pieces of DLC, though 2021's Legendary Edition re-release would only end up featuring one of them. Fortunately, the one that was retained was the good one...

Batarian terrorists plan to turn an asteroid into a weapon.

BRING DOWN THE SKY:
Release Date: March 11, 2008

Asteroid X57 is unusually rich with precious minerals, which is why the thriving colony world of Terra Nova sent a team to fit the asteroid with engines and bring it into the planet's orbit. Then disaster struck: Batarian terrorists, led by the fanatical Balak, have hijacked the asteroid - and unless Shepard can stop them, they intend to ram it into the planet!

Mass Effect's first DLC is structured much like the planetary exploration missions in the main game. You land in the Mako and travel to designated points on the map. The sub-stations in the game even follow the same layout used in those side quests.

Fortunately, a new map has been created for the main complex, where the story reaches its climax. This building uses a circular structure with multiple levels - with enemies on every level, naturally. While no one will ever accuse Mass Effect of being a particularly hard game, this battle actually makes for a reasonable challenge.

It all culminates in a Paragon/Renegade choice - one that is not as black & white as many of those in the main game. Yes, there's a choice the game nudges you toward, but there are sound, pragmatic arguments for doing the opposite.

It's not a long addition. I squeezed 3 - 4 hours out of it, and that was playing on "Insanity" and pursuing every single side objective. If you're less meticulous, you could easily finish it in two hours. Still, it's a well-crafted addition to the main game, and it's well worth playing.

The fanatical Balak, his lieutenant, and his pets.
Particularly vicious and toothy pets.

PINNACLE STATION:
Release Date: Aug. 25, 2009

Shepard travels to Pinnacle Station, an Alliance space station devoted to training simulations. Shepard is there to try out the various scenarios. But all is not well. Vidinos, a Turian soldier with disdain for humans, accuses the human Lt. Bryant of cheating. His only evidence is that Bryant managed to outscore him in the simulator. A deal is struck to avoid an incident: If Shepard can also beat Vidinos's scores, then the Turian will drop his charges - leaving Bryant's career at the mercy of Shepard's skills at four different types of simulated combat!

If that sounds like a pretty thin story... Well, yes it is. Nor are there any twists or moral choices to be made. On first playthrough, I thought that Shepard would discover that Byrant actually had cheated, and that the expansion would end with a choice to be honest and harm humanity's reputation or to cover it up.

No such luck. That little skim of story is just there to justify a couple hours of blasting away at simulated enemies. When you've reached the high score on each trial, the acknowledgement that the story is over is brief and perfunctory - and, as if the developers realized how unsatisfying it was, another "hard mission" is thrown in to win a (very dull) apartment for Shepard to visit once and never again.

So... Yes, this is an all-combat DLC with little story, no real choices, and low stakes. There is some enjoyment to be had within those limits, and playing through it will help players to master Mass Effect's combat. But it's the definition of an expendable experience, and it's easy to see why it has a relatively poor reputation.

Pinnacle Station has the dubious distinction of being the only piece of Mass Effect DLC not included in the Legendary Edition. At the time it was made, it had been sourced to an outside studio; when Bioware contacted them while prepping the re-release, it was discovered that the original files had been corrupted. To include it, Bioware would have needed to recreate the expansion from scratch, which would have made it impossible to meet the release date.

It's still a pity that it was excluded, as it leaves "the Legendary Edition" just shy of being a complete package. Still, revisiting it on this playthrough (by firing up an old XBox 360 save from about a decade ago) reminded me that if any piece of DLC had to be left out, then Pinnacle Station was probably the best choice. It's not unentertaining... but there's nothing of any real interest here and, in my opinion, it just isn't very good.


OVERALL:

The expansions for the first Mass Effect are not the most impressive pieces of DLC in Bioware's history. Pinnacle Station is entirely expendable. Bring Down the Sky is much better, with an interesting story, but it's still fairly short and mostly follows a too-familiar mission pattern.

Legendary Edition owners who never played the game before should take solace; though they don't get Pinnacle Station, it's not much of a loss, and I'd say is made up for by getting Bring Down the Sky with more fluid combat, shorter load times, and more detailed graphics than were available in 2008.


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Mass Effect.

Original Release: Nov. 20, 2007 for XBox 360. Version Reviewed: PS4 Legendary Edition, 2021.


THE PLOT:

In the late 22nd century, humanity has become part of an inter-species galactic civilization. All these species are joined together by a series of mass relays, left behind by the long-dead Prothean civilization, which enable faster-than-light travel between star systems. Order is maintained by the Council, a ruling body that operates out of the Citadel, a vast space station that acts as the galactic capital. Thus far, the Council has refused to allow the humans a voice in the larger government, and resentment is starting to brew.

The council has decided that it is time to recruit a human as a SPECTRE - the Council's elite enforcement agents, answerable only to them. The selected candidate is Commander Shepard, First Officer of the Normandy, an advanced vessel that combines elements of human and Turian design. Shepard's evaluation coincides with a mission to recover a beacon, a Prothean artifact, that has been found on the human colony of Eden Prime. No trouble is expected.

But the Normandy arrives to find Eden Prime under attack by the geth, a race of intelligent synthetic beings. The geth are led by Saren - the Council's top SPECTRE. Shepard manages to stop them from taking the beacon, but is exposed to it in the process, granted an apocalyptic vision.

Now Shepard must convince the Council of Saren's guilt and track the rogue SPECTRE across the Mass Relay network. The clock is ticking. If Saren isn't stopped, it will mean the end of galactic civilization...

The crew of the Normandy encounter some local resistance.

CHARACTERS:

Commander Shepard: The game gives the player a lot of freedom regarding Shepard. It's a Bioware standard that the character can be either male or female. Beyond that, Shepard has three potential origin stories and three different career backgrounds, both of which will affect dialogue choices and a couple of side missions. There are a mix of dialogue options that can shape Shepard's personality, from compassionate to ruthless, from idealistic to cynical, from diplomatic to combative. I opted for a balanced mix of responses; there are more than enough opportunities to earn "Paragon" (Light Side) or "Renegade" (Dark Side) points, so players should feel free to just decide who their Shepard is and respond accordingly. Even the most "Paragon" of players should hang up on the Council at least once during the playthrough, because: (a) It's funny; and (b) They really have it coming.

Saren: The game's primary antagonist, a rogue SPECTRE who despises humans, whom he feels have been given too much power too quickly. Saren is far from alone in that feeling, and in this first game there is a sense that humans are very much an underdog among the various races (something that, if memory serves, would be lost in later games). Saren initially appears to be a mustache-twirling "Evil for the Sake of Evil" baddie. He gains some depth in the late game, however, as more information about his motives and his state of mind become clear. Voice actor Frederick Tatasciore is terrific in the role, threatening and formidable without being one-note.

Liara T'Soni: One of the most purely innocent members of your party, she is also the daughter of the Asari matriarch who acts as Saren's right hand. She is estranged from her mother, insisting that she knows nothing of her actions. She is also an expert on the extinct Prothean civilization. The character is a bit too naive and earnest in this first installment, though she still gets some good moments, particularly if you bring her along to confront her mother.

Garrus Vakarian: A former member of C-Sec, which is basically the police force on the Citadel. Garrus grew impatient with the layers of bureaucracy that he had to deal with, which he felt interfered with him actually stopping criminals. He is one of the game's better characters, and players get the opportunity to nudge his outlook in one direction or another depending on dialogue choices. The scene in which he (likely) joins the crew also is the single best character introduction in the game.

Wrex: Most of the rest of the characters in Mass Effect improve in later entries (even Garrus); Wrex arrives fully formed. He is a Krogan, a warrior-like race that rose up against the Council generations ago - an uprising that ended when the Council afflicted them with the genophage, a genetically designed plague that caused near sterility. Wrex is understandably bitter, but he is also angry at his own people for refusing to adapt to their circumstances. In one of the first conversations you have with Wrex, he reveals that he "gave up on (the Krogan) a long time ago."

Tali: A Quarian, a race that lost its home to the Geth hundreds of years ago - and that has found little sympathy among Council races, because the Quarians are the ones who created the Geth. They now live among a vast fleet of aging ships. Young Quarians are sent out on pilgrimages when they come of age, returning with something of value to prove their worth to the fleet. Tali, the daughter of a fleet admiral, is determined to prove herself by returning with something of genuine worth - and it's that quest which leads her into Saren's sights.

Kaidan/Ashley: The final two members of the crew are humans - and following a long sci-fi tradition, the humans are by far the dullest characters. Kaidan has an interesting backstory, as his biotic abilities led to a life of harsh training that made him a test subject in all but name. This should make him interesting... but all conversations just amount to him narrating his past, none of which has much impact on the present.

Ashley is even worse. She is from a career military family, though one that has been discriminated against in the ranks ever since her grandfather surrendered to an enemy rather than allow civilians to die. She harbors resentment against aliens as a result, leading many in fandom to dismiss her a "space racist." Oh, and she quotes Tennyson. A lot. Too much. Both voice actors (Raphael Sbarge, Kimberly Brooks) do a fine job, but I couldn't make myself care even a little bit about either of them.

Combat is satisfying and intuitive -
and greatly improved in the Legendary Edition.

COMBAT:

Mass Effect may be the earliest Bioware game to have reasonably satisfying combat. Even in its original version, it was an engaging cover shooter. It's easy to enter in and out of cover, and aiming and firing are entirely intuitive. There are several types of weapons available, from assault rifles to shotguns to sniper rifles, and it's easy to switch between guns by bringing up the weapons wheel with a click of the left bumper.

The right bumper also brings up squad members' biotic abilities, allowing you to lift, throw, or otherwise afflict enemies even as you're shooting them. Attacks can be combined to devastating effect; Liara's Singularity ability, once fully upgraded, is a gamechanger, with her able to send giant Geth Colossi floating around helplessly for you to use as target practice.

The Legendary Edition improves on the original combat. Aiming is noticeably more stable. The sniper rifles - which were so juddery as to be practically useless in the original version - are now arguably too effective; using sniper rifles basically amounts to playing on Easy Mode, even with the difficulty on maximum.

A battlefield conversation with Saren: Dialogue options can 
shape characters and, occasionally, mission results.

ADDITIONAL GAMEPLAY:

This is a Bioware RPG, which means that combat is less than half of the total gameplay. Players will spend a lot of time shooting and zapping various enemies, but they will spend even more simply exploring and learning about this fictional universe, discovering various NPCs and side quests along the way.

Mass Effect's main plot is quite linear, but a lot of flexibility has been built into the individual quests. You can save individuals, or you can choose to sacrifice them. In the case of one side quest, involving a woman tangled up in organized crime, you can talk her into severing those ties, fight her, or demand your own piece of the action. A main quest that involves gaining access to a research laboratory has at least three different paths to follow; all of them will get you to the same destination, but the journey will be just a little different depending on what you do.

Your first in-person look at a Reaper -
not that Shepard even knows what that is yet...

AN ADMISSION OF BIAS:

The original Mass Effect holds a special place for me. I first played it in 2012. Before then, I regarded video games as a lesser art form. Even when I enjoyed a specific game (such as the first two Fallouts way back in the 1990s), no title had ever drawn me into its world in the same way that good books, movies, or television programs had done.

Then I played Mass Effect, and I was stunned by the quality voice acting, the solid plot and characters, and the detailed and internally consistent universe. I was gripped and even emotionally engaged. By modern standards, it's not a long game - about 40 hours, including DLC, and that's if you complete all the side quests along the way. But at the time, to a relative non-gamer, it felt as enormous as it was immersive.

The Mass Effect games led me to Dragon Age... and then to Knights of the Old Republic... and then to the Fire Emblem and Persona franchises... and somewhere along the way, I had to acknowledge: (a) that I had become a gamer, rather than someone who occasionally noodled at a video game; and (b) that my previous dismissal of an entire medium had been, to put it mildly, a bit premature.

Driving the Mako through an alien warzone.

OTHER MUSINGS:

Even accounting for the special place this game holds for me, I'd still say that it holds up well overall. The main plot is well-paced. If you play the story missions in the order that the story pushes you toward, there is a distinct sense of rising stakes as you move from combating Saren's drones and hired muscle, to battling a trusted lieutenant, to finally coming face-to-face with the villain himself.

To the game's credit, it has alternate scenes and dialogue options for those who choose a different sequence (the alternate "finding Liara" scene is quite entertaining), but the default mission order is also the most dramatically satisfying one.

There are a wealth of side quests, and some of these mini-stories help to flesh out the universe. The actual gameplay structure gets a bit repetitive, though. You land on either a planet or a spaceship. If you're on a planet, you drive to three points to scan objects before going to the main destination - a prefabricated station that always has the same layout, and whose enemies usually follow the same attack pattern. If on a spaceship, then you go through the same entry hall before fighting enemies in the main corridor, and then you find the plot point in the cockpit. Even when the side quest's story is interesting, the structure is uninspired - particularly compared to the varied and richly detailed main story missions.

The Legendary Edition is a substantial improvement over the 2007 original - I didn't realize just how much of one until I fired up my old XBox 360 version to replay the "Pinnacle Station" DLC (which is not included in the remaster). In addition to combat improvements, the visuals have received a significant overhaul. Characters and environments are much more detailed, and cutscenes look more cinematic.

The additional detail is particularly evident during planetary explorations. You can now tell which surfaces can and can't be driven on, which makes driving the Mako less aggravating than it used to be. I suspect enhancements will be less noticeable in later games, given that Mass Effect 2 and 3 still look pretty good by modern standards, but the difference in the original is practically night-and-day.

Shepard and the Normandy crew discuss their options.

OVERALL:

Mass Effect was the last of the three original IPs that Bioware released when it decided to move away from established franchises, following Jade Empire and Dragon Age: Origins. Along with Dragon Age, the Mass Effect series has become the property the company's most associated with.

It's also a rather good game. Even in the Legendary Edition, there are aspects of the 2007 original that show its age - notably the repetitive side quests. The main story remains solid, however, and the main story missions are varied and engaging. More than fifteen years after its original release, this fictional universe remains a place well worth spending some time in.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Mass Effect DLC

Next Game: Mass Effect 2

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Bioware Reviews - Mass Effect

Mass Effect
Release Date: Nov. 20, 2007

Mass Effect DLC

Release Date: Mar. 11, 2008 - Aug. 25, 2009

Mass Effect 2
Release Date: Jan. 26, 2010

Mass Effect 2 DLC

Release Date: Jan. 26, 2010 - Mar. 29, 2011

Mass Effect 3
Release Date: Mar. 6, 2012

Mass Effect 3 DLC

Release Date: Mar. 6, 2012 - Mar. 5, 2013

Mass Effect: Andromeda
Release Date: Mar. 21, 2017 

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