So, did it succeed? Well I played through it twice to get my full feelings on the DLC on place and now I'm going to give my reactions to the end of the second chapter of this series.
MASS EFFECT DLC HISTORY
Since this is going to be a little shorter than my average reviews I want to give a sense of the history of DLC in the Mass Effect series to show how far it's come. There were two DLC packs for the first game titled "Bring Down the Sky" and "Pinnacle Station".
"Bring Down the Sky" was a fun and cheap (in its price) side-mission that introduced us to a species that had only been mentioned in the main game. Short, but nothing to write home about. "Pinnacle Station" on the other hand was a crappy pack of endurance rounds that brought nothing to the table in terms of story or character development, nor did it add anything to the universe.
Mass Effect 2 has had four DLC packs not counting the one that introduced the new vehicle, the Hammerhead. First was "Zaeed: The Price of Revenge" which was free if you bought the game new. It gave us the extra squad member Zaeed Massani, a loose cannon bounty hunter and a loyalty mission along with it. It was fun but not too different and while Zaeed had an interesting backstory, he was a pretty big jackass who was hard to like.
The next piece was "Kasumi: Stolen Memory" which added one last squad member to the team with her loyalty mission, a thief named Kasumi Goto. Kasumi was a fun and likable character and the loyalty mission was fun but again it was really short. Next was "Overlord" which was a series of side-missions and again was short but this time many people felt it was well worth the price due to its well-written story and excellent pacing. However it didn't really contribute to the main story.
And then "Lair of the Shadow Broker" came out and it kicked ass. While it was once again kind of short, it was an incredibly well-written narrative that actually added to the main story arc of the series creating enormous implications for the upcoming Mass Effect 3 and gave an ENORMOUS amount of character development to Dr. Liara T'Soni a squad member from the first game. Even people who didn't like Liara at first or thought she went through character derailment before the DLC were generally converted and I feel that she's now the most well-written character in the series. Shepard him/herself also got character development (that you defined).
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| Lair of the Shadow Broker made Liara arguably the most well-written character in the series. |
STORY
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| Shepard, you fight against inevitability. Your species WILL fall! |
The events of "The Arrival" will definitely impact the narrative of Mass Effect 3. Though it can be hard to see just how until the end. Until near the end I was thinking that it was a little pointless in that it seems like everything is back to the way it was before the DLC started. However, at the end Shepard is forced to perform an action that will have huge implications that will no doubt stretch into the final entry in the trilogy.
On the story side this DLC lacks the emotional impact and character development that "Lair of the Shadow Broker" had. Shepard's personality will be further solidified (again how his/her personality is further solidified is up to you) but nobody gets the kind of development that Liara went through that helped make the last DLC so incredible.
However, with that aside, the dialogue is still very well-written, the arc well-paced, and also anytime the Reapers are mentioned, it's enough to send chills down my spine. They are still frightening even nearly four years after their introduction. Also, while there were a few holes in the arc that made me pause for a moment, they didn't take away my enjoyment of the story and felt insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
Finally, the ideas that popped into head about how Mass Effect 3 will go down after the gut-punch of an ending left me in even greater anticipation for the game than I was before. And also anytime the Reapers are mentioned, it's enough to send chills down my spine. They are still frightening even nearly four years after their introduction. Seeing how this is already my most anticipated game of 2011, that's quite an accomplishment.
One last thing, while you can play this DLC right after visiting Horizon, it's definitely better to play it after finishing the main story. It just makes more sense in terms of the development for the story. However, BioWare did think ahead and make little changes depending on whether you've finished the main game or not.
GAMEPLAY AND DESIGN
If you played any of Mass Effect 2 then you'll know what to expect in terms of gameplay. All the controls and powers from the main game are there with no new additions. And just like in the main game, it is really fun.
As for the level design, it's completely linear, but very good. I played through it a few times with a few different classes: an Infiltrator, a Vanguard, and an Adept and none of them had any disadvantage or advantage over the others. This was made very important by the fact that Shepard has no squad members in this mission except for about 10 minutes. The corridors are well set-up for Vanguards to use the still awesome Biotic Charge, the Infiltrators can make use of the sniper rifles even in close quarters and the Adepts can use their biotics in the close-quarters very effectively.
It took me about two hours to complete this DLC on Insanity but while I consider myself to be of overall average skill in games I consider myself to be very good at Mass Effect so it may take a little more time for some others out there. So yeah it's short and it's $7 which may give pause but the other pieces of DLC have been short, even "Lair of the Shadow Broker" was short. But like "Shadow Broker" this one carries enough implications that I can forgive it.
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
For the most part, Mass Effect 2 still looks beautiful. However, one character model got the short end of the stick: Dr. Amanda Kenson. Basically take Dr. Chakwas yet make her less detailed and you've got the doctor. It just looks awkward especially compared to Admiral Hackett, who looks kind of like Zaeed combined with his voice actor, Lance Henriksen (The Terminator, Aliens), looks incredibly detailed.
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| Couldn't find a large picture of Kenson but she doesn't look anywhere near as detailed as this. |
Unexpectedly, coming from BioWare, the voice acting is as excellent as you can possibly imagine. I haven't played as Male Shepard so I can't comment on Meer's performance. But Jennifer Hale, who gave one of the two best performances of 2010 as Female Commander Shepard, continues to show why she's one of the most respected voices in the industry. I heard maybe one line from her that was poorly delivered and the rest of her performance was practically flawless.
Whoever voiced Amanda Kenson also does an excellent job (which I can't elaborate due to spoilers) and Lance Henriksen returns from Mass Effect 1 as Admiral Hackett and I can tell that I really want him to play a big part in Mass Effect 3. He's a likable and reasonable character in a galaxy full of unreasonable people and part of this is due to Henriksen's performance.
Finally, the music is well-done and atmospheric. I'm not sure who composed the soundtrack for this DLC but they did a nice job. But, while the music fits the scene and definitely adds a lot to the mission itself, unlike the music in some of the other pieces of DLC and the main games, it hasn't really stuck in my mind.
CONCLUSION
This DLC is not as good as "Lair of the Shadow Broker". The story is the big selling point for Mass Effect and while the story element in "The Arrival" is excellent, it doesn't have the character development or emotional impact that "Shadow Broker" had which holds it back from being the best DLC. However, it is the second best and is a must-have for ANYONE who calls themselves a Mass Effect fan. The implications for Mass Effect 3 are too great to just completely pass it by.
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