OXCGN’s Mass Effect 2: Arrival Review

Arriving, But Not Delivering

by exterminat

©2011 Nicholas Laborde

Mass Effect 2 was OXCGN’s very own game of the year in 2010.

It is quite possibly one of the greatest “light” RPGs of this generation, enveloping both role-playing and action fans alike.

A semi-consistent stream of DLC has been released, eventually culminating in the final piece that will link Mass Effect 2 to Mass Effect 3: Arrival.

Disappointingly, it feels very insignificant.

Prepare Yourselves For The Arrival

The premise of Arrival is that an entire Reaper invasion is imminent.

In fact, imminent is an understatement. The Reapers, on their current unaltered course, will arrive very soon.

Humanity faces extinction yet again, and only one man can save us: Commander Shepard.

The mysterious Admiral Hackett makes his first visual appearance, and calls upon the commander yet again for another dramatic undertaking. This time, though, Shepard is going in alone.

His mission: recover Alliance operative Dr. Amanda Kenson.

She has discovered a Reaper artifact that ostensibly reveals an upcoming Reaper invasion. Oh, and it’s in two days. The story, to put it simply, is a major let-down.

First off, nothing really happens. It comes down to a streamlined, generic science fiction plot that I could have written in ten minutes.

What happens is predictable, and the overall experience feels like that of a tech demo.

The only event of minor importance is the end decision, which will undoubtedly have certain ramifications in the third title.

You’ll get around an hour and a half to two hours out of the whole experience, and even then, you’ll come out of it liking what you played, but regretting how it was executed.

Don’t Judge A DLC By Its Gameplay

The narrative was bland enough, which leads you to think: the gameplay must be good… right?

Wrong.

The gameplay largely consists of getting from Point A to Point B, taking cover and shooting enemies. There is a small amount of dialogue and story is kept to a minimum, which is contradictory to the purpose of the content.

Kenson is very boring, and extremely typical. She adds quite literally nothing to the story arc. The DLC could have gone on (much better, at that) without her inclusion.

Contradictory to that is Admiral Hackett. Although his part is brief, he will instantly shoot up your list of favorite characters.

As I mentioned, it is a solo adventure. As such, there is NO new interaction with your squadmates at all. Heck, they don’t even know anything has happened!

The lack of interaction is not just limited to the members of your squad. There are no new weapons, vehicles or even items to press the action button on!

To put it simply, it’s lacking. The purpose of this piece was to leave us on a high note, linking the second and third titles.

• Mass Effect 2 Arrival DLC Screens

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Endings are hard to execute these days, especially in a piece of post-release content. Marketing, advertising and hype delicately dictate how your ending is viewed. The trailer and news surrounding Arrival led us to expect an epic tale that would undoubtedly keep us on the edge of our seats.

The end makes you feel as if nothing happened, and it was just another isolated event that has no pertinence in the storyline.

Ultimately, Arrival is not worth the 560 MSPoints/$7 entry fee. The story and gameplay are lackluster, fundamentally contributing absolutely nothing to the narrative.

If you can snag it on sale, then by all means, grab it.

Until then, what we have is a leaden piece of content that accomplishes nothing and blemishes the once-perfect reputation of DLC for Mass Effect 2.

I expected a wonderful sendoff for Mass Effect 2. Instead, BioWare slapped my wrist and took my money.

“7.5/10

©2011 Nicholas Laborde

xxxxxx

• Mass Effects 2 Arrival DLC Scrennshots Gallery

Filed under: 3rd Party Games, Console gaming, New Game Information, XBLA News-Reviews, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 3rd Party Games, Xbox 360 Game Reviews, Xbox 360 News, XboxLive Marketplace Tagged: | "Mass Effect 2", Bioware, Characters of the Mass Effect universe, Electronic Arts, List of Doctor Who creatures and aliens, Mass Effect, Races of the Mass Effect universe, Reapers