This post contains middlin’ spoilers for the new DLC for Mass Effect 2. It also contains major spoilers for Mass Effect 2 (and Mass Effect, for that
matter). So if you haven’t played the latter, but intend to, my suggestion is to wait for the inevitable “GAME OF THE YEAR!” edition that comes with all of the DLC bundled as this little bridge between ME2 and ME3 ain’t worth the purchase price. More details behind the cut.
Mass Effect had you, Commander Shepard, be thrust into a situation where it’s you versus The Man for 90% of the game and then you find out that The Man ain’t who you needed to be worrying about all this time… but you needed to be worrying about The Man Behind The Man. Indeed, the final fight against The Man Behind The Man took everything you had to throw at him.
Well, they told you in the first game that you were up against someone who was a member of a race of The Men Behind The Man but were sort of pre-occupied by the one that was right there in your base, killing your dudes. In Mass Effect 2, they really start hammering on the whole “member of the race” thing and point out that all of the other Men are still out there… which brings us to Arrival. In Arrival, you have nowhere near the depth of other DLC (the Shadow Broker DLC, for example, was *AWESOME*) and the things you’re used to from the rest of the game has been lifted away.
Instead of travelling with a couple of friends for this mission, for example, you go in solo. There are only a handful of conversations you can have with various folks and, on top of that, they dangle a big “Moral Choice” in front of you and then yank it away at the last minute to have Shepard decide… well, whether you play as renegade or paragon, you will end up doing the same thing (even if it only makes sense to do the one)… so if the reason you play is for the atmosphere, the conversation, and the Moral Choices? Well, you’ll find this DLC a disappointment.
The main thing the DLC *DOES* have is a staredown between Shepard and The Man Behind The Man. And, lemme tell ya, that was awesome. I’m really looking forward to ME3. But, really, I can’t in good conscience recommend this DLC to folks… wait for it to go on sale or, better yet, wait for the inevitable Game of the Year edition.
