Mass Effect 2 Arrival Review (Xbox 360)

Click for WebShop and buy games! Mass Effect 2 aged past its first year this January and with several downloadable across the past fourteen months, the final pack has become available for download. "Arrival" acts as the final addition to the events of Mass Effect 2, though in its execution it emerges more as a vehicle to deliver a narrative setting for the future than provide a full experience in itself.
When you first install this DLC, you get a notification that Admiral Hackett needs to speak with you on your personal terminal. He then requests a favor of you, asking that you head into Batarian space and rescue an old friend of his who is currently being detained in connection with terrorism. The prisoner in connection had alerted the Admiral to proof of an imminent Reaper invasion, so she needs to be rescued in order to figure out precisely what's going on. The catch is that you're required to go in alone as not to draw any unnecessary attention to the Alliance.

Amanda Kenson is the doctor being detained by the Batarians. They caught her smuggling parts and supplies through their system, and that act could only be connected to terrorism in their eyes. So it's up to a lone Shepard to break into the prison facility, rescue Kenson, and learn exactly what is going on in connection with the terrorism and the pending danger of the Reapers.
The game sends you down an extremely linear path that focuses more on combat than any real revelations in regards to expanding the Mass Effect universe. You'll be blasting your way through dozens of guards in your attempts to deal with the situation you find yourself in the middle of and there isn't a lot of meat to the story.

Numbers play an important factor in this additional chapter, ranging from a deadly countdown to enormous populations at risk. But despite the numbers hanging over your head, the chapter's linear action never really matches the imminent threat hanging on its narrative thread. Despite the fact there was a countdown driving me, I never got a sense that bad things would happen if I slowed down my forward momentum. With the risks involved in the chapter's story, this disconnect lessens the overall impact.

There are just a few key moments where your Paragon and Renegade options come into play and just a couple choices that are significant enough to retain importance in the future. The bulk of Arrival's content is all in the fight. You'll learn some key information about the Reapers and get an in-person introduction to Admiral Hackett, but not enough to make this additional chapter a must-buy.
With the final debriefing at the end of the chapter, "Arrival" proves itself to be more of a patchwork setup for the future rather than a standalone piece of insight into the series' universe. This late in Mass Effect 2's life-cycle, "Arrival's" creation feels more like a reaction to the development of Mass Effect 3 than a key add-on that had been planned from the start. That's not to say add-ons always need to be pre-planned, just that without anything occurring directly after Arrival until Mass Effect 3 shows up, it feels incomplete.
At 560 Microsoft Points, the add-on is a bit steep with its lack of content and for the casual player, but for the completionist who want to absorb the complete canon of the series and prepare for the next game, it's worth a stab.

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