Mass Effect 2 Overlord DLC Reviews

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Written by Brother None on July 18th, 2010

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Whereas Kasumi's Stolen Memory was memorable for its excellent narrative and characters, Overlord proves its worth with faced-paced combat and excellent gameplay variety. Players will fight atop a satellite emplacement and in a crashed geth spaceship, to name a few. The former proves a particularly memorable setting, especially when combined with the high-stakes mission objective. Overlord's gameplay reaches the same heights as many of Mass Effect 2's other missions, with adrenaline-fuelled cover-based shooting and some truly challenging encounters on higher difficulties.

Overlord gives players the chance to take the somewhat new Hammerhead aerial assault craft out for a spin. The driving and on-foot portions of the DLC are given equivalent billing for every minute players are out blasting geth, they will be given roughly an equal amount of time behind the pilot's seat of the Hammerhead. As a result, the vehicle sections of Overlord feel more substantial than the previous Hammerhead DLC, which was simply a '˜drive from point A-to-B and shoot everything between' affair. BioWare have also added a collection side-mission and a few brain-teasers to the driving interludes, so things seldom become dull or repetitive.

Overlord is surprisingly effective as a slice of action and horror, and much more serious and significantly longer then Stolen Memory. On a Cerberus research facility, a rogue virtual intelligence (VI) is wreaking havoc in a failed experiment to improve human-Geth relations. Shepard is tasked in stopping it before it manages to escape the planet and go Skynet on the universe. The mission is broken down into three parts with the Hammerhead serving as your primary transportation.

I mention horror because Overlord manages to create an incredibly taut sense of tension throughout the mission. The garbled screams of the VI tied into the mangled human remains leads to some jump-startled reactions. The horrifying ending helps soldify it as a pretty gruesome tale.

But what about the story? It's always difficult to encapsulate a side story within the overall plot of a game and still make it feel interesting and relevant. That said, Overlord still manages to deliver a brief but entertaining story with a surprisingly strong emotional undercurrent. The folks at BioWare know how to tell a good story, and it really shows in Overlord. Solid dialog, sympathetic characters, and clever use of atmospheric audio and visual effects combine to create a truly immersive narrative experience. There's even one of BioWare's trademark big moral choices at the end. From a narrative standpoint, it has just about everything you could ask for in a self-contained side story.

Sadly, Overlord is not without shortcomings. For one, the DLC leaves you with very little to remember it by, since it does not add any new characters or weapons, unlike the Kasumi DLC. All that beating the Overlord mission pack will give you for your troubles is one measly health upgrade. Boooring. I mean, I guess you also have the satisfaction of a job well done, but that's usually something you can get for free. For seven bucks they could at least throw in a new gun to add to the pile of novelty weapons of mass destruction you keep in your closet. Personally, I'd like to see everyone's favorite wise-cracking, crippled pilot, Jeff (Joker) Moreau, unlockable as a full party member, but maybe BioWare is holding onto that trump card for Mass Effect 3 (*fingers crossed*).

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