Mass of Mass Effect news.

Fans of Mass Effect rejoice, for there is a sum of news for your beloved franchise. Bioware learned from the mistakes of games like Fallout 3 and their own Mass Effect 1. Closing the game down after the game is bad for business and bad for gamers. Even after the main quest is done, there is usually a thing or two missed by players which means there's still unplayed content! It also makes it hard to release DLC. Mass Effect 2 has fixed that though and is still kicking. So lets get to it, there's a few things to go over.

What's this? A gift for me?

This is something that happened very quietly and if you don't load your game up every day, you might have missed it. Bioware actually released yet another weapon via the Cerberus Network. This time they have released a heavy weapon by the name of ARC Projector. According to the Mass Effect website's arsenal page;

"The Arc Projector ionizes targets with a non-visible laser to ready them for a high-voltage electrical attack. As the lightning-like bolt hits its first target, a sophisticated auto-targeting system paints succeeding targets with the ionization laser, allowing the electricity to take the path of least resistance and arc between them."

If there was anything left in the universe for me to kill, I would totally check this one out...





Bioware gives the old one two!

Bioware has also announced the release date for two more DLC packs. On March 23rd they will be releasing both the "Firewalker" and "The Alternate Appearance Pack" DLC for Mass Effect 2.

Firewalker will be available for free for those connected to the Cerberus Network and will not only add 5 new missions, but will also add a ground vehicle. As players of the first Mass Effect will thankfully note, the Mako was missing from Mass Effect 2. Bioware is hoping the new Hammerhead hovering heavy assault vehicle will be everything that the Mako wasn't. Specifically, fun and entertaining.

The Alternate Appearance Pack will be the first bit of DLC released that will not be free to Cerberus Network users. For the small sum of 160 Microsoft Points (two dollars), you will be able to add additional outfits for your crew. My favorite so far is hands down Jack's Doc Brown wrap around sunglasses.

Cerberus gives you a Goto woman
Lastly in DLC news, in April Bioware will be releasing another premium DLC titled "Kasumi- Stolen Memory." Apparently in this new mission you receive the services of master thief Kasumi Goto as you help in some sort of heist all Thomas Crown Affair style. According to Mass Effect's DLC page you will apparently be attending a party for "the galaxy's richest and most deranged criminal minds to recover data of great importance to Kasumi... and to the galaxy at large."

Along with the new crewman and mission, you will also be getting some new casual attire, weapon(s), research upgrade(s), and achievement(s). The pricing has not been announced yet, but word has it this DLC will be hitting land on April 6th. Hopefully it won't break our bank accounts.

License Ho!
Fresh off the success of the Mass Effect Redemption mini-series, Dark Horse has acquired the license to create an ongoing Mass Effect title. Details are scarce at this point, but they did say the story will be taking place after the second game. I think it will be safe to say that many of your favorite characters will not make an appearance, but most of us will be reading it anyways...

"The Pitt"falls of DLC: A look at my favourite games' DLC

So, I make it no secret that I am kind of picky about my games. I have so many hobbies and habits that I have to play it smart with my money. This is why many times you'll see me get very passionate about the games I play. I try to choose games that will have a lot of replay value and deep storylines. There are two such games that I have talked about at lengths that fall into this group. Mass Effect and Fallout 3 are prime examples of what I think is right in the video game world. They both feature a robust mixture of action and RPG. They both have deep storylines with moral choices that will rock you to your core. Both are just fun, rewarding and engaging games.

There is one other thing that both these games have in common, they both completely fail in the way they incorporate their post-release downloadable content. I have played to completion both games multiple times before this content was released. I was completely consumed by these games and couldn't stop playing them even if I wanted to. So why would both these games release content after the fact that depends on you not finishing the game? Do they expect me to not finish these wonderful games until they have released all their DLC? Apparently so, because in both cases, once you finish the game, that's it. There's no more exploring or free roaming as a post game reward. Unless you have the foresight or the blind dumb luck to have a save file, you're going to have to start a completely new character just so you can access this new content. In most cases, this new content is maybe a night's worth of extended play. Now, this might not sound like a big deal, but for me personally it is a deal killer. I have downloaded the Mass Effect DLC and have never played it. I never had the desire to start a fourth character just so I could do one extra mission.

More recently, I downloaded The Pitt expansion for Fallout 3 and was completely uninspired. I was lucky enough to have a save file from my first play through from right before the last mission. So I get my level 20 character up to the new map marker in my fully decked out Power Armor, only to be told "Yeah, you can't take any of your gear. All you can take is this gun or this knife, but not both. Your anal cavity only has room for one." Ok, I added the anal cavity part, but it's still the truth. So I do what any red blooded vault dweller would do in this situation, I ignore Snake Plissken and decide I am going to do what everyone says I can't do. I walk in with full armor and combat shotgun raining pain. I have no problems killing all their gate guards, only to be stopped at a second gate and beat down in a cut scene. That's right, the game can't stop me so it cheats and just knocks me out in a cut scene. So moments later, I wake up in a slave pit with nothing but the slave rags they put me in and the small handgun I smuggled in my ass. I attempt to start trudging my way through this campaign to get to the story which I am told is full of some great moral choices and such, but I can't do it...

I have been playing video games the better part of 27 years. I know all the cheap tricks. I know about invisible walls, random respawning enemies and the worst of the worst. The old "We can't balance the game play or we're having a problem making this challenging for the player, so we're going to take away all your power ups and make you start all over again." No sir. I do not approve. Taking away items/skills/power-ups, or Samus Disorder as I like to call it, should not be a part of any game, especially after the first fourth of the experience. Retconning a person's character never achieves anything but frustrating the player, unless said character is completely removed from the reality of the gameworld. Prime example of the proper use of this is the Fallout 3 DLC "Operation Anchorage" where almost the entire story takes place in a simulation.

In a situation where you're basically formatting a character, why bother even letting us use our old character? Why not just give us a new character to play. I would have been much more compelled if The Pitt was a stand alone game where I roll up a brand new level 15 character to play through the campaign. Grand Theft Auto did pretty much that with it's new GTA4 DLC to great success. Mass Effect, Fallout 3 and GTA4 all benefit from having a rich world where you could just plug in a new character, tell a new story and it would still be compelling.

So, I know there are a lot of people that say "Well, you're complaining a lot, but I bet you have no suggestions on making it better." Well, that's where you're wrong slapnuts. Here's my suggestion for Bioware and Mass Effect 2. Release the game and get as much content as you can on the release. After that, forget about adding anymore content to the main campaign. You're done. Just call it a night. Now, start working on a couple stand alone expansion packs that focus on either side characters or completely new characters that bridge the story from Mass Effect 2 to Mass Effect 3. You can have that one for free Bioware, but if you want more, put me on the payroll.

So, in sort... here are my rules for good DLC content.

1. Don't use the original main character if the game locks after completion.
   
2. Don't Metroid us and take away everything away from our characters unless it serves a really good purpose.
   
3. Don't be afraid to use new characters if the game locks or if the main character dies.
   
4. Do use DLC as a bridge between sequels.
   
5. Do use the complex universe that you've created to it's fullest
   

Just follow these simple rules developers and we'll be cool.