This DLC was bad. This was very bad. Let's get through it quickly:
[ul][li] Alliance Admiral Hackett sends an agent to find evidence of the Reapers.[/li]
[li]The agent finds something, but only reports rudimentary details. She?s captured by Batarians.[/li]
[li]Hackett tells Shepard to rescue the agent alone.[/li]
[li]There is no good reason why Shepard can?t have a team. There are no story or gameplay elements that would have been sabotaged had Shepard had a team. [/li]
[li]Shepard rescues the agent. [/li] [/ul]
Small point ? in the planet descriptions in that system, the story is that the Batarians have spy satellites set up everywhere. Even if the Normandy has good stealth, it?s just so incredibly stupid that Shepard can be dropped off via shuttle on the prison?s shuttle pad and walk right in through the backdoor without anyone noticing. For the fascist police state the Batarians are described as living in, the security for it all is really lame.
[ul][li]The agent tells Shepard about the Reapers ? they?re close and she has proof and a plan to stop them.[/li]
[li]The proof is a Reaper artifact that broadcasts a countdown of the impending Reaper arrival ? about fifty hours. Cutting it close![/li]
[li]Her plan to stop the Reapers is to throttle an asteroid into the nearby Mass Effect relay, destroying it. The Reapers will have to fly to the next closest relay, delaying their invasion by? we aren?t told how long.[/li]
[li]Destroying the relay would also kill 300,000+ Batarians, which was why they captured the agent in the first place.[/li][/ul]
Hey, with so much police action and surveillance, how did the Batarians miss a human moon-base being built right under their noses? And so close to their system?s Mass Effect relay?
Aside from that, the DLC has gotten off to a good start ? there?s a damsel in distress, go get her and learn about the Reapers! Sounds good. We get her, we learn that the enemy is close, but there?s a plan to stop them. Awesome, let?s kick them in the quads!
[ul][li]The artifact has indoctrinated the agent and all of her staff: about a half-dozen scientists and 50+ soldiers.[/li]
[li]The agent, her staff, and all the soldiers, choose at that moment to reveal they're against Shepard and now they want to capture him.[/li][/ul]
Well, if the agent was indoctrinated all along, then why did she tell Shepard in detail how to stop the Reapers? Shouldn?t she have kept that a secret? If the indoctrination had worn off, then why didn?t she tell Shepard about the indoctrination?
[ul][li]The agent tells Shepard to surrender to the indoctrination and orders her soldiers to capture Shepard so he can be gifted to the Reapers.[/li]
[li]Shepard is captured and kept sedated for two days. By the time Shepard awakens, there?s only two hours left until the Reapers appear.[/li]
[li]Despite being kept chemically incapacitated for two days, Shepard immediately overpowers two armed guards and breaks free. No restraints on the gurney? No locked door? Nothing?[/li]
[li]Shepard remembers what the agent said about the plan to stop the Reapers being ready ? only a push-button away.[/li]
[li]Shepard runs over and pushes the button.[/li][/ul]
Really? For two days, the agent and her staff just sit on their hands ? they don?t unplug the loaded gun or anything? They don?t turn that computer off, they don?t dismantle the rockets, and the Reapers don?t do anything useful with their indoctrinated servants?
Exactly what purpose did the Reaper artifact serve? Where did it come from? And why was it broadcasting the timing of the Reaper's arrival, of all things?
Have you ever read really bad fan fiction, the kind of stuff that makes the expanded universe of any setting look really bad? Like the idea that Boba Fett escaped the sarlacc pit on Tatooine and continued to have adventures - those sort of really bad ideas? The Arrival DLC feels like that. This story cements my feeling that the Bioware B-team is at the helm concerning Mass Effect.
[ul][li]The agent tries to undo Shepard?s damage. Shepard has to fight through the base to stop her.[/li]
[li]Shepard stops her.[/li][/ul]
There was a moment earlier, when Shepard and the agent were talking about the plan to destroy the Mass Effect relay. It was revealed that doing so would destroy all life in the system ? the aforementioned 300,000+ Batarians. Shepard was reluctant to engage in the plan because he, being Paragon, was unwilling to risk that many lives based on shaky evidence. Shepard needed absolute proof. Even in the presence of absolute proof ? I?m personally disappointed that Shepard?s earlier reluctance disappeared completely.
[ul][li]Shepard begins looking for a way out. The asteroid is minutes away from impacting the ME relay... and the soldiers are still fighting Shepard.[/li]
[li]They suddenly aren't interested in Shepard's capture and they aren't interested in saving themselves. What the hell.[/li]
[li]Shepard kills all the people there and at the last second, Joker arrives in the Normandy and they escape.[/li]
[li]The explosion from the ME relay kills the Batarians.[/li][/ul]
Admiral Hackett tells Shepard that the Batarians are pissed and Shepard will have to answer for it. Exactly what did Bioware accomplish with this DLC other than to make Shepard look like a complete tool?
Especially because it all amounts to contriving a reason for Shepard to become an intergalactic jerk. Killing the Batarian colony to stall the Reapers is a reason for aliens to hate on humanity, and especially to hate on Shepard. So now when Shepard says, "Let's all unite to fight the Reapers," they have a leg to stand on when saying, "No, because of what you did to the Batarians." And of course, Shepard escapes the agent's base with zero proof of what had transpired.
The worst part? I was in the middle of my 3rd playthrough of ME2. So I did the Arrival DLC before destroying the Collector base. So in my game's timeline, by the time the Suicide Mission rolls around, the Reapers are already here - just cruisin about.
[ul][li] Alliance Admiral Hackett sends an agent to find evidence of the Reapers.[/li]
[li]The agent finds something, but only reports rudimentary details. She?s captured by Batarians.[/li]
[li]Hackett tells Shepard to rescue the agent alone.[/li]
[li]There is no good reason why Shepard can?t have a team. There are no story or gameplay elements that would have been sabotaged had Shepard had a team. [/li]
[li]Shepard rescues the agent. [/li] [/ul]
Small point ? in the planet descriptions in that system, the story is that the Batarians have spy satellites set up everywhere. Even if the Normandy has good stealth, it?s just so incredibly stupid that Shepard can be dropped off via shuttle on the prison?s shuttle pad and walk right in through the backdoor without anyone noticing. For the fascist police state the Batarians are described as living in, the security for it all is really lame.
[ul][li]The agent tells Shepard about the Reapers ? they?re close and she has proof and a plan to stop them.[/li]
[li]The proof is a Reaper artifact that broadcasts a countdown of the impending Reaper arrival ? about fifty hours. Cutting it close![/li]
[li]Her plan to stop the Reapers is to throttle an asteroid into the nearby Mass Effect relay, destroying it. The Reapers will have to fly to the next closest relay, delaying their invasion by? we aren?t told how long.[/li]
[li]Destroying the relay would also kill 300,000+ Batarians, which was why they captured the agent in the first place.[/li][/ul]
Hey, with so much police action and surveillance, how did the Batarians miss a human moon-base being built right under their noses? And so close to their system?s Mass Effect relay?
Aside from that, the DLC has gotten off to a good start ? there?s a damsel in distress, go get her and learn about the Reapers! Sounds good. We get her, we learn that the enemy is close, but there?s a plan to stop them. Awesome, let?s kick them in the quads!
[ul][li]The artifact has indoctrinated the agent and all of her staff: about a half-dozen scientists and 50+ soldiers.[/li]
[li]The agent, her staff, and all the soldiers, choose at that moment to reveal they're against Shepard and now they want to capture him.[/li][/ul]
Well, if the agent was indoctrinated all along, then why did she tell Shepard in detail how to stop the Reapers? Shouldn?t she have kept that a secret? If the indoctrination had worn off, then why didn?t she tell Shepard about the indoctrination?
[ul][li]The agent tells Shepard to surrender to the indoctrination and orders her soldiers to capture Shepard so he can be gifted to the Reapers.[/li]
[li]Shepard is captured and kept sedated for two days. By the time Shepard awakens, there?s only two hours left until the Reapers appear.[/li]
[li]Despite being kept chemically incapacitated for two days, Shepard immediately overpowers two armed guards and breaks free. No restraints on the gurney? No locked door? Nothing?[/li]
[li]Shepard remembers what the agent said about the plan to stop the Reapers being ready ? only a push-button away.[/li]
[li]Shepard runs over and pushes the button.[/li][/ul]
Really? For two days, the agent and her staff just sit on their hands ? they don?t unplug the loaded gun or anything? They don?t turn that computer off, they don?t dismantle the rockets, and the Reapers don?t do anything useful with their indoctrinated servants?
Exactly what purpose did the Reaper artifact serve? Where did it come from? And why was it broadcasting the timing of the Reaper's arrival, of all things?
Have you ever read really bad fan fiction, the kind of stuff that makes the expanded universe of any setting look really bad? Like the idea that Boba Fett escaped the sarlacc pit on Tatooine and continued to have adventures - those sort of really bad ideas? The Arrival DLC feels like that. This story cements my feeling that the Bioware B-team is at the helm concerning Mass Effect.
[ul][li]The agent tries to undo Shepard?s damage. Shepard has to fight through the base to stop her.[/li]
[li]Shepard stops her.[/li][/ul]
There was a moment earlier, when Shepard and the agent were talking about the plan to destroy the Mass Effect relay. It was revealed that doing so would destroy all life in the system ? the aforementioned 300,000+ Batarians. Shepard was reluctant to engage in the plan because he, being Paragon, was unwilling to risk that many lives based on shaky evidence. Shepard needed absolute proof. Even in the presence of absolute proof ? I?m personally disappointed that Shepard?s earlier reluctance disappeared completely.
[ul][li]Shepard begins looking for a way out. The asteroid is minutes away from impacting the ME relay... and the soldiers are still fighting Shepard.[/li]
[li]They suddenly aren't interested in Shepard's capture and they aren't interested in saving themselves. What the hell.[/li]
[li]Shepard kills all the people there and at the last second, Joker arrives in the Normandy and they escape.[/li]
[li]The explosion from the ME relay kills the Batarians.[/li][/ul]
Admiral Hackett tells Shepard that the Batarians are pissed and Shepard will have to answer for it. Exactly what did Bioware accomplish with this DLC other than to make Shepard look like a complete tool?
Especially because it all amounts to contriving a reason for Shepard to become an intergalactic jerk. Killing the Batarian colony to stall the Reapers is a reason for aliens to hate on humanity, and especially to hate on Shepard. So now when Shepard says, "Let's all unite to fight the Reapers," they have a leg to stand on when saying, "No, because of what you did to the Batarians." And of course, Shepard escapes the agent's base with zero proof of what had transpired.
The worst part? I was in the middle of my 3rd playthrough of ME2. So I did the Arrival DLC before destroying the Collector base. So in my game's timeline, by the time the Suicide Mission rolls around, the Reapers are already here - just cruisin about.
