The Arrival is the last piece of downloadable content for Mass Effect 2 before the winter release of Mass Effect 3. Unfortunately, this content was not the best that could be added to Commander Shepard’s experience, but it wasn’t terrible. Arrival is basically a rescue mission that goes slightly awry and Shepard doesn’t have any of his alien/robot/supermodel buddies to help him out. The story is a little lacking but does give some hints about the coming invasion of Reapers. There is a handful of achievements and trophies that can be gained as well as a few upgrades for your character. Interestingly the decisions made in this mission will affect your unique storyline in Mass Effect 3. For only 560 Microsoft points or $7, this two-hour mission is more gun battle than story, but importantly, it’s more Mass Effect 2, which always goes down smooth.
This article appears in Apr 14-20, 2011.