Review of Mass Effect 2: Arrival by Adam Milton

Arrival is probably the most conceptually ambitious DLC I have ever played. It is not a sequel to Mass Effect 2, but it is a follow on and works best as something you play directly after you finish the suicide mission. This DLC sits perfectly between Mass Effect 2 and 3 in gameplay, style, and narrative, and because of that it feels like a stutter step in the franchise’s story.

I have said it before, but the best part of Mass Effect 2 is the characters. They help offset weaknesses or boost strengths of your Shepard in combat and are genuinely fascinating between missions. Talking to them unlocks loyalty missions and generally makes the game more fun. In Arrival you are on your own, with no squad to back you up. A DLC‑only character you are sent to rescue has Overload and Incinerate, but she is not much help in a firefight.

The story is fascinating at first blush. You are sent to rescue Dr. Kenson from a batarian prison. Once you break her out you take her to an asteroid base and her real intentions are revealed. She has been indoctrinated by Reaper tech, and you find out the invasion by the Reapers is going to start soon and will come through the mass relay. It becomes a race against mercenaries and time to stop them from ending the galaxy before anyone is ready.

I am avoiding a lot of spoilers here because I think the reveals are fun. The mission can be more frustrating than difficult because you have to be a one man army. The countdown also adds a lot of natural tension to the mission, and that makes it that much more fun for me.

However, while doing my research for this DLC I stumbled across a lot of backlash against it. Normally I roll my eyes at 25‑minute YouTube videos about “plot holes,” but there seem to be some well‑reasoned issues with the story itself.

Truthfully, I agree. There are issues with the narrative, the kind that set up big decisions and then avoid their consequences, or that raise questions about how people and things could be where they are if what was stated is true. It feels like they wanted one larger than life mission to end Mass Effect 2 but did not properly account for how it would impact its sequel. I do not think it is fair to punish a game because of how it will impact something that has not come out yet.

Honestly, I do not have much patience for plot holes as a method or vehicle for critique, but I cannot deny what was brought to my attention. If you dislike the DLC because of how it impacts Mass Effect 3 I cannot fault you for that. For me, though, the issue is that the stakes are allowed to get too big. If the story had addressed a smaller issue, something that did not directly impact everything in the galaxy, I think I would have liked it more. The previous DLCs adventures had more personal stakes, revenge and recovering something that was lost, and that fit better into the game. This simply feels too big to fit comfortably into Mass Effect 2.

With all of that said, this DLC is fun, flaws and all, and sits just below the very best DLC the Mass Effect universe has to offer.