Lair of the Shadow Broker: Thoughts on the latest Mass Effect 2 DLC

Lair of the Shadow Broker brings Liara back to the fight -- temporarily, at least

I remember the days of expansion packs with pleasant nostalgia, so the concept of a self-contained mini-adventure downloaded straight into my game appeals to me – the chance to take my party out on one more quest from which I can triumphantly emerge with experience points and loot (and, on the Xbox 360, achievement points).  This ideal DLC isn’t exactly what Bioware delivers in Lair of the Shadow Broker.  For one thing, there’s minimal loot and only one level’s worth of XP.  But what the episode does deliver is pretty damn good.

For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, Lair of the Shadow Broker is the latest downloadable content pack for Mass Effect 2.  The plot involves helping former crew member (and, depending on your actions in the first Mass Effect, love interest) Liara T’Soni track down an evil power monger called the Shadow Broker and rescue some dude he kidnapped.  (I have not confirmed this, but I suspect the origin of this lore can be found in the Mass Effect comic books that came out around the same time as Mass Effect 2 and starred Liara as their central protagonist.)

It is clear that Bioware gave a lot of attention to pacing.  The episode, which took me about two hours to complete, alternates between dialogue, exploration, and combat (and flying – more on that below) in a linear sequence that carries you from beginning to middle to end at heart-pounding velocity.  This is good storytelling, with graphics that rival recent movies.

The gameplay itself has not changed much.  The majority of your time is still spent clinging to cover and shooting enemies with the same weapons and biotic powers in a hybrid RPG-third-person-shooter.  The environments may be new, and the enemies may employ new tactics (I finished the main game and all previous DLC months ago, but I believe this is the first time enemies have used flashbang grenades against me), but even a Mass Effect lover like me has to admit that after 50 hours of this stuff, the moment-to-moment gunplay is starting to feel monotonous.  (And speaking of monotone, what’s with Liara’s voice actor in this DLC?  She delivers her lines with the emotion of an Elcor!)

That said, it is ironically Bioware’s attempt to inject a new gameplay element that results in the episode’s weakest segment.  At one point in the story, Shepard pilots a sky car in what amounts to an on-rails shooter without guns.  This section is not fun and would be extremely frustrating if not for generously placed checkpoints that ensure you can brute force your way through it (as I did).  If this is a test-run of the space battles Bioware is planning for The Old Republic (described in the October issue of PC Gamer as a single-player “tunnel shooter”), then the developer has a lot more work to do.

Shepard pilots a sky car for the first -- and hopefully last -- time

Overall, Lair of the Shadow Broker provided me with two hours of solid entertainment.  The new locations range from interesting (Liara’s apartment) to jaw-droppingly awesome (the exterior of the Shadow Broker’s ship).  Bioware continues to deliver the best dialogue in the business.  The fights are tough and rewarding, the cut scenes are polished, the story is good, the Shadow Broker is one ugly badass, and if Shepard turns on the charm, there’s even some of Bioware’s patented human-on-alien sex to be had.

It may not match my ideal DLC exactly, but for the price of a movie ticket, no fan of Mass Effect 2 should pass up Lair of the Shadow Broker.