Mass Effect 2: Overlord DLC Hands On

Mass Effect 2, reviewed back in February, was something of a hit around here - garnering top shelf scores of 9.5 on Xbox 360 and 8.9 on PC. So it's fair to say opportunities to play new content are something we leap into with both feet and without looking.

It's such an opportunity we're talking about today, as we take a look at Overlord, a new multi-mission story arc available now for 560 space bucks (about $12 real dollars).

Without ruining the story (which is very good), the general gist is that things have gone badly wrong at an allied outpost and if Shepard doesn't step in and save the day, things could go very badly wrong everwyehere else, too. So Shepard (that's you) and his team (as chosen by you) must fly down to the planet and bring projectile justice to, well, pretty much anyone and everyone.

The third-person shootery bits are enmeshed together with vehicle sections where the player must traverse the open terrain and, you guessed it, blow up stuff that gets in the way. The repeated mentioning of blowing things up may be misinterpreted as criticism - let's make one thing clear: shooting things is fun. It's the point. That there is plenty of opportunity to do so in a variety of ways is something we at NZGamer.com are extremely grateful for. The fact that we can also earn XP and find more schematics / material to boost our efforts in the wider Mass Effect 2 game is just a bonus.

The vehicle stuff is fun, with good action, exploration and gorgeous vistas all stitched handsomely together, along with natural and exciting ship handling. The experience is very reminiscent of the first time you skipped along in the hover thingy in HalfLife 2, only now you've got a big boom stick attached to the front and you can even hover briefly. Not having a HUD is a bit weird during these bits, but you soon get a good feel for what's going on (hint: if the vehicle is on fire, things aren't going your way).

There's about two hours of gameplay on offer across the various missions, depending on your need to explore vs. your desire to eliminate the threat to the galaxy. Most of it takes place on foot, in moodily lit corridors full of corpses and computers that randomly scream at you. If you've played Dead Space you'll have an idea of the kind of tense atmosphere the designers were going for.

What we have here looks to be exactly the tonic for ME2 gamers that are looking for something else to do within BioWare's opus. There's good variety, good fun, new stuff and loads of atmosphere. Without ruining it, play to the end. You'll get your money's worth and then some.