Mass Effect 2: Arrival DLC Review

Arrival is the last DLC for Mass Effect 2. It's a short mission that a good player will get through in a few hours. In Arrival, you get a mission from Admiral Hackett to rescue Dr. Amanda Kenson. She's being held captive by Batarians on Aratoht. Hackett asks you to go alone because he fears a squad will alert the Batarians and they will kill Kenson.

You land on Aratoht. You break out Kenson. She tells you why she was captured by the Batarians. You travel to her base which is on an asteroid. The purpose of the base? Delay the Reaper invasion which is coming through a Mass Effect relay by crashing the asteroid into the relay.

One third of the mission is stealth. That's unusual for Mass Effect. It requires you to see where the Batarians are looking to avoid them. The other unusual thing is that you control a mech. That's not a big deal. The rest of the game is combat.

Some have said this mission is essential for the Reaper storyline. That's not correct. Look, we know the Reapers are coming. That's the plot of the upcoming Mass Effect 3. Destroying a Mass Effect Relay only delays the Reapers. So you don't really need this DLC. But the question is whether it's fun. There's nothing new in terms of combat. Still, it's fun as you battle Batarians and possessed humans. The few hours of entertainment are worth the 560 points and right now if you are a Gold member, it's only 280 credits. The Arrival DLC is short but fun mission. The grade is B.