Mass Effect 2: Arrival

 Xbox 360
User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 103 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 103
  2. Mixed: 45 out of 103
  3. Negative: 23 out of 103

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  1. Vortigos
    May 20, 2011
    2
    Short. Not innovative. No nice bonuses. Adds nothing to the Mass Effect 2 experience. Takes place in a bland and rather familiar setting. This DLC should have been give away for free to Mass Effect 2's loyal fans; instead they give us a full-price DLC that's half the length and half the originality that it should be. It fails terribly at getting me excited for Mass Effect 3. It succeedsShort. Not innovative. No nice bonuses. Adds nothing to the Mass Effect 2 experience. Takes place in a bland and rather familiar setting. This DLC should have been give away for free to Mass Effect 2's loyal fans; instead they give us a full-price DLC that's half the length and half the originality that it should be. It fails terribly at getting me excited for Mass Effect 3. It succeeds only in irritating me that I actually paid for it.… Expand
  2. Cryoakira
    Mar 30, 2011
    3
    Very disappointing. Save for the end that lead to ME3, the story is basic, lacking both in interest and choices. The action is basically a 2 bases shoot-out with nothing new or original. Since you're by yourself, there are neither interactions nor dialogues with your crew. What should have been a great final for ME2 ends up being its worst DLC.
  3. webcamsio4
    Mar 29, 2011
    0
    This was a far cry from any other Mass Effect related mission and dlc. It felt like Bioware is catering to their purely shooter fans more than ever. The mission forced Commander Shepard to solo, with a temporary companion for a short period of time. What an odd feeling, especially as the rest of the game is mainly focused on recruiting a team. What makes game play and the story bothThis was a far cry from any other Mass Effect related mission and dlc. It felt like Bioware is catering to their purely shooter fans more than ever. The mission forced Commander Shepard to solo, with a temporary companion for a short period of time. What an odd feeling, especially as the rest of the game is mainly focused on recruiting a team. What makes game play and the story both fun and re-playable were the teamwork between Shepard and team members. This dlc was very underwhelming, and at times, comical.… Expand
  4. Miz3k
    Mar 29, 2011
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. First off, this isn't a forum, its a review site. If you don't like a review, click the button at the bottom and vote. This isn't the place for you to rant. If you want to argue with and berate someone because their opinion differs from yours, go to a forum and do it. Now, for the review. Well, Bioware successfully got me to throw away more of my money. I should have just balled up $7 and tossed it into the crapper and flushed. For your $7 you get about an hour and a half of the most frustrating Mass Effect content I've ever played and three new achievements. Story-wise, without giving away spoilers(there really aren't any, what is described on the download screen is pretty much the story of what you'll be playing), there are a lot of things that had me scratching my head. After the make new friends plot-line of ME2, Bioware had to do something to tie this game into the trilogy, this is that tiny common thread. You'll see familiar things and topics from the original will be touched upon(not in depth), add in the setting and all this seems familiar. This is about the only thing I can say I like about this DLC, as I thought ME2, like Dragon Age 2, strayed too far from what made the original so cool, barely resembling the game I fell in love with. This to me has the look and feel of the first game, but when you really start to think about the plot all kinds of questions start forming, things just don't make sense. The whole thing breaks down like this. Hackett sends you a message, he wants you to find a lady-friend of his that is being held by Batarians, you rescue her, she explains the Reaper situation, there is a stupid plot twist and yet another no-win scenario for Shephard insues. The dialogue is worse than the story, things get repeated a lot and conversations in general seem disjointed, like you are talking to the other person through those hand-held family radios people take to Disney World so they don't lose their kids. Much like Dragon Age 2 there is absolutely no exploration, you run down strings of linear corridors with obviously placed loot scattered about. Enemies pop up, you kill them, sometime you protect the doctor/scientist/whatever while she pretends to be doing something important, sometimes you'll have to turn off valves and coolant tanks. Problem is its all so straight forward, walk here, now push this, have some minerals, push that, kill some guys, and everything is right in front of your face, so obvious, you literally don't have to think through the entire demo, unless you crank up the difficulty all the way. But the thing that bothered me the most is it was a solo mission, no squadmates, and given the level of importance of the mission, I thought this was kind of stupid. Hackett said he wanted secrecy, but when you see the ending you'll realize it wouldn't matter if you took an entire army in there. I get the feeling that Bioware is setting me up for something, slowly acclimating me and others for what is coming next. A straight-up shooter, no RPG elements, very little squad stuff, just you and some guns, Marcus Fenix style. I hope I'm wrong, but these games keep getting simpler and dumber with each new entry. The ending of this DLC sets up ME3, but not how I or anyone else would have thought. This setup is also kind of dumb (to me) because the universe is about to be destroyed by the Reapers and Shephard and the Alliance are worried about war with the Batarians and a court trial, that's right Phoenix Wright: Ace attorney fans, court drama, exciting. This was my chief complaint with ME2. Something terrible was happening out in space and only you could stop it, but first you had to help Jacob sort out his daddy issues, or help Jack get revenge, or any other of the monumental wastes of time forced upon you if you wanted to survive. Everybody need friends, right? Hah! Good call Bioware. A sane person wouldn't even consider something like that if they had a deadline to meet like Shephard. ME3 had better be freakin' epic because I was mildly disappointed with ME2 and all of its DLC (except Lair of the Shadow Broker), I was beaten and mugged for $60 worth of the same dungeons over and over plus a terrible story in Dragon Age 2. I just hope that Bioware isn't influenced by EA and gives ME3 their all because something that started out so epic and awesome should go out with a bang.… Expand
  5. Chio
    Apr 1, 2011
    4
    I loved ME and ME2. And I thought the Shadow Broker DLC was a great addition. I was hoping to see something of that caliber. Unfortunately, Arrival felt like a tacked on grab for money. The story left me scratching my head and wishing I hadn't seen this particular chapter and just waited until ME3.
  6. Freestate
    Apr 1, 2011
    0
    Arrival fails to give us a great end of the me2 and it´s the weakest dlc of the bunch.No vehicles, no new gameplay concepts, no real interesting decisions,choices are false.
  7. frostquake
    Apr 29, 2011
    4
    A very short chapter that really tells you nothing new, nothing that you didn't already know and expect in the upcoming ME 3 game. Sadly, this feels more like a quick cash-in then a true attempt to add something new to bridge the gap between ME 2 and ME 3. Sadly, Bioware was riding high on its DLC, but to make this the last one, is truly a disappointing way to treat its fans! PassingA very short chapter that really tells you nothing new, nothing that you didn't already know and expect in the upcoming ME 3 game. Sadly, this feels more like a quick cash-in then a true attempt to add something new to bridge the gap between ME 2 and ME 3. Sadly, Bioware was riding high on its DLC, but to make this the last one, is truly a disappointing way to treat its fans! Passing this up will in no way truly impact you in the story telling. Only, and I mean Only pick this up, if you are a Die-Hard Must have it all, Mass Effect Fan, all others may pass it up!… Expand
  8. macready
    Apr 4, 2011
    0
    If there were still any doubts about how pathetic Mass Effect 2s RPG credentials were, I hope this final chapter silences them. It takes all but the most idiotic of fanbois to be unable to see that what we have here, is a summary of ME2 in a DLC. That summary contains little more than a thin "go here, do this" objective where 90% of your time is taken up by hiding behind boxes, popping outIf there were still any doubts about how pathetic Mass Effect 2s RPG credentials were, I hope this final chapter silences them. It takes all but the most idiotic of fanbois to be unable to see that what we have here, is a summary of ME2 in a DLC. That summary contains little more than a thin "go here, do this" objective where 90% of your time is taken up by hiding behind boxes, popping out and shooting enemies. Its what takes up the lions share of gameplay time in Mass Effect 2 itself, and this DLC follows suit exactly.

    Worse still, what scant RPG gameplay there was in combat is even further cutback in this DLC, as the pissant RPG and tactical gameplay your squadmates pathetic selection of abilities offers is now gone too, as you play this game solo for 95% of its 1 and 1/2 hours of gametime.

    Even the DLCs main story follows ME2s plot exactly, in that all it does is restate the ending of the first game. There is some mild forshadowing going on, but since thats not here yet, and when it does arrive its very like to be the same bland TPS driven crap Bioware is insisting Mass Effect be now, they dont get points for that.

    Lair of the Shadow Broker was a mildly promising look at what Bioware can achieve when they actually make the story integral, when they develop characters from previous games (instead of leaving them out or simply reseting them) and when they open their minds, if only briefly, to an ideal that this game shouldnt be just about TPS combat (the carchase, though brief, cheap and rough around the edges was a breath of fresh air in a game filled with linear claustrophobic corridor shooter missions).

    This DLC is awful, and it summarises everything that is awful about ME2, and could be awful about ME3:

    Stripped out RPG.
    Boring characters whose only purpose is to prop up shooter missions.
    Pathetic, disconnected story.
    Overwhelming focus on cover based TPS combat that just. never. ends.

    Unless you are the most rabid, Bioware fellating fanboi, stay away from this DLC.    … Expand
  9. RogerWilco2099
    Mar 30, 2011
    1
    I been excited about this DLC for a while. Like many my expectations were high because of hype and the previous Lair of the Shadow Broker. At the very least I expected something of the same quality of Overlord which was the same price. Instead I played the worst DLC the series has come up with and apparently it was "bridging". My mine gripe being I was so detached playing my Shepard,I been excited about this DLC for a while. Like many my expectations were high because of hype and the previous Lair of the Shadow Broker. At the very least I expected something of the same quality of Overlord which was the same price. Instead I played the worst DLC the series has come up with and apparently it was "bridging". My mine gripe being I was so detached playing my Shepard, the linear plot and lack of any decisions was frustrating but the way my Shepard reacted was astonishing. There was not a single paragon option through the whole thing. I honest didnt feel like I was playing the character I come to love over the past two games. As said the linear plot was rather predictable and offered no or little surprise. Playing a vanguard too, the amount of times I was unable to charge was crazy despite having a perfect line of site. Very frustrating and disappointing DLC.… Expand
  10. Fair34
    Apr 4, 2011
    4
    Nowhere near the standard set by Lair of the Shadow Broker. And no companions allowed?? WTF? On the upside, voice acting by Jennifer Hale still superb.
  11. Soranpanoko
    Oct 12, 2012
    0
    Short: Its the worst DLC ever...
    They didn't anything right, all is just so ridiculous I cant belive it. They even use human-models for Batarian... Story is same ridiculous (for example: now a astroid can do what a supernova cant ?) ....
    Did noone cheked it before they released it ? So complete DLC is so bad, Bioware should recompense all who waste time on this ... Waste of money;    Short: Its the worst DLC ever...
    They didn't anything right, all is just so ridiculous I cant belive it. They even use human-models for Batarian... Story is same ridiculous (for example: now a astroid can do what a supernova cant ?) ....
    Did noone cheked it before they released it ?

    So complete DLC is so bad, Bioware should recompense all who waste time on this ...

    Waste of money; Waste of time or Short: DONT BUY THIS ****    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

72
#72 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
65

Mixed or average reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 24
  3. Negative: 2 out of 24
  1. Official Xbox Magazine
    May 26, 2011
    60
    A brief Reaper appearance got out attention, but this DLC's climax will infuriate many Mass Effect fans. [July 2011, p.75]
  2. Gaming Age
    Apr 19, 2011
    67
    This DLC truly is a "take it or leave it" situation.
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  3. Gamereactor Denmark
    Apr 19, 2011
    70
    Arrival is a DLC expansion on the lighter end of the scale, that doesn't really add anything new to the series, and with only about an hour of playtime, it's a little short, too. However, the quality of what is here is up to the same high standard that we're used to from Mass Effect. An essential purchase only if you're starving for more Mass Effect, whereas the rest of us can probably wait until Mass Effect 3.
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