This time last year, fans were highly anticipating the release of developer BioWare’s second installment in the critically acclaimed Mass Effect series. The sequel, titled Mass Effect 2, has since become one of the most lauded games of the year 2010. The game won numerous awards at the end of the year from game journalists and other media outlets including multiple “Game of the Year” or “Best Xbox 360 GOTY” awards from X-Play, GameTrailers, IGN, Spike Video Game Awards, Giant Bomb and IGN Australia.
In a gaming industry where game titles are often lacking in the story department, BioWare has become known for building their titles around well-written epic narratives. Gaming channels and websites X-Play, IGN and GameTrailers awarded Mass Effect 2 with “Best Story” or “Best Writing” for 2010.
Built around the top-notch story writing in the series is also the continued improvement of the game play. Much of BioWare’s continued success stems from the studio’s willingness to listen to their fans and Mass Effect players have noted improvements made to the sequel based on their critiques. In the current gaming market, players often feel cheated by game publishers who have developers withhold certain content from the game, only to be later released as purchasable downloadable content (DLC) for an additional profit. Reviews for such DLC are often negative, with most players feeling the content is insignificant as a stand-alone package.
Having already demonstrated that games can feature impressive sweeping narratives, BioWare has helped prove that downloadable content can be worth the extra cost. The DLC so far for Mass Effect 2, released throughout the year in 2010, has proven to be both substantial and made with the same quality and care as the full game.
The first round of DLC was acquirable in the form of a Mass Effect 2 specific portal called the Cerberus Network, which offered multiple free DLC packages. The Cerberus Network itself came free for those who purchased Mass Effect 2 new from retailers and players who bought the game used had to purchase the DLC service for an additional cost. Afterwards, BioWare released three more full DLC packages, which were met with positive reviews.
At the beginning of the New Year, BioWare announced that they would be temporarily shutting down the daily news updates that the Cerberus Network had been providing since last January. The network will resume briefly for a few weeks in 2011 to prepare for launch of Mass Effect 3, which was announced at the Spike Video Game Awards on Dec. 11, 2010. In typical Mass Effect fashion, players will be able to import their saved game character and data from previous games into the sequel.
The last DLC released in 2010, titled “Lair of the Shadow Broker,” was nominated for “Best DLC” at the VGAs and was the first DLC to present a storyline that will link directly into Mass Effect 3. More add-on content for Mass Effect 2 will be released before the launch of the last game in the Mass Effect trilogy and as before, the final DLC will continue to bridge the gap between the second and third games.
Speculations for Mass Effect 3 have been rampant since its announcement. The bar has been raised since the first game, but the second game left the player at the forefront of an unresolved war. The excitement for the trilogy’s end is higher than ever with the promised third and final act being the pinnacle climatic space battle of the series. The announced game add-ons from BioWare will allow fans to continue their experience in Mass Effect 2 and provide some insight into how the story will progress and link to the final chapter. Until then, the promised DLC in 2011 will help ease the pain of waiting for the day when Mass Effect 3 is finally released.
