Firewalker DLC for Mass Effect 2
Earlier this week (March 23), a Cerberus Network DLC pack was released for Mass Effect 2, free to anyone who bought the game new or purchased Cerberus Network access. These Firewalker missions (five in all), have never really promised to be much. They're free. They represent content that was pushed out of the game proper. And, they bring back a remarkably hated driving mechanic from ME1. So is it worth your time?
Yeah, probably. Though really, anything that's free is technically worth your time, especially if its a new gameplay mechanic. I would say this is even worth some of your money, just based on the fact you get roughly an hour and a half out of it. These 5 missions are sort of pigeonholed into the game, immediately available via your terminal when you get free access to your ship. The first mission describes a scenario that has you recover the Hammerhead vehicle. This recovery consists of landing on a planet, walking 5 feet, then triggering a voice-less cutscene showing you approach the vehicle. Then, you're driving it. The rest of the mission is a loose tutorial/playground for you to figure out how it works. The next 3 missions are supposed to have been found through data you recovered in the last mission. One involves some pretty intense fighting, where you discover just how easy it is to blow up. There's no checkpointing, but that's not a huge problem since you can get through everything rather quickly. You take damage fast, but if you get out of the line of fire, you can recover quickly. Another mission has you essentially racing from checkpoint to checkpoint, refilling your timer slightly at each stop. That was thrilling for the few minutes it lasted. Then there's a sort of environmental hazard mission combined with some exploration on foot. No fighting in either of these. The last mission was fairly docile, with things to blow up, but not much you could really call "fighting."
This DLC's most significant and possibly only strength is the robustness of the Hammerhead's gameplay. I found only one bug, where my cross-hair didn't change from my heavy weapon's to the Hammerhead's. I didn't mind, since the other cross-hair worked better. Otherwise, everything about the physics and the control of the vehicle can be quite delightful. You can leap from surface to surface, and hop around various platforms if you need to get a higher point. The ability to move side to side and having homing missiles makes combat a much less painful experience than in ME1. There was definitely no gameplay-induced rage.
The unfortunate thing about this DLC, however, is that it lacks what makes the rest of Mass Effect 2 so great - story and dialog. There's only new voice clips from one actor, your Hammerhead's VI. And most of what he says is directive or reactionary, where he's either telling you what to do in a part or reacting to the fact you just dropped into lava. It feels a little awkward to have your teammates completely silent while you accidentally blow up a research base, then have them yell "Got it!" with their stock audio every other time you pick up data. They could have at least brought their Shepard voice actors back in to make a few quick quips at the end. Then, all the story is communicated through text.
So pick it up, let it extend your time played by an hour or two, and enjoy the extra minerals you find along the way. Oh yeah, and there's a biotic damage upgrade. Lasting impact on the rest of the game hooo!
I'll also note quickly here that the alternate costume pack for Jack, Thane, and Garrus is totally frivolous, but also totally awesome. Then, in less than two weeks, we'll have a new character!
