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Mass Effect: Bring Down the Sky
Greg Noe — Wed, 12/16/2009 - 6:00am
| Bring Down the Sky | |
|---|---|
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| Platforms | Xbox 360, Windows |
| Recommended? | Yes |
| Buy from Amazon | |
Considering I've reviewed just about every other aspect of the Mass Effect series, I thought it would be appropriate to write a review on the game's first downloadable content: Bring Down the Sky. While the second DLC, Pinnacle Station, was more of an experiment in arena action, Bring Down the Sky was more familiar to the style of gameplay the full game offered. It was released just a few months after the release of the game in March 2008, seemingly indicating that there would be plenty more content available in the coming months and years. However, there would be just the two downloads available over the next two years, and the worst part? I really enjoyed Bring Down the Sky and would have happily paid for more like it.
With BioWare's latest RPG, Dragon Age, released and pimping downloadable content from almost the start of the game, it seems very likely that Mass Effect 2 will employ a similar strategy. In a recent interview with the Mass Effect project lead, Casey Hudson, he indicated that after the game's release (and hopefully a lengthy vacation), the developers would immediately move on to downloadable content. This is an exciting prospect and as long as I get my money's worth on the initial purchase, I have no problem paying for more content. Hudson also mentioned that when it came to DLC for the original Mass Effect, the game was simply not developed with it in mind, and that both Bring Down the Sky and Pinnacle Station were larger efforts than should have been necessary.
With a bit of history out of the way, let's get into my review of Bring Down the Sky for Mass Effect.
Background
When you approach Asteroid X57 in the Asgard system, you receive a transmission that the asteroid is heading towards one of the Alliance's main colonies: Terra Nova. As anyone who has seen Armageddon, the consequences would be quite catastrophic. With only a few hours to remain, Shepard and company are the only one's who can help, so you land on the asteroid directly to take care of business. Turns out the asteroid was being transported to Terra Nova's orbit for mining, but was hijacked by some batarian terrorists and the propulsion jets have been aimed directly for the capital city.
It's Shepard's job to shut down the fusion torches, rescue the workers on the asteroid, and take out all the terrorists along the way. There are even a few optional side quests available on the asteroid to help with those elusive ally achievements if you're so inclined.
Review
What was awesome: Bring Down the Sky is a multi-hour mission that in terms of scope, falls somewhere between the main story missions of Mass Effect and the optional side quests. The explorable asteroid area is the same size as any of the uninhabited planets, so of course you'll mostly be driving around in the Mako. There are four big vehicle battles with a whole host of turrets to take out and four indoor battles. While three of the battles are in the standard Mass Effect warehouse, the final one takes place in a large, open, multi-leveled building. It's all wrapped nicely in a story of terrorist action and incredible courage, not to mention the planet rending asteroid just hours away from total destruction.
This is the first time we actually get to see the batarian race in action, and man, are they as ugly as they were described as. The batarians are a four-eyed race with a huge grudge against the humans. When the Alliance began spreading across the galaxy, they began to encroach on batarian territory, and the batarians felt threatened and attacked. A few of the background options of Commander Shepard that are available involve the batarians and their ruthless strikes on human cities. The batarians are known for slave trading, drug running, and now, terrorist activity using asteroids.
Many of Mass Effect's major combat situations are lead-ups to moral choices, Bring Down the Sky is no exception and it seems to be ripped right out of a story from 24. I like being challenged with weighing innocent lives versus carrying out justice (at least in video games that is), and the DLC offers just that. I won't go into any more details, but it's satisfying and well worth at least two playthroughs.
What I liked: The final battle in Bring Down the Sky is pretty enjoyable, as there are a lot of bad guys and plenty of opportunities to use every power available to your team. The weird thing is that the battle location is in a huge, open building with tons of greenery and flowers. What is this doing on an asteroid being towed to a planet just so it can be mined? Well, turns out it was an unused location from the game that was dropped due to time restraints. I appreciate it being used, but something more appropriate might have been really awesome (a mine cart race!).
For completing the extra assignment on the asteroid, you get the choice of some pretty awesome rewards: either light, medium, heavy Colossus human armor, quarian Colossus armor, or a Savant omni tool. At their maxed out level, all of these are pretty much the best items in the game, the problem is you only get to select one! Pro tip, if you have Pinnacle Station, pick the armor, you can get the omni tool from the apartment after beating Pinnacle Station. I made this mistake recently with my engineer and ended up with more than enough Savant X's when all I really wanted was a Colossus X light!
Would I recommend this? Definitely, yes. If you're a Mass Effect fan you owe yourself at least one playthrough of Bring Down the Sky. It's an enjoyable downloadable content that will provide you with lots of fun, tons of experience, an interesting moral dilemma, and a pretty awesome reward. Bring Down the Sky costs 400 Microsoft points on the Xbox 360 and is free with the Windows version.
I've played a million games, and I've rocked them all.
Copyright 2007-2012 Greg Noe. All rights reserved.
Comments
Asteroid X57's Main Facility
Actually Greg Noe, X57's main facility is very appropriate in my opinion. The asteroid was decelerated from the orbit of Planet Borr (the next one out in the system) and was destined to become the basic structure for a permenant Orbital Station, possibly a Spaceship Dry-Dock, Foundry, and/or Military Patrol Station. After all, not every Alliance Warship can land on or in a planetside Spaceport; meaning also, not every ship can be built and 'launched' from planetside. As one of the largest human colony worlds, it may have been deemed worthwhile to station a permenant military force to dissuade pirate raids and maybe even launch counter-piracy raids from.
Now, an Orbital Station takes alot of resourses and time. (Gods, just imagine what it took to make the Citidel.) So to offset the costs and speed things up a bit, they decided to decelerate X57 (a mineral rich asteroid) from Plant Borr's Orbit. It was on the Lagrange or very edge of Borr's gravity well, so it might have one day been 'thrown' out of orbit. The minerals would then be used in the construction of the basic structure of the Orbital Station. Furthur resourses and parts would have been shipped in to complete the station. They first sent out a mining and construction teams to install the three Fusion Torch Engines nessesary to get X57 'in motion', that is slowing it's orbit at the presise time to get it to 'fall' out of Borr's orbit and and accelerating towards Terra Nova's. This wouldn't be a one day operation, the teams would have to remain on the asteroid to monitor, adjust, and repair the fusion torches and the asteroid's course; the risk of the asteroid causeing an E.L.E. on Terra Nova was simply to great to trust to an automated or VI program. Keeping pace with a ship could have worked, but the supply and resource costs could be lessened by constructing a permenant facility on the asteroid. This facility, which we fought in, would eventually be used during the mining, construction, and possibly even in the service of the completed Orbital Station. A job done right is worth doing right the first time, thus they built a self-sufficient facility capable of recycling, storing, and disposing of air, water, and refuse. As for the exsistance of the plants, everyone knows plants absorb Carbon-Dioxide and put out Oxygen. Although they may not put out a one to one trade of CO2 for Oxy, they still ease the job of life support a bit and they bring a bit of 'living green warmth' into an otherwise cold and sterile metal box. That's why I find the Main Facility appropritate. It's not out-of-place, just 'finished'.
I have had a problem with X57's story tho'. Even with the immense size of the Fusion Torches that we see (the bulk of them must be underground since they 'built' them out the 'mouth' of the Mine Entrance Object), I suspect that they had to install a large scale Mass Effect Core under the Main Facility (which justifies the massive power lines that seem to pulse with power seen above and running into the wall beside the second story walkway) in order to 'lighten' X57's 22 kilometer mass to where the Fusion Torches could manuver it around, but just barely. With only three torches on the whole thing to get it to slow down you have to turn it completely around to 'put on the brakes' so to speak. At the end of the mission the Team Leader says, "In another hour, our course would have been irreversible." The best way to turn the asteroid without overshooting Terra Nova would be to turn the asteroid so the Torches point towards the planet and push it to the side, bringing it into TN's Orbit and let it settle into it's own orbit; or turn the torches against the direction of travel and bring the asteroid to a 'stop' inside of TN's gravity well and let it 'catch' the asteroid into an orbit. Those three Torches are all on the same side of the asteroid, meaning only one or two can be used for manuver depending on how you want to turn. Otherwise with all three lit you are basically 'curving' the asteroid while accelerating. Not a good idea with the planet within an hours time of getting hit. Also with the Torches dug into the ground and the way they were designed they don't seem to be capable of vectoring their thrust very much. That leaves only their power for manuvers, with an 'unlightened' mass that makes your turns very sluggish. So I justify their manuverability with a Large Scale Mass Effect Core. The only thing I can't find any justification for happens as we approach X57 in the cut scene. ALL THREE TORCHES ARE ON THE BOTTOM OF THE ASTEROID!!!! Anyone, anyone who did ANY research on space manuvers would remember Issac Newtons First Law!
"A body in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force"
(Which probably explains the Gunnery Chief chewing out Serviceman Chung, for daring to suggest they 'eyeball' the aim of a Dreadnoughts Main Gun without the computer's help, in Mass Effect 2. HAHA! Sir Issac Newton is the DEADLIEST son-of-a-#!&%$ in space!!!)
This means with all three Torches in the same area of the asteroid, namely the 'bottom', and pointing in the same direction; X57 SHOULD HAVE BEEN SPINNING LIKE THE PROVERBIAL TOP!!! I can understand the Normandy not spinning out, it's center of mass is probably being 'dropped' into the x between it's thrusters by the main drive core lowering the mass of the top to the ship more then the bottom; and it has manuvering thrusters powerful enough to help in atmosphere. The largest ships in the military are the 'kilometer long' Dreadnoughts, note they are known to get up to only ONE KILOMETER. and that's the largest ship they can make...Sovereign is 2Km long...X57 is 22Km...if three Fusion Torches can manuver an Asteroid that well, they'd be used in more massive Dreadnoughts. I could see three torches moving X57, if they were placed on three points around it's edge on the back. But not all on the bottom, they'd have spun out or at the very least 'curved' away from Terra Nova. Now three groups of three Fusion Torches would allow not only for acceleration (only one in each group need point back for speed), but the other two in each group could be angeled so they provide spin manuverability much faster then just firing one or two of the accelerator Torches to 'curve' or spin. Plus it would allow for a multi-Team Mission. While Shepard's group takes on the group with the Main Facility, the others split into two teams of two (pre-Virmire casualty) or the Normandy lands on the asteroid to pick them up and move them to the other group as a team of three (post- Virmire). After all, with nine Fusion Torches it becomes more likely that the pirates will be streached thin through out the facilities and concentrated at the Main. The Main Facility would have the Activation Authority, while the Torch Control Building would have the Overrides to shut off the Torches. That little attempt at an Artistic License, IMO fails. Space is either empty or it's not.
P.S. If you haven't seen Deep Impact, E.L.E. stands for Extinction Level Event.
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