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Entering The Lair: Mass Effect 2 Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC Review

[UPDATE] Eurogamer reports that Bioware has fixed the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC for Xbox 360 and PC. While I appreciate the quick turnaround, the fact remains that they shouldn't have put out broken product. Original review below.

Mass Effect 2 has gained what could easily be the last DLC for the game and it's the largest addition yet. Lair of the Shadow Broker finally bring you face to face with the person who been running things behind the scenes in the Mass Effect universe. But does this hold up to the rest of the series?

First things first. Lair of the Shadow Broker is a technical mess. This DLC has an number level of glitches for a product coming from such a normally AAA developer. Events don't trigger, sound sometimes drops out, and for some the DLC wouldn't even load. At one point near the beginning, I was stuck for a few minutes with no clue what to do next. I ended up having to reload my save file and was shocked when enemies started pouring in when I caught back up to the point I was at. I'm hopeful for a patch to fix most of the more glaring issues, but for now I can't honestly recommend people download it.

It's a pity, because Lair of the Shadow Broker is a lot of fun. I throughly enjoyed the time I spent hunting down the mysterious information-dealing Shadow Broker, and was surprised by both the direction the plot took and the level of comedy in the game. Liara and Shepard's interaction are legitimately funny; I actually laughed out loud on more than on occasion, something I don't recall having done in either of my playthoughs of Mass Effect 2. This DLC really shows how much Liara has changed in the two years between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. Speaking of the plot, without going into spoilers, there are a lot of references back to your previous decisions in both Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. I very strongly felt this was the story of my Commander Shepard and it was a great feeling. Much like Pinnacle Station was a dry run for refining the combat in Mass Effect 2, this feels like a test for refining the plot in Mass Effect 3.

In terms of gameplay, it's just more Mass Effect 2. You'll still be ducking and hiding behind cover and whatever weapon specialization you choose still will wipe the floor with your enemies. That said, a few unique things really stand out. Bioware has added in yet another new driving interface, this time for a flying car. Unfortunately, it doesn't work very well, and I wish Bioware would either stop forcing driving sections on us or suck up their pride and go to Criterion to figure out how to handle driving sequences. The second thing you'll notice is (very minor spoiler) that, once again, you'll find yourself running down the side of a ship just like the same sequence at the end of both Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. Speaking of game endings, the final point I wanted to bring up was the ending of the DLC. Since you're playing after the endgame, this very much feels like a coda for Mass Effect 2. The endboss of the DLC is far, far better than the endboss of Mass Effect 2 and is the single most fun fight I've had in the entire franchise.

After you finish the DLC, you get a lot of fun little goodies: you'll learn Jack's real name and you'll find out who on your team is addicted to N7 Code of Honor: Medal of Duty. You'll even find out who's online dating and who has the most strenuous workout plan. You'll also get to pay credits to have minerals delivery directly to you (something that admittedly comes a bit too late in the game to matter). All considered, Shadow Broker is great content even with all the bugs. Once they get it all patched up, this will come with my heartiest recommendation.