I’m not sure how I feel about EA and Bioware’s new DLC strategy these days. At first, I loved the idea of incremental content which added an hour here, an hour there to games that I already enjoy but now that I’ve played it that way, I’m not sure it’s working. To be fair, Kasumi – Stolen Memory , the first of Mass Effect 2 ’s premium DLC, is a fine addition to the ME2 universe. Ringing in at about $7, Stolen Memory introduces a new character, Kasumi Goto, a master thief with the ability to cloak herself to stealthily dispatch bad guys. While Kasumi can simply become a member of your crew, it’s her loyalty mission that adds new content to the game with a heist mission that plays out as one part covert op spy thriller, one part action shooter. As a change of pace from other Mass Effect 2 missions, the idea of gathering DNA to thwart a security vault’s sensor is clever, but in execution, it boils down to running around clicking on hotspots or brief dialog trees to elicit voice password samples. Great on paper, kind of lousy in-game. To be clear, I’m totally onboard for a less run-and-gun experience in these types of games, which is why I’m hopeful that Alpha Protocol comes together; I just didn’t feel like this aspect of the PDLC really met its potential. If it allowed for more strategy or multiple options in how to solve a problem, I’d have been more of a fan but everything seemed a little too straight-forward. Of course, not all goes to plan and eventually the mission devolves into a firefight, which really showcases Kasumi’s abilities. Her Shadow Strike cloaking ability is a great way to thin out soldiers, and combined with my Dominate skill, I was able to walk all over the Eclipse soldiers and mechs to the end scenario of the mission. It’s just Kasumi and yourself, so you may want to make sure you have the right equipment to take on shielded or barrier-infused foes. I won’t spoil what comes later, but the action was satisfying all the way through and ends on a nice note.
