Ranking the Mass Effect trilogy DLC
Having just finished the Mass Effect trilogy through the Legendary Edition collection, I wanted to do some kind of ranking. A Planet ranking was out of the question (for now) so the next idea was to do a ranking of the 11 story based DLC’s released across the trilogy.
Moderate to Major story spoilers follow for the DLC content
Reader discretion is advised.
11) Firewalker (Mass Effect 2)
This one gets bottom spot purely because when I drafted this list originally, I forgot to even put it in. Three missions of the Mako replacement vehicle, the Hammerhead, collecting resources from certain spots (in reality just following big glowing bat symbol like lights). Your reward is an orb which isn't given relevance until Mass Effect 3, where you no longer have the orb. Easy to put at the bottom spot.
10) Arrival (Mass Effect 2)
Acting as an epilogue to the main story and a narrative bridge to Mass Effect 3, the DLC has Shepard save an Alliance scientist from a Batarian Prison. Saving the scientist, you learn she and her team have been tracking the progress of the Reaper invasion forces but surprise! Turns out they're indoctrinated and try to kill Shepard. In order to stop (well, delay) the Reaper invasion, Shepard has to destroy the Mass Relay in this sector but doing so would destroy a Batarian colony, all 300,000 who live there.
What could be an interesting moral dilemma is completely taken away from the player. The relay is destroyed and the Batarians die. While no win scenarios can be interesting, the events of Arrival just feel so incredibly contrived and arbitrary - you can't bring any companions with you which is given very poor reasoning. It seems like the conclusion was decided and the story was cobbled together to try and justify it. The end result certainly shows.
9) Zaeed – The Price of Revenge (Mass Effect 2)
I think the problem with the two character DLC’s for Mass Effect 2 is that the recruitment missions double as the loyalty missions, differing from squadmates in the main campaign. The Zaeed mission definitely suffers from that issue as there’s no development to be had for a very one note character. If it wasn’t for wanting the no companion deaths trophy, I’d have happily killed him or let him die and thought there was no real loss to my enjoyment.
8) Kasumi – Stolen Memory (Mass Effect 2)
Take the above complaints but give her a slightly better, if somewhat generic mission. Stolen Memory has the player engage in a heist against a rich nobody and retrieve an item of importance for Kasumi before things break down into a gun fight. It's a cliche but it's fun enough that it carried itself through it's short run time. Not sure how bothered I'd be about doing it again though.
7) From Ashes (Mass Effect 3)
The third and final companion DLC on this list is the best but not by much. Returning to N to find that Cerberus have dug up a surviving Prothean. The mission feels a lot like some of the smaller side missions in the base game where you enter a Multiplayer map like space and complete an objective. This one feels a little more advanced than those and comes with a better reward rather than War Assets.
The Prothean you release is known as Javik and while I can’t really comment on his prowess as a teammate (as I only used him a couple of times), he’s an interesting insight into Prothean lore and the lore of his era. It’s all fairly interesting but having such a seemingly important character lorewise relegated to DLC and not really have an impact on the story is kind of a shame.
6) Overlord (Mass Effect 2)
A very DLC feeling DLC here but there’s nothing wrong with that. Sometimes during your journey, The Illusive Man will let Shepard know that a rogue VI has taken over a Cerberus base and he wants them to help sort things out. This is a good DLC for like supplemental world building, showing more of Cerberus for what they actually are. Gameplay wise this is pretty par for the course but the story is a step above normal side quest fare.
5) Bring Down the Sky (Mass Effect)
The sole DLC for Mass Effect 1 (as Pinnacle Station was not brought over to the Legendary Edition), much like Overlord, very much does feel like DLC. Feeling more like an epilogue than a side quest like Overlord, Bring Down the Sky’s sole purpose seems to be introducing the previously only mentioned Batarians into the universe.
In terms of the DLC, it's just a larger version of the Mako side quests seen in the base game but it's easily the best (not that it's a high bar) of them. It's very ‘Content’ and it's absense wouldn't make too much of a difference but it's just fun to play
4) Leviathan (Mass Effect 3)
While I did very much enjoy this DLC, I can see why it's proven controversial amongst fans of the trilogy. It's not due to the pricing or it’s timing of release or anything like that but thanks to it's massive lore revelations that don't have a chance to impact the game.
The DLC starts of strong with a mystery vibe, having the player piece together evidence on the existence on “Leviathan” - a creature capable of killing Reapers. From there the vibe changes to an eerie Horror vibe when the N7 Crew discover some puppet like miners who all warn Shepard about progressing further.
This all leads to the big reveal of Leviathan, the precursor race and creators of the Reapers. You get a big lore drop here about the nature of Reapers and the Harvest which is honestly really cool but such a big reveal has so little effect on the overall story. Even in the Legendary Edition that has DLC alongside the main game, Leviathan is little more than just another name on the War Assets list.
It's a really cool DLC, I just wish it wasn't DLC so it could have more impact.
3) Omega (Mass Effect 3)
Introduced in the second game, the space station Omega is the mass effect equivalent of Star Wars’ Mos Eisley or Guardians of the Galaxy’s Knowhere – a hub for criminals and the less fortunate, away from the general government. In terms of Omega, it is run by the Asari Aria T’Loak who manages to keep the various mercenary factions – Blood Pack, Eclipse and Blue Suns in line. Omega was a favourite area of mine back in 2 thanks to its criminal nature as well as it being where you recruit Mordin and Archangel (Garrus) for the suicide mission.
By the time of ME3, Omega has been taken over by Cerberus and Aria recruits Shepard to help take it back in exchange for using the aforementioned Merc groups in the war against the Reapers. The entire DLC plays like a war of attrition, like the raid on Archangel’s compound x100. Together with Aria’s gang and the newly introduced Talons and their really cool leader Nareen, you’ll fight your way through to familiar territory while exploring more of the backstreets of Omega.
If I had to point out a weird flaw of the DLC it’s the introduction of the Adjutants – these are Reaper like creatures created by Cerberus. A fine idea I suppose but they only appear here. I played Omega before reaching Horizon in the main campaign – I disliked it before Horizon and I disliked it even more after Horizon as they solidify the Cerberus/Reaper connections there.
I know people have mixed opinions on Aria but I think Omega fits wonderfully into the full ME3 storyline without feeling like it was tacked on. The story is fine without Omega, better with it.
2) Lair of the Shadow Broker (Mass Effect 2)
Narrowly missing the top spot is Mass Effect 2’s Lair of the Shadow Broker, which brings back first game companion Liara T’Soni for a spy like thriller adventure. Reuniting with your old friend, Liara tells you that her work partner - the Drell, Feron has been kidnapped by the Shadow Broker and she intends to rescue him. Lucky for her, Shepard has Cerberus intel.
The first half of this mission takes place on Illum and has some strong Star Wars Episode 2 vibes with Anakin and Obi Wan chasing bounty hunters on Coruscant down to the betrayal of the Spectre that joins you in your investigation and the city chase that follows. All of that is great fun but I think the best part of the DLC is the second half, the assault on the Shadow Broker’s Base. Located on Halgalaz, a planet of constant storms and natural extremes, the Broker’s massive ship is a full effort to infiltrate which leads to a very fun extended combat centre as you make your way inside.
This is all capped out by the reveal of the Shadow Broker, or should I say the second Shadow Broker. Before the heroes is a Yahg, a newly introduced Alien - highly intelligent and violent, operating at the same pace as Humanity’s industrial age. The original Shadow Broker took one as a prize and later paid the price. It’s quite the tough boss fight too, requiring some strategy and skill to take down.
1) Citadel (Mass Effect 3)
What can I say? I’m a sucker for some fan service silliness. The general premise of the DLC has the crew of the Normandy being ordered onto Shore Leave by Admiral Hackett so they have time to enjoy themselves and refresh before fighting the Reapers.
The DLC has two ‘halves’ to it as it were. There is the main storyline and the Vignettes. Each of the Normandy crew (and surviving team members from ME2, sans those who later die in ME3) have a small special interaction, never more than 5 minutes with Shepard ranging from a chick flick movie night with Tali or helping Garrus to pull women at the bar. These are all entirely inconsequential but add to the characters in different ways – finding out more about them or playing on certain tropes.
The main bulk of the DLC is a storyline involving the whole cast. Shepard joins Joker for a meal at a Sushi restaurant that quickly goes wrong when Mercenaries appear on the scene to kill Shepard. Luckily for Shepard the entire extended Normandy crew, past and present are here here on the Citadel so they all rush in to help. What follows is a lower stakes, genuinely funny group project like scenario as Shepard and the crew look for who hired the mercs. The story is silly and filled with self referential writing and in jokes but I think this is the perfect time for a power of friendship sark off against the poor bad guys.
Citadel was the last bit of content released for the original trilogy and is a love letter to the series. It plays with a lot of the series running gags that the community came to love (Despite it coming after, my closest comparison is the Talking Roach Quest in the Witcher 3’s Blood and Wine DLC). At the time, it was a final farewell to the characters you love but now in the legendary edition, it’s a much needed moment of levity during the calm before the storm. It’s a testament to these characters that this DLC can be so good by relying purely on giving the expanded ensemble more screen time.
This marks the end of the Mass Effect content on the site until I get around to Andromeda. I'm really glad I got to play this trilogy and I look forward to my next playthroughs and experiencing all the DLC content again.
