The Mog Blog

Mass Effect 2 was released on Xbox 360 and PC back in late January. Since there, there were handful of downloadable content introduced to wet our Mass Effect 2 appetite. We have previously seen a new squad member being added before and with that addition came not only a brand new squad member to play with but also a few weapons, upgrades and a nice mission to go along with it. As expected, the Kasumi’s Stolen Memory DLC features these new additions but is it worth the $7 dollars though to go back into the world of Mass Effect?

Upon downloading the DLC and starting the game up, you will be introduced to Kasumi Goto, a thief that leaves absolutely no traces of her existence. Being that Shepard needs all the help, Cerberus contracted Kasumi under one condition that Shepard will help her retrieve a greybox that features vital important information from a man named Donovan Hock. To do so, Shepard and Kasumi will need to disguise and pull a James Bond act that involves infiltrating and cleverness in order to obtain this box.

This mission can only be done with Kasumi in the group and only her as a squadmate. The whole ordeal is divided ultimately into three parts with an infiltration portion, actual gunplay and a very impressive boss battle. Shepard and Kasumi will need to crack into a vault where the greybox is located in. This will involve Shepard to walk around and disable the vault’s security while the player gets information about both Hock and Kasumi. Not only that but Shepard gets walk around in formal clothing to go along with the party setting. After breaking into the vault and admiring what’s inside there, the pair ends up finding the greybox and also encounters some huge opposition. The battle portions will show you what Kasumi is capable of. Players will quickly notice that flashbang grenades have been added into the game and that Kasumi is able to do Shadow Strike, an ability that will allow her to sneak up behind enemies and deal the damage. As you make your escape out of Hock’s building, Hock himself shows up in gunship, apparently not a happy camper. While it doesn’t compare to the epic final boss that you fight in Mass Effect 2, this battle is unique compared to the rest of the loyalty missions in the game. My only complaint? Upon beating Hock, the ship just blows up without a cutscene or anything. It just goes “boom” and that’s really it. Kind of a shame since Hock ends up being that douchebag that you end up really hating.

Just like every loyalty mission in the game, you get some bonuses in terms of special weapons and a new ability that the squad member can learn as well as Shepard. Kasumi’s loyalty ability are the flashbang grenades. The flashbang grenades are really useful in that not only do they inflict damage but also incapacitates the enemies and prevents them from using their weapons and abilities. Along with flashbangs, you will also recieve the M-12 Locust SMG, which focuses more on accuracy and less recoil but trades in with a shorter clip and weaker damage. Finally, as one special bonus, you get to keep the formal suit or dress that Shepard wore to the party and can use it as casual wear on the Normandy. Now that’s just worth it for me there, especially for Female Shepard’s dress.

This DLC is only but a slight expansion to what Mass Effect 2 already established. As such, this isn’t a download that is going to completely change the game nor add a huge portion to what was already presented. Instead, this DLC gives players an incentive to go back to Mass Effect 2 and remind themselves that while Mass Effect 3 is a little while away, Mass Effect 2 is still there and slowly adding new content. This is only the beginning of the DLCs for Mass Effect 2 with more definitely planned at a later date.

So is this DLC worth the $7 dollars? If you enjoyed Mass Effect 2 and you enjoy playing it over and over and over again, I can’t recommend this enough as it adds not only new things to toy around with but also adds another interesting bit of story. If you didn’t like Mass Effect 2, obviously this isn’t going to change anything and it isn’t going to change anything to persuade you. If you enjoyed the game but not enough to really want to do everything, you might want to consider buying this just so you can see what you missed out on. Mass Effect 2, while very linear, features a lot of side questing and that in itself lends to the bigger picture of Mass Effect.

If you have not picked up Mass Effect or Mass Effect 2, Amazon.com is still selling both games for $50 dollars for the Xbox 360 until April 10th. Even if you start right now, all the DLC including Kasumi’s Stolent Memory are playable very early in the game and does not require a high leveled Shepard to enjoy them. This is definitely a worthy addition to the game and in the end of all things, everyone that enjoyed Mass Effect should pick this up. You’re probably going to waste that $7 dollars on something dumb anyways if you don’t get this.