Mass Effect 2 was downright incredible. It replaced its predecessor's negatives with completely new features, improved upon the first Mass Effect's strongest points and then added so much more to create an overall superior, more emotional and more exciting experience. Sure, there were some little annoyances (such as "planet scanning", which actually made me miss the Mako), but all those minor imperfections were just tiny flaws in one huge, spectacular picture. Mass Effect 2 could last anyone for as much as 40+ hours - and that's without any extra content that didn't come included on the disc and only for one character. So, it's only natural for anyone who loved the game to seek reasons to come back to it after experiencing all of it.
Unfortunately for those people, most of the DLC for Mass Effect 2 is of vastly inferior quality to the core game and just a cheap attempt at cashing in, or there simply isn't enough content included in each pack to justify the purchase…"but what of the 'Lair of the Shadow Broker' downloadable mission? Everyone says it's so great; it must be an exception to the rules of DLC, right?" Yes - it is… but not entirely.
Players who romanced Liara T'Soni in the previous game didn't really get a chance to have a proper reunion with her in the sequel. Lair of the Shadow Broker fixes that. It's been two years since the first Normandy crashed and everyone, including Liara, has tried to move on. The young asari has also gotten herself caught up in some nasty business with the Shadow Broker. After Commander Shepard gets top-secret information from Cerberus that could potentially lead to discovering the real identity of the Shadow Broker, as well as finding Liara's presumably dead friend, he (or she; depending on whether you are playing as a male or female Shepard) takes it to her. Not long after that, the pair team up to track down the Shadow Broker and deal with him.
I won't give you any spoilers regarding the story of this DLC for you, because it's so fantastic. Regardless of whether you have romanced Liara and like her or not, the Lair of the Shadow Broker is really quite emotionally involving, engaging and the plot is very clever with some completely unexpected twists. The conclusion of the whole venture is satisfying and very interesting, not to mention that the journey to the end is a blast to play through regardless of its outcome. As with most of BioWare's products, in LotSB you can make some important decisions. Although unlike the rest of Mass Effect 2, these choices don't really have an impact on the mission itself but more on the personal relationship between Shepard and Liara. However, just like most of the decisions you've made in both of the games, what you choose in this DLC will have an impact on what happens between you and your asari squad member in Mass Effect 3.
Possibly the best thing about "Lair of the Shadow Broker" is that its fast-moving, intense and action-packed plot gives you the opportunity to play through some of the finest gameplay sequences seen in the Mass Effect series. At one point, you'll be chasing someone in a flying taxicab; this is by far the best vehicle sequence in both ME and ME2. It feels like a perfect mix of Blade Runner and Star Wars, when you're soaring around the huge skyscrapers of Illium - trying to avoid its busy traffic without losing your target. The only gripe I have with it is that it is very brief, and it's so entertaining that you'll wish it was much longer. Then you'll be pursuing someone on foot, across the rooftops of a futuristic city. Then comes the finale, but its location is so impressive that I don't want to spoil it for you.
Apart from those stunning locales and the awesome story, there are two very fun boss fights included in this DLC. Still, that's not all that LotSB has to offer. Everything in this pack is wrapped around in stellar audio design. The sound effects, as always, are of the mass-effective standard (pun intended). Then you get the extremely convincing voice acting from all actors, which helps to give the conversations a more personal feeling (as for the conversations and cutscenes themselves; they are very exciting to watch thanks to the use of elaborate animation, attention-grabbing camera angles and the action that occurs in them). On top of all this, there's the superb soundtrack that's made up of some epic space tunes - composed by Christopher Lennertz.
Let's summarize:
GAMEPLAY - 9.5/10 (Incredible)
Some of Mass Effect 2's usual flaws persist but, on the whole, this DLC is a blast to play through and the new setting does plenty to make it all brilliant.
STABILITY – 7.5/10 (Good)
Surprisingly enough, I encountered one crash when playing. However, I haven't heard of anyone else bumping into such a problem; so this may have been an issue already present in ME2 prior to the DLC. Apart from that, no glitches and no bugs!
STORY - 9/10 (Outstanding)
An exciting and well-constructed plot with unforeseen twists, a proper reunion with Liara, striking conversations and clever references to other similar media all add up to make something extraordinary.
GRAPHICS - 9/10 (Outstanding)
Mass Effect 2's glorious visuals shine through this DLC's new setting; there is almost nothing to complain about, everything looks amazing in Lair of the Shadow Broker even though the tech it runs on isn't new.
SOUND - 9/10 (Outstanding)
The soundtrack is made up of thrilling (albeit unoriginal) music, the voice acting is captivating and the audio effects are great.
LONGEVITY - 4/10 (Unsatisfactory)
Mass Effect 2's longest DLC can be completed in a disappointingly short time of 2 or 3 hours of gameplay; plus maybe around an hour of conversations, cutscenes and reading (at the most).
Without a doubt, the extremely short length of this DLC is its biggest flaw. And in the end, it is that which brings its rating down. Honestly, the quality seen in this downloadable mission's essence is unbelievable - it clearly deserves a much higher rating of 9.5 out of 10. The main problem with this is that "Lair of the Shadow Broker" is so exceptionally outstanding that you'll want more of it once you're finished… and there isn't any more of it. This is obviously the best of all the Mass Effect 2 DLC (if you want to get just one of them, this is the one you should purchase). It's one of the better DLCs I've played in general. But at a price tag of 800 BioWare points (equivalent to £6.19, or around $9.99); maybe it is best to consider if such a short mission is worth the money.
At the end of the day, if you loved Mass Effect 2 (even better: if you loved Liara T'Soni), then you won't be talked out of buying "Lair of the Shadow Broker" anyway. And that's good, because you'll love it as well! Otherwise, perhaps you should ask yourself the same question twice… is it really worth it? My answer: yes for the content - no for the length of the content.
OVERALL RATING – 7.5/10 (Good)
NEW GS RATING – 7/10