Mass Effect; The Final Fight

Your squad for Shore Leave.

Well I finally got around to downloading the “Citadel Shore Leave” DLC.  So three games and every DLC later I’m finally at the end of the Mass Effect trilogy.  It’s been quite the ride.

I really like Mass Effect.  First I’ve always enjoyed science fiction but there were three things that I really liked about the Mass Effect series.  Mass Effect had a great story line, fun/interesting characters and more than any other game I’ve played I felt like I was actually the star of this interactive movie.  Other than the original horrific ending of Mass Effect 3 Bioware/EA did a great job overall with this game.  I do think the ending was horrific. 

But TV doesn’t seem to be able to do endings any better if you look at how “Dexter” and other popular TV shows have ended.  So perhaps Bioware/EA should get some slack for the ending.  But seriously were people there actually looking at the ending and saying, “wow, great ending guys, outstanding job?”

So as far as the “Citadel Shore Leave” DLC goes it was fun.  It was a chance for you to go on one last mission with the characters who have been with you for the last couple years with some notable exceptions. 

Spoiler Alert

Some covering fire from your squad.

The Normandy gets sent to the Citadel for some repairs and since the ship is in space dock you get the chance for some much hard-earned leave.  Lucky for you Admiral Anderson decides to give you his apartment on the Citadel so now you have your own home.  You get an email from Joker inviting you out to sushi for dinner.  You meet Joker and discover that each thinks the other sent the invitation.  About that time an Alliance lieutenant joins the party and tells you people are out to kill Shepard.  Immediately after she delivers the warning a hit team attacks and you’re off on your adventure around the Citadel.

Turns out Cerberus made a clone of Shepard who has decided he want’s Shepard’s life and is trying to steal his identity, SPECTRE codes and of course the Normandy.

So the whole gang comes out and helps Shepard stop his evil clone giving you a chance to take some old friends out on a couple missions once again.

Most notably my two favorite characters, Miranda Lawson and Kasumi Goto, weren’t included in this DLC.  Miranda and Kasumi also received the most lame cameos in Mass Effect 3 of all the Mass Effect 2 characters.  So other than that disappointment it was fun to catch up with old battle buddies.

Liara with a pun for Shepard.

In ME Ashley and Garrus were usually my squad members.  In ME2 it was usually Miranda and Kasumi once I did Kasumi’s DLC.  In ME3 it was usually Liara and Garrus.  I took the opportunity to take Wrex (who Ashley killed in my original ME play through) as well as Garrus and Ashley on a couple missions.  I never liked Vega in ME3 so the only mission he ever went on was the Mars mission you had to take him on.

If you haven’t played “Citadel Shore Leave” and have some spare cash laying around go ahead a buy it and give it a try.  It costs about the same as going to the movies so it won’t bankrupt you.

After you finish the mission you get to have a party in your new Citadel digs.  Hang out, joke and dance etc.  They put in a number of jokes and puns that you’ll get if you’ve been along since the beginning.  I always found some humorous lines in Mass Effect but you can tell they really tried more than usual. 

After saving the universe you deserve to party with your friends.