Mass Effect: Bringing Down the Sky

Mass Effect's first DLC adds some time to the game, but not much excitement

April 20, 2008

This will be a quick one, since its only a 90-minute add-on to the oh-so-popular Mass Effect game.

Bringing Down the Sky is a small expansion that adds a new mission to the game, in which you're tasked with stopping a group of Batarians extremists from throwing an asteroid at a planet.

The download was hyped up with the selling points that it would add a new mission with about 90 minutes of fun to the game, as well as a 50-Gamerscore completion achievement.

Everyone who completes it gets the latter, no problem. As for the 90 minutes of fun, that's where things get sketchy. If you went through the game searching every nook and cranny, doing every side quest you could and genuinely having fun doing so, get this. It's more of that.

If you went through the game focusing on the missions with little interest in the assignments and extras, then you might not feel any strong connection with this add-on.

When the add-on was announced, I was expecting the equivalent of a full planetary mission. Something like what's done on Noveria or Feros in the main storyline.

What I got was basically another one of the planetary assignments. Sure, its a little longer and more involved than the average assignment, but it still comes down to a free-range planetoid (the asteroid) to explore with the Mako, and the same basic design for the buildings on this rock.

It's still fun, but maybe not as fun as you'd expect for the extra cost of the Xbox Live download.

It all comes down to this: If you loved Mass Effect and have the money to spend, by all means get Bringing Down the Sky. You'll get some extra Gamerscore, and some more time with new content.

If you're just looking to spend some leftover Microsoft Points, you might prefer to spend them on Call of Duty 4 or Halo 3 maps.

If you're going to be playing on the upcoming PC version, then you've got nothing to lose. BioWare recently announced that the PC version will get downloads for free.