Mass Effect: Bring Down The Sky Comments by Dan Whitehead

I was pretty pleased with the DLC - but then again I wasn't expecting much for 400 points.

Only disappointments for me: well new types of gun turret wasn't top of my wish list, and the minefield was pretty annoying.

But I think the review undersells the story, which fits into the ME universe quite neatly and does a good job of introducing the Batarians and their history.

The building layouts were slightly different to those in the main game, although I probably only noticed this because I've spent so much time in ME. At least they were different enough that I needed to find new paths and cover positions as I moved through them. Another small but nice addition was the Batarian engineer: enemies with powerful Tech skills were rare in the main game and these guys will bite you if you're not careful. As well as the achievement, you get a choice of rare loot at the end, too.

I think that if this was in the main game it would have been by far the best side quest, and I like it better than Therum (the mission where you collect Liara) in terms of story and variety.

@DanWhitehead

I know. I'm just thinking out loud... quietly in text.

they have two faces squashed into one! hah

this really should have been free given the brevity of it and the use of pre-existing game art.

Mass Effect certainly ISN'T an 8. 'Harsh' would be a euphemism. Given the caliber of games that get 8s here, I'd say Mass Effect is about a notch above that. It certainly has its flaws - generic exploration planets and pop-in textures come to mind - but the Good outweighs the Bad to such an extent that it's petty to mention both in the same breath.
There's room to improve - but the sheer artistry, charm, depth and epic nature of the game makes me feel that it deserves much more than an 8, if only to serve as an encouragement that games should be inspired and lovingly crafted pieces of art, not cynical one-trick ponies or blatant cash cows.