Mass Effect 2: Kasumi's Stolen Memory
For 560 Microsoft Points, Kasumi becomes a selectable party member for any mission, and like with all the team member characters she comes with some baggage Shepard has to help them with in the form of a loyalty mission.
The plot is basically a high tech heist, whose story beats reinforce Kasumi’s role as a cross between overly capable super thief and highly skilled intelligence field operative. There are two distinct tones her loyalty mission takes the form of. The first part is very old school RPG like, out of the previous loyalty missions it’s reminiscent of the Justicar’s, but with a bit more to do and more variation. Second half is straight combat, whose general level design takes inspiration from a few of the other combat heavy loyalty missions. All of the environments the story is set in are well crafted, and definitely feel unique to the game, with all the details evoking a lot of personality, making it feel like a real place in the Mass Effect universe.
Similarly to the visual realism of the setting, the overarching story when it’s completed makes Kasumi really jump out as a complete and fleshed out character. Unfortunately, like with the other downloadable character, Zajeed, conversations with Kasumi on the ship do not have the benefit of Mass Effect 2’s conversation system. Talks with Kasumi are limited to one way quips from her, or hearing what she has to say when interacting with any of the objects that she brought on board. This appears to be a technical limitation, as the exchanges with her about her possessions hint at interesting stories, and go further in revealing and reinforcing her character traits. To top things off, it appears that at the close of the mission, the choice you must make will have consequences which will reverberate into the third game. For the hardcore Mass Effect fan who got a lot out of their imported character’s choices having visible consequences, this is a bonus, and we’ll have to wait to see if there ends up being a satisfying payoff.
A minor and tangible reward to playing through the DLC is the new gear, equipment, and of course the services of Kasumi as a party member in the rest of the game’s missions. Gear wise, there’s a Tech Damage upgrade to be found, which allows you to over-cap it to 6/6 if you have the other 5 from the regular game, and you’ll be given the Locust SMG, by far the best SMG in game. More inconsequential you’re also given new formal outfit you can choose to wear on the ship, and the port observation deck unlocks, which includes an interactive bar. Kasumi as a party member is relatively capable. Her Shadow Strike power, where she cloaks and re-emerges in an enemy’s face for a close range strike, looks cooler than it is effective, and her unlocked Flashbang ability is useful for temporally nullifying a hostile, but it’s not really a game changer.
Although the gear and Kasumi as a party member are not must haves, the DLC overall is superb. This mission ended up being one of my favourites, and though it’s only about 1-2 hours long, it’s an extremely high quality 1-2 hours, with excellent pacing. The only issue I have is with the cost and value proposition. At 560 MS points (about $7US), that’s a price tag where only the most ravenous Mass Effect super fans will feel like it was worth the money. This piece of DLC really sets the bar high for quality when it comes to DLC, and its price tag is the sole knock against it.
