A haunting environment and great story make this the best DLC yet for Mass Effect 2.
A long time ago the Mass Effect universe learned about the feared robot uprising of today (it's gonna happen) with their experience with the geth, a species that once started out as VIs built for labor before becoming sentient and rebelling. Overlord takes it one step further. In yet another attempt to quell their forces, scientists have been trying to control the geth by bonding a man's mind with computer processing (think Chuck but way more intense and far less comedic). What could go wrong, right? Now Shepard is called in to put a stop to this VI before it starts yet another uprising in a true "rise of the machines" fashion.
This mission has Shepard traveling around to numerous bases in order to break down the hybrid's defenses before being able to take it head on at its home base. There is plenty of shooting and plenty of spare parts to amass, basically anything that can be expected from the gameplay of this title. However, one cool thing is that Overlord works in the Hammerhead, the hovercraft that has been built to replace the Mako of the previous game. It may not be revolutionary, but traversing the terrain in this vehicle is very fluid, simplistic, and there is no need to worry about getting stuck half way up the side of a mountain before slipping back down. Talk about a relief. Plus, the Hammerhead will also inform the crew of a nice view in the landscape, which I will admit, was a very nice view indeed.
What makes this additional gameplay pack worth the buy is the story and how it is structured into the level. Obviously when this VI is involved there are gonna be the usual mech/geth attacks throughout the bases, which didn't really bring on the "ooo" factor. However, what really got to me was that there was a completely different feel to this DLC than from the rest of the game, taking on more of a horror feel. While picking my way through the blood pools and scattered bodies in the bases there was always this feeling like someone was watching me, and with all the surveillance cameras and monitors around someone definitely was. But it was palpable. I even shot out a few cameras just to make myself feel a little better. But just as I wrapped myself into this false illusion of safety a pixilated face would pop up on the screens and scream at me in some garbled language, and surprised, I sank back down once again behind my pistol as I got herded along to the next room of its choosing.
The ominous feeling while walking through the locations was enough to make this more than just another mission in Mass Effect 2, but the story and a major change to the world towards the end of this DLC boosted Overlord high above some of the others in the game. It is definitely worth the buy for those who have hung on to their copy of the game until now.
Final grade: 8/10