Mass Effect 2 DLC Roundup

Along the way toward resolving this and gaining his loyalty you learn a bit about why Zaeed looks so weird, and discover that he really isn't a hooker with a heart of gold, he's a cold-blooded killer who will kill anyone who gets between him and his prize.

Of course, there are a few moments in the main game (particularly in these circumstances of trying to gain the loyalty of your crewmates) that BioWare pushes the Mass Effect dichotomy of Paragons and Renegades further than at any point in any of its other RPGs, and implies greater ramifications - something it has the luxury of doing with a third game still to come.

But Zaeed still represents something different: whether you choose to accept his behaviour or question his methods, it feels like a test of your moral leadership as well as a risk to his loyalty. And when you finally resolve his problem, for better or worse, his code of honour is laid bare for scrutiny.

Combat in The Price of Revenge, meanwhile, is much as you will have come to expect, although it does benefit from a couple of interesting layouts and environmental hazards that you won't see elsewhere in the game.

The real bonus though is Zaeed's recruitment itself, conferring as it does another powerful ally, who apart from fairly standard disruptor ammo and concussive shot abilities also has his own tactical advantages. And, perhaps more importantly, along the way you pick up a fancy flamethrower, which has surprising range and impressive stopping power.

Once he's on the crew, you can also visit Zaeed down on the maintenance level, where his quarters are piled up with the spoils of battle, and he's happy to ramble through the odd war story. BioWare may be running out of space on the ship for new crew members, but Zaeed arguably deserves his bunk, and represents a worthy download.

Normandy Crash Site

It's a bit of a shame that anyone who gleefully unwrapped their copy of Mass Effect 2, redeemed the Cerberus Network code and set about downloading the free add-ons before they began the game had to read the three words above in the process, as it does rather spoil the opening.

Oh well, hopefully you were spared that fate. Either way, once installed you receive an email from the Alliance encouraging you to visit the last resting place of the Normandy SR1 and find out what happened to the people who perished in the crash, and perhaps honour them while you're there.

It's a sombre occasion, despite my original hope that Navigator Pressly would have survived, tattooed leopard spots over 90 per cent of his body and gone feral, feeding off the scraps left behind and establishing a colony of elite wild men who you would have to bravely and compassionately loose the mortal coil with your particle beam and repeated use of Heavy Slam.

Unfortunately they haven't even turned into husks. All that remains is the broken, bony remains of the shattered Normandy and a lot of memories.

The ship has been split into pieces, half-buried in the snow, and visiting each one triggers a particular memory - the sight of Pressly grimly considering some calculations, for instance - and perhaps reveals a half-working data-pad, still home to touching snippets of entries reflecting on the shifting multicultural views of the former crew who, as mentioned, are sadly not around to go all Lord of the Flies.

In fact, there's no combat at all - just a bit of wandering around, placing a memorial, and then collecting 20 dogtags. In a sense, then, it's a dull fetch-quest with a few haunting images. But another way to look at it is this: what better way to salute the memory of the original Mass Effect, than by roaming around a lifeless plateau searching for a large number of meaningless items?

Turian Insignia. Never forget.

Plus, you can finally say a loving goodbye to the Mako, and that's surely enough to merit a few bytes of your disk.