In this new age of next gen console gaming, it has become more and more of a truism that when you buy a game, you’re not just buying the game. You’re buying the potential promise of future updates. This week, however, Mass Effect suddenly made its way onto the roster of games that provide additional in-game content to its players with the release of its Bring Down The Sky Expansion.

For those of you who haven’t experienced the stellar joy that is Mass Effect, its Bring Down The Sky DLC does not take place after the game has ended, but instead exists rather as part of the Mass Effect Universe. Bring Down The Sky has a clear level of danger as far as the objective goes. Not only do you have to save four million souls from being killed by a giant asteroid smashing into them, but if it goes, you’ll be taken with it, and the enemy you’re opposing is crazy enough to destroy a whole world. You’re still dealing with saving the galaxy, but Bring Down The Sky is a microcosm of that: it’s the same urgency you’ll feel through the main storyline of Mass Effect just more concentrated in a side mission.

While saving the world in this way isn’t exactly a brand new, never before seen story, as it’s extremely reminiscent of Armageddon, it remains fun and challenging due to the omnipresent threat of danger. There’s a new enemy to face, new challenges to conquer, and the story of the mission itself, which switches between edgy, dark, and oftentimes tragic, depending on what you see or what you chose to do. In any case, Bring Down The Sky will appeal greatly to the owners of the Mass Effect game itself.

The visuals are simply stunning. To stand on a high point of the asteroid, seeing smaller asteroids rotating around the larger and to be able to look up and see the planet of Terra Nova above you is a superlative piece of graphical rendering. The heat energy pouring out of the fusion torches is very pretty as well, as it also provides an excellent light to read by. That high level of quality that has been put into the character designs of Mass Effect has also been applied to the new race, the Batarians. I know of few other occasions when so much care has been put into the character designs of a video game. You can actually see the hatred blazing out of all four eyes of the Batarian leader. The voice acting is also quite good, and BDTS hallmarks the arrival of Mass Effect’s first computer voice! Sadly, no, it isn’t Majel Barret, but it’s quite good all the same.

Mass Effect: Bring Down The Sky is a great addition to the Mass Effect experience, and at the price of 400 Microsoft Points, it should be bought by anyone who played and liked Mass Effect. Considering the length of time it takes to finish (two hours), the amazing graphics, the new challenges, and the new enemy to grapple with, you just can’t go wrong with Bring Down The Sky.

Psst... plus you can get some awesome new gear.