MASS EFFECT 2 - Lair of the Shadow Broker
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Mass Effect 2 DLC, because I haven't been playing much recently due to the start of a new job, which is also why things are quite quiet on the blog - and that pretty much sums it up as far as the
Diary part goes!!
Lair of the Shadow Broker carriers on from the acclaimed Dark Horse comic series
Mass Effect: Redeption. The story follows Liara coming to terms with Shepard's apparent death and finding out that the Collector's want his body and are dealing with the Shadow Broker to get it. Running into Cerberus and the rogue agent Feron she strikes back at the elusive Shadow Broker and rescues her friend's body, giving it to Cerberus for their Lazarus project, but Feron is captured by the Shadow Broker and Liara has been plotting her revenge...
SPOILER ALERT as ever as I take you on this ride, I think I'll have to show you the
New Stuff as we go along otherwise it'll get far too cumbersome.
Story
Shepard returns to Illium to meet Liara T'soni and give her some information on her nemesis, the Shadow Broker. He agrees to meet her at her apartment, but finds it empty and crawling with police - and that's not all he finds...
Tela Vasir
Species: Asari
Sex: Female
Occupation: Spectre
This was a very exciting moment as this is the first Spectre we've seen since the first game and considering the first one we met was killed in the first mission and the second was the villain it's good to see more of the force in action. Tela takes over the T'soni investigation from the Police, helping Shepard find clues as the what she was up to and who tried to kill her. They track down Liara amid a trail of death and destruction - a trail caused by Tela herself, who is an agent of the Shadow Broker!!
Shepard teams up with Liara, who exposes Tela and they work together to take her down, along with an army of Shadow Broker soldiers. This is a great sequence including a chance to pilot one of the air taxis we normally only see in cutscenes. After a long drawn out showdown, she is finally killed, but has one of the best endings in the game, knocking Shepard off his high horse by claiming that she works for the Shadow Broker for the good of the council as he works with Cerberus for the good of humanity.
Finally you have the chance to catch up with Liara properly, she fills you in on what happened to Feron and you can talk about your relationship, if you have one, before moving on to go after the Shadow Broker.
Shadow Broker Base
A unique vessel designed to remain completely undetected in the hurricane atmosphere of Hagalaz it requires enormours power and a number of specialised systems all working together to keep it from plummeting into the planet. From here the Shadow Broker gathers information and sends commands to his key operatives.
Species: Drell
Sex: Male
Occupation: Informer
Shepard and Liara battle across the outside of the vessel to find an entrance and once inside face the Broker's private army to reach Feron, who is trapped in a torture chamber kept there for betraying the broker to save Shepard. He cannot be released, the team go on to confront their enemy...
The Shadow Broker
Species: Yahg
Sex: Male
Occupation: The Shadow Broker
A first for this new species - Yahg. Enormous beings, extremely intelligent predators in a pre-industrial civilization they were refused access to Citadel space when they murdered the entire diplomatic team who visited their world.
The true origins of the Shadow Broker are unknown, perhaps a succession of people have taken the role. The current Shadow Broker was captured as a trophy by his predecessor, who was curious about the newly discovered species. He worked and became one of his operatives and learnt enough to kill the Broker and seamlessly take over his operation, gathering the galaxy's secrets for decades.
Liara and Shepard engage the enormous beast in combat, fighting to kill him, having to get up close due to his powerful shield. Eventually Liara overloads his shields and kills him. But then in another shock twist, with the Broker's organisation starting to unravel immediately, Liara steps in and takes over as the new Shadow Broker - promising to do some good in the role.
You can now visit the broker base for some treats and even invite Liara over to the Normandy for a catch-up. I think that's enough rambling so I'll call it a day there - one more DLC pack to go.
