Mass Effect 2: Kasumi – Stolen Memory Review

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Other than a gun.

Everyone loves a heist movie. Sure, it’s the chance for an ordinary person to see into the minds of master thieves at their prime, going for the ultimate prize. Most of the time, their motives are driven by greed, but even so we’re captivated by their sleek technology and advanced maneuvers to avoid security. Mass Effect 2 couldn’t be any different, with the newest paid DLC adding a new member to Shepard’s "dirty dozen": Kasumi Goto, the thief.

[image1]Kasumi joins Shepard’s crew after a quick visit to the Citadel, as soon as the DLC is downloaded. This occurs following a rather brief exchange, just like the previous downloadable team member Zaeed. Her loyalty comes with a price, though. In her thieving career, Kasumi picked up a long-time partner who ended up killed by a mob boss. Her loyalty mission is tied to exacting revenge on the killer, but not before retrieving an artifact that holds valuable information.

I won’t go into much of what her loyalty mission entails, since it’s a short but fairly fun little homage to spy and heist films that shouldn’t be spoiled. Suffice it to say, after going through said mission, you’ll have that ominous party member screen spot filled with Goto’s hooded figure. Kasumi is a unique character to the Mass Effect 2 roster due to her focus on stealth, which limits her powers to direct contact with enemies. The most interesting ability she carries is a stealth move that puts her directly behind any foe, dealing a lot of damage. Her loyalty power, which Shepard can pick up through research is also very useful: a large area of effect concussive blast.

Other than Kasumi’s unique powers and the character herself, Shepard doesn’t get a whole lot of loot in this DLC at all. There’s a sub-machine gun to be found in the later part of Ms. Goto’s loyalty mission, which can be used by most of the team members, but other than that, you’ll be fresh out of luck finding anything else. That mission doesn’t last too long either. Even though it’s segmented into a group of sub-missions, most of them are incredibly easy to complete and feel like quick filler between Kasumi’s introduction and the intense final segment.

[image2]The game doesn’t do a good job placing Kasumi in a post-story scenario, and in my game, her presence feels like cutting-room floor scraps thrown back into Mass Effect 2. That’s not to say the character isn’t as developed as the rest of Shepard’s crew. You do get a fair share of backstory for Ms. Goto, and she has a cool personality. Like Zaeed, though, you don’t have multi-choice dialogue with her in the Normandy. Her lines are delivered as you explore her section of the ship. After a few moments of exploring her personal belongings, Kasumi literally tells you to go do something else until she has new things to say.

The main problem that I have with this DLC pack is how late it has come in Mass Effect 2‘s cycle. If you have already finished the main campaign and have managed to save Shepard from death, you know your save keeps going. Upon downloading this new content, a mission pops up in your comm. If you’re anything like me, who finished Mass Effect 2 in and out, it’s weird getting a message from the Illusive Man telling you to pick up yet another member for your suicide mission, considering the ramifications of my decisions during the main story.

With that in mind, this DLC is intended to be played as you’re making your way through the suicide mission storyline and not in the aftermath. If you are just playing (or replaying) through Mass Effect 2, then grab this DLC and inject the added content into your adventure. But if you have been done with the game for a while, a lone new Achievement, an added team member, a very short new mission, and a scrap of new loot may not be enough for extended service aboard the Normandy.