New Mass Effect 2 DLC 'Overlord' welcomed in June

by Alexander Sliwinski on May 13th 2010 10:00AM

Overlord, the next content expansion for Mass Effect 2, was apparently revealed yesterday at Electronic Arts' European showcase event in London. According to Gamerzines, ME2 director Casey Hudson described the DLC as "five levels set across one story on one planet," with players battling through a laboratory (and occasionally piloting the Hammerhead tank) to defeat an artificial intelligence. There is currently no price nor official release date.

Hudson also announced that no new squad mates would be added in the DLC, nor would there be in any future DLC. We'll be sure to update as soon as EA makes a formal announcement with more details.

Update: The official Mass Effect 2 website has posted a more detailed description of the scenario (reproduced after the break), along with the price: 560 MS/BioWare points ($7).

[Via VG247]
"When sent to investigate a Cerberus research base that's mysteriously gone silent, Shepard arrives to find Geth overrunning the base. The sole survivor, Chief Scientist Archer, paints a dire picture: an experiment to fuse a human volunteer with a virtual intelligence created a dangerous hybrid "VI overlord". The rampaging VI has already attacked three other Cerberus bases, controlling any technology it finds in an attempt to break free–and unleashing Geth across the planet. Unless Shepard can infiltrate the VI's fortress and shut it down, this homicidal intelligence will beam itself-off planet and wreak havoc on other systems. The action unfolds over five new level areas, with two new achievements."

Source

Tags: bioware, casey-hudson, dlc, hammerhead, mass-effect-2, Microsoft, overlord, rpg, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (48)

I feel like I've been neglecting Mass Effect 2 because I've yet to try any of the DLC levels yet. I just can't stop buying new games. :(

Heh, same here: Except I've actually SPENT MONEY on the DLC, just haven't played any of it yet. I guess that means I'll have to go back and play it sooner or later!

Yea I own all the DLC yet I haven't played most of it. Maybe this is a good time for another play through.

I'm actually just waiting until they've released all of the DLC, then do a second playthrough on Renegade. By then I'll be ready for another long RPG, and hopefully it will feel fresh and new with all the added content.

I might get downvoted but I am going to play through mass effect 2 twice. After that I am selling my copy. If the extra content didn't come on the disc, I will most likely not play it. Now if they come out with a GOTY edition with all the dlc on the disc, i'll play through ME2 one more time.

I havent hit most of the DLC missions yet, but I like having them there, just knowing that the universe is growing as I play it is kind of wild.

But as gamers, we really have a tough job ahead of us. It's going to be VERY difficult to split our time between all the crazy good games coming out. (skate3, rdr, AW this month alone!) I'm finding myself spending maybe an hour before moving on to get some decent play time out of all of these titles.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one feeling the crunch

I, for one, welcome our new digital overlords! [/obviousjoke]

Please, no more overlords, dood.

Please...

Mass Effect meets the matrix? Or Lawnmower Man? What's with that stupid looking head?

Power Rangers.

Zordon:RANGERS!!!

Ahh damn it you're right! Forgot all about Zordon!!

Shiva jumped from System Shock when you clicked the "allow this program to access your computer" pop-up.

I'm honestly trying to muster up the motivation to play through Mass Effect 2 on Insanity to get the last of the achievements. Even with the levelled up character, its such a chore.

Enemiy levels scale with you so Insanity is much more managable if you start new. You still get the bonus credits and elements but you don't get your ability upgrades. I just beat it on insanity as a soldier with wreave as my bonus ability. Gamertags Arex Ree if you want to check my achievements.

Insanity was painful. I will never play through it again. Having said that, Soldier with AP rounds is the way to go.

That's weird because I found Insanity so much easier to play than ME1. In fact I really enjoyed playing it. It was um... gratifying.

Anyone looking to play Insanity and not wanting it to be stupid difficult should start a new game as a Soldier and hopefully try to have the Warp Ammo bonus ability (and upgrade that to Squad War when you can.)

Hopefully this DLC will be a complete story with dialogue trees and squadmate voice acting. My least favorite thing about the side quests in ME2 was that no talked in them. Ever.

Ok finally some proper DLC. I hope that is at minimum 1 hour of gameplay.

really? you're okay with paying 5-10 dollars for one hour of gameplay? I don't understand why people hate on MW2 dlc so much.

The 'Stolen Memory' DLC was around an hour to play through. I really liked the mission, but I couldn't help but be left wanting more. I'm hoping there's at least a couple of hours worth of gameplay here. I absolutely love this game and story and any chance to delve deeper into it is a must for me.

They don't need to add any more characters. They have a solid cast right now that vary enough so that everyone should be able to have at least two favourites to play throughout the game with. Besides, where would they put them? I guess the bathrooms are unoccupied...

Guys come on I did say minimum 1 hour.

Obviously I want more but I'd be "satisfied" with at least 1 hour of gameplay if its good/intense.

Hey didn't you hear EA are the good guys, and Activision is the devil.

to quote "this guy"

"Bioware releases content that requires writing, voice acting and recording, as well as basic animation and level design. MW2 map making requires virtually no resources since map making can be done by anyone. also because MW2 map pack is only 3 new maps and 2 rehashes."

Sure acti had to pay some dudes to rehash those levels. Activision only made "As of January 18, 2010, ...over $1 billion in sales" They couldn't find it within themselves to throw gamers a bone? Especially since it isn't even brand new content.

Bioware sold something less than 5mil copies of ME2. The two companies are not nearly in the same position.

I can't believe people still wonder why everyone hates shit dick kotick and his band of activision cronies

i understand why people hate Kotick, but I'll be damned if I pay 5-10 dollars on an hour or two of game play. I just find it interesting that no one hates EA or Bioware when they are basically nickle and dimeing people the same way. At least map packs have great replay value. Honestly, all paid dlc can go to hell imo.

Bioware may have read my letter:

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/05/03/mass-effect-2-equalizer-pack-dlc-available-tomorrow/comments/27618195/

Yeah, a lot of DLC is designed to be a series bite-sized outings that eventually nickle and dime $20-30 out of you. I miss the large expansion pack method of delivering DLC. Even if it's more expensive than the typical DLC, it usually ends up feeling more fulfilling.

hey joystiq, just an fyi, more info is released as of now, including the price of 560 ms/bw points. more info can be found on bioware forums or other sites.

Bioware releases content that requires writing, voice acting and recording, as well as basic animation and level design. MW2 map making requires virtually no resources since map making can be done by anyone. also because MW2 map pack is only 3 new maps and 2 rehashes.
also because activision is a terrible company ::sam jackson::

YES THEY DESERVE TO DIE AND I HOPE THEY BURNNN IN HELLLL

I just started playing ME2 on the 360 with Dragon Age Origins freezing on the PS3. (Where the hell is the patch people?!?) Although I hated to leave DAO for the moment, I am glad it put me back on the ME2 game! I really just started the game & while this extra content may be welcome, I doubt I'll see the need for it any time soon. ME2 has been incredible just this little bit in, and I think it will only get better as it progresses (since I've only done mostly side missions to start).

The question is if this will cost anything.

Yes. You will have to pay attention.

I see now that the price tag was added to this article after the fact. Which means what you really need to do is pay more attention than I did.

@Jeff Rebbeck

The Update was added after I posted. So now we both know.

Who else remembers in ME1 that VI on the moon? Remember the last thing it said to you before you turned it off (was in binary)?

After the VI is destroyed, the terminals display the following message in binary, repeated over and over:

01001000
01000101
01001100
01010000

Converting the binary to ASCII reveals that the message reads 'HELP'.

It's a trap!

Skynet and Glenn Beck both know that man's greatest weakness is empathy.

Damn, I wanna keep on playing ME2 but my 360 broke. I got up to the part *SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!* when my crew gets captured by the Collecters. I'm torn between waiting for the rumored slim to come out or just getting a arcade to replace it!

The Facebook Fan Page says the DLC will be 560 MS And Bioware Points.

Isn't this like the mission in ME1? When you get the sub-class?

I can't wait for the hot sex scene between Overlord and E.D.I.

Honestly? Neglecting the Cerberus Network again?

Perhaps you mistook the Cerberus network for the "infinite free DLC network".

The Cerberus network was EA's "project 10 dollars" program for Mass Effect 2. It was designed from the get-go to only give people who bought the game new about 10 dollars worth of DLC. EA apparently feels that it has now provided that value, so I wouldn't hold my breath for anything more through that channel.

A couple new missions, new armor, a new weapon, and a new character hardly constitute ten dollars worth of DLC in my opinion.

EA can suk my Cerberus.

lol

It's got 3 heads. Terrifying!!

Mewants the Liara DLC.

Same here. This could be good though, as long as it's longer than an hour.

Who am I kidding, I'll buy it no matter what.

New Mass Effect 2 DLC 'Overlord' welcomed in June

Reader Comments (48)

Posted: May 13th 2010 10:16AM phobic99 said

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