Mass Effect 2

If you felt Kasumi's Stolen Memory was too short and Overlord was too side-storyish, Lair of the Shadow Broker may be precisely what you're looking for in Mass Effect 2 DLC. According to BioWare, it's set to be the "richest in scope" of all existing add-ons, and also claims to bridge the events of ME2 with any future products. So, even though BioWare won't admit this DLC pack will likely affect your Mass Effect 3 game, it was definitely giving off that vibe during our hands-on.

Nobody can accuse BioWare of being lazy. They’ve just knocked out a 100 or so hours worth of dragon-slaying in Dragon Age: Origins, are working on a huge Star Wars MMO, and this month sees the release of the second chapter of the Mass Effect trilogy.

“Shepard! But... but you’re dead!” cries a baffled Asari crime lord having been backed into a corner by our hero. “I got better,” replies Shepard, as cool as a penguin’s bum. It’s not a dialogue choice, it’s right there in the cutscene; otherwise we’d have chosen the option along the lines of “I know, after that E3 trailer I’m just as confused as you about the whole thing."

Morality. It’s a tricky thing in games. When you’re called on to make some kind of ethical decision in a virtual world, the choices are usually black and white. Kill or arrest. Gift or steal. Rescue or abandon. In the original Mass Effect, the choices were rarely so easy, partly because of the ambiguity of the characters, and also because you weren’t sure what the consequences might be.

Life or death decisions. Forsaking the fate of the Galaxy for greed and power. Shooting cherished allies in the face. Mass Effect was a pretty dark game. It’s got nothing on its sequel, though, which combines the same tough RPG decision-making moments with grittier, more morally ambiguous action. It’s also a game where death matters like never before. And this time, if you die as protagonist, Commander Shepard, you might not be