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Mass Effect 2: Kasumi – Stolen Memory
Sat, 1st May 2010
FYI, this story is more than a year old

After sating Mass Effect 2gamers’ appetites with a decent amount of free downloadable-content packages, EA has finally released its first paid one (save for the paid Alternative Appearance package). The problem EA faces with this is that the free downloads have actually been rather impressive thus far, so Stolen Memoryreally has to step it up to be considered worthy of outright purchase.   Stolen Memory is the story of Kasumi Goto, an enigmatic master thief contracted by Cerberus to assist Commander Shepard in the suicide mission central to the plot of Mass Effect 2. However, in order to sustain Kasumi’s loyalty, Shepard must assist her in one last, personal heist. The best comparison for this download is to the existing Zaeed character package: it allows you to recruit a new member to your team and then embark on a loyalty mission specific to that character. However, as with Zaeed, you don’t get the opportunity to interact further with Kasumi throughout the rest of the game. As such, Kasumi and Zaeed feel like much shallower characters than the rest of Commander Shepard’s team. What Stolen Memorydoes contribute to the Mass Effect 2experience, however, is variety. Kasumi’s mission deviates from the overt warfare typical of most other Mass Effectsidequests. In keeping with Kasumi’s character, Stolen Memorymostly consists of covert sneaking and investigating in an attempt to gain access to a locked art vault. In terms of combat, Kasumi also poses a fun new addition to the team, even outside of her loyalty mission. Her Shadow Strike ability results in one-hit proximity kills on lesser opponents if she can get into range, and she gains a Flashbang Grenade ability after her loyalty is gained.     Stolen Memory is short and won’t take you much more than about an hour to plough through – but it’s one quality hour. There are quite a few nice little Easter eggs throughout too, and it opens up a new section of the Normandy with a bar where Shepard can unwind and mix a drink or six. We’ve seen spoiled with freebies up until now, but Mass Effectcompletionists won’t be bummed for shelling out 560 MS Points for Stolen Memory.