Witch Hunt and Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC Previews

With Mass Effect 2’s Lair of the Shadow Broker and Dragon Age: Origins’ Witch Hunt addons planned for release later today, this dual preview on 1UP serves as something of an appetizer.

There are a couple common threads between Shadowbroker and Witch Hunt, the latter of which is set to end the Dragon Age Origins story. They both represent the return of major female protagonists who had previously gone missing, and they both serve to set up their respective sequels — Dragon Age II and Mass Effect 3. And, of course, they’re good opportunities to continue previous relationships.

Those were the main points that EA tried to hammer home when I stopped by to have an early look at the two DLC packs earlier this week, with the action being more important in the Mass Effect portion of the demo and relationships taking up a good chunk of the Dragon Age side.

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Beyond that, the gameplay seeems pretty par for course for a Dragon Age expansion. Near the end of the demo I ran into something called a Varterral, which can best be described as a vicious spider monster. As a point of interest though, the Varterral will also be appearing in Dragon Age II, making it one link from the DLC to the sequel.

Mass Effect 2’s DLC, meanwhile, adds a number of interesting wrinkles to the gameplay, and consequently stands out quite a bit more in my head. As before, it’s possible to pick up the story on Illium either during the campaign or after the suicide mission, which results in a few minor variations in the dialogue (none of which were elaborated upon). An attempt on Liara’s life results in a battle through an Illium skyscaper, followed by a high-speed car chase in the best tradition of Blade Runner or Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.