Except for an hour or so of GTA multiplayer on Friday, my weekend was GTA free. As I detoxed from my sandbox game slumber, I realized a few things about the gaming world and discovered a few old favorites in my collection.

I just was a bit GTA’d out. Yes, it’s becoming a verb now. That’s how you know you’re doing too much of it. After my detox began, I sought out gaming news on the internet. I realized that there’s really nothing going on in the gaming world that doesn’t center around GTA. It’s like that Star Trek TNG episode where Ryker gets duped by that lady with the video game eye wear that turns everybody into zombies, except for Wesley Crusher… Except, change the head gear with GTA and the spaceship with… I guess real life. Oh wait, what was I talking about?

There’s nothing else going on in the world, other than GTA.

Anyway, on day 2, I wandered around my man cave, seeking alternate sources of video game entertainment. I, of course, played a bit of Pixel Junk Monsters, or PJM for the cool kids. After that became tiresome, I shut down my dedicated PJM machine, also known as the PS3 and decided that I was going to go back and play some games I already had in my collection.

What did I find waiting for me? Mass Effect. Gawd, I forgot how good that game was, er, I mean is. When I last left the game, I had started a new career as a renegade female after finishing the game as a paragon guy. OMG, my character looks freaky. Yes I chose her… Geezus, I chose poorly… Anyway, I set out to kick some ass and found some DLC waiting for me.

That’s right, I finally sat down to play the Bring Down the Sky missions. For those that haven’t played it, once you’re on the Normandy and you go to the Galaxy map, the mission appears as Asteroid X57, or something like that. You can immediately choose it and start playing. As I was only about 3 and a half hours into the game at that point, I wasn’t that leveled up, but was able to complete the entire mission in about an hour or so.

As for the actual mission, you begin with a distress signal telling you how terrorists had set up huge thrusters to change the course of the asteroid straight into a neighboring planet, filled with colonists. So off you go, down to the asteroid’s surface in your trusty tank. Driving around, you’ll come across the three thrusters that you must deactivate, while fighting off a new enemy, the Batarians. They’re an enemy that fought the humans and were drove out to the edges of the galaxy, and they’re pissed. Basically you’ll drive around, kill dudes and turn the turrets off. There’s more to it, but to reveal that would ruin the best part about it: playing as a renegade or paragon. The choices you make easily make this DLC worth your hard earned money, especially if you love Mass Effect.

While there’s cookie cutter fights, there’s new enemy types, indoor locations and other things in the DLC that aren’t in the main game. It really is a great mission, worthy of 5 bucks and a great diversion from GTA, even if for a weekend.

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