EA and BioWare have announced that what they promise to be the very last piece of DLC will be released on March 29, 2011. Mass Effect: Arrival sees Shepard sent to the edge of the galaxy to rescue an undercover operative who may have evidence of an imminent Reaper invasion. The pack will cost 560 Microsoft or BioWare Points on Xbox 360 and PC, or $7 on PSN -- £5.49 for UK players.

"All year, we have been extremely honored and humbled by the reception we have received for Mass Effect 2 from players around the world, including our post-release DLC," said Casey Hudson, Executive Producer for the series. "Mass Effect: Arrival is an exciting extension to Mass Effect 2 and will show players just how close the Reapers are to returning and completing their deadly harvest."

It certainly seems like Arrival is intended to be a bridging storyline between Mass Effect 2 and its upcoming sequel, currently in development at BioWare. It also promises to feature a prominent role for "fan favorite" Admiral Hackett, voiced by Lance Henriksen of Alien and Terminator fame.

Mass Effect 2's post-release DLC has been praised for offering high-quality side-stories to Mass Effect 2's main campaign, and for offering reasonably good value for money compared to some other games' DLC offerings. The PlayStation 3 version of the game, released in January of this year -- one year after the Xbox original -- bundled together all of the previously-released content into one convenient package. This promised to allow gamers the opportunity to enjoy what appeared to be the "complete" Mass Effect 2 experience without having to download any additional content. Except now, of course, for this piece.

Now that Arrival has promised to be the "final" piece of Mass Effect 2 DLC, does this mean we can expect another re-release bundling all the extra content together at some time in the near future? Mass Effect 2: Ultimate Edition, perhaps? There are sure to be plenty of 360 and PC owners holding out for an edition like this.