The first of three downloadable content packs for Volition's Saints Row 2 has made its way on to the Marketplace for the sum of 800MSP. Does the recently released content prove to be of good value, or is it a steal gone wrong?

Ultor Exposed weighs in at just 162MB, the new DLC should prove as good an excuse as any to get Saints fans cruising around the city of Stilwater once more. The name of the content pretty much sums up the new storyline, as it is your mission to expose the corrupt Ultor Corporation with the support of one Tera Patrick, yes, that pornstar, and naturally the option for co-operative play is still very much present here.

Gameplay:

Unlike the more recently released DLC for that 'other' well known open-world game, the Row's new content does benefit somewhat from having actually played and completing the game's main storyline. Though for those of you not quite through with the game's original missions just yet, then you will be relieved to know that the new content does not require the game's completion in order to play, even though story wise it probably makes more sense to play the new Ultor Corp. missions after having completed the main game. As with the game's various missions, the Ultor Corp. missions will appear on your map with any other uncompleted missions, though typically there is still a set amount of respect required for some of the missions.

There's some nice new additions to the game along with the new story including six new vehicles including a helicopter gunship and Ultor bomber, as well as new, rather spontaneous clothing and outfits including a rather bizarre alien outfit, somewhat reminiscent of THQ's Destroy All Humans perhaps?

In addition, there's also some new multiplayer arenas to do battle online with, Trailer Park and Downtown are Strongarm maps, whilst the Stilwater Prison and Warehouse are available in the Gangster Brawl mode. The more interesting addition is Competitive Co-Op, in the pause menu there's an option to enable this, and it works in everything in campaign and not just the new Ultor Corp. missions. Essentially this acts as a competitive scoring system for both co-op players, similar to the scoring systems seen in Halo 3 or Call of Duty: World at War's co-op modes. In Saints Row 2, this new competitive option will have you competing with your buddy to get the most kills and cause the most carnage on the streets of Stilwater in all available missions.

Graphics:

Audio:

Longevity:

Co-operative play is clearly the appeal for Saints Row 2, and ultimately the core of many gamers interests will likely lay with the new story, and sadly it ultimately disappoints. While the missions themselves are fun, the story arc can be completed in just over an hour of typical play, there's just three missions available here. The missions though are rather fun in their own way and introduce some of the new vehicles that will be at your disposal. Typically you will be doing tasks such as uncovering dead bodies for former-Ultor Corp. microbiologist and as mentioned, real-life pornstar, Tera Patrick in an effort to prove the government's corruption to the city of Stilwater. This leads to, as you might imagine, some high-octane police chases by car and helicopter, but so as I found, just as you're starting to have a good time with the new missions, an achievement will suddenly unlock and all appears to be complete, which was not only somewhat of a shock but most certainly disappointing. I gave my newly acquired homie, Tera Patrick a call on the phone to see what's going on... and got another achievement for some phone-sex. Splat, and that's the new missions done in a nutshell.

Overall:

I initially tried to justify the cost of the content based on all content included, and while for those who are still addicted to the row, these newly mentioned toys in the sandbox will be greatly welcomed. For the rest of us though, the new, incredibly-short story arc, ultimately acts as a big tease and unless you're addicted to Saints 2's multiplayer offerings, you will probably feel robbed of your 800MSP by the corrupt government that is the Ultor Corporation.