By Alec Meer on August 26th, 2009 at 12:49 am.
Seems a little disingenuous to be releasing new content for Mass Effect 1 when Mass Effect 2 is due sometime within the next six months (incidentally, we hear tell that unlike the infuriatingly tardy first game, the PC version will be released at the same time as the 360 version. Huzzahs!), but shouldn’t grumble really. Now live on the EA digistoremacguffin is Pinnacle Station, which promises 2-3 hours of bonus space bimbling for $5/£4. Not extortionate by some DLC standards, though it does sound as the contents are all a bit shooty-bang-bang…
Here’s what it is:
Test the limits of your combat prowess aboard a remote, top-secret Alliance space station. Do you have what it takes to hold the top spot amongst the best of the best? This module includes a new land-able space station, 13 exciting combat scenarios, and approximately 2-3 hours of game play.
Compete in a series of high-stakes battle simulations to earn amazing weapons and armor that can be used in the main game. Unlock new achievements, and even win ownership of a dedicated base of operations for Commander Shepard. Challenge modes include Survival, Time Attack, Hunt and Capture and even a scenario modeled after the First Contact War.Features
* Visit the military training center at Pinnacle Station and engage in a series of combat simulations.
* Players of any level can hone their Mass Effect combat skills, shooting your way to the top in 12 unique combat scenarios.
* Make a bet with the station Admiral in a final 13th mission. The stakes are high, Shepard risks his life and the life of his crew to prove that he is the best of the best.
* Farm your main game achievements in an easy to access combat simulator.
* Player can take their prizes and play with them in the main game. Making your next playthrough easier.
* Combat is more dynamic and fast paced.
* Combat simulator feels like a holo-deck of sorts, environments and enemies look simulated.
* Encounter Vadinos (Turian), and win his weapon.
Hmm. The gunplay wasn’t exactly Mass Effect’s greatest strength, so I’m not entirely sure as to the wisdom of this. Hopefully it’s not quite as DLC-for-DLC’s-sake as it sounds. The idea of having a second base as a change from Shepard’s spaceship is kind of appealing, at least.
Also released today is the long-awaited 1.02 patch, which fixes up a troubling number of bugs and crashy stuff, and also sorts out the mucky textures on poor Garrus’ face.
Incidentally, I also notice that Mass Effect itself is down to just £10 from EA’s store wotsit, which sounds eninently reasonable.
26/08/2009 at 00:53 Vinraith says:
Huh.
Sounds… interesting. I’m not sure it’s worth a return visit to the game for it, though. It’s certainly not worth a second playthrough, given ME’s god-awful replay value. Still, I’m a huge sucker for combat playgrounds of this sort…
The 1.02 patch looks nice, and is certainly needed, I just wish they’re released it a year ago when I actually needed it. Still, kudos to them for continuing to support the first game.
26/08/2009 at 00:57 Stromko says:
I’m a little torn. I like Mass Effect, more Mass Effect would be lovely, but I don’t see any reason to suspect that this’ll be better story-wise than that other DLC.
By that I mean, my companions had nothing to say, not a word, in the entire course of the other DLC. T’was sad, after all that time apart, that Garrus and Wrex and Tali and the gang didn’t have a word on the situation.
I suspect it’s just a lot more cost-effective to only pull back a skeleton crew of voice actors when it comes time to make DLC. Even for the sequel I doubt most of those old characters will make a return.
I’ll probably give in eventually. My copy of Mass Effect for the PC always crashes massively and mysteriously once I start moving around the Citadel, and I’m not going to pin my hopes on this patch for fixing that, but I probably have some MS Points floating around.
26/08/2009 at 01:02 DigitalSignalX says:
Another play through might be fun, especially since the sequel will evidently use your save to see what decisions you made etc.
26/08/2009 at 01:04 Vinraith says:
I can only recall two major decisions that would have sequel ramifications:
**SPOILER**
The Racchni Queen release and the decision to commit Alliance forces in the final battle
Are there others I’m not thinking of?
26/08/2009 at 01:08 Vinraith says:
Oh, and if I did decide to crack and pick this up (which is looking likely) anyone know what the best way to do so with a Steam copy of ME would be? For that matter, I wonder when Steam will get the 1.02 patch…
26/08/2009 at 01:08 Stromko says:
I found it really helped to go about six months without playing it at all, and then have a full playthrough. I did that about a couple months back and it was quite a fun replay.
There really isn’t much immediate replayability to Mass Effect, the only permanent and lasting effect of prior ‘moral choices’ is whether you’re able to max out diplomacy or intimidation — which then weighs into whether you can do the dickish, good-guy, or meh option. Hearing banter between different combinations of party members in specific, non-repeatable circumstances was to me the main reward for replaying sections of the game.
I think I’ll wait until I see a video of Pinnacle Station in action before I buy it. There was some good combat and acting in the last DLC, and this does sound like it has a bit more play-time to offer, but there’s always the possibility that it fails in ways that the previous DLC didn’t.
26/08/2009 at 01:17 Dorian Cornelius Jasper says:
@Vinraith:
*SPOILER*
Saving Wrex’s life might count.
26/08/2009 at 01:19 Vinraith says:
@Dorian
I’d forgotten about that. Similarly, there is
**SPOILER**
that other instance of choosing who lives and who dies in your crew.
26/08/2009 at 01:19 Po0py says:
I fucking hate paid DLC. It’s fucking retarded. In every conceivable way. This is just advertising to whip up some publicity for the new Mass Effect game. Because every blogger and his mother is going to make a reference to the fact that there is a sequel on the way. Free publicity. Except it’s not free. We have to pay for it. Do you hear me, poeple? Huh? Ok, I’ll say it a little louder.
WE HAVE TO PAY TO SEE EA’S MASS EFFECT 2 ADVERTS!
There.
26/08/2009 at 01:21 Vinraith says:
Except for the fact that, you know, you don’t have to pay for it if you don’t want it.
As long as it’s not content that should clearly have been included in the original game, and as long as it’s not used as an excuse to cut off user modding, I really have no problem with paid DLC.
26/08/2009 at 01:29 Po0py says:
It’s just silly. Thats all I’m saying. They neglected the ME community for so long and now a new patch and new DLC. Have a little faith EA! Y’know? You’ve already sold bucket loads of Mass Effect. Make some DLC and throw it out for free and really deserve the publicity you get for it.
Am I being too cynical for saying all this? I’m just a jaded ol PC gamer from the 90′s I guess.
26/08/2009 at 01:31 tapanister says:
I ain’t pain’ shit for an arena-style DLC that KOTOR (1) had all the way back when for free, and wasn’t very interesting to begin with. Thanks for the patch though, maybe now I’ll bother to install the game for the first time after buying it and learning it was almost unplayable.
26/08/2009 at 01:35 Devan says:
Hmm, I still haven’t finished that first DLC which was supposed to be released soon after the PC game. I’d long finished the game by the time it became available and just couldn’t get back into it when the new content finally arrived. So I don’t think this would be a good investment for me
26/08/2009 at 01:48 ulix says:
Tapanister, I played through it with version 1.00 and had nor problems. NONE AT ALL. So if you might have tried earlier you might’ve had the same experience. Well, your fault fpr probably paying much more for the game then you would pay now.
26/08/2009 at 02:09 Bleets says:
Farm your main game achievements in an easy to access combat simulator
I like that this is considered a selling point.
26/08/2009 at 02:28 Kelron says:
So we’re expected to pay for extra content that apparently focuses solely on the worst aspects of the game? Nothing there to entice me to play it again. Of course, they may have overhauled the combat system to make it more interesting, but that seems unlikely.
26/08/2009 at 02:41 Smee says:
*sigh*
At the end of Mass Effect, my Shephard was most likely the richest individual in the known galaxy. I could buy the best guns, mods and armour in the game 10 times over, and I used them as such, outfitting my entire team in the best kit when I only ever used Wrex and Ashley anyway, just because I could. I do not need more useless stuff.
The idea that Shephard would need a central base is also openly ridiculous. What, exactly, has the Normandy been doing all this time?
26/08/2009 at 03:30 Tom says:
Looking forward 2 running in2 this. Time 4 another play through so i have 2 very different characters, 4 hopefully 2 very different play throughs of ME2. 1st char: basically me, and what would have done in those situations (excluding shit myself and advice on abortion). 2nd char: uber bitch from hell with added xenophobia and a ‘just get rid of it’ attitude.
26/08/2009 at 03:36 theticktockman says:
So no one else is going to say it? Alright then: Fallout 3 – Project Anchorage rip-off.
26/08/2009 at 03:54 KP says:
That DLC sounds like a joke. “Farm your achivements!1″ EA has no shame. Who pays for this?
26/08/2009 at 05:16 somnolentsurfer says:
I’d be tempted by this, but I don’t trust EA’s dodgy online store. Why can’t they put it on Steam like any reputable company?
Also, the the point of achivements is entirely defeated in the PC version, when you can’t show them off to anyone. Another reason it should be on Steam. Grr.
26/08/2009 at 05:17 Vinraith says:
It IS on Steam.
26/08/2009 at 05:19 Vinraith says:
To be clear: ME is on Steam. It does not have Steam achievements, but since the point of achievements in ME is to unlock things for your next playthrough that’s not a significant problem IMO. I have no idea whether this DLC works with the Steam version of the game, nor do I see any indication that Steam has the 1.02 patch yet. *Sigh*
26/08/2009 at 05:29 Psychopomp says:
@theticktockman
Yes, the idea of a combat simulator is so clearly done by Fallout 3, first.
Totally.
26/08/2009 at 05:33 theticktockman says:
A combat simulator where playing through unlocks new weapons to use in the “real” world and that also includes a simulation of a “past great war.”
I’m not some Fallout 3 fanboy or anything, so if there is another game that Fallout 3 copied with regards to Project Anchorage, please enlighten me.
Or just post another snarky remark.
26/08/2009 at 05:56 somnolentsurfer says:
It’s not on Steam in the UK…
And as far as I can see the DLC’s not on Steam anywhere, though I guess that might just be ’cause of it just being out. But I want achievements. And I want it to support that Steam Cloud thing Valve promised where save games are stored remotely, so I can reclaim my diskspace and not have to worry about preserving my saves for ME2. And I want to be able to input my code so I don’t have to buy it again to get the Steam version – It must be possible, it’s already linked to my account on the Bioware forums. And I want it on Steam UK.
I realise none of that is ever going to happen.
26/08/2009 at 06:52 shiggz says:
Anyone please please, have a completed save game? yoda2047 …. aol any class would be fine
It would be much appreciated
26/08/2009 at 07:05 Psychopomp says:
wat
26/08/2009 at 07:13 shiggz says:
I was so excited for the first one, i bought the collectors edition. Main quest was great. But the side-quests were the most pathetic ever in a bioware game. The re-playability is like a form of slow torture for me. Sadly as was discussed recently here i dont think the 2nd one will fix those so i wont be buying it.
26/08/2009 at 07:15 shiggz says:
That was my email address sorry should have made it clearer. Im sure can figure out the @ and .com on their own.
yoda2047 … aol
26/08/2009 at 07:38 Vinraith says:
Ah, yes, I occasionally forget the idiocy that is region restrictions on Steam.
Anyway, you Brits aren’t missing out on much. At present the Steam version isn’t patched, and there’s no option to buy DLC inside or outside the game. I’m hoping it’ll be fixed soon, but Steam’s not terribly reliable at keeping games up to date.
26/08/2009 at 07:46 Theoban says:
Oh thank the heavens, not for the DLC, but the patch. It took me a couple of hours to fix the sound issues I was having, and I still had to run it in software mode. Huzzah!
26/08/2009 at 07:48 robrob says:
New achievements? Sign me up!
26/08/2009 at 08:22 mesmertron says:
It’s already been said, but I like to hear myself talk: This is just Operation Anchorage with guns. In space.
26/08/2009 at 08:53 Larington says:
Gives me a nice excuse to replay the original should I decide to do so.
26/08/2009 at 08:58 Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
So is the General Protection Fault fixed then? I might be up for some reinstalling if that’s true, I was unable to get past the beginning…
26/08/2009 at 09:31 James G says:
Really enjoyed ME, but I reckon I’ll be waiting for the sequel, rather than getting this DLC. £4 for 2-3 hours isn’t exactly great value for money, especially when the scenario doesn’t particularly appeal to me.
26/08/2009 at 10:10 autogunner says:
The side quests were pointless and made no sense in game terms. I liked chatting and accpeting quests only to turn them down immediately afterwards – “whats that alien lady? rescue your sister? screw you, I have a galaxy to save!!!”
26/08/2009 at 10:17 Black Mamba says:
If you beat all the challenges in the combat simulator (including the unlocked ones and the final one) you win an apartment!
The cool thing about the apartment though is it has 3 random shops which give out different sometimes rare equipment, finding Quarain and Krogan armor was never easy but I got some good stuff from it including the rare Geth made battle armor for the Krogan. Also got some good human armor too though it tends to duplicate as its random as to what you get.
The time trials are a complete bitch to do I had a soldeir and the way I did it was
Switch between tungsten or shredder rounds depending on enemy in the level
Play it so you memorize were each enemy comes from and run to that spot.
Take Biotic team members as they are more effective at killing the simulated combatants, well mine were max level.
26/08/2009 at 10:32 Heliocentric says:
@autogunner You are a sub quest cock tease.
I might get this, thing is i never finished Mass Effect early on due to having crazy time shortages and wanting to respect the game with a cohesive playthrough.
26/08/2009 at 10:37 Nerd Rage says:
I like the shooty stuff, and think Mass Effect is better at it than Fallout 3, but this is too little too late. I was ready for this last year. My $5 will remain safely tucked away in my wallet.
26/08/2009 at 10:42 Gap Gen says:
I think my main problem with this is: if I’ve already saved the galaxy, why would I want to go back to try out simulators? Isn’t that the equivalent of just playing a different game?
26/08/2009 at 11:15 gobion says:
Given that I was planning a replay of ME1 prior to playing ME2 this sounds very interesting to me. I was hoping for more DLC to be honest…
I very much enjoyed playing ME2 at Cologne GamesCom – I do hope Drew Karpashyn is writing the script for ME2 as I loved the original plot :)
26/08/2009 at 13:01 Mungrul says:
I’ve been playing it again recently on the 360, and I’ve had several playthroughs, in each of which I’ve discovered something new. And these weren’t light playthroughs either, they’ve all been as complete as can be.
My favourite one has been in the latest playthrough, where I’m being completely ruthless.
You know the woman who wants you to get evidence on the Salarian governor of the business planet (Feros or Noveria, I can never remember which)?
Try turning her in instead. That quest resolution is MOST satisfying.
26/08/2009 at 13:05 simonkaye says:
I’ve taken one for the team, here – bought and downloaded the new DNC this morning.
Erm… don’t make the same mistake. Boring and repetitive combat scenarios, minimal interactivity, dull new ‘characters’.
The new patch didn’t do much for me either – far frim fixing the persistent sound issue introduced by the 1.01 patch, it reversed my little fix in a config file. No other visible improvements.
26/08/2009 at 13:15 jalf says:
Hm, thanks for the info. It sounds pretty underwhelming and, well, pointless. Guess I’ll wait for ME2.
26/08/2009 at 13:22 Subject 706 says:
Oh wow, EA is trying to make a mediocre game worse with the help of DLC that focuses on one of the weaker aspects of said game?
What horrifies me the most is, that if ME2 actually turns out to be good, I might have to replay ME1…
26/08/2009 at 14:30 Lintman says:
I stayed away from Mass Effect when it came out because of the stupid installation limit DRM. That’s my line in the DRM-sand: no purchase of install-limited games. EA seems to have backed off a bit on that in their latest games, but I don’t think they removed it from ME.
The Steam version doesn’t have the limit, though (AFAIK), so I’ve been considering that, but I’m content to wait for Steam to put it on sale for $10, or maybe give it free with a ME2 pre-order.
26/08/2009 at 15:03 Geoff says:
“Seems a little disingenuous to be releasing new content for Mass Effect 1 when Mass Effect 2 is due sometime within the next six months”
Wait, what? I thought “we” (not me actually, but the PC Gaming Community) flipped out because Valve/L4D2 was doing the opposite – releasing a new full-price game instead of continuing DLC for the game you already bought? Now we’re chastising EA/ME for supporting their already released game, instead of just waiting for the next full price title to hit stores?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m skipping this DLC despite really liking Mass Effect, but are we really criticizing EA for doing something we criticized Valve for not doing?
26/08/2009 at 16:43 Nerd Rage says:
@Geoff
Valid comparison, but the difference is that nobody was expecting a sequel for L4D, while ME has always been known as a trilogy. Add to it that this DLC was expected a long time ago, and its apparent lack of substance, and it all just feels a little cheap. Are they using the DLC to fuel hype for ME2? Did they know the DLC was crap and are using ME2 hype to sell it? Neither would surprise me.
26/08/2009 at 16:47 Nick says:
2-3.. so about an hour and a half (not that I doubt EAs marketing estimates at all) for £4. Hmm.
Nah.
26/08/2009 at 16:49 jalf says:
@Lintman: They did remove the DRM. That’s why I bought it. :)
It’s not on the Steam version, like you said, but they also released tools to remove the DRM from the boxed version. So buy it wherever you can find it on the cheap.
@Geoff: I don’t have a problem with EA releasing DLC for ME. It annoys me that they charge money for PC DLC in general, and especially for something so lacklustre as Pinnacle Station seems to be. But that just means I’m skipping it, not that it angers me in anyway.
26/08/2009 at 17:33 neolith says:
@jalf:
Are you sure they have a tool that really _removes_ the DRM? Last thing I heard was that they have a tool to raise the limit back to x installs once you completely de-install the game.
26/08/2009 at 17:34 Lilliput King says:
Mass Effect was a good game, but I’m not buying this. Too much faff with download platforms so poorly designed I’m afraid of losing my damned product before I get my hands on it.
Still, good to see Bioware can now add another name to their list of games with gratuitous and unnecessary ‘arena’ sections.
That makes 6 games out of 9 in total now by my count.
26/08/2009 at 17:53 jalf says:
@neolith: Oh yikes, you’re more or less right. Looks like it de-authorizes (but doesn’t uninstall!) the game on the *current* computer. So if you don’t have access to the machine it was installed on, you’re screwed. And if you launch the game again on that machine, it obviously re-activates.
Sheesh, and here I thought it was useful. That renders the whole tool pretty damn useless.
Good thing I bought it on Steam then. And thanks for making me check up on that. Guess I’ll still have to avoid boxed versions of EA games then. There goes my Mirrors Edge purchase.
26/08/2009 at 18:05 neolith says:
@jalf:
Well, that means still no Mass Effect for me. :( I really want to play the game but I neither want to deal with restrictive DRM nor Steam…
26/08/2009 at 19:17 Geoff says:
Wait a minute, how did I miss this? “Farm your main game achievements in an easy to access combat simulator.”
They’re seriously, literally referring to achievement farming as a bullet-point feature? Has the world gone mad?
26/08/2009 at 21:01 Alex says:
This seems like a really cynical move. The first DLC had new aliens, a side mission that actually felt important and an interesting. They were also nice enough to make it free on the PC.
Now they’re charging $5 for what seems like something that was designed to be the cheapest way to take up a few more player-hours.
26/08/2009 at 22:36 Mac says:
You can get a 20% discount … enter HotUKDeals20%
26/08/2009 at 22:37 Jeremy says:
@Geoff,
Everyone is quite obsessed with ridiculous achievements. I can’t stand them, because it makes people go crazy and forces them to play a game in a certain way just to get a medal. It’s basically causing people to play a game not for the fun of it, but to gain medals, which… is kinda awful to me.
26/08/2009 at 22:54 Vinraith says:
In ME aren’t they talking about the kind of achievements that actually unlock things, though? There’s a world of difference between traditional, utterly pointless achievements and “achievements” as a new word for the old “do x, get y” kinds of unlock systems.
26/08/2009 at 22:59 Petrushka says:
I find this good news. I never got around to playing Mass Effect (though I’d like to some day) and the existence of DLC, which will eventually, appear in a combo GotY-style pack on shop shelves, means that the basic package will be going down in price shortly. Hurrah!
26/08/2009 at 23:20 We Fly Spitfires - MMORPG Blog says:
Mass Effect for £10 is a steal, an utter must have and everyone should buy it for that if they don’t already own it. Go, my pretties, go and buy!
27/08/2009 at 04:29 Adventurous Putty says:
In the initial advertising campaign, Bioware hinted that the DLC would be released in episodes that took place between the end of ME1 and the start of ME2. These would help bridge the gap between them and ultimately add story juiciness.
They lied. It would’ve been a quantum leap forward for DLC in general, and it was never executed.
28/08/2009 at 11:48 matte_k says:
Played through it this morning, and sadly I can’t really recommend it to be honest. The combat modes in the simulator are semi interesting, and there’s a loose quest based around getting the best scores on all maps/modes, the end result of which being
1: a weapon choice that isn’t worth it if you’ve already got access to Spectre gear, and
2: an interesting looking, but woefully under functioned apartment. The three trade contacts only ship one item at a time, it’s random and one is extremely expensive.
Add to that limited and repetitive dialogue, and an area no bigger than any of the frigates you can board in the normal game, and you’ll question why you paid for it when Bring Down The Sky (the other DLC) was free for PC users. It was bigger, had a better questline, and more stuff to acquire if you were inclined.
I love Mass Effect, but this is definitely a step backwards, and has the whiff of a publicity shenanigan about it designed to whip up some interest for ME2 by getting people to replay the first game. As a freebie it would have been fine, but I can’t help but feel i’ve wasted money on this. Let’s hope that ME2 puts the negativity this will generate into the box labeled “mistakes we learnt from the hard way” when hardly anyone buys it. A shame.