“Pinnacle Station” is the 2nd downloadable content of the game Mass Effect. Unlike “Bring Down The Sky” – the 1st free content – “Pinnacle Station” costs S$9.99 to play. I have paid, played, and have completed the mission in the same day. Is it worth it? Read on and find out.
I reckon there is a renewed interest within the gaming community to complete the game Mass Effect now that the second installment Mass Effect 2 is due to be released later this month. Why? For one, you can continue the character progression in the upcoming installment of a trilogy. For those of you who are new to Mass Effect, it is a game with a high replay value. You can have multiple play through’s on the same character with higher difficulty level if hitting the level cap is your cup of tea. You can revisit all the side missions that you have missed during your initial play through. You can also try out the 6 different classes if you wish to experience a different play style. The beauty of the game is the achievement system. Each play through may enable you to unlock unique achievements that benefit the next time you start from the beginning again. Making your life a lot easier so as to speak.
The game play of “Pinnacle Station” is different from the rest of the game in terms of mission objectives as well as pace. Pinnacle Station is a training center equipped with combat simulators and it is opened only for the Spectres (i.e. you have to complete the first chapter of the game before heading to Pinnacle Station). There isn’t much story development inside the station. So, I suppose this downloadable content may appeal more to the shooters than the role players. There are 4 types of simulations: capture, hunt, time, and survival. And there are two different maps initially for each trials. Only upon topping the rank for all 8 trials will the third set of map be unlocked. My thoughts on the different types of trials are as follows.
- In capture trial, your team has to defend a set of strategic locations against the virtual enemies. I enjoy this the most. You have to move fast, from one strategic location to another in order to beat the time.
- In hunt trial, you have to hunt down enemies, with a twist. The clock is constantly on a countdown. Each enemy you take down, additional time is added to the clock for you to stay longer in the game. When the clock strikes zero, your game is over. Like capture trial, you have to run fast. On top of that, you have to kill fast too. I too enjoy this one.
- Time trial, is hard. There is a sequence in the spawning of the groups of enemies. Your job is to secure the entire location by taking down all the enemies. That part is easy. The hard part is to beat the time. I often fail in time trial. Not only do I need to move fast and kill fast, I have to memorize where the enemies spawn. Not quite my cup of tea, to be honest. Also, time trial seems buggy. If an enemy is thrown into a wall, he may be stuck inside the wall and cannot be attacked any more. Fortunately there is a reset button in the simulation ground should this unfortunate event happens.
- Survival trial is interesting. Maybe because it is my second play through and my team is near to the level cap (57 of 60) with superb gears and abilities, survival seems easy. In fact, in my first try, my team survived for more than 15 minutes and the game crashed thereafter (time to beat is under 2 minutes I think). In the second map, I found a location that I could literally stay there for a very long time. Worried that the game might crash again, I let the virtual enemies took us down. In the third map, survival seems more challenging due to the open space. Hectic, yes. I wish the game gives us extra achievement points for surviving way beyond expectation.
After completing the 12 trials, the last test is a scenario setup similar to the First Contact War when you are vastly outnumbered, with an objective to complete and a countdown before evacuation. Now, that is excitingly fun. Perhaps because I am already familiar with the game mechanic and working with my team, I made it in my first try (normal mode though). The gear reward of “Pinnacle Station” is not something worth mentioning. Certainly a disappointment in a sense. But to be able to earn myself a retirement apartment in a planet owns by me? That is priceless. That is as close to player’s housing as Mass Effect can get. I hope that my apartment stays in the next installment and beyond.
Given the fact that the full version costs US$50 (now US$20 and once US$5 on Steam’s specials), I personally think that this downloadable content is a bit too expensive. Fun though, no doubt.