The comprehensive list of content that’s been published on the official Mass Effect Legendary Edition site would suggest that all of the trilogy’s original DLC packs had made it into BioWare’s new collection of sci-fi RPG remasters, but it turns out that one critical piece of expansion content has been left out: Mass Effect’s Pinnacle Station.
In an interview with Game Informer, game director Mac Walters revealed that BioWare tried its best to get the 11-year-old DLC into the game but had to let it go because the team that created it, Demiurge Studios, failed to maintain a proper, uncorrupted copy of the source code. Demiurge is the same developer that was responsible for porting the original Mass Effect to the PC.
“It would basically take us another full six months just to do this with most of the team we’ve got,” Walters explained. “I wish we could do it. Honestly, just because this is meant to be everything that the team ever created, brought together again – all the single-player content. And so, leaving it all on the cutting-room floor, it was heartbreaking.”
Released on August 25, 2009, Demiurge Studios’ Pinnacle Station took Mass Effect players to an asteroid-based station located in the Milky Way/Argos Rho/Phoenix System, where they could engage in various battle simulations as part of the military training facility’s combat simulator. The station also includes explorable sections such as an observation deck and command center, the latter of which offers a view of terrestrial planet Vebinok and the local asteroid field.
“Test the limits of your combat prowess aboard a remote, top-secret Alliance space station,” EA’s description for Pinnacle Station reads. “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. Required: you must achieve Spectre status before embarking on this mission.”
“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.”