A remaster of the beloved Mass Effect trilogy is looking more likely than ever right now, and fans are eagerly waiting to hear from BioWare or EA for confirmation of the many rumors that have circulated. In the meantime, there are still many other questions that fans have about a possible remaster of the Mass Effect trilogy beyond merely its existence – including questions that pertain to its many DLCs.
The main question is: will the Mass Effect remastered trilogy contain all of the previously released DLC? There are quite a few pieces of content that fall within that category, so it may be wise to consider what may or may not make the cut.
RELATED: 4 Video Games That Deserve to Become Shows on HBO
The first Mass Effect didn’t have many DLC compared to the other two games, but its two pieces of extra content were Bring Down the Sky and Pinnacle Station.
Bring Down the Sky involved Commander Shepard dealing with a batarian extremist group that hijacked a mobile asteroid station in the Asgard system, reprogramming it to collide with the nearby colony world of Terra Nova. Interestingly, this DLC is what actually introduces batarians into the world of Mass Effect, a fact that could make including it in the trilogy remaster more of a priority. Altogether, it’s got about 90 extra minutes of gameplay, with three new missions to complete.
Pinnacle Station introduces a top-secret Alliance training station to the game, where Shepard competes in a series of high-stakes battle simulations, eventually earning top-of-the-line weapons and even an apartment. It also introduces three new assignments for Commander Shepard and crew. Neither of these DLC were as important to the overarching narrative of the Mass Effect trilogy as others, but if the rest are included, these probably will be too. If anything, even slightly story-based DLCs will likely take priority.
Unlike the first ME, Mass Effect 2 came with a ton of extra content. Some were just weapons and armor packs, or alternate outfits for squad-mates, and it would make sense if those armor packs and such were included in the remaster, since they’re purely cosmetic extras for players to take advantage of. However, ME2 also got a few pieces of story DLC.
First, there’s The Cerberus Network: a series of smaller pieces of DLC, including the mission to Alchera to recover the wreck of the old Normandy and one of two available DLC squadmates, Zaeed. It’s easy enough to predict that this will be included in a remaster of Mass Effect 2, since the Cerberus Network is a free download anyway. And since Zaeed is featured in a Mass Effect 3 mission, BioWare may as well include his introduction into the Mass Effect universe here.
Then, there’s Kasumi: Stolen Memory. Kasumi Goto is the best thief in the galaxy, and she joins Shepard’s crew on the condition that Shepard helps her recover something that was stolen from her: the greybox of her old partner, Keiji. Once again, this is a piece of DLC that will in all likelihood be included, since Kasumi makes an appearance in Mass Effect 3.
The next DLC, Overlord, is a series of missions forwarded by Cerberus after one of its bases goes dark; as it turns out, an experimental virtual intelligence hybrid went rogue and geth are overrunning the base. It falls to Shepard to infiltrate the VI’s fortress and stop it before it uploads itself off the planet and goes on to destroy more than just the Cerberus base. While this DLC has less to do with the main story of ME2, as before, if everything else is being included than this likely will be too.
Lair of the Shadow Broker is one of the two story DLC, along with Arrival, that makes the most sense to include in the Mass Effect trilogy remaster, as it does quite a bit to set the stage for Mass Effect 3 – especially where Shepard’s old squadmate Liara is concerned. This is the DLC that sees Shepard and Liara tracking down the Shadow Broker and taking him out, resulting in Liara taking over the position. Her being the Shadow Broker is very much a present fact in Mass Effect 3, so to make this DLC part of the whole remastered package would only be right.
Finally there’s Arrival: the DLC that essentially prefaces the Reapers’ return to the galaxy. A deep cover agent goes missing in batarian space, leaving Shepard to investigate her disappearance and the Reapers’ arrival. Not only does Arrival see Shepard stalling the Reapers for about another six months (directly leading into the beginning of ME3), but it also results in the destruction of the Bahak system, an area of space heavily colonized by the batarians.
RELATED: Mass Effect Remastered Trilogy May Add New Emphasis to Certain Characters
Once again, Mass Effect 3 technically has a lot of DLC, but a good portion of it is extra armor packs for Shepard and the rest of the squad. Presumably, it’ll be available in the remaster. Here, we’ll just talk about the few pieces of DLC that are really substantial as far as Mass Effect 3 goes. One of those is the extended cut DLC that BioWare released following the outrage at ME3‘s ending. Of course, there’s also speculation that BioWare might change the ending entirely in the Mass Effect remaster, but if it doesn’t, at the very least the extended cut will almost certainly be included. It was released for free before, so there’s really no reason for it to be a separate download this time around.
From Ashes is the DLC that introduces Javik, another Mass Effect companion for Shepard. Javik is special, however; he’s the last prothean, suspended in stasis for thousands of years in order to warn the next cycle of the Reapers’ coming. And, assuming all other DLC squadmates are included with the remaster, it would be safe to assume Javik will, too.
Leviathan is a deep-dive (literally) into the Reapers’ past and creation. In it, Shepard hunts for something powerful enough to kill a Reaper, and finds themselves on the trail of a mythical creature referred to as “Leviathan.” It’s a race against time to find Leviathan before the Reapers do, and find a way to enlist the entity’s help for the war effort. Omega, meanwhile, follows Aria’s bid to reclaim Omega from Cerberus. She promises Shepard during the base game that her relocation was temporary, and in the DLC, she very much means it.
Finally, there’s the Citadel DLC: it’s Shepard’s chance to connect with all of their squadmates, past and present, one last time, and it involves quite the interesting plot line as well. Citadel, more than anything, is just meant to be pure fun alongside fan-favorites, and should definitely be included in the remaster since it’s essentially a loving farewell to Shepard and company.
In fact, all of the Mass Effect trilogy’s DLC should be included with the remaster; it’s a recurring trend with remastered games, and it’d be a shame if Mass Effect didn’t follow suit. It seems most likely, therefore, that all the Mass Effect DLC content will be remastered along with the base game. Given everything that the DLCs add to the franchise (which is a considerable amount, clearly), it just wouldn’t be the full Mass Effect experience without them.
The Mass Effect trilogy remaster is reportedly in development.
MORE: Is 2020 Finally the Mass Effect Trilogy Remaster’s Year?
