Mass Effect DLC now on PC for free

by Justin McElroy on Jul 29th 2008 6:45PM

PC gamers have long had to deal with the problems of their platform of choice (frequent upgrading, higher price, etc.) but they've also reaped the rewards: Namely, a lot of crap for free that their console-wielding brethren pay for. Just a few days after Microsoft of all companies finally realized that, PC gamers get another dollop of free content with the "Bring Down the Sky" DLC pack for Mass Effect.

To get it, just boot up Mass Effect and look for instructions at the launch screen. Alternatively, hit up Big Download to grab the BDtS update and 1.01 patch before heading to BioWare's site to get yourself all registered up. Then, just focus not on how long ago the 90 minutes of content came to 360 (spoiler: four and a half months ago) but rather just on how very, very free it is.

Mass Effect DLC - Bring Down the Sky

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Tags: bioware, BreakingNews, Bring-Down-the-Sky, mass-effect, Mass-Effect-PC, PC

Reader Comments (50)

Initial reaction: I SPENT 10 FUCKING DOLLARS ON THIS.

Then the logical and reasonable side of brain stepped in and told me that I can't afford a computer capable of playing Mass Effect anyway.

Yes you can. In fact, I'd wager that the price to upgrade your current computer would be about the same, if not less than, a 360 or PS3

Really? Please, point me to the upgrades I can purchase for my laptop.

dumbass.

WHOA, my laptop would probably burn a hole through the table!

@ eugene

You would've made a fine point if you didn't decide become a childish asshole at the very end.

@Jakka

True, I was a childish asshole at the end, but I guess it's better then your schtick of being a childish asshole from the very start. With me, it's like, "surprise! childish asshole humor!" but with you, it's just, "meh, childish asshole."

i bought a quad core with a geforce 8500 for $500 and then upgraded to 8800 for another 100 a couple months later. i paid $450 for my xbox (granted it came with quake 4, gun, cod2, extra controller, play and charge @ sam's club bundle deal during launch) and $150 on xbox live.

so basically the PC that lets me play medieval total war, empire total war, non-watered down civ, cost the same so far :-)

Thankfully I never got the red ring stuff so I'm assuming that my xbox has a longer-than-3-year lifespan too (woo!!!)

Jeez Eugene, smoke a joint and listen to some Bob Marley or something.

PC gaming is cheaper than you'd think - a £2000 system necessary to run the latest games is an outright lie. Consider this - a PS3 costs £300, and a decent HDTV costs over £500. To get a killer gaming rig, you need only make a £300 upgrade to whatever PC you have at the moment, less if you already have a decent processor. Plus bear in mind that a PC game is £25 to a console's £40.

^I'm glad I have that ready to copy and paste everytime someone harps on about the PC being too expensive.

P.S. Unless you have a laptop.

Eugene, I said "Computer," obviously not meaning laptop.

Way to be a douchenozzle, man.

Also: My computer cost me $600, and that was building it from scratch (didn't upgrade, just built anew). I could have made it cheaper by taking a hit in GPU or CPU (I have an 8800GT 512MB) and still run all modern and upcoming games fine.

A lot of people need good PCs at home for doing work on. An Xbox 360 doesn't really double as a tool ever.

@Thatoneguy64

First of all, laptops are computers. More importantly, how can you have no trouble playing upcoming games when they aren't even out yet?

Oh, and also how much better it looks and plays.

Wow who can confuse a computer with a laptop? it's not like they're both computers....OH WAIT!!!

lol @ "frequent upgrading"

Swapping out parts every 3 years is frequent for console-only people. They're on a 10 year plan!

Only on Xbox 360.

Until 6 months later where it's $10 cheaper,free DLC,more content,plays smoother and has less bugs.

As a PC gamer I'd love to agree with you, sadly the PC version has a lot of bugs. Bizarrely the free DLC came with a patch that fixed minor issues and left the major ones intact.

And also, inexplicably, has terrible, terrible DRM.

drm ftl. PC version is every bit as buggy as the 360 but with some of its own. Damned if you do damned if you don't.

Choose your poison, but it's still a damn incredible game in the end

Lol, nicely done on the picture.

Urge to kill - RISING.

That's got to be at least 2nd level Pun Hell.

http://www.squidi.net/comic/tales/view.php?ep=4&id=12

Nevermind, it's 3rd.

Squidi = win.

Shame he abandoned his comics. =(

Downloading now. Thanks for the heads up.

This just proves PC gaming > console gaming. ALL games are cheaper, have better graphics and higher resolution, better online play 90% of the time. Ventrilo (this advantage will be killed with mass player private chat). And keyboard + mouse is > controller for everything but driving vehicles. Plus it's nice to alt tab and have the whole internet.

The only thing that consoles have that PCs don't is matchmaking which is good for clan matches so you face equally skilled teams.

...Ehhh When it comes to PC v.s console Yes PC "Can" have better graphics but often times the consoles still have visual settings similar to the max setting of the pc version of said game. Resolution yes PC is often better...now to the issue of controls. Keyboard and Mouse...is incredibly overrated. I have used both gamepad and keyboad and mouse and honestly...they both do their job and I don't really enjoy one over the other...the only game series I prefer to play with keyboard and mouse would be the Half Life series and even then they still play pretty well on the console. So how about we leave at this PC gaming=Console gaming

And then you remember all the Mass Effect copy-protection woes and you realize that not even freebies will restore faith in the developer/distributor...

Building a gaming pc is around $600 and requires knowledge of how to build it (otherwise $1000 for a pre-built system). Then thats only to play the game, medium settings and medium resolution. If you want the high resolution on max settigns (ie, looking as good as a console game) your gonna need a better video card then the one you picked up for $150 off craigslist. So I would say around $1000 building the computer yourself to truly run it all just like the consoles. Not that expensive, but a farcry away from a $299 console.

Personally I own an xbox (cause i like gaming on the couch without framerate dips and crap depnding if other stuff is going on in the background of my computer). mandatory voice chat and the whole friends list also makes multiplayer gaming easier and more social. I also own a pc however. I paid around $650 for everything brand new and built it up. But its running integrated graphics so I dont really play games on it. Ill pick up a card for spore tho. I use it as a media machine mostly.

The point im trying to make is pc gaming does not = console gaming in terms of price, like so many people seem to think.

Wait wait im trying to figure out the pun >

Asari = Sorry. Like Asari if you were only joking about not getting the pun.

Not in before the PC elitists :(

Nice.

Dammit just bought the 360 version yesterday. Oh well.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't MS come out and say no content that's free on other platforms shall be charged for on XBLM? In fact, didn't they say it in january / february of 2006? In fact, didn't major nelson have someone from $A on a podcast where they discussed exactly that???

Err - $A = EA

it was Nov 2006
http://majornelson.com/archive/2006/11/12/show-201-the-one-about-marketplace.aspx

Microsoft say a lot of things. All companies do.

So this will be free on the 360 soon, then? Or will MS just keep lying? Funny how Sony is always called 'arrogant' - don't see them charging you just to go online, announcing features like Netflix only to find out it's only if you pay for BOTH services, and screwing their own console base like this.

I'd kind of like to play the extra content but if I remember correctly it's not available if you beat the game, and hell if I want to play Mass Effect again. Decent game but not worth a second play - I spanked it by doing all the side quests and ended up with too powerful weapons about halfway through.

Sorry "Ass" but arrogance and lying are two very different things.

Charging people for things and lying does not equal arrogance.

Arrogance is sitting there doing very little for your fans, thinking you own the place and can't be taken down (like sony were doing for about, what, 5 years until about 2 weeks ago?)

Also, why are you surprised that you have to pay for netflix AND live? They are two difference services that have partnered.

Mass effect is too easy is it? Then put the difficulty up, moron. Because it's obvious you weren't playing on insane.

I'm done here.

Fuck Mass Effect. I eagerly installed this game and played through a good portion of the intro (just got out of that initial spaceship), only to have my character get stuck in an elevator and my latest (and consequently ONLY) auto-save spot become corrupted.

Result: This game promptly went back on Ebay. No thank you...

Tough luck, but that's BioWare for you. I'm relatively convinced they don't even test their games before release - I mean, sure all PC games have bugs, but most console games have extremely few - unless developed by BioWare.
Way back in the day, I was hugely disappointed by Baldur's Gate II, then I was hugely disappointed by KotOR, then I gave up on that company as a topic on whome I and game reviewers clearly disagree.

"on which"*, not "on whom" spelled incorrectly.

Honestly, I didn't encounter significant bugs in KOTOR or Mass Effect-- both of which I've played at least a couple of times on multiple PC rigs.

Every PC game has a million bugs, refuses to even start, has unbelievably draconian DRM, kills your grandma, etc if you listen to the people bitching on forums. The majority of people, who have a stable, enjoyable experiences, don't need to whine.

The bugs didn't bother me much. The item interface did. I can throw away brand new and better weapons I just picked up off dead bodies but I can't toss old gear in order to replace it with same new gear? WHAT?!

what a kick to the nuts.

Every time this happens, it makes my $300 gaming PC upgrades seem worthwhile.

Plus a fast computer is pretty nice for general use.

Plus, mods.

I haven't upgraded my proc or graphics card in over 2 years, my comp easily cost less than a PS3 and plays all modern games quite well.

I'm so tired of people propagating this bullshit about how insanely expensive PC gaming is. -_- And it constantly comes out of Joystiq writers, yawn.

I'm more interested in seeing if there are going to be anymore of these packs... I mean, I doubt releasing stuff during the holiday rush is a great idea with so many games coming out all at once.

Is this all that we're getting as far as DLC is concerned?

How come Oblivion is still the only game that has consistently added new (single player) content? Oh well... I guess Fallout 3 is coming out soon and may do as well in that regard as Oblivion.

I've mostly given up PC gaming for Xbox 360 - it's much more convenient. I can't be bothered with the hassle of PC gaming anymore - the installing, crashing, incompatibilities, frequent and expensive hardware upgrades, etc, etc. This free DLC for the PC verson possibly proves that they're losing PC customers. I'd much rather have free DLC for the 360 version too, but I'm sure I'm not missing much anyway.

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Mass Effect DLC now on PC for free

Mass Effect DLC - Bring Down the Sky

Reader Comments (50)

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