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View Full Version : The Island of Dr Ned (Borderlands DLC)



jango
12-10-2009, 11:10 AM
http://www.macksites.co.uk/GameBank/Images/borderlands/1.jpg

So, the release of Borderlands at the end of October was generally greeted with a lot of enthusiasm. Gearbox and 2Kgames promised us lots of adventuring, lots of quests, and lots and lots of guns. We weren't disappointed.

At the end of November The Island of Dr Ned, Borderlands first DLC, was released to consoles and only a few weeks later it finally became available to PC users. Costing somewhere around £6 or $9, depending where you buy it, does the DLC live up to expectations? Or, does it fall flat on its face in a pile of zombie poop?

http://www.macksites.co.uk/GameBank/Images/borderlands/2.jpg

My set up
Before I start, I should say how I went about playing the DLC. I used one of my level 50s, a Siren, and chose playthrough 2 so all the mobs in the DLC were level 50 minimum. My Siren's build is 25/5/15, with Controller maxed to Mind Games. For almost the whole DLC I only used this gun of pwn (http://www.macksites.co.uk/GameBank/Images/borderlands/3.jpg) (which is easily farmed in New Haven in playthrough 2). I thought writing this review having played the DLC at its hardest would probably give a better indication of what it has to offer at its best.


Getting Started
You can start the DLC by simply going to one of the warp panels around the normal world, and chosing 'Jacob's Cove'. From there you're transported on to island itself - a large starting zone, with transitions points to jump to the other areas related to the DLC.

As soon as you get past the amusing intro movie and some further funnies from a ClapTrap unit, you'll discover that Dr Ned is up to no good (big surprise), and that you're the only one who can do something about it (another big surprise). I won't spoil the overall story if you choose to get this DLC, but I will say you're in for a slightly tenuous story that feels more than a bit contrived.


Creature Comforts
Sadly, the first zombies you meet are pretty much the same as you'll see throughout the DLC with little variation - however, these are merely just what you can consider 'stock' enemies, in the same way that skags or wasteland scavengers were in the original game. There's the usual spattering of 'badass' mobs to tackle, and some other enemies that make an otherwise drab mob-list into something a little more interesting. There's giant Frankenstein impersonators, some trying to throw barrels at you (Donkey Kong style), some with weapon crates on their back which you can loot once they're dead, as well as others.

Aside from zombies there's a handful of Wereskags, which are effectively recoloured Alpha Skags, to fight off there's also a few types of air born enemies. Neither of these present much of a surprise, or much of a challenge, and are so few and far between they frankly become inconvenient rather than fun.

Although corrosive and elemental weapons are useless against zombies, you'll soon discover that you don't need much more than a fire damage weapon to overcome pretty much everything. Only 1 boss has a shield, nothing else does, so you can just blast away and burn the remaining skin off of any enemies you find. Think mindless Left For Dead killing .. that's about the level of the DLC. I have to say this lack of variation was dull, and none of the enemies were much of a challenge.

http://www.macksites.co.uk/GameBank/Images/borderlands/4.jpg


Making an omlette without breaking eggs
Let me be blunt here .. this DLC is shorter than you might expect given the massive amount of gameplay the original game offers - once you get an hour or so in to it you'll find that what initially feels like an incessant onslaught of zombie hate is actually a bit dull. Everything feels smaller from the setting to the scope of the story, and at times it feels like Wolf 3D level design, rather than a game from the latter part of 2009 - i.e. nothing like how the original game felt. There's no vehicles in the DLC for a reason .. areas aren't big enough to need them .. what does that tell you?

Despite how the game feels, the setting itself is actually quite well made, with some decent backdrops and environments that add a lot to the DLC's overall atmosphere. There's a fairly gentle blend between changes of environment which isn't as abrupt as certain areas in the original game. Combined with the overall environment this makes for a pretty good overall experience, although this is hampered by how restrictive other aspects are. This, coupled with rehashes of areas like Old Haven, generally left me cold.

Unfortunately some of the clipping bugs from the original game are still present, with some enemies and bosses wedging themselves against rocks and staying there while you shoot them without retaliation. This does, at times, really hinder your enjoyment and interrupt the flow of the action.


Killing Bruce Springstein
Boss fights in the game are very very odd. There's a good handful of bosses and mini bosses you'll find in the DLC, but only one or two will present a challenge. I should clarify that by 'challenge' I mean they take more than one clip to kill.

Also, there's encounters that take place that are similar to the challenge arenas in the first game. So, you might be asked to survive until you're rescued or until a bridge is lowered so you can escape. These are actually more fun, more frantic than a lot of the standard boss fights which perhaps tells you more than anything.

http://www.macksites.co.uk/GameBank/Images/borderlands/5.jpg


Early Christmas presents
As for the loot, well, there's a lot of it. The good thing is that there's a nice amount of vending machines so you can clear your inventory as you go, without having to go back and forth to Jacob's Cove. Along the way you'll probably find a few upgrades as there's some nice drops, for sure. Artifacts are among a few of the nice items to get your hands on, with upgrades to class mods, genade mods, and weapon slots. However, if you're playing through in playthrough 2, having completed the game twice, then you'll find very few upgrades.

There's a lot of money to be had too. There's lots of washing machines and toilets to loot (what more could you want, right?), and each quest can net you over $200,000, with a tonne of xp too if you need it (this is obviously scaled to your level and playthrough).

The quests give you some nice items too sometimes, but generally you'll find them a disappointment. The quests themselves follow the story, and there isn't the same diversity of main story quests and side quests as there were in the original game.


Is it worth it? Well, is it?
For the money I can't say I think the DLC is worth it, unless you want new places to farm. On the whole I found the ending very dull, much like the original game, but sadly the DLC doesn't have the awesome gameplay leading up to the end which made up for it. This is a big oversight. As I mentioned above the lack of side quests really does inhibit the experience and makes the DLC feel much much shorter, to the point where it almost feels unfinished. With only around 2 hours extra gameplay the price and the content simply don't balance up.

The difficult thing with reviewing the DLC is that the story is dwarfed by the characters. By that I mean that the characters you run in to, whether it's ClapTrap units or people who have left voice recordings behind, actually are very entertaining. The only problem is that once you've finished the DLC they're the only thing notable worth remembering.


4/10 - (Disappointing)

hidekipooj
12-10-2009, 02:40 PM
I know the whole point of the DLC was to be overwhelmed by zombies....but no warp points just made it UN-BEAR-ABLE.

jango
12-10-2009, 03:42 PM
good god .. only just wrote the review and already they've announced the next DLC ..


Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot is an intense single-player or cooperative experience that expands the mayhem by adding three new Riot Mode arenas where players will endure an onslaught of Pandora’s baddest enemies. Working together, players will fend off the masses as they fight for fame, honor, and more importantly, loot. Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot also adds a new bank feature, which allows players extra storage capacity for when they encounter one of the more than 16 million weapons that Borderlands has to offer; and the ability to acquire two additional skill points as quest rewards, making their characters even more powerful than before.

Blimey ..