Borderlands 2 DLCs Review

Played on Xbox One (base)

Developed by Gearbox Software

With the amount of success and buzz that Borderlands had generated, it wasn't really a debate of whether the game would receive DLC (even its fairly mediocre predecessor had some) but whether it would be good. In my review of ‘Borderlands 2’, I gave the zany shooter a "NEAR-PERFECT" score and heralded it as one of the best in its genre, and since I went for the 100% goal, interacting with its 5 expansion packs was inevitable.

Borderlands 2 has multiple pieces of DLC, ranging from new characters like the Mechromancer to small holiday-themed questlines like Christmas' ‘How Marcus Saved Mercenary Day’ and larger expansions like ‘Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt’. For the sake of this review, I'm only going to talk about the grander additions to the game's thriving world as they are of more significance and actually have things of value to talk about. However, note that I have played the mini-DLCs as well and would recommend them, especially as part of the 100% completion. The general baseline for each of these expansion packs is the addition of a new 3-5 hour questline with a massive, sprawling region and a couple of extra goodies here and there, all tailored to the character named in their titles.

Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty

For the very first DLC instalment for Gearbox's most legendary game, it boils down to the expansion being a good start for what's to come. For this DLC, the new areas consist of places like Oasis, Wurmwater and Hayter's Folly - shantytowns and bandit gangs in a desert-like setting where water is a luxury, and this 'Mad Max' -esque locale may be quite drab in colour in certain situations but is heavily aided by the game's eccentric art style and the bold comic-book aesthetics make the desert feel less like a filler-area and more like a Borderlands staple; same being said for the character designs.

As for the story and characters, you'll be predominantly engaging with Captain Scarlett for 4-6 hours as you and her try to unravel the location of the "Lost Treasure of the Sands", which is obviously another Vault. The characters here were great and might be among my favourites out of all the new characters who debut in the rest of the DLCs. Captain Scarlett, Shade, Mercer and Herbert were all cynically humorous and deranged in their own loveable ways, if not slightly too creepy (looking at you Herbert). The narrative that accompanies them is very short and barebone basic with you simply retrieving items that will lead you to the Vault before being betrayed by Captain Scarlett as she said she would from the very start of the DLC. The only issue I had with the story was how abrupt its ending was after you defeat the Vault monster, with little indication as to what happened to Captain Scarlett, leaving the finale quite unsatisfying.

As for the gameplay side of things, 'Pirate's Booty' doesn't reinvent or change up the formula in any special way. There are a couple of new weapons and enemies here and there but they don't make any noticeable standout for you to gravitate towards in terms of designs or innovation in gameplay. There is also a new rarity called the Seraph, and while it does boast impressive stats, they're normally partnered up with massive drawbacks such as low accuracy and thus neither I nor my friend found ourselves using them. The only major change was the access to a new vehicle type called the Skiff, however, it functioned no different from a car as its primary use was to traverse the worm-infested sands. As for the new bossfights, there are 2 and they both were heavily lacklustre. Roscoe didn't pose enough of a threat to be called worthwhile, let alone respected as a boss, and The Leviathan followed the annoying trope of "big boss that does environmental hazard attacks while you shoot its static body" in a mind-numbing fashion. Additionally, their designs were nothing impressive, with the regular enemies found in Hayter's Folly looking more respectable in terms of design.

In general, 'Pirate's Booty' is respectable in the sense that it carries on the characteristics most beloved in the ‘Borderlands’ series but it does little to expand upon or innovate them, feeling more like a taster sample of what the team is going to do with these expansion packs.

—Mediocre—

Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage

For the second DLC experience, 'Campaign of Carnage' ended up being the underdog as it was the one I was least excited for but turned out to be the top 2 out of the 5 expansion packs. For this 3-5 hour journey, you'll be placed within areas like the Badass Crater of Badassitude, The Forge and Torgue Arena, each one radiating this original ‘Borderlands’ energy with their industrialised shanty towns in a wasteland aesthetic. Visually, this DLC is probably of the lowest quality due to the other DLCs' areas being so vibrant and new, despite this expansion pack still being amazing to look at and interact with.

As for its story and characters, it might possibly be the best-written in terms of humour as the obnoxious vibe of Mr Torgue mixed with the series' iconic deadpan tone fit perfectly for me and my tastes. Re-appearances from favourites like Tiny Tina and Moxxi were also great and the character interactions with everyone in the DLC were of a high quality. Additionally, the narrative was well-paced despite being so short and that might be due to its relatively basic premise of climbing the Torgue leaderboards, however, this served to be satisfactory for an expansion pack of this proportion.

In terms of gameplay, there was once again no new standout weaponry or enemy types that were impressive, as it consisted of more Torgue weapons (the ones are shoot explosive rounds) and foes recycled from the base game, albeit with a coat of new paint. There is a new vending machine which allows you to use the newly added currency - Torgue Tokens - to buy Torgue weapons, however, we didn't utilise this as much given how much better our weapons were. The bossfights that 'Campaign of Carnage' consists of were all well-telegraphed and enjoyable to fight, like Badassasaurus, Pyro Pete and more, but they just lacked the impressiveness factor that would've made the fights all the more entertaining.

‘Campaign of Carnage’ is just more high quality Borderlands which you can't go wrong with, especially if you're only the second DLC out of 5.

—GOOD—

Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt

Halfway through the expansion pack streak is the 'Big Game Hunt' and I found much to be desired with this DLC. While the new areas like the Candlerakk's Crag or the Hunter's Grotto serve to be beautiful with their swamp/jungle hybrid design, driving forth a passion to discover its landscape, the rest of the DLC is fairly lacking with its creative vision outside of its art design for the environment and enemies/creatures.

The story is probably the biggest offender of this with a plot that feels quite second-hand in quality. For the 3-6 hour DLC, instead of going on this "big game hunt" that is quite literally the title and focus of Sir Hammerlock's character, you're instead running around trying to defeat this antagonist - Professor Nakayama - from reviving Handsome Jack. Instead of feeling like a proper threat or even a good joke, Nakayama ends up feeling more like the Spot from early on in 'Across the Spider-Verse' where they're the "villain of the week", the only difference is that Nakayama proves to be unsuccessful comically. The only other noticeable character here is Sir Hammerlock who is as much of a treat to listen to as he is a gentleman.

The gameplay is very much in line with what we've come to expect from the other DLCs: new weaponry that doesn't stand out in any regard and new enemies that feel more recycled than fresh. The design and vibe of the areas do make exploring them quite wonderful and actually made me reminiscent of ‘Elden Ring’ in how its greatest aspect was the exploration. Lastly, the bossfights were quite mediocre. Bosses like Woundspike and Jackenstein were fun to engage with but weren't memorable in any shape or form, leaving my mind as soon as the fight was over. They were simply unimpressive, fun, but unimpressive.

This DLC left me wanting more out of it, especially with Hammerlock's hunt, not because it was amazing, but because I wanted it to redeem itself.

—Mediocre—

Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep

The most impressive expansion of the 5-DLC run has appeared. ‘Assault on Dragon Keep’ was such a success for Gearbox that not only did they release this DLC as its own mini spin-off one-shot, but they would also later reuse its concepts and foundations to create the 2022 ‘Tiny Tina's Wonderlands’. The whole aesthetic of ‘Assualt on Dragon Keep’ is that it's a fusion of table-top RPG with the ‘Borderlands’ humour and energy, which ended up being a fantastic match-up. Each area draws upon this medieval fantasy design, from the haunted, orc-infested Forest to the skeletal dungeon of the Lair of Infinite Agony, and it works so well that it's no wonder Gearbox would replicate this visual design and format 9 years later.

The narrative of this expansion entails Tiny Tina playing her DnD campaign with the Vault Hunters, which acts as a re-telling of the base game's story albeit "fantasy-fied". On the outside, this story is creatively humourous, cleverly redoing plot points while making them feel fresh. Digging in a little further shows that it's a heartwarming aftermath of the main story, especially with how the whole DnD component is just Tina's way of coping with the losses from the base game. Re-appearances from beloved characters like Mr Torgue, Roland and (obviously) Tiny Tina, further boost both the comedy and heartfelt sentiment that this DLC strives for. One thing to note is that the humour here is very Tina-centric and while I loved it, it can be quite annoying for anyone who doesn't particularly like her character or her dumb/crude humour.

Surprisingly, the DLC also managed to boast new weaponry and enemy types that felt impactful and hard to ignore. The newer weapons were noticeably cool and unique with things like rechargeable grenades taking the role of magic spells like fireball casting or magic missiles. The enemy variation wasn't anything stupendous in terms of reinventing their gameplay design, but battling orcs, skeletons, dragons, trolls and warlocks was such a needed and nice breath of fresh air from the constant cycle of bandits and robots. The same thing can be said about the bosses as they were all great - good encounter design, good visual design and good audible design. The best out of them all most likely had to be the final boss seeing as it had multiple phases and attacks that felt fun to evade and counter. Just like the rest of this expansion pack, it offered some much-needed variety that I had yet to see in my goal for 100% completion. The biggest issue I had with the DLC, however, is the enemy abundance. The quantity of enemies that spawn becomes greatly tiring as if there was no limit, especially for the areas where you need to eliminate all the enemies before you could progress. While that is a detriment that frustrated me, it was nothing more than an irritation - as the rest of the DLC made up for this shortcoming. The final thing to mention is that the 'Dark Souls' side quest was awesome.

‘Assault on Dragon Keep’ was exactly what was needed to retain that fresh excitement that started to slowly deteriorate in the previous DLCs.

—GREAT—

Commander Lilith and the Fight for Sanctuary

An unexpected release to say the least, ‘Fight for Sanctuary’ tried to recreate the conclusiveness from ‘Assault on Dragon Keep’ but also make it more directly tied to both the base game and ‘Borderlands 3’, of which this DLC acted as a mini-prelude. This expansion finds itself in an awkward spot with how it tries to progress the world of ‘Borderlands’ forward while being complacent and remaining in the same spot that the game has found itself for 7 years up to this DLC's release. Environmentally, it was good and upheld that ‘Borderlands’ standard, but, with how impressively different the prior 2 DLCs were with their visual and audible designs, this slight drop feels odd in something that's supposed to be a comeback. The deep-rooted caves of The Burrows or the plant-infested Helios Fallen are still wonderful areas regardless of comparisons, yet, I can't help but nitpick that this "plant-takeover" theme that the whole DLC goes for gets tiresome in its 3-5 hour length.

As for the story and characters, there is much to be desired, especially out of all the plot points. Whether it is because the antagonist is incredibly forgettable, the focus of finding an antidote is stretched out too much or because there's a lack of weight and consequence behind each sacrifice or action, the narrative ends up having a plain and superficial presence. Additionally, the ending with its mini-leader speech from Lilith was quite cheesy and felt like it didn't belong there, and instead was forced in. On a more positive note, the reprisals from fan favourites like Brick, Tannis and even 'Tales From the Borderlands' Vaughn were great additions.

The gameplay aspect of this DLC is probably its strongest component as it is the most that has been added to an expansion pack for this game. On top of the new weapon variant - Effervescent - and its awesome catalogue of guns that make UVHM (Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode) more manageable; the max level cap gets raised by 8 levels, you can create a new character starting at level 30, and the new environmental hazard - Infection - allows for some great damage boost moments at the expense of taking damage. These new additions made for some enhanced encounters, and while the enemies remain the typical ‘Borderlands’ standard with little innovative variation and the creativity was far better in ‘Assualt on Dragon Keep’, ‘Fight for Sanctuary’ was still an enjoyable experience throughout. The only nitpick I have for these new additions is that the Effervescent weapons' low drop rate of about 2% felt quite tedious to deal with when an achievement required you to have a full loadout of the rarity. As for the bossfights, they weren't anything amazing as they either had the same "plant-takeover" design and bounced you around like a balloon, or they were Uranus/Haderax who would send out an oblivion of tracking projectiles that shredded your health. Other than this, the telegraphing and animations were cool and served some enjoyable fights for the most part.

While unnecessary and probably one of the weaker additions to the list of DLC campaigns, ‘Fight for Sanctuary’ still serves up an entertaining looter-shooter, sadly accompanied by a lacklustre storyline.

—Mediocre—

—GOOD—

—Mediocre—

—GREAT—

—Mediocre—

The Saboteur Review

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood Review