Borderlands: Zombie Island DLC
Rich
Borderlands, which was only released about a month ago, appeared just as the world was gripped in Modern Warfare 2 mania. Despite the gaming world’s attention being turned to Activision’s latest headline grabber, it managed to carve out enough of a niche for itself that it could well end up being a dark horse for coveted Game Of The Year awards everywhere.
Its mix of sharp FPS action and addictive RPG loot-grabbing created a different spin on both genres and was, for my money, a lot more fun than Fallout 3 (which is the closest comparison I can make). Also, for an RPG, it was the perfect length. Not dragging itself out to 250 hours like Sacred 2 and the like. Add to that some sweet cell-shading and four player co-op and its no surprise that we liked it so much.
Running around robbing banks all wacked off on Scooby Snacks!
One thing we don’t like too much is DLC that arrives suspiciously quickly after a game is released. Indeed, day one DLC is up there with gamesaving, collectathon achievements andActivision on the all-time list of cunts’ tricks. Zombie Island dropped about a month after the main game and whilst it feels like content that was held back for DLC purposes alone, it has just about enough charm for us to give it a chance and its arrived just as many of us have beaten the game.
The content, which is 800M$P, is accessed via the New-U network which will send you to the new area Jakob’s Cove. This area is comparable in size with the Arid Badlands region of the main game and has several smaller areas to explore. The problem, as the title implies, is that it is choc-full of zombies thanks to the experiments of the suspiciously-familiar Dr Ned.
The main storyline takes roughly 2-3 hours to complete which does pose some questions when it comes to value for money, although there are a few side-missions (thanks to the Cove having a bounty board). Play time is artificially extended thanks to the ‘Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaains’ achievement which I’ll leave you to discover the details of. Let’s just say, it’s a chore.
If you choose to do everything the DLC has to offer, you’ll be looking at maybe six or seven hours’ play for your £6.80 which is okay but with more DLC lined up, you have to wonder just how much is Borderlands going to end up costing.
Green on green action for you Amstrad fans.
Other annoyances are that there is no increased level cap, no new equipment to play with (guns, shields or mods) and no new classes. In fact all you really get is a bunch of reskinned enemies that make a b-line straight for you. Given that they aren’t armed (although a few will spit acid goo at you) and a sniper can headshot them for a one-hit kill, it doesn’t make for incredibly interesting combat. That said, they do have significant numbers and getting cornered by a bunch of them can be enjoyably intense (especially as there is only one respawn point which is usually annoyingly far away).
On the plus side, Zombie Island is even funnier than the main campaign and worth playing through just for the ending. The graphics have a spooky, cartoony look taken straight from Scooby Doo and it looks great. It’s kind of nice to get out of the Wild West themed main game as well and any excuse to jump back into Borderlands is welcome now that I’ve maxed out the achievements.
Is it worth the 800M$P? No, not really. But it is good content. All that remains to be seen now is if 2K Games are going to push things forwards with the rest of the DLC, because if they can add some significant content, we’ll happily endorse it but if they intend to keep nickel and diming us with a bunch of side-quests like this, the good will that Borderlands is getting will soon dry up.