We spend a little time with the fourth downloadable add-on for Borderlands.
I thought that I was totally done with Borderlands... at least on a super-serious level. Sure, I've messed around with the PC version a little bit over the last few months, mostly to play with some friends who are playing it there, but my max-level Roland over on the 360 felt like he was just about ready to retire. Gearbox made that sound like a safe plan, even, by saying that the developer had no future plans for more DLC back when the third piece, General Knoxx, was released. But there's more. Originally revealed via a 2K Games earnings call and further fleshed out when some folks disassembled a patch for the PC version of the game, the fourth DLC for Borderlands looks... well... it looks like my soldier is getting called back into action.
This new adventure is called Claptrap's New Robot Revolution. After 61 levels of advancement, the little wheeled robot guy is all sorts of pissed off, and he's forming a cyborg army to give you this business across six new zones. By "cyborg army," I literally mean that you'll encounter modified skags and other familiar creatures with vacuum tubes sticking out of their heads. You'll even fight a reanimated and roboticized General Knoxx along the way, this time supported by kamikaze Claptraps that explode when they get close to you. From what I played, none of it seemed as tough as fighting Crawmerax the "right" way seems to be, but it's not easy, especially if you're alone.
This'd probably make a pretty good T-shirt. Along with the new content found in the DLC, which includes a lot of great speeches from an increasingly revolutionary Claptrap and some T-shirt-worthy artwork to support his rise to power, a free patch will also be released across all versions of the game around the same time. The patch will add eight new levels of experience for all players, whether they've purchased any DLC or not. For those of you who didn't pick up Knoxx, this means you'll be able to go up to level 58. Knoxx owners will get all the way up to 69, which I can only take as a clear sign that Gearbox is the right team to be working on a Duke Nukem game. Additionally, the full-game rebalance that occurs after beating Playthrough 2 will no longer be capped at 50. It'll go all the way up to 69, ensuring that players that hit the new level cap will still have something challenging to do. As you might expect, the level increases also mean that you'll be able to find new, higher-level loot.
Surely, this must be the final Borderlands DLC, right? Between the guys at Gearbox formally announcing Duke Nukem Forever and a Game of the Year edition of Borderlands hitting with all four DLC packs in the box (though this new one may come as a voucher, depending on which platform you're picking up), there's no way they could have time for a fifth pack. Right? We spoke to Randy Pitchford and he confirmed that there were no current plans for more DLC, but hey... we've kind of heard that one before. Be sure to check back for more with Pitchford, as we've caught up with him a couple of times over the last week or two to talk about Borderlands, that whole "Duke Nukem" thing, and much more.
If you're looking to fight Claptrap, you'll be able to grab the new DLC on September 28 for $10.
I'm going to say it: Borderlands has the best DLC of any game out there. With the possible exception of TF2 and that barely counts because it's all free.
My wife and I couch co-opped through borderlands and two of the three DLC packs (mad moxxie's underdome riot was too frustrating for us to get through and we haven't gone back to it yet...) Super excited to get a good solid reason to sit down with her and run through another expansion.
When i played borderlands i thought it was awesome, i played through the zombie + mad moxxie but for some reason got bored with the genral knoxx dlc. Does this make me a bad person?
Is anyone ever going to find out (read: ask) what level the cpu is set for with this DLC? Is it scaling like Zombie Island or preset like General Knoxx???
Hah! I love the poster image. Che's probably turning in his grave, having his image being used to promote a video-game. Now isn't that ironic? Someone fights capitalism his entire life, have his image and likeness used as a marketing tool due to its counter-culture status! It's hilarious.
When is the GOTY coming out? I missed getting this the first time around, but I'm actually OK with it if I can get the GOTY without having to pay for all of these numerous expansions separately.
Edit: nvm. Looks like it's coming out next month. $60? Awww, c'mon...
I kind of wish they were working on more Borderlands IP than rehashing Duke Nukem. Guess they can do that after Duke is released next year.
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