The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned – the MMOMFG Review
Borderlands – The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned
When 2009 is done and dusted, we’ll look back on the year in games and a handful of major titles will stick out. For many, Gearbox Software’s “role-playing shooter” Borderlands will be one of them (our own Justin loved it). Looking to finish the year off strong on the planet of Pandora, Gearbox released a Borderlands DLC pack for consoles last week and PCs just yesterday: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned.
How does this bite-sized, decomposing chunk of content stack up?
What’s Good
Is that…not brown? – Finally we’ve got some new environments for Borderlands. The title’s first release rarely deviates from an environmental palette that consists only of shades of brown and to see a new area with actual TREES and living vegetation is just what the doctor ordered.
A bit more help from my friends– It was good to jump back into Borderlands after more than a month away from the title, if only to reconnect with some Xbox Live friends I haven’t teamed up with in a while. Kind of like visiting a city you used to live in, familiar faces (or in this case voices) are always nice to see (and hear).
What’s Bad
What’s another million between friends? – The original boasted a variety of weapons numbering in the millions and this Borderlands add-on promised even more. But what’s another couple thousand guns in a list of millions? Especially if you didn’t hit the level cap or beat the game by now, the addition of more weapons doesn’t make much of an impact.
Is that a toupe? – A common complaint with Borderlands was a lack of enemy diversity, the same bandit and skag models over and over again. A trip to a zombie infested island promised new models to shoot up. But on top of familiar models that have been giving an obvious and all-too-brief zombie makover, new and original enemies can be counted on your hands.
More of the same – As with most DLC, The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned is purely an extension of an already-known quantity. Don’t expect this to fix any of the problems you may or may not have had with Borderland’s gameplay or questing structure.
What’s my motivation here? – The original title had a lucrative light at the end of the tunnel, access to a vault of untold fame, fortune, and destructive capabilities. That somewhat drove me forward in my first playthrough of Borderlands. But returning to the land of Pandora only to wipe out some zombies that merely look the part, rarely act it, was a tougher sell. To be honest, I found motivation from quest to quest harder to come by this time round.
Worth Remembering:
Shooting an explosive barrel out of a zombie’s grip, detonating his surrounding buddies into a cloud of zombie bits.
Worth Forgetting:
Facing bosses alone can be so difficult that it makes playing the game without a friend or online almost futile. This is not a game for lonely grinders.
Fans who truly enjoyed Borderlands would be remiss to pass on this DLC. Especially if you beat the game or hit the level cap, returning to Pandora for a few more missions, guns, and boss fights is certainly worth the 10 bucks. However, if you, like me, found Borderlands to be, while innovative and fresh, ultimately lacking in staying power, you will find it tough to play through more than a couple hours of of The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned.
*Images via Gearbox Software.
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