After scratching my head over whether to farm rare guns or just move on from the much addicting Borderlands 2, Gearbox solved my query by releasing their first campaign DLC “Captain Scarlett & her pirates booty”!
This brand spakin’ new DLC features pirates, YES! PIRATES! in the desert! The trademark humorous dialogue is back and is better than ever! Filled with action packed pirating adventure, make sure you don’t miss out by buying this DLC for a minimal fee of $9.99USD. Also, forget swimwear, there is absolutely no water.
New Quests!
There is a brand new array of quests which will have you running off shooting coconuts that look like pineapples (not sure what they are really) out of trees, to tracking down parts of a compass to find that “phat lewt”. As with the standard game there are main mission quests and several side missions. The main mission quests are marked by the chapters in which the story of Captain Scarlett and you progress.
Surprisingly, the quests don’t get tiring after having played the game through on normal mode and “True Vault Hunter Mode”, in fact the new air of the Oasis and other zones is a fresh relief from what became tedious grinding through the normal content.
The message in a bottle quests are amusing and also rewarding. Every quest is rewarding, and they aren’t hard to do. None of the quests presented to you are tedious, if you’ve played through True Vault Hunter Mode (TVHM from now on), then you are more than well equip to race through this content at your preferred speed. I took my time and did all the side quests just for the quirky humor.
New Guns, Vehicles and Enemies!
With every new expansion, there are always new gadgets to fiddle with. As this was a pirate DLC featured in the desert, what better way to immerse yourself in the desert pirate culture than catch-a-ride with the hover craft ships! They are hovercrafts, in the form of mini ships, or life boats. Hop in one and you’ll instantly feel like a mechanical pirate of the not-so-wet Caribbean. Really appreciate the creativity in this vehicle for this DLC. It fits the mood of the environment and the general genre of the DLC, absolutely amazing.
Of course, there are more guns, and more guns after that! There’s a buttload of new guns so make sure you spent your eridium in the right places so you can carry all the loot you’ll be getting. Believe me there is a lot of loot. There are chests filled with varying rarity of items ranging from white to purple, maybe even orange? Most of the quests award a new shield, weapon or class mod. There’s upgrades for everyone and everything! Expect to be earning a lot of money as well, the newly designed chests (they look like treasure chests) are littered (in abundance) around the new areas and contain anything from a grenade (same as slot machines) or a bunch of cash, or just plain ammo.
Lets not forget the array of new enemies you will be facing! By now the word “badass” in front of an enemy does you little to no intimidation, but be wary of the “Cursed” pirates, those are some tough nuts. Along with these revamped badasses, there are the standard model of bandits, in the form of pirates. Equip with their own “piratey” dialogue for different cues, expect the quirky funniness to continue.
Just genuine hilarity!
Borderlands keeps its trademark hilarity all the way through the DLC. They don’t skip a beat when it comes to comedy. Expect the intimidating yet hilarious british accent to be everywhere you turn, most of the characters have one. Captain Scarlett herself has a pretty hilarious and quirky British voice, and the things she says, you’ll definitely wonder where the developers get all this from. The first character you meet is called Shade, he is one quirky and creepy little man. He’ll direct you through your adventure in Oasis, and has cleverly attached something to your ECHO so he can stalk you even more! Even the annoying teenage voice of Aubrey Callahan III is slightly amusing in that “annoying I want to punch her” kind of way.
All characters will have a hilarious dialogue which they will gladly share with you for your own entertainment. It’s great, the DLC does not disappoint in this department either. The over-the-top humor is present as well, while covering a sun-crazed pirate who is yelling “I’LL PLANT MY BABIES IN YOUR LUNGS’ at you, you begin to wonder why on earth is this so entertaining.
Map and Aesthetics!
Of course, the aesthetics. Throughout the DLC it is impossible to miss the architecture of the game, plain beautiful horizons and the Oasis-y feel are present everywhere you go. They even managed to make the underground pirate hideout look gorgeous. There is a warm yet dangerous feel to almost everything. The desert wasteland is more welcoming than you would think.
The maps are large enough to leave you enough time to take in your surroundings, but not enough to make you sick of travelling.
Conclusion…
Absolutely in love with this DLC, it beats the original content in my opinion. The hilarity is around every corner and I found myself smiling throughout the play through. All the quirkiness that makes Borderlands what it is are still there. I will definitely be checking out the next DLC to see if it can somehow top this one.
PLAYST4TE 