Developer: Gearbox Software
Publisher: 2K Games
Rrp: £7.99 (Steam)
Released: 16th Oct 2012
Available on Steam
Played using: Mouse & Keyboard
So, Handsome Jack is defeated, and all his plans are laid to rest. What now, dear Vault Hunter? What now? You could head over to the town of Oasis and see what all the fuss is about. Apparently there’s a great treasure to be found for those brave enough to look.
Oasis is a dock town with a lot of personality, but not that many people, actually just one person and he’s more than a little… Unbalanced. Actually that’s not true, Oasis and the areas around it, does have other people and those people are pirates!
That’s right in this DLC you get to fight pirates rather than bandits and psychos. I warn you now don’t try to treat these pirates like the bandits and psychos from the main game, these guys are a whole different level and have their own quirks. Like the Undead Pirates that steal your health when they hit you or the Anchorman who draws you in for a powerful melee attack. To go with these new enemies you’ll also have a whole new set of badass ranks you can acquire, so happy hunting!
Your usual vehicle is replaced with a hovercraft (occasionally called a skiff) that can have one of three weapons to go with its machine gun; Rockets, Harpoons and Saw Blades. After having become used to the way the wheeled vehicles handle in the main game it’s strange to use this one that will continue to drift slightly even after you’ve stopped.
As you would expect with any Borderlands DLC there are a series of side missions you can complete, but this time there’s a twist. Think about it what would you expect to find as a mission in a pirate themed DLC? That’s right, buried treasure! There are a whole slew of missions you find as messages in bottles that will give you the vague location of a hidden treasure in the area, then you have to find the very literal X that marks the spot.
There are a few new environmental objects that have been given a new design to reflect the area you’re in. For example sometimes you’ll find a long red treasure chest these are essentially the loot chests from the main game, some of the ammo crates have been made to look like treasure chests too. There is a difference between normal ammo crates and the treasure chests besides their aesthetic, occasionally the treasure chests will spawn money, lots of money along with the ammo… Or sometimes a trap.
It’s in this DLC that Seraph Crystals and items have been introduced, these can only be collect by killing a raid boss, which are dubbed Seraph Guardians, after the main game is complete. These guys are incredibly tough and you MUST have other people in your game to beat them, otherwise their health won’t go down. If you do happen to get some Seraph Crystals you can use them to purchase Seraph level items at a Seraph vendor.
This DLC is most certainly worth a look, it’s got a lot of humour and personality to it, plus… It has pirates! Come on who doesn’t love pirates? Apart from those being plundered or keelhauled by them, I mean.
