—DLC Review— The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned (Borderlands)

Borderlands games are known for humor, bright colors, loot, and DLC that's almost as fun as the game itself. Each DLC is like a game of its own, thus worthy of a review of its own. 

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***The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned***
Borderlands

Published by 2K Games | Developed by Gearbox Software

Released 2009 | FPS/RPG
For all platforms | Review: Xbox 360, PC

*Rated M for Mature 17+*

Blood and Gore | Intense Violence
Mature Humor | Strong Language

HGG rating: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 6/10

Synopsis? 

Something horrible has happened in Jacob's Cove. Everyone's been turned into zombies. Only a vault hunter can right this wrong. That's you. Try not to die.

First impressions? 

Ew.

Graphics and voices? 

The graphics and voices for Borderlands DLCs fall under the same "perfectly done" as the games themselves.

Gameplay? 

Same as the main game, but in this zombies come at you like nobody's business. Seriously. The only reason I'm still alive is Bloodwing. And shotgun blasts to zombie faces.

It should be noted that there is a side quest in this DLC that you can miss. The Brains quest (which has an achievement attached to it) can't be done if you complete the main quest line first...if I remember correctly.

Storyline? 

Pretty basic. You just need to stop the zombies, figure out what's causing them, and take care of it. Nothing too compelling, but this is Borderlands. Compelling storylines aren't really their thing. It's more about the loot and the challenges. At least it is for me.

I will reveal, however, that there's a twist to this story thread that I actually didn't see coming. Probably because I wasn't paying close enough attention to the storyline...

Complaints? 

The complete lack of fast travels throughout this area. Seriously, there's one. The very beginning one. It's irritating to a gamer like me who rarely has a 3-4 hour gaming time slot. On my Xbox, not really a huge deal, since I can pause and walk away. But on my PC, a system I use for more than just gaming, I can't do that. It's a bit frustrating, but I do level up on a regular basis, so that's nice at least.

The other thing that annoyed me is the Brains quest given to you by TK. You start off collecting brains as soon as you start killing zombies (with a headshot, it should be noted), but those don't count towards the Brains quest unless you've already started it. And even then, if you collect more brains than TK wants, the extras don't go towards the next portion of the quest. Frell, I hate zombies.

Overall? 

Is this DLC worth buying? I guess that all depends. Zombie lovers, hellz yeah! Zombie haters, you might wanna skip this one. Completionists, you're kinda gonna have to play this—there are achievements attached to it. Personally, I hate zombies, and this DLC grosses me out, but I soldier on, mainly 'cause I'm cursed with OCD in certain gaming situations. This DLC happens to have achievements I'm capable of...achieving. lol

My rating? 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ - 6/10 life hearts. If you like zombies, FPSs in general, and shooting things in the face, you might like this DLC. If you hate all these things, you might want to avoid the Borderlands games all together. If you love all things Borderlands but for some reason don't already have this... um, yeah. That's weird.

Where to buy?

• Amazon 
• GameStop 
• Best Buy 
• Xbox Live Marketplace 
• PlayStation Store 
• Steam 
• ...or grab the Game of the Year Edition of Borderlands from your local used games store. ☺

*All things Borderlands are © 2K Games/Gearbox Software; these companies do not in any way endorse this fan blog.

Until next time...