Borderlands 2: Pirate DLC Impressions

I only got to spend about a half hour with it, but the upcoming Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty DLC for Borderlands 2 made a good first impression. It's exactly what I want: more story content, more silly writing, more pop-culture references and, of course, more loot. Whether you've torn through the Borderlands 2 campaign a dozen times or are still working on playthrough number one, you'll want to add this one to your quest list.

Watch a lengthy developer commentary about the DLC.

Once you've either purchased the DLC or downloaded it as part of the Borderlands 2 Season Pass, accessing it is simple. Walk up to any fast-travel point and you'll be offered the option to access Oasis, a one-time vacation destination that's now a wasteland. Moments into it you'll meet your main quest-giver, the tragically and hilariously psychotic Shade, a Hunter S. Thompson lookalike who is more than a little starved for human companionship. Since all the townsfolk of Oasis were recently wiped out, Shade has gone ahead and helped...revive them in creative ways. Helping Shade apparently gets you wrapped up in a quest for treasure, and before you know it you're questing, looting and shooting your way through a land of pirates.

These aren't the pirates of our own world, though. While they may bear more than a little resemblance to the likes of sea-faring pirates, these scoundrels live in an area devoid of moisture. Thus Borderlands 2 introduces us to the concept of sand pirates, even unlocking a new hovering vehicle that looks like an amalgamation of a sail boat and the sand skiffs from Return of the Jedi. It's not a simple reskin, either; the skiff can strafe around targets, has a sense of momentum to its movements make it feel like it's sailing. Plus it can be equipped with a gun that fires exploding harpoons. To what extent and how effectively the Captain Scarlett DLC will make use of the skiff and the pirate motif remains to be seen, but with developer Gearbox's Borderlands add-on content track record I'm quite hopeful.

See the sand skiff in action.

Since the initial leak of the DLC details Gearbox has since confirmed that there is a new currency, but this wasn't explored during my brief demo. Still, anything that expands the loot system and gives me more objects to pine after seems like a good thing when it comes to Borderlands 2. If you're dying to try out the DLC for yourself then you'll have your chance tomorrow, October 16th. As long as you're at least level 15 or higher -- the enemies scale to keep it interesting -- then you'll be ready to hit the high sands. Want to learn even more? Why not check out the rest of our Captain Scarlett gameplay videos below.

Meet Scarlett

Meet Shade

See the "Citizens" of Oasis

Source : ign[dot]com