jango
01-13-2010, 08:28 AM
Every New Year brings us the opportunity to look forward, to be grateful for what we have, and be optimistic that the previous year's low points aren't repeated. The first bird we hear sounds clearer, cheerier somehow, the roads don't seem so busy, the voices in the street don't seem so intrusive .. it's a special time. We try, as best we can, to look at things differently with a fresh perspective in the hope that we'll be wiser, more cautious, more giving, and perhaps more tolerant than we managed previously - these are quantifiable human endeavours regardless of your creed or culture, and worthy of admiration. Then, one night while drunk on this mood you do something that turns all of that on its head and makes you realise you're as retarded as you were last year, and that lovely singing bird has just taken a dump on your shoulder.
Welcome to Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot - perhaps better known as a comedy in three parts ..
http://www.macksites.co.uk/GameBank/Images/borderlands/mm/mm3.jpg
What's the deal?
Well, if you've read my previous review of the first DLC (http://www.gamers-forum.com/showthread.php?t=12935) you'll have noticed that i wasn't exactly full of praise for Gearbox's first effort, in fact despite some momentary enjoyment it left me pretty hollow. However, it had potential - potential that seemed to be directed at the second, and apparently "significantly substantial" follow-up.
Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot is basically a nod to the 1985 film Max Mad: The Thunderdome (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089530/), which makes a great deal of sense given the standard game's premise and setting. Instead of Tina Turner strutting around with her wonky legs, you have Mad Moxxi - a woman who clearly needs to discover her feminine side, which in time also might help her to understand why she feels the need to dress like a freakin mime. Still, Moxxi is actually one of the high points in the DLC .. she has sex, she has charm, she has humour which are all reminiscent of the things that made so many flock to buy Borderlands in the first place. This, unfortunately, is where the similarity ends.
http://www.macksites.co.uk/GameBank/Images/borderlands/mm/mm4.jpg
Yeah, but you haven't said how the DLc fits into the story?
Well, in short, it doesn't. When you first arrive at Mad Moxxi's, which is a hybrid of a casino, strip joint, a transvestite's wet dream of gladitorial combat - oh, and a junkyard - you're not really presented with any real reason for being there. This isn't like some of the arenas you fight while levelling in vanilla Borderlands where there's a purpose, and with follow-on quests to take you deeper into the game. No. You go there, you fight, you fight, you fight, and then once you've resupplied and sold some junk you fight some more. If you're expecting integration into the story, or perhaps even a cheerfully optimistic ClapTrap unit to keep you amused - forget it.
Getting your feet wet ..
As with the first DLC, I used one of my level 50s, a Siren, and chose playthrough 2 so all the mobs in the DLC were level 50 minimum. My Siren's build is 25/5/15, with Controller maxed to Mind Games.
In the DLC there are basically 3 arenas at Mad Moxxi's: The Gully, Hell-Burbia (give me strength), and the Angelic Ruins. All of these areas are accessible from Mad Moxxi's plazza, and all are smaller that one of the original Call of Duty or Medal of Honour multiplayer maps.
http://www.macksites.co.uk/GameBank/Images/borderlands/mm/mm5.jpg
Basically you're quest it to beat each area, while going up against familiar foe without any of the special abilities they posses in playthrough 2, but there are lots of them, and Moxxi chooses a special ability or two for them or a hindrance to you at the start of each round. For example, one round your enemies might be able to reload quicker, dodge more, or regenerate quickly. Like-wise you might find that you start a round naked without any sheilds, or you can jump much higher, or that you continually suffer bleed damage that can only be healed by you killing an enemy. These aspects of the DLC do give it an element of difficulty, especially against some of the more determined foe.
Each one of the arenas offer 5 waves per round, and you are expected to complete 5 rounds in total to beat the zone. Each one of the 5 waves ends with one of the bosses in the original game miraculously coming to life to fight again .. sometimes more than once in the same arena. So, if you enjoyed battling Baron Flynt in the original game, or perhaps Sledge, or perhaps even King Wee Wee then you'll get a buzz from that .. but not much of one because they are significantly weaker. Once you defeat the boss at the end of each round you get a series of random drops from rather lame whites to legendaries (some of which are very nice indeed).
Also, once you complete a zone you get awarded this .. which serves absolutely no purpose in the rest of the game what so ever ...
http://www.macksites.co.uk/GameBank/Images/borderlands/mm/mm1.jpg
On completion of all 3 zones another area unlocks inside Moxxi's plazza to, wait for it, the SAME 3 zones, but with harder fights. Inspired huh?
I sense a disturbance in the force ..
Now, as I write this I have only one more zone on the second playthrough left to go, so I can't really comment beyond that .. BUT, I know that that's all there is to this DLC. So to clarify, there's nothing beyond this, no further integration into the original game, no amazing outcome. These zones can be later farmed for loot, or if you're in the mood to bang one out then it serves a purpose .. so in other words it's like a form of virtual porn.
Now, seeing as I've rattled on about some of the negative points, here's the positive points (please read between the lines that I have taken more time to express the negatives for a reason, and so little time to consider the positives):
1. When you first enter Mad Moxxi's Underdome, once you get passed the vending machines, you will discover a bank. This facility, finally, allows you to store all those awesome weapons you simply can't bring yourself to sell. Bank slots (from level 8 to levl 10 can be bought from the nearby vending machine).
2. You get extra talent points .. well, one.
3. You get access to some nice loot.
4. Moxxi is sexy.
That's about it for the positives.
http://www.macksites.co.uk/GameBank/Images/borderlands/mm/mm2.jpg
The bottom line ..
Like any recent DLC for any of the games I play I always try to keep an open mind; I try to give the DLC a chance, and look for its gameplay-ability as well as something to keep me coming back. I applied this same approach to Mad Moxxi.
Sadly the positive aspects of the game are vastly out-weighed by the negatives. Take humour for example, one of the key characteristics of the original game and even the first DLC - Mad Moxxi is almost totally devoid of it. Even the only ClapTrap unit that often provides a lot of humour in the game sites idly behind the tellet's desk with a fake moustache stuck on to his metal exterior saying nothing. The DLC cries out for more focus on what made the original a great game, despite its ending .. attention to detail.
The only saving grace in some respects is that the arenas can be played in co-op mode, needing some decent strategies to take out scaled-up enemies. But even with that said the lack of depth, the fact there's only 3 zones, the fact that you get so little time to sort loot between rounds, the fact you get so little time to resupply, you earn no exerperince if you go to Mad Moxxi's at earlier levels, as well as other annoyances simply make it a poor effort.
On Steam the DLC is selling for £6:30 (so about $10 or 7 Euros), with it also being available elsewhere (for example it costs 800 Microsoft points on Games for Windows), so I suppose it depends what you expect for your money. For me it's a step backwards from the lacklustre first DLC, and doesn't fill me with much hope for future DLCs. However, if you're wanting to just have something in the game that allows you to kill 15 minutes doing a few rounds before you go to work or college then it might be for you .. but, seeing as there's really only about 2 hours worth of gameplay you might want to consider getting this DLC very carefully. Alternatively buy a book, tear out all the pages, burn the pages, then recline in a chair and stare blankly into it the mangled cover of what something that showed great promise .. the result may well be the same.
As a final point I'll say this - I generally love what Borderlands tried to do, and although the game and its DLCs haven't fulfilled their promises you can't help but feel that perhaps they should've waited to release the game, or at the very least tested it with users more before releasing it. I look forward to Borderlands 2, if they ever do it, but my time with Borderlands 1 has now run its course. For a DLC, Mad Moxxi hasn't reached the potential that Fallout 3's DLCs did, or to some extent Dragon Age's DLCs managed .. it's fallen rather short of the mark.
So, going back to the cheerful songbird I mentioned earlier, I'll wipe off the poop from my shoulder, and go forward hoping for better things ...
3/10 - woeful
-------------------------------------------------------------
Don't believe the hype ..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqowZ_0_HJM
Welcome to Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot - perhaps better known as a comedy in three parts ..
http://www.macksites.co.uk/GameBank/Images/borderlands/mm/mm3.jpg
What's the deal?
Well, if you've read my previous review of the first DLC (http://www.gamers-forum.com/showthread.php?t=12935) you'll have noticed that i wasn't exactly full of praise for Gearbox's first effort, in fact despite some momentary enjoyment it left me pretty hollow. However, it had potential - potential that seemed to be directed at the second, and apparently "significantly substantial" follow-up.
Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot is basically a nod to the 1985 film Max Mad: The Thunderdome (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089530/), which makes a great deal of sense given the standard game's premise and setting. Instead of Tina Turner strutting around with her wonky legs, you have Mad Moxxi - a woman who clearly needs to discover her feminine side, which in time also might help her to understand why she feels the need to dress like a freakin mime. Still, Moxxi is actually one of the high points in the DLC .. she has sex, she has charm, she has humour which are all reminiscent of the things that made so many flock to buy Borderlands in the first place. This, unfortunately, is where the similarity ends.
http://www.macksites.co.uk/GameBank/Images/borderlands/mm/mm4.jpg
Yeah, but you haven't said how the DLc fits into the story?
Well, in short, it doesn't. When you first arrive at Mad Moxxi's, which is a hybrid of a casino, strip joint, a transvestite's wet dream of gladitorial combat - oh, and a junkyard - you're not really presented with any real reason for being there. This isn't like some of the arenas you fight while levelling in vanilla Borderlands where there's a purpose, and with follow-on quests to take you deeper into the game. No. You go there, you fight, you fight, you fight, and then once you've resupplied and sold some junk you fight some more. If you're expecting integration into the story, or perhaps even a cheerfully optimistic ClapTrap unit to keep you amused - forget it.
Getting your feet wet ..
As with the first DLC, I used one of my level 50s, a Siren, and chose playthrough 2 so all the mobs in the DLC were level 50 minimum. My Siren's build is 25/5/15, with Controller maxed to Mind Games.
In the DLC there are basically 3 arenas at Mad Moxxi's: The Gully, Hell-Burbia (give me strength), and the Angelic Ruins. All of these areas are accessible from Mad Moxxi's plazza, and all are smaller that one of the original Call of Duty or Medal of Honour multiplayer maps.
http://www.macksites.co.uk/GameBank/Images/borderlands/mm/mm5.jpg
Basically you're quest it to beat each area, while going up against familiar foe without any of the special abilities they posses in playthrough 2, but there are lots of them, and Moxxi chooses a special ability or two for them or a hindrance to you at the start of each round. For example, one round your enemies might be able to reload quicker, dodge more, or regenerate quickly. Like-wise you might find that you start a round naked without any sheilds, or you can jump much higher, or that you continually suffer bleed damage that can only be healed by you killing an enemy. These aspects of the DLC do give it an element of difficulty, especially against some of the more determined foe.
Each one of the arenas offer 5 waves per round, and you are expected to complete 5 rounds in total to beat the zone. Each one of the 5 waves ends with one of the bosses in the original game miraculously coming to life to fight again .. sometimes more than once in the same arena. So, if you enjoyed battling Baron Flynt in the original game, or perhaps Sledge, or perhaps even King Wee Wee then you'll get a buzz from that .. but not much of one because they are significantly weaker. Once you defeat the boss at the end of each round you get a series of random drops from rather lame whites to legendaries (some of which are very nice indeed).
Also, once you complete a zone you get awarded this .. which serves absolutely no purpose in the rest of the game what so ever ...
http://www.macksites.co.uk/GameBank/Images/borderlands/mm/mm1.jpg
On completion of all 3 zones another area unlocks inside Moxxi's plazza to, wait for it, the SAME 3 zones, but with harder fights. Inspired huh?
I sense a disturbance in the force ..
Now, as I write this I have only one more zone on the second playthrough left to go, so I can't really comment beyond that .. BUT, I know that that's all there is to this DLC. So to clarify, there's nothing beyond this, no further integration into the original game, no amazing outcome. These zones can be later farmed for loot, or if you're in the mood to bang one out then it serves a purpose .. so in other words it's like a form of virtual porn.
Now, seeing as I've rattled on about some of the negative points, here's the positive points (please read between the lines that I have taken more time to express the negatives for a reason, and so little time to consider the positives):
1. When you first enter Mad Moxxi's Underdome, once you get passed the vending machines, you will discover a bank. This facility, finally, allows you to store all those awesome weapons you simply can't bring yourself to sell. Bank slots (from level 8 to levl 10 can be bought from the nearby vending machine).
2. You get extra talent points .. well, one.
3. You get access to some nice loot.
4. Moxxi is sexy.
That's about it for the positives.
http://www.macksites.co.uk/GameBank/Images/borderlands/mm/mm2.jpg
The bottom line ..
Like any recent DLC for any of the games I play I always try to keep an open mind; I try to give the DLC a chance, and look for its gameplay-ability as well as something to keep me coming back. I applied this same approach to Mad Moxxi.
Sadly the positive aspects of the game are vastly out-weighed by the negatives. Take humour for example, one of the key characteristics of the original game and even the first DLC - Mad Moxxi is almost totally devoid of it. Even the only ClapTrap unit that often provides a lot of humour in the game sites idly behind the tellet's desk with a fake moustache stuck on to his metal exterior saying nothing. The DLC cries out for more focus on what made the original a great game, despite its ending .. attention to detail.
The only saving grace in some respects is that the arenas can be played in co-op mode, needing some decent strategies to take out scaled-up enemies. But even with that said the lack of depth, the fact there's only 3 zones, the fact that you get so little time to sort loot between rounds, the fact you get so little time to resupply, you earn no exerperince if you go to Mad Moxxi's at earlier levels, as well as other annoyances simply make it a poor effort.
On Steam the DLC is selling for £6:30 (so about $10 or 7 Euros), with it also being available elsewhere (for example it costs 800 Microsoft points on Games for Windows), so I suppose it depends what you expect for your money. For me it's a step backwards from the lacklustre first DLC, and doesn't fill me with much hope for future DLCs. However, if you're wanting to just have something in the game that allows you to kill 15 minutes doing a few rounds before you go to work or college then it might be for you .. but, seeing as there's really only about 2 hours worth of gameplay you might want to consider getting this DLC very carefully. Alternatively buy a book, tear out all the pages, burn the pages, then recline in a chair and stare blankly into it the mangled cover of what something that showed great promise .. the result may well be the same.
As a final point I'll say this - I generally love what Borderlands tried to do, and although the game and its DLCs haven't fulfilled their promises you can't help but feel that perhaps they should've waited to release the game, or at the very least tested it with users more before releasing it. I look forward to Borderlands 2, if they ever do it, but my time with Borderlands 1 has now run its course. For a DLC, Mad Moxxi hasn't reached the potential that Fallout 3's DLCs did, or to some extent Dragon Age's DLCs managed .. it's fallen rather short of the mark.
So, going back to the cheerful songbird I mentioned earlier, I'll wipe off the poop from my shoulder, and go forward hoping for better things ...
3/10 - woeful
-------------------------------------------------------------
Don't believe the hype ..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqowZ_0_HJM