Ok, I realize going on that this is probably going to be almost universally (from best to worst) Knoxx (if for Craw & the Glitchoury alone), Robolution, Zombies, Underdome.
But I am curious!
Go!
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In terms of just enjoying playing the game:
#1) Robolution. Scorched Snake Canyon is my favorite map in the franchise. I am probably the only person that feels that way, but between the music and creating a sense of wonder about how Pandora used to be, I just enjoy it. I also enjoy the other maps in it, the Gift Shop was a fantastic way to end the game, and the story was fun.
#2) Zombies. There was actually a time I liked this less than Underdome as I typically dislike anything involving zombies, but my best friend/co-op partner really made a good case for it and over time I have come to enjoy it more than Knoxx. Ned is funny, I like the writing in it, and I find the combat fun. I will never tire of launching zombies with an XX material Jakobs weapon with a lot of pellets.
#3) Knoxx. More gear, Crawmerax, Knoxx himself is written extremely well and the writing for everyone else is also very good. It followed up the tone of the base game really well. The ding I have against it is the driving forces me to spend time before I can do something fun, whereas the aforementioned DLCs do not. That is my only criticism, and putting it third is more an indicator of how much I like the first two DLCs than anything else.
#4) Underdome. I hate the random battle modifiers. They are not fun at all. I would have enjoyed it a lot more without them.
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Excellent & thoughtful answer, thank you!
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I guess I am going to be the weird one here. But I actually enjoyed the DLC’s in this order…
1st is the Underdome, I enjoy it because of the challenge of the 20 round tournaments. It is something different then farming and looting. It is always different. So have to be prepared for anything different gear load outs.
The 2nd would be Knoxx. It added many different things to the game. The replay ability is great. Introduced new levels, enemies, bosses and gear. Had to start over from completely from the being with collecting loot.
3rd would be Zombie Island. Out of all Borderlands DLC, I enjoyed the comedy. The dialogue was hilarious. But it was short and didn’t add anything new besides enemies. But still enjoyable.
And finally Clap Traps DLC. It was fun but I’d. But since it came out after Knoxx after beating the story there was no reason to farm it. No new guns or CoMs.
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For me, I’m torn. I loved Knoxx for it’s gameplay and replay. I love killing Lance, and I love how the battles require thought to get through. I loved the comedy of the Zombies, and popping so many enemies is fun. The Zombie waves before the bridge is one of my favorite battles.
I replay Knoxx far, far more often, so I have to give the nod to Knoxx.
Robots I played just because it was something different, but it didn’t feel like any of the other DLCs or main game. It was very obviously from a different team, in gameplay and maps and overall feeling. Maybe I’ll feel differently this time around because I’ve only played it a couple times and that was many years ago. Underdome - I played 1 round, and never went back - it’s just not something that I consider to be much fun at all. There’s no purpose to those fights, IMHO, and no goal and no story.
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I can’t say I really like one more than the others in regards to Zombie, Knoxx, and Robolution. They all have their great points. I will say Underdome is dead last for me. I grind through the 5 rounds Prove Yourself mission to get the skill point, but that’s as far as I’m capable of going.
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I like the Zombie Island DLC best, because it’s different and fun. Knoxx is good because of the gear farm, but the driving nixes some of the enjoyment.
Worst is the Underdone, because of the random modifiers and how freaking long it takes. I live with my parents, and my father apparently cannot call in his own fast food orders or go pick them up, so finding an uninterrupted four-hour stretch in which to do the long rounds is next to impossible. Last time, I warned them for two months before the last arena, but they didn’t get it, and we were 20 minutes in when the yell came to drive to a restaurant 10 minutes away to get food. When I said I couldn’t, my father sent mom instead and told her not to buy any for me because “I wasn’t being obedient” XP
And the modifiers suck, too. My absolute nightmare round is vampire (health drain), naked (no shields), speed boost and jump boost. Everything moves so fast you miss more than you hit, tiny jumps send you halfway to the damn moon, you’re constantly losing health, and you have no shields to stop the aimbot enemies from destroying you
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I think GBX learned from that with the Mutator Arena in the TPS Claptrap DLC - many of the same modifiers, but you can dial them in your self. I doubt I will ever complete the long challenges in the Underdome, simply because 4 uninterrupted hours is a very rare thing to have.
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1 - Robolution
I find this one to be the most creative and challenging. And of course the gift shop is awesome.
2 - Underdome
While this is really a grind and time sink, I do find it interesting and challenging
3 - Knoxx
Really not last just because of Craw. Without craw it would be last simply because of all the driving.
4 - Zombies
Ug. I do not like the never-ending waves of dumb zombies. They’re not particularly challenging, just a time sink, I typically try to run past them without battle. I also don’t have any particular gear there that I want.
–RoA
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It always annoyed me that they didn’t put any unique gear in the zombie and robo dlcs. And then Knoxx has what…6 ? Not including pearls? There could have been like a couple of unique jakobs weapons in zombie. And hyperions in robo. Something on par with say…the madjack. Something worth farming for to get a perfect one. Seems like a minimal amount of effort and data to vastly improve return value.
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Robolution. You can tell it’s the last DLC because of the absurdity it gives off, from the loot, to the dialogue and story. Although the thing it had going on with pain and masochism was a bit off-putting. It also gives you a skill point, and an SDU half way through (after the first mission with some grenade jumping). Also, obviously the chest room. With the increase in rarity in the remaster, it just feels like they are trying to make up for the negative aspects of the randomness. Hey, I’m ok with that.
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Zombie DLC. Always one I usually rush through for the SDU, but it’s story is pretty on point, and absurdly entertaining. “Dude, we just talked about this!” Plus, zombie TK! (before his Flanderization in the 2nd game). It can irritate me a bit if I don’t have good gear/build when I get mobbed by zombies, because it’s at points in the story where that is supposed to be a running joke. Not too bad to run through though, especially if you know the short cuts. Also, the remaster made the Jackobs vending machine all Jackobs (except for the item of the day), a great place to farm Jackobs legendaries when you’re at/near max level.
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Moxxi DLC. Not very fun solo, but it has it’s place. You get a skill point at the end. Moxxi is a great character of course, her introduction in this DLC felt like they were comfortable making her actually MAD, and not trying to make her a semi-motherly figure like in BL2.
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General Knoxx. Great story. Great side missions. Great farming. Too much driving, and NO FAST TRAVEL! It’s such a shame whenever I do this DLC, which isn’t often at all, because why bother? I never do any of the many side quests. There is just too much driving around to be done. Really disappointed when they didn’t fix this in the Remaster. Probably because it’s basically a free add-on from a current market stand-point, so who cares if it’s flawed? It’s basically free. I’ll never stop saying how much of a screw-up it was, simply because this DLC would be the best one if it wasn’t so terrible.
On a side note, Borderlands 1 DLC is where I feel there was the best mix of camp, and dark humor. The base game felt boring at times with the story, but still generally good, especially if you read the missions. The 2nd game’s emphasis on comedy in literally every single dialogue line has some great payoffs, but it comes off a bit strong, and sometimes you get a miss. The first game has a level of camp where they stretch their legs, but also don’t try too hard. It feels like more of a “you get it” thing, because they already know you bought the game.
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Excellent write up, thank you!
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