I've been promising a quick overview of the kinda-recent Borderlands expansions - or DLC - for a while, but life has conspired against my gaming time! But I have managed to grab sufficient time in both the add-on packs now to give you my views on whether Dr. Ned & Mad Moxxi are welcome characters to the wonderful world of Pandora...

For once I will try to keep this short, dear reader, as - in truth - there is a limited amount you can say about these appendages to the larger game (some would say, after all, that these only amount to 'more of the same').

DLC - Are they worth it?
DownLoadable Content has a bit of a poor reputation among gamers. I guess the Holy Grain for DLC among developers is the example of the 'SIMS', where expansion after expansion was eagerly awaited by the fans of the game, and purchased with much relished no matter how little it actually added to the basic game itself. Many would say that DLC - or game expansions as we used to call them - are actually money for old rope, but the Borderlands developers has tried hard to give players a bit of variety...

The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned
So what do you actually get for your £6.50? In the case of Dr. Ned you get a plethora of new locations to explore - starting with Jakob's Cove - and a amusing new mission/storyline. No there aren't any new weapons, character upgrades or special skills - this is just an extension to the basic game, but the excellently detailed 'spooky' landscape, shambling zombies and new bosses give you many more hours of fun for your bucks (it is estimated that in total this new mission is playable in about four hours).

Highlight of this DLC are the fun locations. I was struck by the 'Scooby-Doo'-ness of it all, and the usual Borderlands humour added to this cartoon-horror theme to make for a real fun experience.

Milgeek's score:

'Scooby-Doo, where are you?' Some of the lovely spooky scenery in 'Dr. Ned', all beautifully tongue in cheek.

Mad Moxxie's Underdome Riot
While Dr. Ned was aimed at those Borderlands fans who wanted more missions, Mad Moxxie provides a bit of a niche format which will please perhaps only a specific lot of you Pandora freaks. Remember the fight arenas dotted around Pandora in the original game? Well Mad Moxxi is one big 'fight club' for those of you who reveled in the frantic death match flavour of these 'Thunder Domes'!

Remeber these guys? Well, you get to kill them all over again - whoopee-do!

There are only three arenas to be dabbled with, each with their own particular look - but this seems to matter little as your adversaries are all the same old guys - plus bosses - you met in the original game.

Like Dr. Ned, there are no new weapons, no special abilities and no new character classes. There is just wave after wave of manic assassins out for your blood (and those of your team mates) topped off with old favourites like One-Eyed Jack or King Wee Wee et al.

Milgeek's score:

For the real Borderlands geek this little screen represents what is perhaps the best reason to buy 'Mad Moxxi'. This is the Bank, where you can now store all those extra goodies that you want to keep, but don't want to carry with you!

The bottom line...
Gearbox seem to be trying to cater for very specific player needs with these first two DLCs. Dr. Ned is for those of you who liked the quirky humour with it's in-jokes and is mission led (great for single players), while Moxxi is all about combat in the most basic form (and is defiantly a team sport).

The main complaints about these add-ons I have heard - aside from the lack of any new toys to play with - has been the usual moans about the stupid AI (surprise, surprise) and the inconsistent hardness - Dr. Ned seems quite easy while Moxxi's arenas can be devilishly hard at times.

Having said this, all due respects to Gearbox for trying to be different - Dr. Ned in particular showed a ingenuity in design and humour that hit the mark dead center!

But Borderlands fans will not be amused if this 'more of the same' (in different clothes) continues - they want more than a 'Bizzilion guns', they want new characters and more challenging bosses...

Well the good news is that Gearbox has leaked news of the next DLC - 'The Secret Armory of General Knoxx' - and it *seems* to be a move in the right direction. Furthermore, there is talk that Gearbox will also raising the level cap at some point and this may be the final fling for DLC for Borderlands 1 (IMHO).

The only other DLC I for one would like to see would be some sort of vehicle arena/death race add-on (so that the DLCs will have have consisted of two mission led add-ons and two arena based add-ons). After this, players will be ready for Borderlands 2!

Read more about 'The Secret Armory of General Knoxx' at Kotaku: Borderlands' "Largest DLC" Yet Is The Secret Armory of General Knoxx