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Introduction

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, dyin’ time’s here! The first expansion to the roleplaying shooter Borderlands introduced the Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, a healthy helping of Halloween leftovers that debuted closer to Thanksgiving. The ample serving of new enemies, new locations, and new storyline was enough for one or more bounty hunters to tackle. The new content, however, is geared a bit more towards group play.


Gameplay

Remember the Circle of Death missions and Mad Mel, arena battles featured in the Borderlands campaign? This DLC introduces three new arena maps that build on that formula, with your host Moxxi tweaking the rules a bit to keep the gameplay fresh. For those who make it far enough, however, the prizes are worth the trials.

The only available mission in this expansion calls for the completion of the “small tournaments,” indicated by doors 1-3 in the lobby area of the Underdome. These tournaments consist of five rounds in each arena, and each round consists of five waves: Starter Wave, Gun Wave, Horde Wave, Badass Wave, and Boss Wave. The waves are separated by brief intermissions during which MEGA Ammo and MEGA Health pickups rain from the sky. These boosts are only available for a few seconds, so it’s best to dash for them once they make their appearance. At the end of the Boss Wave the loot appears beneath Moxxi’s perch, and it too only hangs around for a few seconds (though this period is a little longer than the lifespan of the pickups). At the end of each round there is a ten second countdown after dropping the boss; the loot disappears just before this countdown finishes, and the scoreboard pops up to display the number of kills each player can claim. Players will also notice their health/shield/ammo topped off during this period.

Bust a Deal and Face the Wheel!

As the rounds climb, so does the difficulty. Enemies start off with reductions to modifiers like damage dealt, shield power, but as the rounds progress, enemies instead will get bonuses in these areas. Moxxi really mixes things up after the first round by introducing the Ring o’ Death, a randomizer that adds special rules to the match. Some of these rules are simple; SMG Challenge and its ilk grant bonus damage to the applicable weapon, while reducing damage of other weapon types. Other rules might completely change a player or group’s tactics; Low Gravity allows players to jump higher, permitting a clever Hunter to find a sniper’s perch while his Soldier partner ensures that their ammo never depletes. While one rule might spice things up a bit and two introduce a challenge, in the big tournaments the players will find themselves juggling up to four rules at once, one rule per five rounds.

Presentation

With only three new arenas (Hell-Burbia, Angelic Ruins, and The Gully) and a waiting room of sorts, Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot doesn’t add a whole lot of eye candy when compared to the literal island of new content that was served up with the first expansion. No matter. The art style has stayed the same and the focus is clearly gameplay here. Once you jump in you’ll feel right at home…that is, if your home is a murderous gladiatorial pit.

Extras

One of the first (and welceome) additions you’ll notice in the DLC is an inventory bank. The player will be able to purchase up to three SDUs from one of the nearby vending machines in order to maximize bank space, pushing the number of open slots to an appreciable 42. So what’s the catch? There is no catch. The bank is accessible as soon as the player fast travels to the Underdome lobby.

We’re the Waiting Ones

If a player dies in multiplayer they are sent to the Penalty Box until the end of the Wave. While in this Penalty Box high above the arena the player can still lend a helping hand (or gun) and help teammates still in the fray. It is worth noting that my connection briefly dropped twice during a Big Tournament; I reestablished the connection to find myself in the Penalty Box, where I had to wait until the new Wave to join my friends. I still received my Achievement at the end of the tourney for completing the Big Tournament. A glance to my inventory revealed that I had lost no money, a penalty typically inflicted when a player dies.

Rants and Raves

Rants

• Player bank
• Arenas cater to strategy or shoot-em-up styles
• Up to two additional skill points rewarded (finish the new quest on Playthrough 1 and Playthrough 2)
• Most challenging content to date
• Gives a second chance to the colorful bosses that were steamrolled in the original game

Raves

• No way to save progress until the tournament is finished (makes for agonizing Big Tournaments)
• White loot drops even in four player, 50th level, 2nd Playthrough Big Tournaments are a disappointment
• No new plot arcs
• The three new maps can become stale after a few tournaments
• Only one quest

Conclusion
Mad Moxxi may not bring much to the table with storyline, but she definitely amps up the difficulty. This second DLC for Borderlands helps resuscitate a title that lost a little momentum to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Hordes of Guardians, skags, and bandits paired with the Ring o’ Death will truly test your gunslinging skills, and tournaments ranging in duration from an hour to four hours will test your bladder. Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot also delivers just what the players asked for in bonus skill points and storage space, proving that someone up there (other than the Guardian Angel) is listening to your prayers.

Score: 8.0