In what's sure to get everyone up in arms, the first batch of downloadable content that will be made available for Borderlands has been announced... before the game has even hit store shelves.
Planned for release later this year, "The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned" will be available for all platforms for $9.99 (or 800 MS Points). The description from the press release:
Tasked with keeping the workers of Jakobs Cove alive, Dr. Ned (who is not related to Dr. Zed from Fyrestone) does his job a little too well, creating zombies and other abominations that now run rampant in this region. Players will have to work alongside Dr. Ned as they embark on a quest to cure the inhabitants of Jakobs Cove in this full-fledged expansion filled with new enemies, new quests and rare loot drops.
As someone who's played the game extensively (but can't say anything about it), this sounds like a good time to me. Zombies? Loot? Abominations?!?! Sign me up. But for those who haven't played the game, it probably doesn't mean too much. I mean, do you even know you Dr. Zed from Fyrestone is?
Of course you don't, because the game comes out next week, on October 20. Now, before you pull out your pitchforks and start waving around the "This is content that should have been included on the disc" or "Free or not for me!" signs, keep a few things in mind...
One, Borderlands -- the game that's shipping to stores -- has basically been "in the can" for awhile now. Two, I'm pretty positive that folks are working to complete this DLC right now; they're probably staying late and missing time with their families and friends (or sleep) so they can meet some kind of deadline. This is after they probably crunched to get the actual disc-based game finished in time for release.
We don't know how big this additional bit of content is, but like Bethesda's post-Fallout 3 DLC plan, it appears to be one episode of many. We have to hope that whatever Gearbox has planned for its DLC, it'll be significant enough to warrant laying down some extra dough.
While I can't say too much about Borderlands (embargoes and all), I can say this -- it's unlikely you'll feel like you're "missing" anything. There are 87 bazillion guns included in it, after all.
Contest:
7:40 PM on 10.15.2009
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Regardless, I'm glad it's releasing later this year and not later next week.
Would've been easier being on GFWL though...
800 points? A bit steep for a map isn't it. I could buy a full game for that price.
I have a question though, when does the review/info embargo get lifted? Are you allowed to at least disclose that? I'm being tortured by the very little information that has come out so far and I want to start seeing some more official stuff!
The fact that this is a full-fledged expansion and not just some random junk (Volition, I'm looking straight at ya) give me high hopes. And I'll need a bigger harddrive.
Maybe outrage here was defused by my post jump rant about how people should calm down. Or so I'd like to think. I certainly expected more of an outrage. This is the Internet we're talking about here! Where's the petition? This has been announced for like, a few hours already. God, people.
I don't think it's nearly as bad as the RE5 bullshit. This is an extra mission and play area similar to the Fallout DLC, not an incredibly basic game mode that should have been included on the disc already (and I'm sure this will be larger than a few KB, or however tiny the Vs mode was).
Since this is going to be 1/6th (1/5 on PC) the price of the full game we can only assume there will be 14.5 bazillion additional guns that come with it, right?
@Trevor McGee: Classic George Romero zombies are timeless. This new look fast zombie bullshit got old halfway through 28 Days Later. Hopefully it's the former.
@TheJesusNinja26: Word. Definitely leading the pack for GOTY among games I have yet to play.
Nervous about this. I like the art style, but not putting a demo out before release implies you are hoping people will preorder without reading any reviews or playing it. Not always a good sign. I don't think they even garunteed a demo post release, did they?
I also heard that if you go into one of Borderlands' oceans an alien seal will bite off your hand. That, and you get to the Awkward Chicken Dance as a victory move.
Well I heard that if you move the truck behind the S.S. Anne you'll get the Boarderlands DLC for free.
So once again, fuck yes.
MOAR ZOMBIE PLZ!!!
And after that we can, I dunno, do space again or somethin'. Or dinosaurs. That seems like a good next big thing to get tired of.
Hey, hermanos.
They cut nothing out. This DLC was being made after the game went gold. This isn't day one DLC. Their announcement of this is supposed to be a little teaser. To be declaring that this should be on the disc would mean that the release date would have to be pushed back since the content was made after it went gold, which would call an uproar with such a highly anticipated game. And they just can't give the DLC away for free because that's not fair to the programmers who spent hours and hours making this DLC, they should get something in return.
Fair play gear box, reckon i'll buy borderlands and the dlc if i enjoy the game enough.
Happy uncharted day people! (here in the uk)
I've been reading your comments and I'm excited to hear that some of you are looking forward to our zombie themed DLC. For those of you who think this should have been in the game already, or that we held something back to cash in I just wanted to let you know we started working on this basically the moment Borderlands went into MS and Sony certification. None of the zombies or new maps existed before we started at that moment and we are still working on this content right now. The DLC team basically passed up vacations to continue to crunch to get you guys more awesome stuff before the year is out. I think it it was worth it and I hope you'll enjoy it.
If this content was in Borderlands proper you guys wouldn't be playing Borderlands next week and would still have a while to wait. That's not cool right? We love this game and hope you will too. We announced the DLC now because we wanted you guys to know right away that we are behind this game and will be supporting it with new content for you to enjoy.
We appreciate all of your interest and comments on Borderlands and hope to see you in-game next week!
Thanks,
Paul Hellquist
Design Director, Borderlands DLC
Gearbox Software
Also, I'm getting tired of zombies, but if it is well executed, then I see no harm being done...at the moment. Carry on Gearbox. You have my interest.