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Borderlands 2: Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt Review for Xbox 360

Borderlands 2: Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt Review for Xbox 360

Not The DLC You’re Looking For

So, I’m just going to go out and say it: Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt isn’t really the Borderlands 2 expansion we’ve been waiting for. Sure, it carries over much of the charm from the main game (and the exceptional Captain Scarlett DLC), but that’s a charm that’s starting to wear a little thin. It’s almost as if Gearbox has a checklist of features they need to tick—more loot, new enemy types, new environments, new psychopathic boss to taunt you all the while, a new monster with “The Invincible” as a surname to encourage you to hit level cap and call up your friends, and so on—and once they put checkmarks in those boxes, they simply tie a pretty little bow on their DLC and send it off to the elders of the Internet.

Now, I want to be clear about something here. Sir Hammerlock’s is still better than a good portion of the DLC that’s hitting the market these days. This isn’t just a new class, some exclusive guns, or a $5 paint job for your vehicle; this is actually a six-or-so-hour mini-campaign. It’s just that this content was sort of advertised as a getaway from all that psychopath-killing and corporation-usurping that was going on in the main campaign. We wanted, you know, something a bit more relaxing and gentlemanly, like exploring a brand new environment while turning the local wildlife into steaming piles of giblets. And we wanted a level cap increase.

Borderlands 2: Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt Screenshot

Actually, besides the main storyline campaign (which should only take you a few hours), the rest of the content is actually pretty good. There’s a healthy helping of side missions, and those tend to fall more in line with the tone we were expecting of something with the words “Big Game Hunt” in the title. You will be hunting wild creatures and gathering eggs while a man is making a documentary on your hunt, meaning you get to hear your adventure narrated with that old fashioned Borderlands style of dark humor. Oh, and Claptrap is back for some of the more entertaining parts of the campaign.

Also, to Gearbox’s credit, Dr. Nakayama—the DLC’s main villain—had me laughing out loud in a few places. (His surprise ending was especially good. Wait, that might have been a spoiler.) I just wonder why we had to have an antagonist at all. Wasn’t man vs. Pandorian wilds enough conflict for this mini-expansion? And Handsome Jack was such a great villain that no DLC antagonist is going to be as well-written or fleshed out as he was. So why does Gearbox insist on inventing new villains to distract us from our hunt?

Borderlands 2: Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt Screenshot

Another weird little quirk is that there’s a new type of loot box scattered across the landscape, and it requires an absurd amount of Eridium to be deposited before it opens up for you. Sure, it’s a nice way to get rid of some of that Eridium that no doubt starts piling up once you’ve purchased everything available in the Black Market on Sanctuary, but the price seems a tad steep. In fact, you should only expect to open one or two of them over the course of the entire campaign.

Still, there is some legitimately cool new stuff here. For example, toward the beginning of the campaign there’s an optional quest that has you searching for rare monster types and filling them with bullet holes. Now, this is the exact type of quest I was hoping to see in this DLC, though the creatures on the list are so rare that you’ll have to do some grinding to get them all. Which I’m actually perfectly okay with.

Borderlands 2: Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt Screenshot

There are new enemy types as well, including a plethora of savages. The most menacing of all of these are the various types of elemental Witch Doctors that, if I may be so blunt, are a huge pain in the ass. They deal massive amounts of elemental damage and can insta-heal themselves and their allies. Some of them can even turn into tornadoes or swarms of bats, which can mess you up pretty good while you’re unable to deal any damage. They can be frustrating, but here’s a tip: Kill them with fire. Yes, make sure you have some sort of fire elemental weaponry before you try to tackle these guys.

Oh, and speaking of elemental damage types, there’s a cool new feature here. The new “Swamp Vehicle” resembles the sort of hovercraft you’d find in the Everglades, and whenever you spawn one, you can choose the elemental damage type of its mounted cannon. That’s actually incredibly helpful, as it allows for slightly more strategic use of vehicular manslaughter.

Borderlands 2: Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt Screenshot

And there are still the requisite Easter eggs that pay tribute to other game series. For example, I can tell the folks at Gearbox are probably excited for Dead Space 3, as I discovered a weapon called the Plasma Cutter. Though it bears little resemblance to Isaac Clarke’s iconic weapon of the same name, it ended up being my most-used weapon throughout the campaign.

Unfortunately, what it all boils down to is that Gearbox has set such incredibly high expectations with the Captain Scarlett DLC that it’s going to be nearly impossible to live up to those consistently while keeping the DLC coming out in a timely fashion. And that’s really the biggest problem with Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt; we’ve been expecting so much from it. It’s not a bad deal for ten bucks, but it’s shorter than we had hoped, there’s no level cap increase, and the Trophy/Achievement offerings are meager once again.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.5 Graphics
Same great Borderlands style, though texture pop-in is starting to become an issue. 4.5 Control
As comfy as we remember. 4.3 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The voice acting is still great, including the brand new Dr. Nakayama, but there’s a lot less of it here than in previous DLC packs. 3.0 Play Value
Borderlands 2’s DLC packs keep getting shorter. 3.8 Overall Rating – Good
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 – 1.9 = Avoid 2.5 – 2.9 = Average 3.5 – 3.9 = Good 4.5 – 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 – 2.4 = Poor 3.0 – 3.4 = Fair 4.0 – 4.4 = Great 5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

  • The Best guns in Borderlands 2 yet!
  • Defend Hammerlock’s Hacienda.
  • To Hunt and Be Hunted.
  • All New Swamp Location.
  • New Swamp Vehicle.
  • New Heads & Skins.

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