Claptrap's New Robot Revolution Review

By BatRastered — November 21, 2010
Tags: borderlands dlc pc ps3 review xbox-360

Borderlands' 4th DLC and a scaling patch add even more to an already addictive game

I've played a lot of Borderlands since it was released last year. Gearbox has done a great job supporting it and keeping it interesting with DLC. First there was the Zombie Island of Dr Ned. A few good hours of extra game play and some extra backpack space, add in a zombie apocalypse and you're in for a good time. Next was Mad Moxxie's Underdome Riot. I had some problems with this one as it didn't add much beyond a bank to hold some extra gear, but it did give you the opportunity to play against waves of enemies over and over again. The third DLC was The Secret Armory of General Knoxx. Knoxx added 11 levels to the level cap (bringing it to 61) and added a ton of gameplay and new enemies to fight. The Secret Armory will likely be nominated for best DLC this year. We thought this was the end of Borderlands until the inevitable sequel. As it turns out, we got one more parting gift from Gearbox.

The fourth (and final?) DLC is called Claptrap's new Robot Revolution and takes place after the events of the main game. Your friendly robot guide from the game (CL4P-TP, aka Claptrap) has been reprogrammed into an Interplanetary Ninja Assassin! He was supposed to just kill you, but he noticed all his fellow claptraps being “subjugated” and decided to set them all free and start a revolution. The expansion is filled with historical symbolism (Che Guevara and Stalin style posters, but with claptraps instead, references to the robot “proletariat”). Borderlands has always been one of the smartest and funniest games around with this type of thing and the Robot Revolution does not dissapoint.

In his attempt to take over the planet, Claptrap and his buddies have robot-ized all your former enemies from the original game, even bringing many bosses back from the dead. Unfortunately, the robot versions of these baddies don't seem to behave any differently than their “fleshbag” counterparts.

The levels are large and there are lots of cool, hidden areas to explore with none of the long freeway driving that plagued Knoxx, although it does feel at times that certain levels wind unnecessarily just to make you walk farther.

Of course, I can't talk about Robot Revolution without mentioning the scaling patch that was released a few weeks later. The patch both raised the level cap an additional 8 levels (to 69, hah!) and fixed the pre-Knoxx part of the game to scale up to your level, making the game challenging again. I held off playing the Robot Revolution until the patch was available as I didn't want to complete a bunch of missions and not level up knowing the patch was just around the corner. This is really my only complaint about the DLC is that the patch didn't drop first or at the same time.

If you own a copy of Borderlands, you really should play this DLC, at ~~1200~~ 800 MSP ($10 US) it's a hell of a deal, and the patch is free. I still think the General Knoxx DLC adds a little bit more than this for the same price, so if you can get only one, go for that. If you don't have Borderlands yet, you can pick up the Game of the Year Edition which includes all 4 DLCs, for hundreds of hours of looting and shooting!

Verdict: Buy

Borderlands