Borderlands 2 was one of the big successes of 2012. The game was released on September 18 of last year, and has been universally praised by critics. Even its downloadable content additions are widely seen as superior to those made available for the first Borderlands. And while they aren’t masterpieces in and of themselves, each addition to the game offers players more reasons to shoot thugs and collect increasingly cool gear – which is the whole point of the Borderlands franchise to begin with.
While the majority of Borderlands 2 players are enjoying the title on a machine capable of pulling down the game’s wide selection of existing DLC, there are those who, for whatever reason, just can’t access the content via the Internet. Maybe they have a poor connection or simply abhor the idea of sending their credit card info over the ‘net; whatever the reason, developer Gearbox Software and publisher 2K Games hate the idea that these people might miss out on any Borderlands 2 content and the duo have thus decided to issue the DLC created for the title as part of a retail disc release. Or at least most of it.
Properly dubbed the “Borderlands 2: Add-On Content Pack,” this disc will debut on February 26 and feature a $30 price tag. For their money, players are given access to the game’s first two campaign add-ons (Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty and Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage), as well as the Mechromancer character, and the Creature Slaughter Dome. Further, those who purchase the Add-On Content Pack will also receive a number of special (low level) guns, a couple of extra skins and heads for your characters, and one of the precious Golden Keys that opens the even more precious Golden Chest in the middle of Sanctuary. All of those words make a lot more sense if you’ve played Borderlands 2.
While the campaign add-ons were released as standard downloadable content additions, the rest of it was originally earmarked for release alongside the game’s Collector’s Edition iterations and for those who pre-ordered Borderlands 2. If you were to purchase all of these items from the Xbox Live Marketplace you’d be staring down a total of $40, so the Add-On Content Pack’s $30 price point seems like a solid bargain for those still lacking Borderlands 2’s DLC.
Though it may offer you savings, this retail release seems a bit premature. Not only does it fail to include the extant third campaign addition for Borderlands 2 (Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt), it also emerges before Gearbox has fully announced the fourth campaign addition. It was long ago confirmed that those who purchase the Borderlands 2 Season Pass (also $30) would be given eventual access to at least four campaign additions, but beyond that Gearbox has yet to say anything about the mysterious fourth campaign add-on. Maybe the February 26 release of this retail disc will push the firm to shed some light on its DLC plans.
While the season pass that gives you all four DLC expansions as well as the Mechromancer class is the better value, this Add-On Content Pack sounds like a pretty solid deal for those who are getting into Borderlands 2 a bit late in the game or can’t download the DLC for whatever reason. It’s important to remember though that the $30 disc does not include Borderlands 2 itself. You’ll need to own some iteration of the $60 game for the Add-On Content Pack to function.
