Throwback Thursday Review – DLC Remix – Mass Effect 3 – Omega

When going into a game, you never really know what kind of DLC the developer has in store for you, but with Mass Effect 3 everyone knew there was going to be an Omega DLC. Why? Maybe because before the release of Mass Effect 3 there was a comic book, that actually came with the game if you had the deluxe edition, that showed how Aria, ruler or Omega, had lost Omega to Cerberus and the Illusive Man. Hmm…kinda obvious right? Anyway, keep reading to see if the DLC lived up to the expectations created for it.

Even though there’s the Reaper threat that Shepard needs to stop, it’s vitally important that she also takes back Omega for Aria. Why? Who knows. Anyway, you’ll travel from the Citadel where Aria has been forced to stay since Omega was taken over back to Omega and help Aria rally her people and take it back. During this DLC you’ll be introduced to Nireen, the first female Turian in a Mass Effect game, who has been trying to take down Cerberus as well. You’ll also learn that Aria and Nireen have some history with each other. Most of the time it’ll be you and Aria with Nireen helping you out every now and again as you try to figure out a plan to get Aria back on her throne.

Bonus for Renegade Shepard If you play strictly as Renegade Shepard, take all of the Renegade options, do all of the Renegade interrupts, Aria will reward both male and female Shepard with a kiss at the end of the DLC. It seems that she kind of enjoys the kiss a little bit more with female Shepard, but that’s just me.

Like I said before, everyone knew this DLC was coming. Not because of the little end message that was removed from Mass Effect 3 that basically said “buy our DLC”, but because it’s all Aria talked about when you visited her in the Citadel. She talked about it so much that I was surprised there wasn’t an option for you to enter your credit card number for it to unlock right then and there as one of the chat options. None of that matters though if the DLC is actually good right? Well, when it comes to this DLC we can call it the “Arrival” of Mass Effect 3 because it had to be the worst piece of DLC released for this game. It’ll take you about 90 minutes to complete, separate you from the rest of your crew, not even be acknowledge by your crew, and really has no point because after it ends because Aria is still on the Citadel. Of course she has some excuse for still being on the Citadel, but it was a huge waste of time to even play this DLC. This DLC is what I like to call a “lore” DLC. The only purpose of this DLC was to basically learn more about Omega and Aria. Other than that it was pointless. All that hype for basically nothing.

This DLC, like most current DLC, fits right into the story without a problem. This DLC is no different and feels like it should have been part of the game to begin with. It was fun playing in a group with Aria because you’ll learn that she is an extremely powerful biotic that comes with new biotic moves that will really help you out in combat. Overall the DLC played nicely and there were no bugs or glitches.

The graphics are the same as the rest of the game, but Omega was fleshed out a little nicer than it was in Mass Effect 2. Although you didn’t get to do a lot of exploring, since it was strictly a battle type DLC where you had a mission and you did it, the graphics were still nice and really brought Omega to life. It would have been nicer if Omega became a hub area after this DLC, but that didn’t happen.

Play this DLC and do everything it has to offer in order to get yourself another three trophies to add to the list of Mass Effect 3 trophies. While two of them are story related and you’ll get them no matter what, there is a missable one where you’ll have to complete all the side missions. These have to be done before the final main mission. If not you’ll be locked out of it until another playthrough.

While multiplayer was a big part of this game, it wasn’t for the DLC. This is a solo DLC that you’ll play in game as your Shepard and has nothing to do with the multiplayer that was added into Mass Effect 3.

Overall I give this DLC a 1 out of 5.

What’s Great:
+ You’ll get to go back to Omega one last time.
+ A nice graphical representation of Omega.

What’s Not So Great:
– Medicore story at best that has no replay value and only lasts 90 minutes.
– One DLC that should have been included with the original game to begin with instead of sold off separately.
– Super pricey and it’s not even worth it.

I guess every game has to have bad DLC and this is it for Mass Effect 3. For something that was so heavily hyped throughout the actual game, it just didn’t deliver. This DLC could have had a lot of promise to it and it could have been so much more, but it just wasn’t. This had to be the saddest DLC for this game as it really had nothing to do with the actual game. The only thing you got out of it was some extra resources to add to your RBG ending. If you ask me, this was a total waste of $14.99. Yes that’s correct, $15 for DLC, and not even a good DLC. If it was up to me, I would say skip this DLC because you could spend your money on something else that would be worth it.

Unfortunately this is the last Throwback Thursday Review – DLC Remix. I had a really great time going back and reviewing these pieces of DLC that I had played before and never reviewed. It showed me that while I think I buy a lot of DLC, that I really don’t. This is a good thing because here I thought I was spending a lot of money on DLC and I’m actually not. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this series as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Throwback Thursday Review – DLC Remix – Mass Effect 3 – Leviathan

After the whole Mass Effect 3 ending debacle, was it real, was it not real, and if it was real could it really be this bad? I was still looking forward to what was in store DLC wise. I mean it said it right in the ending credits, before it was patched out. It was a big notice that basically said “BUY OUR DLC.” I thought there were huge things to come and was actually pretty excited about Leviathan. Keep reading to find out if that excitement lasted or if it was just a fading reality.

Lurking in the corner of deep dark space, that no one really knows about, is something that is so powerful that it could actually kill a Reaper. The Leviathan’s are so ancient that they have made sure to keep themselves hidden for so long, but with the Reaper threat knocking right on the galaxy’s door, Shepard knows that she has to find them in order to find a way to be able to take down the Reapers herself. Will she be able to find these creatures and if she does will they be willing to help her?

This DLC has an interesting premise if it actually follows through with it. Does Shepard find the Leviathan’s? Yes. Are they willing to help her take down the Reapers and save humanity…not in enough context that it actually helps or changes the ending. After everything you go through in order to find the Leviathan’s in the end it really doesn’t pay off though as you just get a few extra conversation lines with the famous star child at the end of the game. Still featured are your RBG endings so basically this DLC does nothing but give you lore about the Leviathan’s and some more lore about the Reapers. It in no way alters the outcome of the game. That being said, it’s an interesting DLC that will have you going to new unexplored places, have some aspect of the multiplayer objectives thrown in, and offer a well thought out story.

Meh… Needless to say, I was a little disappointed that this really didn’t help alter the endings in anyway. The extra conversation options with the Star Child could easily be passed up and you’ll still have to make the same decisions you did before the DLC. All you really get out of it is some more war assets that when it comes down to it, if I you played the multiplayer really makes no difference at all.

While this DLC plays exactly the same as the game, there are a bunch of bugs and glitches that never seem to get fixed and when I recently finished this DLC, I came across the same exact problems. For example, there’s a section where you’re looking for Ann Bryson and no matter what you do the game will crash at least once. Happens every single time that I play to the point of that I know exactly where to save and basically just wait for the crash. This is unacceptable. Other than that, everything else works just like the rest of the game.

The graphics for this DLC are really good and the new areas on the Citadel are fleshed out as well as the new areas that you’ll be able to explore. I really enjoyed the whole underwater thing and loved putting my Shepard in the mech suit and dropping her down into the ocean. This was one of the most awesome scenes in the game and it makes me wish there were more scenes like this since underwater areas were never explored within the trilogy.

Finish this DLC and do everything it has to offer in order to get yourself another 4 trophies. Each trophy just requires you to play and make sure you meet all of the objectives in the DLC. This is a pretty easy thing to do and if not, I’m sure everyone who plays Mass Effect 3 had multiple Shepards so if you missed one it shouldn’t be a problem to go back and get the trophy you missed in another playthrough.

While the game itself has multiplayer, none of the DLC released for the Single player has a multiplayer part to it. That being said, I was completely fine with this especially since the multiplayer DLC was not only free but released quite often enough to make up for it. I do wish that some of the areas in Leviathan were included in the multiplayer map, but I was just happy that some of the weapons were.

Overall I give this DLC a 3 out of 5.

What’s Great:
+ New and interesting story to expand on your Mass Effect 3 playtime.
+ An introduction of a new race that actually took down the Reapers.
+ Nice new areas to explore including a really neat underwater area.

What’s Not So Great:
– Nothing really major happens in the story itself that in anyway alters the ending. You’ll get some additional conversation options with Star Child, but that’s it.
– The DLC will crash on you at least once in the same spot each and every time.

This wasn’t the worst Mass Effect 3 DLC, but it was just ok. If you’re looking for something that will change the ending, this isn’t it. If you are interested in the whole lore aspect of the game and want to learn more about these new alien creatures, the Leviathans, and actually learn more about the Reapers then this is the DLC for you. Depending on how big of a Mass Effect fan you are, this DLC is basically a toss up. Love Mass Effect? You’ll want this DLC. Think that Mass Effect is meh? Then you’ll want to skip it.

Now for next week, the last Throwback Thursday Review – DLC Remix! Not only does this mean that this series is coming to an end but it also means I have to find something to replace it with. Anyway, a DLC for Mass Effect 3 that was so highly anticipated that it was hinted throughout the whole game, in comic books, and basically anything else that revolved around Mass Effect 3. Did it live up to hype? You’ll have to find out as my last Throwback Thursday Review – DLC Remix will be for Mass Effect 3: Omega.

Throwback Thursday Review – DLC Remix – Mass Effect 3 – From Ashes

From Ashes was one of those DLC’s that introduced a new character into the game and for a long time that was BioWare’s MO. They would release a game and if you wanted you could buy the “deluxe edition” that came with this extra character, or you could buy it later on for as much as they wanted to charge. The last time this was done was in Mass Effect 3, so let’s hope this was a thing of the past. Anyway, it was Mass Effect 3 so clearly I went out and bought the deluxe edition meaning I had this DLC from day one. Keep reading to see what I thought about this character DLC.

From Ashes adds in an extra mission into Mass Effect 3. It’s not like you’re trying to save the world or anything so you have time to go on these little missions here and there. Anyway, Shepard is supposedly looking for something Prothean that’s going to hopefully help the crucible build and stop the Reapers all together. Turns out it’s not so much of a Prothean device or anything, but an actual Prothean. The last of his kind, Javik, will take up arms with Shepard and try to help stop the Reapers once and for all.

While the mission for Javik is standard and not really all that interesting, the addition of Javik in your squad is really what makes this DLC. Unlike the scientist that Liara would have liked, Javik was a Prothean warrior and was basically trained to fight wars. He doesn’t take finding out that he’s the last of his kind very easily. Throughout the game, unlike in Mass Effect 2 with Kasumi and Zaeed, Javik has very strong opinions of what’s going on and what’s happening on the ship. If you go to talk to him in the middle of the game after certain missions or if certain people are on your ship he’ll have something to say about it. Most it is hilarious and some of it is just shocking. The best performance that is given by him though is if you take him on the mission with you to Thessia along with Liara. As Liara gives Shepard a Asari history lesson, Javik will debunk everything she is telling you and tell you how it really is.

KUDOS: If there’s one thing and one thing alone that BioWare does right, it’s make characters. Javik is a fully fleshed out characters who has problems of his own as he struggles to come to the realization that he is the only Prothean and that everyone else is dead. The voice acting for him as well is spot on and it makes the character come to life. Even though he’s only in the final game and you’ll never get to see him again he makes a lasting impression.

The addition of this character fits so well into the game itself that it makes you think it was like he was meant to be there all along but unless you entered in that special code, you were blocked off from him completely. That being said, everything with Javik runs smoothly and I’ve never played without Javik to know if the game runs differently without him. From what I’ve heard with or without him you’ll experience the same bugs and glitches throughout the game but I think that has to do with the game itself, and not the addition of Javik.

Having Javik only unlocks one area and it’s pretty standard in the Mass Effect universe and wasn’t anything special. Javik on the other hand was an extremely detailed character, like the rest of the characters in the Mass Effect universe. His detail graphic wise ranges from his movements to his facial expressions and they’re all done extremely well.

There are only two extra trophies to get when you install this DLC and they’re both pretty easy to get as long as you explore enough during the main mission to get Javik. I got these two trophies back to back so it really wasn’t a problem and there isn’t really a reason why they should be missed.

While Mass Effect 3 does have multiplayer, this DLC is not included in the multiplayer area so no worries there.

Overall I give this DLC a 3 out of 5.

What’s Great:
+ Unlock some new Prothean history and an actual Prothean with this DLC.
+ Javik responds to things that are currently happening on the ship and loves giving you his opinion.
+ Mass Effect 3 has an overall serious tone to it, but having Javik around kind of lightens things up at times and the things that he says are hilarious.

What’s Not So Great:
– This DLC is nothing but an overly obvious money grab. This character was meant to be in the game but was taken out as DLC just to gain more money and because of that, this DLC loses a lot of credit.

I would say that while Javik or this DLC isn’t needed for you to have the full Mass Effect 3 ending. You’ll still get the standard RBG ending no matter what, he does add something into the game. Is it worth the $9.99 it costs to add him in? Not really. I’m sorry, but as much as I enjoyed having this character around and as much as I used him, I would say that it’s really not worth spending the money on it. As always though, the choice is yours and if you want an extra character you’ll pay for him.

With only two more weeks of Throwback Thursday Review – DLC Remix to go, I’m happy to say that while we started this blog with a BioWare game we’ll also be ending it with a BioWare game. Totally not planned, just how it happened. Anyway, come back next week and I’ll let you know what I thought of the second DLC that came out for Mass Effect 3, Leviathan.

Throwback Thursday Review – DLC Remix – Mass Effect 2 – Arrival

If you know me then you probably already know that I’m a BioWare fan girl and that their games are some of my favorite games. Dragon Age of course comes in first with Mass Effect coming in as a very close second. If I had to count each game point wise to distinguish who got first place and who got second in my mind it’s separated by half a point. Seriously, these are my games and I know them inside and out. That being said, I also know the DLC inside and out because I’ve played so much. Arrival was one of those DLC’s that I waited to buy just about until Mass Effect 3 was coming out. I wasn’t big into DLC at the time, even though I loved Mass Effect 2 but I figured I wanted the whole story before Mass Effect 3. Was it worth it? Keep reading to find out.

Arrival can be played anywhere throughout the course of the game, but for my own cannon, I like to play it right after the suicide mission, assuming that my Shepard comes out alive. Let’s face it though, she’s Shepard so of course she makes it out along with her whole damn team because she’s that good. Anyway, you’ll do a special mission for Admiral Hackett to rescue a friend of his, Dr. Amanda Kenson. She’s being held in a Batarian prison for her deep undercover mission that basically pin points the arrival of the Reapers. Shepard of course wants to stop the Reapers, it’s been her mission through the series so she’ll save this doctor and hopefully help in saving the universe, but will she be in time? Turns out that she’s really not and no matter what she does the Reapers are coming. It doesn’t help that when she safely returns Dr. Kenson that she along with her whole team are basically indoctrinated. In the end, Shepard will have to make the hard choice of saving a colony of Batarians or destroying their relay to delay the Reapers.

OooOoo… I’m a really strong believer of the Indoctrination Theory when it comes to this trilogy. This DLC kind of goes with it because if you think about it, look at how indoctrinated those people were in the DLC just from being around the Reaper artifact. If by the end of this DLC Shepard isn’t indoctrinated then it’s kind of impossible considering how much Reaper tech she’s been around in the span of two games. I am interested to hear how many of you believe in the Indoctrination Theory as well so let me know your thoughts in the comments section.

I really did not like this DLC. It was a complete waste of money to me and I hate saying that because Mass Effect 2 is an awesome game. The DLC lasts about 90 minutes and really only serves as a reason to put Shepard in jail no matter what she does in the beginning of Mass Effect 3. That’s the only purpose of this DLC as well as to expose her to even more Reaper tech. (The Indoctrination Theory is real!) I didn’t like that after playing a whole game that depended on Shepard trusting her squad and her squad trusting her that she had to do this alone making it even less interesting because let’s face it, some of the more exciting and fun moments of this game comes with Shepard being paired off with two of her squad members. Other than that the only thing this DLC pointed out was the fact that “the Reapers are coming” which we already knew.

The playability of this DLC, which is the same as the rest of the game, is a little different because you now have to play differently since it’s only you. You no longer have a squad and can tell them where they need to be for the best line of defense because you’re the only line of defense. This lead to a few frustrating moments depending on what class you were playing. I found it most frustrating as a biotic since I feel that biotics depend heavily on other people. Anyway, that’s just me. Everything else for this DLC worked perfectly though and played right into the game without a problem.

The graphics for this DLC were the same as the rest of the game itself. The area’s you’ll get to explore are new and fully fleshed out. That being said, I like the overall graphics for Mass Effect 2. I will say that I have played this DLC recently, about a year ago, and I still think that they hold up today and if this is your first time playing that there shouldn’t be a problem.

Trophies, there are an additional three trophies added to Mass Effect 2 thanks to this DLC. Two of them are unmissable and just require you to play the DLC, the third on the other hand is a pain. There is a point in the game where you’ll be attacked by five waves of enemies. No matter how you look at it it’s going to end the same way, so die right away or fight your way through five waves. Here’s a tip though, if you want the trophy you’ll fight your way through the five waves of bad guys that isn’t easy considering you’ll have to do it alone.

There’s no multiplayer for this game and I have to say that when I first heard that multiplayer was going to be introduced into Mass Effect 3 I rebelled against it. Little did I know that I would be spending 100’s of hours playing it. Anyway, this game and DLC are multiplayer free and that’s just fine.

Overall I give this DLC a 1 out of 5.

What’s Great:
+ The end of Mass Effect 2 and basically the beginning of Mass Effect 3.

What’s Not So Great:
– A 90 minute game play that no matter how you play results in the same outcome for the beginning of Mass Effect 3.
– Gone are the squad mates that you got so used to playing over 50 hours with them in the main campaign and Shepard will do this one Solo.
– This DLC let’s you know that the Reapers are coming, as if you didn’t already know that.

As much as I love this game and this franchise, I’m going to tell you to give this DLC a huge pass. It’s really not worth the money ($6.99) since it’s not going to change the outcome of anything. No matter what you do you’ll always be wrong and this is getting to the point that got a lot of people frustrated which was that your choices don’t matter. I would say that if you’re new to Mass Effect then you really don’t need this DLC and can just skip over it. If you’re a Mass Effect super fan you’re going to want to play it because it has some extra lore in it that you’ll probably enjoy.

Now for next week, I have to let you know that sadly this series is coming to an end as I only have an additional 3 DLC that I have completed to 100% and never reviewed them. Sad I know because I really liked this series and being able to go back and talk about some DLC that I finished. Anyway, we’ll be ending this series with Mass Effect 3 and we’ll start with the first DLC that was released from the game From Ashes. I’ll let you know what I thought about this DLC next week.

Throwback Thursday Review – DLC Remix – Mass Effect 2 – Zaeed: The Price of Revenge

This DLC was one of the DLC that came with the game but had to be downloaded separately because it wasn’t part of the package. It was weird, but anyway after finally hooking up my PS3 to the internet, it took me weeks to come up with a PSN name that I thought was so cool at the time and is now just a major face palm and then I downloaded this DLC. I had already played this game various different times and figured it would be nice to have an additional squad mate. Keep reading to find out what I thought about the overall DLC.

This is strictly a character DLC. Yes it comes with its own story, but mostly you’re paying to get a new character to add into your crew. Another person that you have to keep alive when it comes to Mass Effect 2 and if you already have your set squad, it’s probably someone who will sit in his part of the ship and say the same thing over and over again when you go to talk to him. Anyway, this DLC introduces you to probably one of the coolest guys in Mass Effect, Zaeed. Zaeed is a mercenary for hire and he’s only going to help Shepard if you help him. Isn’t that the way it works with any Mass Effect game / character? Anyway, you’ll get some backstory on Zaeed and find out he was one of the original members who had started the Blue Suns. You’ll learn that the other original member of the Blue Suns, a notorious gang in Mass Effect, is there and now Zaeed wants him dead. It’ll be up to you to go for the original mission or to help Zaeed get his revenge.

RIP In 2013, Zaeed’s voice actor Robin Sach’s died at the age of 61. Robin played the part of Zaeed perfectly and brought life to this character giving him some pretty memorable moments and some memorable quotes in the Mass Effect universe. I remember when he died there was a Mass Effect 3 MP event that paid tribute to him and a banner to go with it. That will always go down as one of my favorite banners for the Mass Effect 3 MP. Thank you for your work Robin, you did an amazing job and you are missed.

Character DLC’s are kind of BioWare’s thing. It’s not the greatest and this hasn’t been the first characters based DLC of theirs that I played. This being one of the earlier ones, isn’t really that great compared to my personal favorites which is From Ashes, but we’ll talk about that in another blog. Unfortunately I didn’t use Zaeed all that much because I pretty much had the perfect squad of Miranda and Garrus. Although I did enjoy the short story that went along with him, after that he didn’t really contribute that much to the overall game and he was kind of a take him or leave him character. Did you need him? No. Was he fun to have around? Yes.

Like with the rest of the game, the playability for this DLC had some very similar experiences of stalling and crashing. This is never fun, but it’s a common BioWare problem. That being said, it shouldn’t be excused and I think at this point the company should have this problem fixed but it seems to be a staple point in each game. Other than that, the DLC fits perfectly into the overall game making me think that Zaeed should have always been included and given a bigger part, but that’s just me.

The graphics for this DLC are the same even though you’ll be introduced to a new planet / area. It’s the typical structure for Mass Effect 2 along with some wildlife around it. It’s kind of a repeat of pattern that has been used in the game before and wasn’t all that original to begin with, but it works.

Finish this DLC and gain Zaeed’s loyalty to get 1 trophy. Yes 1 single trophy. Fail to get his loyalty and he’ll probably die at the end of Mass Effect 2 <- obvious spoiler, then you’ll have to play all over again to get the trophy. To get his loyalty you kind of have to play as a Renegade, but you can still do this and end up as a complete Paragon. I’ve done it multiple times and it wasn’t a big deal.

Mass Effect 2 was strictly a single player game, like all RPG games should be. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the introduction of MP in Mass Effect 3, but it just wasn’t needed. Yes it was fun and it made me dump 900 hours of my life into it and I can see dumping another 900 in the upcoming Mass Effect: Andromeda MP but this game didn’t need it and it didn’t have it.

Overall I give this DLC a 3 out of 5.

What’s Great:
+ The introduction of Zaeed who is an awesome character in the Mass Effect universe.
+ You get an extra mission and an extra squad mate at the end.

What’s Not So Great:
– Re-used area for Zaeed’s story based mission.
– After the mission, there’s not much for Zaeed to do because you probably already have your set squad mates.

This DLC was mediocre at best and basically a money grab for people wanting to add additional characters into an already overloaded ship of squad mates. Seriously this game had so many squad mates that you could have not had Zaeed and you would have never known the difference. That being said he is a really cool character and he’s well developed because that’s one thing BioWare does, they make sure each of their characters are memorable in some way and have these pretty cool back stories to go with them. Unless you are in desperate need of a new squad mate I would say skip this DLC unless it comes with the game, which in my case it did.

Now for next week, another Mass Effect 2 DLC. I waited a really long time to get this DLC because I thought it was a lot of money. Funny how now DLC’s range anywhere from $10 – $20 and here I was complaining. It’s not my favorite DLC and might even be the worst. You’ll have to see my full review next week of Mass Effect 2 – Arrival.

Throwback Thursday Review – DLC Remix – Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel – The Holodome OnSlaught (PS4)

Unfortunately, I have to say that Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, although it basically sets forth the events for Borderlands 3 and lets you play as my all time favorite Borderlands character, Athena, was a pretty disappointing game. Although I have the game on both the PS3 and the PS4, when it came to the DLC, the only reason why I played it was because it was already included with the PS4 version. I didn’t think this game warranted going out and buying additional DLC. Was my mind changed though after I played the first DLC for this game? Keep reading to find out.

The Holdome OnSlaught is the retelling of the main story for the game but through fighting different waves of enemies over and over again. Think of Bandit Slaughter from Borderlands 2 or Hyperion Slaughter. This time though, Athena will retell the story of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel to Tiny Tina, Axton, and Gaige. Each round will be specific to what happened in the actual story and will even include bonus objectives to complete depending on which part of the story Athena is telling.

Don’t get me wrong, I adore the slaughter houses in Borderlands 2. They were a huge improvement from the Moxxi DLC in the first Borderlands and didn’t feel like a chore in the second one. To have a whole DLC just based off of that though, wasn’t the best move in Borderlands history. Yes, it was funny to hear Athena retell the story and give a little insight to her relationship with Janey because everyone knows that I am a huge Athena/Janey fan. I’ve been shipping their relationship since day one, but putting all that aside, this DLC just wasn’t really all that great. After you finish you can go back and replay the last level over and over again, but the question is why?

This has all the same qualities of the other Slaughterhouses and preforms in a similar fashion. It works hand in hand with the game and plays flawlessly into the main game. I didn’t have any problems while playing this and overall it was a good experience with no bugs or glitches.

The graphics are the same Borderlands graphics that they’ve been using since day one and it’s one thing that really works for the series. I have to say that before playing the series, when I would see random clips of the game I would look at the graphics and scoff, but now I couldn’t see them using any other graphics for this series and they’ve become really enjoyable.

This DLC comes with an extra three trophies tacked onto it. All you have to do to get them is play through all five rounds along with the badass round and complete the badass round without going into fight for your life. If you’re using Athena this is pretty easy but I would think that if you play on regular mode and you’re a high enough level this would be easy even without using Athena.

I’ve said this more than once that Borderlnds is a co-op game and this DLC is no different. I do have to say though that I did complete this solo, all five rounds and the badass round without going into fight for your life, and it was alright. I could go back and play with some friends, but I really have no desire to. To tell the truth this DLC felt more like a chore and I didn’t want to have the trophies left hanging on my trophy card.

Overall I give this DLC a 2.5 out of 5.

What’s Great:

– The retelling of the Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel stuff just with violence.
– Athena and Tiny Tina make this DLC. Their interactions together are funny and this DLC would be even more boring without it.

What’s Not So Great:
– Not the best Borderlands DLC at all.
– Like the game itself, this Borderlands DLC is lacking that special quality that Borderlands 2 and its DLC had.
– Play it once and basically forget about it because there’s nothing to go back to.

This wasn’t a really great DLC, especially for a game that was already lackluster to begin with. I didn’t enjoy this DLC half as much as I did with the Borderlands 2 DLC and would actually rather play Sir Hammerlocks Big Game Hunt over and over again instead of playing this DLC. Not the best showing for Borderlands and hopefully this isn’t the direction that the overall series is going in because if it is, then I see a really sad end for a great game series.

Now for next week, well start on a new series all together. This is the series that I’ve played more times than I can actually remember. Even after having the platinum trophy, I still go back and play this game over and over again because it’s one of my favorites. I’ve completely finished this game and now have it at 100% on my trophy card so we’ll start next week with the first DLC for Mass Effect 2 which was Zaeed: The Price of Revenge.

Throwback Thursday Review – DLC Remix – Borderlands 2 – Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep

While I loved the first two DLC for Borderlands 2, how could you not, I was not impressed with the Sir Hammerlock DLC. They took one of my favorite Borderlands 2 characters and gave him a crap DLC. Now Tiny Tina is also one of my favorite Borderlands 2 characters. How could she not be. I mean, if you don’t like Tiny Tina, then…I just don’t even know what to say. Getting beyond that though I thought that giving her a DLC could go either way after the last DLC so keep reading to see what I actually thought of the DLC.

Taking place after the events of Borderlands 2 and leading into the opening events of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel which will then hopefully lead into the events of Borderlands 3, this DLC has Tiny Tina along with the original Vault Hunters, minus one, playing a game of Bunkers and Badasses. Tiny Tina serves as your narrator and overall world creator for this DLC as she takes you through a story. Not just any story though, it’s actually the story of Borderlands 2. But what’s different about it is that it’s coming from how a 13 year old sees it. How things went down in Borderlands 2 isn’t exactly how she see’s it and she’ll give you her perspective in this DLC that is both over the top and just a little sad at the same time.

I’m not crying! In Borderlands 2 you learn that Tiny Tina’s parents were murdered by none other than Handsome Jack. While you see her coping with that just fine, it’s because she has Roland who basically watches out for her and is her best friend. Taking place after the death of Roland, this DLC is all about Tiny Tina coming to terms with the death of her best friend. From the prospective of a 13 year old it’s a hard thing and this DLC shows that even though she’s this little psychopath who is hysterical she’s still a 13 year old girl who misses her best friend and still thinks he’s coming back. In a way it’s heart breaking and every time I play I promise myself that I won’t cry at the end, but I just can’t help it.

I loved this DLC. Just loved it. I know I loved the first two DLC, we can just forget about the third, but this DLC is the one that makes the game. I can play this DLC, even though it’s incredibly sad, over and over again. This takes the already over the top Borderlands and makes it even more over the top while still giving it an actual point. The story for the DLC alone is hands down the best out of all the DLC released for this game and just everything else about it cannot be topped. I seriously have no idea how the other Borderlands are going to compete because if I could only choose to play one DLC ever again it would be this one.

The playability is just like the other three DLC for this game and the game itself. While I did have some stability issues and a few minor glitches on the PS3, the PS4 version ran just fine for me. Overall the experiences were similar except for one little part that I’ll get to later. There are a bunch of new areas to explore with this DLC and a bunch of new enemies to shoot and areas to loot. This formula works for Borderlands and I wouldn’t change a thing about it. I’m just happy that the story telling aspect of the game has changed for the better.

Because this takes place in a fictional place, the environment is over the top and completely different which is just fine because that’s the premise of the whole DLC. Because the DLC is laid out like that, the overall graphics just work for this DLC and actually enhance it more. When it comes to the graphics for the DLC, this is a total winner.

Unlike the other DLC for this game, there are 10 trophies for this DLC. Some of them are playing the game and some are luck based. No matter how you look at it though, they’re all pretty simple and they just require you to farm a little and play like you normally would. I wouldn’t say that it makes you go out of your way more than you would already have to get a trophy.

Trophy Memories… By the time I played this on the PS3, I was coming very close to my 2,000 trophy. I know it seems a long time ago since I’m close to 7,000 now, but back to my story. I usually don’t plan my “milestone trophies” they come as they come and sometimes I get some really crappy ones. My 6,000 milestone trophy was called Mushroom, but this time I was extremely happy when trophy number 2,000 popped because it was the first trophy for this DLC which was I Totes Planned that Boss and I totally love seeing that on my trophy log. It’s very much a Tiny Tina thing to say and it’s just awesome.

Like the rest of this game, this DLC is meant to be played co-op style. The enemies are harder and the loot is better. By the time this came out on the PS3 I felt like I was playing with someone who had introduced me to this game out of obligation. Our friendship had gone downhill and we played most of the DLC in silence, both of us trying to find a reason to be like “Oh I have to go, we’ll play later” before signing out and playing alone. While that did put a damper on the whole co-op thing, there were times when there was that heard over the microphone sigh when someone died during a round of Murderlin’s Temple, it made me enjoy the co-op thing a lot less which was why I started playing this game by myself in the first place. Long story, yes longer than this, cut completely short I played this DLC with new people later on and have to say that you really need to play not only this DLC but the game as a whole with someone else who enjoys it as much as you do.

Hmm…which console to play on: Both! This is the one Borderlands 2 DLC that cannot be missed. Play it on both because I promise you that this will not be the one time that you play this DLC. And all those other times you play, you won’t regret it.

Overall I give this DLC a 5 out of 5.

What’s Great:
+ Tiny Tina! This is her journey and she makes the whole DLC.
+ The story for this DLC is over the top in that Borderlands 2 fashion that cannot be missed.
+ The 5 stages of grief all laid out in a nice little DLC for you that will have you crying your eyes out by the end.
+ Great graphics that are also over the top, but not really when you think about it coming from Tiny Tina’s perspective.

What’s Not So Great:
– Some stability issues on the PS3.

If you’re going to play only one DLC for Borderlands 2, let it be this one. It’s just the best DLC that this game has to offer and cannot be missed. In a world where DLC is now a common thing for every game and you have to figure out what’s worth it and what’s not, this one is without a doubt worth it. You won’t regret playing this and you’ll probably play it more than once.

While the Borderlands 2 DLC has sadly come to an end, I got one more Borderlands DLC for you in this series which is from Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. I only completed one of the DLC for this game which was The Holodome OnSlaught on the PS4 and I’ll let you know what I thought about it next week.

Throwback Thursday Review – DLC Remix – Borderlands 2 – Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt

I’m just going to put this out there that Borderlands 2 is like my game. I know what I’m doing, I know the ins and out of the game, contrary to popular belief I know how to level up my character that works for me, and I single handedly took down Terramorphus to help someone power level. That being said, I’ve also played all of the DLC to 100% completion which if you enjoy the game isn’t really that hard to do. Anyway, with Sir Hammerlock being one of my favorite characters I was excited to see a DLC revolving around just him. Keep reading to see if this DLC held up to my expectations that was set by the previous DLC.

Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt revolves around going on a hunting trip with the one and only Sir Hammerlock. He promises big game hunting, hence the title, but you’ll be confronted by Professor Nakayama. Professor Nakayama isn’t so pleased that you killed off Handsome Jack in the main campaign since he was kind of obsessed, maybe even in love, with him. So you’re going to have to take care of this one more loose end. You’ll have the professor to hunt down, some new monsters, and a few of the natives all ready for you to shoot and loot in a DLC that promises to be tons of fun.

While the DLC promises to be tons of fun, it sort of falls flat when you compare it to the other two DLC that came out before it. If you compare it to the DLC that comes out after it then you’ll see this DLC as a complete failure. Don’t get me wrong, in typical Borderlands fashion there’s a ton to do, but it’s just not fun or interesting. The maps are confusing as hell and you’ll have to hoof it most of the way around not to mention the farming that is mandatory in order to complete one of the quests. Not the best DLC in the Borderlands 2 universe as it lacks a good story and the overall replayability.

Whether you play on the PS3 or the PS4, the playability is similar to the main campaign of the game. I will say that I had some crashing issues while playing this DLC on the PS3, but didn’t have any issues on the PS4. Overall the game, including this DLC, was much more stable on the PS4. That being said if you’ve played Borderlands 2 then you’ll know how to play this DLC since it of course fits into the universe.

The graphics are the same as the rest of the game, but I wasn’t really digging the environments that were introduced in this DLC. I know they were going for the whole outdoors thing, but it just didn’t feel like it fit into the Borderlands universe. It was a weird edition that I really didn’t enjoy.

Finish this DLC and do everything it has to offer in order to get yourself another 3 trophies. The only problem you’ll have is with the completion trophy. That’s because one of the side missions in this DLC involves a bunch of farming and I can see some people saying screw this because it’s a pain in the ass. If you’re a trophy hunter you’ll go ahead and do it then because you just can’t have a DLC without having the 100% for it.

As with all of Borderlands, there is co-op for this DLC. I have to say that while I’ve had a blast playing not only the main campaign of the game with friends along with some of the DLC, this had to be the worst DLC to play with someone else. There was nothing really fun about playing with someone else as there was with the other DLC and it felt more like a chore. This time around I enjoyed breezing through this DLC all by myself. This is kind of sad in the Borderlands universe because I think we can all agree this game was never made with the intention that you should play by yourself.

Hmm…which console to play on: You probably already know I played this to completion on both the PS3 and the PS4. If I had to do it all over again…I would have rather saved my money and skipped the PS3 version and just play it on the PS4 since it was already included in the price. I’m going to say if you have both versions, skip the PS3 and just go for the PS4 to save yourself the hassel.

Overall I give this DLC a 2 out of 5.

What’s Great:
+ It was good to see a classic character from Borderlands 2 getting his own DLC.
+ You get to take down one more of Handsome Jack’s posse, but will it be the last?

What’s Not So Great:
– Not that strong of a story in the universe of Borderlands 2 DLC.
– Get’s boring really fast with tedious tasks that have you running all over the place and a bunch of farming, but not the fun kind.
– Environments that feel like they don’t really belong in Borderlands.

Not the strongest DLC for Borderlands 2 at all. The overall DLC just felt like it was missing some crucial element that the other DLC had and it made it not as fun to play. This was one of those DLC’s that I was content with just playing the once and that was it because I didn’t need to play it anymore or feel the need to go back and farm some of the boss battles. If you just have to play this DLC to see for yourself I would suggest playing on the PS4 since it’s included in the package.

Now for next week, sadly the Borderlands 2 DLC is coming to a close. After the disappointing DLC that came out I was a little weary about the next DLC until I heard that it was a Tiny Tina DLC. Like Sir Hammerlock, Tiny Tina was one of those new Borderlands 2 characters that you couldn’t just but just fall in love with because she’s this psychotic little 13 year old who has the craziest things to say and some of the more memorable moments in the whole game. Next week I’ll let you know what I thought about Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon’s Keep.

Throwback Back Thursday Review – DLC Remix – Borderlands 2 – Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage

As much as I had enjoyed playing Borderlands 2 without the DLC, a lot of the DLC makes this game even more memorable and it makes it one of those games that I keep going back to play over and over again without question. After playing the first DLC for this game, which you can read about here, I was super excited when it was announced that a new DLC was coming out for this game. Keep reading to see what I thought about Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage.

With the discovery of a new vault, it’s up to the vault hunters once more to go and uncover it. Of course there’s a catch though. You’ll have to fight your way through a bunch of other so-called Badasses to see who is the badass of them all. All of this is hosted by the very memorable Mr. Torgue who has a bunch of funny one-liners and just some crazy things to say that will have you laughing your way through this DLC. Once you prove to Pandora once more that you’re the most badass person around, you’ll be granted access to the vault and tons of loot. Not to mention there are plenty of new boss raids for you to play over and over again to your hearts content.

I love this DLC if for no other reason that it introduces Mr. Toruge. There are plenty of Borderlands characters who are way out there, but none of them are Mr. Torgue. He has to be one of the craziest and funniest characters out there and he really makes this DLC. You’ll also be able to see some familiar faces in this huge campaign of a DLC that can add up to another 8 hours of playtime to your original playtime. The overall story will have you exploring new areas of Pandora that you haven’t seen before and in typical Borderlands fashion have you running all over the place to hunt down all the quests and everything else this DLC has to offer. There’s a bunch of stuff for you to do in this DLC and there’s a bunch of story to go with it showing once again that this was an extremely well planned out DLC.

Matching the first DLC for this game, you can play this DLC whenever your heart desires and it fits into the main story of the game perfectly or is a nice continuation of your already existing story. Everything is basically the same and consistent throughout the DLC so there’s no difference in playing the main campaign or playing the DLC. In both versions I found no bugs or glitches that ruined my experience in any way and I was thankful.

The graphics for this DLC are the same as the rest of the game and they’re pretty awesome. The new areas are well detailed and it shows that a lot of work went into making environments that were new to the game and not something reused from earlier on. I give the Gearbox team a lot of credit because so much work went into the graphics and it not only shows, but it pays off as well.

Finish this DLC and do everything it has to offer to get yourself another 3 trophies no matter what system you’re playing on. There are two trophies that might give you some trouble because finishing all mission can be difficult, especially the racing one, but there is a trick you can find to make the last time limit and then there’s the collecting of the Moxxi pictures. While it’s a pain in the ass to try and get 10 pictures of her to drop, who wouldn’t want to spend their time gathering up 10 pictures of Moxxi, so if you want the trophy you’ll do it.

Like the game itself and the DLC before it, this game was made to be played by multiple people at one time. You can tell by the more epic loot drops and the harder enemies and just the overall gameplay itself. I’ve played this both ways, a few times with some friends and once by myself. I will say that once more it was better to do it with a friend or two instead of by myself, but it was a lot easier to collect the pictures of Moxxi alone because when you play with other trophy hunters it’s all out war as everyone wants to collect the pictures and get the trophy.

Hmm…which console to play on: Playing this on both the PS3 and the PS4 I can honestly tell you that I enjoyed playing on both consoles. I still to this day play on both consoles depending how I feel. If you have the PS4 version of this game then you already have the DLC and should play it anyway, but if you have the PS3 version then you should still buy this DLC because it’s awesome.

Overall I give this DLC a 5 out of 5.

What’s Great:
+ EXPLOSIONS! Mr. Torgue loves explosions and there are a lot of them with a really great story line that adds to the overall Borderlands 2 experience.
+ More memorable characters to add to the growing list of characters I hope to see in later games.
+ Great new areas to explore and great graphics to go along with it.

What’s Not So Great:
– NOTHING BECAUSE THIS DLC IS AWESOME! <- If you read this in Mr. Toruge’s voice it makes it all worth it.

Another great DLC for Borderlands 2 making it one of my favorites. When it comes to the DLC for this game I really can’t decide on a favorite. There were so many good ones and the first two just blew me away. I thought that they were both some of the best DLC that I had ever played and I was excited for what was to come with the other DLC for this game. Even today at full price this DLC is totally worth it and you won’t regret playing it or buying it.

Now for next week, I was super excited that one of my favorite Borderlands 2 characters was getting his own DLC. Who didn’t love Sir Hammerlock? I sure as hell did and found him to be an extremely memorable character for more than one reason. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt and I’ll let you know more about that DLC next week.

Throwback Thursday Review – DLC Remix – Borderlands 2 – Captain Scarlett and her Pirate’s Booty

As you can probably tell by now, I’m a huge Borderlands fan. I have various different Borderlands tattoo’s, met two of the very talented voice actress’s, and have officially decided that this is one of my favorite games. This wasn’t always the case and I was kinda pushed into playing this game by someone that I once knew. This also meant that I had to pay the DLC, by this time though I was more than excited to spend some extra time in Borderlands so I went along with it and played it on both the PS3 and the PS4. Here’s what I thought about the first DLC release for Borderlands 2 – Captain Scarlett and her Pirate’s Booty.

For this DLC you’ll venture to the bone dry town of Oasis. Here you’ll run into a bunch of new and memorable characters, I’m talking about you Shade, and you’ll be on hunt of a treasure. In order to hunt down this treasure you’ll need the help of Captain Scarlett, who totally isn’t planning on stabbing you in the back. Your vault hunter and Captain Scarlett will hunt down the Lost Treasure of the Sands, you’ll do most of the work as Captain Scarlett will stand around and look pretty. Will you find this treasure? Will Captain Scarlett stab you in the back? You’ll find out all that and more in this first DLC for Borderlands 2.

Eh… Being the huge fan of Dragon Age that I am, I couldn’t help but notice that Captain Scarlett seemed like she was kinda a rip off of one of my favorite Dragon Age characters, Isabela. Captain Scarlett has that same air about her that Isabela does and it was hard not to pick up on this. I’m still torn to this day on how I feel about this. Let me know what you think in the comments section below. Maybe I’m wrong, and Captain Scarlett is nothing like Isabela. Or maybe I’m right. Either way I wouldn’t mind hearing what you think on the whole situation.

I thought this first DLC was absolutely brilliant. I loved that it added a bunch of new and memorable characters to the Borderlands universe and that it added a bunch of extra playtime and new places to explore. The story for this DLC was just top notch and it was well thought-out and planned. This wasn’t a DLC that was just thrown together at the last minute for the sake of making money. It actually added to the game and made it so much more enjoyable.

The playability for this game is like the rest of the game and fits smoothly into the whole scheme of things. You’ll shoot and loot your way through a bunch of new area’s to unlock and a bunch of new raid bosses that will have you going back for more each time. The DLC plays out nicely and it can be either played after the main campaign or while you play the main campaign. I personally like to leave the DLC for this game until the end, but that’s just me. This DLC was both bug and glitch free on both versions that I played which made me a happy camper.

The graphics for this DLC sync up with the rest of this game making the game as a whole coherent. With Borderlands, one of the things that I enjoy is that the graphics are different than other games out there. True, they’re similar to the Telltale games, but this is on a much bigger level for a much bigger game. It totally works for them and the graphics are one of the things I like the most about Borderlands and this DLC.

No matter which platform you play on, the PS3 or the PS4, this DLC will add another three trophies to your overall Borderlands 2 trophy list. The trophies are super simple and require you to play every mission, fill out every map completely, and just finish the DLC. Not that hard at all and is you’re really into it you’ll be doing all of these things anyway.

There is some good old-fashioned co-op for this DLC and the game as a whole. Grab a buddy or three and venture into Oasis in order to get some better loot and for more difficult enemies. I’ve done this DLC both ways. The first time I played on the PS3, I played with a friend. We completed the whole DLC together and it was a really great experience as Borderlands was made to be played with other people. The second time I played this DLC was on the PS4 and I did a solo run. While it was just as fun, I found the experience to play with someone else a little more fun. The choice is yours though and this DLC can totally be done alone, even the raid bosses.

Hmm…which console to play on: Playing this on both the PS3 and the PS4, I would have to say that if you’re looking to play this DLC that either console that you choose is a winner. It fits perfectly on the PS3 and on the PS4. Yes the PS4 has better graphics, but I still go back from time to time and play on my PS3 as well. The only real edge that the PS4 version has on the PS3 is the graphics. Everything else is basically the same.

Overall I give this DLC a 5 out of 5.

What’s Great:
+ Great story and a great first addition to the Borderlands 2 game as a whole.
+ New memorable characters that might or might not show up in the future.
+ New places to visit and loot and new enemies to shoot.
+ Graphics that enhance the game and fit perfectly into the Borderlands universe making everything cohesive.

What’s Not So Great:
– Umm…nothing, this DLC is awesome.

With some of the lackluster DLC that came out of the first Borderlands, I wasn’t really sure what to expect with Borderlands 2. I’m glad to say that Captain Scarlett and her Pirate’s Booty came out as a winner of a DLC for Borderlands 2 and was a great first DLC for this game to release. If you’re playing on the PS4 then you already have this DLC and you should just go and play it, but if you’re playing on the PS3 I would say that it’s still worth a buy and that you should totally get it because if you’re a Borderlands fan you won’t regret it.

We’ll continue with Borderlands 2 next week as there are more than a couple of DLC to get through. Playing as much Borderlands 2 as I did, and still do, it’s no surprise that I finished this DLC on both the PS3 and the PS4. I’ll let you know what I thought about Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage next week.