Welcome to the first review I am writing about something that is not a full game, but some DLC for a game. The game in question is Borderlands, and the matching DLC is the brand-new Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot. Before I can continue with the review, I feel it is necessary for me to explain exactly what this DLC is, for those who don't know.
Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot - often called just 'Underdome' - is essentially Borderlands entry into the ever-growing field of survival modes. Similar to L4D's Survival and Gears of War 2's Horde mode, Underdome is three arenas where increasingly difficult waves of enemies assault the player.
Each of the three arenas are both surprisingly well-built, and very concentrated on a specific range of engagement. Hell-Burbia is exceedingly close quarters, resulting in faster - and more brutal - rounds. The Angelic Ruins are medium to long range, resulting in more standoffs and emphasizing cover, which is an element that isn't used much in the normal game. The Gully is a stronghold-style arena, with relatively easily held high ground that has one point of entry. Surprisingly, the Gully - though seeming sniper-oriented at first - is perhaps the arena where all ranges are equally important.
In Underdome, there are two tournaments, a short one consisting of 5 rounds, and a long one consisting of 20 rounds. Each round is made of 5 waves, with each wave made up of different enemies. A short list of these waves in the order they are spawned follows:
Starter Wave - General mix of enemies.
Gun Wave - All enemies have ranged weapons.
Horde Wave - All enemies have melee. (Psychos and Lunatics, mostly.)
Badass Wave - All enemies are of the Badass variety.
Boss Wave - A seemingly random boss spawns.
The Underdome also adds a bank system, allowing you to store all of those weapons that you can't quite bring yourself to part with. This storage is not shared between characters, but is still a welcome addition to the game. Best of all, you access it through a top hat, mustache, and monocle wielding Clap Trap in a tux.
Moving into the DLC's gameplay, rounds hit you fast and hard, with only a few seconds in between to grab ammo, health, and loot the occasional gun drop. That's right; not only do you not get experience, but ammo, health, money, and guns do NOT drop from your fallen foes. This stresses teamwork to the max, as class mods are in full effect, and any boosts to team heal or ammo regen are very welcome.
This emphasis on teamwork really stresses - and puts on full display - the roles that each character is meant to play. Some of the Hunter's skills in particular are extremely helpful to the team, as the bloodwing is still able to create health and ammo, allowing players to heal when they need to. The Soldier's turret can give much-needed support or cover around a turret, and his healing abilities are certainly not unwelcome. The Siren's team cooldown reduction and high DPS make her valuable as well. And the Berserker's ability to distract enemies and take massive amounts of damage can save other members, if not the entire team.
As might be obvious, Underdome is not for those who play alone. It's designed for cooperative, and was designed to be a challenge, so charging headlong into it without some backup is going to get you killed. Running into it with three friends, however, can be a fun challenge.
To vary the combat, each wave has up to 4 rules that change how the wave is played, adding a sort of sick lottery of death to the DLC. These rules can increase the damage of one weapon type - and decrease the damage of another, remove your shields, add recharging health for your enemies, or any number of other cruel torments.
The short tournaments take about an hour to complete with a competent team, and the long one take about 4 hours, with no breaks, so make sure your team has nothing to do anytime soon, is well-rested, and has gone to the bathroom. The long tournament is long and hard, so those who don't have that long of an attention span, or don't actually want to have a challenge, should probably stay far from Underdome, but those who like non-stop action and a painful level of difficulty should be adding this to their download cue right now.
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Bottom Line:
Hard and long. Get it if you like action and a challenge. Don't get it if you like to coast through games.
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