Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt (DLC) Review

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The third DLC expansion for Borderlands 2 has finally arrived. The vault hunters have found buried treasure in “Captain Scarlett,” survived the badass tournament of carnage in “Torgue,” and are now ready to take on the most dangerous game Pandora has to offer. I’m not talking about man, though you do shoot a lot of men in this DLC, but the big creatures and monsters that roam the Aegrus continent.

The story takes place after the events of the main game. Sir Hammerlock invites the vault hunters to his hunting grotto for a weekend of gentlemanly jokes, high times and of course, big game hunting. Along the way, the vault hunters run into the local natives that have begun to worship Handsome Jack, going as far as wearing masks of his face. There is also a rather cowardly mad scientist that has been experimenting on the animals of the region, unleashing them on the vault hunters.

This DLC is all about the end-game content. In fact, the main story is the shortest of the released so far. The meat is in the side quests. Hammerlock tasks the players with hunting expeditions that has them tracking and taking out some of the biggest, ugliest and most dangerous creatures out there. These include the giant spider-like Drifters (from the first Borderlands); Boroks, a mutated Stalker-like creature and the giant scorpions called Scaylions. All offer up a decent challenge to anyone that gets close to them, but even more dangerous are the savages that live in the area. They come in multiple forms, both melee and ranged, but the biggest threat of them all are the new Witch Doctors. These guys not only sling elemental attacks at players, but also buff other enemies around them. Running into multiple Witch Doctors is likely to result in a very bad day.

More of the end-game content comes in the form of another Seraph Guardian to take down. It seems Gearbox is relying heavily on the new “raid bosses” to keep players grinding, but without a level cap increase, sometimes doing the same fight over and over again without big awards can just become a tedious task. But for those that like a little MMO in their Borderlands, here’s more for you.

The fan boat is the new vehicle type in Big Game Hunt, and it’s possibly one of the most useless vehicles in the entire game. Most of the areas are blocked off, and getting from one place to another on foot is almost as fast as using the fan boat, but there are a ton of skins to unlock for the watercraft, if that matters to you. I couldn’t go two minutes without finding a new skin mod.

The environment in this DLC is very different from the rest of Pandora. It is a much darker place full of swamps, jungles and caves that honeycomb the geology. It feels very moody and almost somber at times. Of course, with Hammerlock and the eccentric Dr. Nakayama keeping up with the well-written and very funny dialog, I always seemed to come out with a smile.

There is more loot, new enemies, new bosses and a whole new area. The DLC may not be the most ambitious, but it does offer up some new content for those craving more Borderlands 2. If you’re into the end-game bosses, this is right up your alley. Those of you wanting more loot, you just found it. It was a little disappointing to see how short the main story was, especially with the characters involved, and if you’re not planning on playing with friends, you might as well forget about trying to take on the Seraph Guardian. It may not be ground breaking, and it may not be as long as the other DLCs that have been released, but that doesn’t stop Big Game Hunt from being a rather jolly good time.

Review copy of DLC provided by publisher. Primary play on PC.
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