Borderlands 3 had a swath of genuinely great content additions thrown in throughout the first season pass that was released for the title. It followed the series tradition of large new worlds and a multitude of new quests to complete. However there has been a drop off recently with the second season pass. The first release to be included in this was the “Designer’s Cut” which included a new game mode and an additional skill tree for every character. This was a disappointment, lacking the content that previous expansions provided. Unfortunately the Director’s Cut for Borderlands 3 seems to follow that trend, and is simply not worth the cost of admission.
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What you get in this Director’s Cut DLC is all quality, genuinely. However you just don’t get that much to warrant a purchase. There is no new large location included, no huge collection of quests to complete, and none of the content that you would really want to see increase your time with Borderlands 3.
What’s included in the asking price is a short two-hour questline involving four new small areas that are attached to existing regions in the game, a collection of behind the scenes videos that have come from development, a raid boss (finally) and a new daily/weekly progress bar. That is it. Again, none of it is bad – it’s just such a measly offering.
We should start with the new questline which, while short, is actually a decent amount of fun. You follow Ava tracking down and solving murders for her crime podcast. It’s segmented by four – mostly linear – areas where you run and gun through waves of enemies, occasionally stopping to “investigate” a crime scene. “Investigating” is however mostly focused on just running around clicking on glowing objects in a room; there are no new mechanics or anything. All the areas are stylized; especially the first area which gives off a great noir-style vibe.
The final boss for the questline is a little easy, especially with a well-specced character which is something that many Borderlands 3 players are likely to have by now. However it is just about challenging enough, and it ensures that there are some interesting implications of Borderlands’ larger story hidden in this; something which is cool to see.
In addition to that short questline, 2K and Gearbox have also finally added an end game raid boss, something which the title has been desperately needing since launch. It’s pretty decent, even if it may be a disappointment for those expecting something truly jaw dropping, particularly when you consider the wait it’s taken to see inclusion. Essentially though it is a giant version of the Varkid enemy; one that slowly gets bigger and bigger as you battle it. It’s a neat idea but generally delivered nothing that ever managed to totally shock me through the fight. In fact, it’s a pretty simple, standard fight. However it is pretty damn difficult and will be perfect for those looking to farm legendaries and test their builds out. You see, this insect has an insane amount of health and you’ll need a well-optimized build to conquer it.
There have also been Vault Cards added to the progression system; daily and weekly challenges that can be completed for various items and skins. There will be three available and each one offers different items that can be unlocked. Some of the heads are pretty nice and it’s always welcome to have another reason to jump back into the game.
Finally there are the behind the scenes videos which have been included. These are really interesting – especially if you’re intrigued by the process of making games – with all being surprisingly well-made and capable of offering up a wealth of fascinating insights and snippets about the creation of Borderlands 3. You can access them through the main menu and I urge you to do so – I really enjoyed watching them and wish more games offered special features like this more often. These are a delightful addition.
As decent as the Borderlands 3 Director’s Cut addition is on Xbox, my problem with all of it is that this could have easily been dropped out as a free update. There is simply not enough here to warrant the asking price for the average player and it’s actually surprising that Gearbox have felt that this DLC drop was warranted. If you’re really into Borderlands 3, then you will probably already have dropped the cash on this latest addition, however if you’re just looking for a new reason to jump back in and experience the world once more, this will not be what you’ve been waiting for.
