Borderlands - Xbox 360

2K Games stopped by yesterday with a preview build of the new DLC for Borderlands, The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, to show off the new undead enemies and environments. The pack, which will be released next week for $10 (800 MS Points) will add around 50 quests, an all new area, and hordes of undead enemies to mow down with the craziest weapons around.
 

Upon booting up the DLC, players can fast travel to Jakob’s Cove from any New-U Station in the game. This includes the first station after creating a new character. If you want to jump right into Dr. Ned with a new character, you can. Furthermore, the game will scale its content to your character’s current level. Players will immediately notice that the new area looks nothing like the Wasteland of Borderlands. It’s a welcome palette switch and makes me wish the environments of the original game were varied as well.
 

My hands-on time was brief, but I was able to fight several of the pack’s new zombie enemies and experience their unholy ability to swarm you from all angles. The undead legions are extremely resistant to corrosive damage, but burn nicely from fire and explosives. Zombies can be dismembered and will maintain their relentless pursuit of brains without legs, even crawling toward you as a torso. Upon dying, their brains will pop-up into the air and can be collected for a future quest. Try to catch them before they hit the ground!

The zombies are based upon the other enemies in the game, but have different behaviors. You’ll see zombies, zombie psychos, zombie midgets, and more! Some will be able to spit at you, obscuring your vision and slowing you down. Others will attempt to suicide bomb you or throw explosive barrels at you. Also lurking around are Tankensteins, electrically charged monstrosities that will be healed by shock weapons.

The focus of this DLC is on quests, enemies, and content, not weapons. I’ve been told by 2K that there are no new weapon modifiers to be found and you’ll grab guns according to your level just like in the vanilla game. This does mean, however, that you’re free to trade anything you snag in The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned with Borderlands players who haven’t purchased the DLC. Still, 50 quests is a good amount of content, but players that haven’t hit level 50 will probably get more out of this pack as it scales to your level for some good experience.