Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Gearbox Software
System: Xbox 360
Genre: RPS
Release date: Available now

We’re always going to want more when it comes to downloadable content. Depending on the platform, publisher and game itself, situations can get pretty ugly, too. Anybody who remembers the horse armor debacle in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion knows what I mean. But that was probably the saving grace of DLC, because if gamers hadn’t voiced their price-for-content grievances, where would we be now? Would we be shelling out our MS Points for single items? Would the greedy hands that be see Borderlands as a DLC cash cow because of the limitless amount of weaponry they could sell? And would we still have seen an expansion as meaty as the Secret Armory of General Knoxx? Thank God I’m speaking hypothetically here.

Because (and I’m spoiling my review), General Knoxx is the expansion Borderlands players have been waiting for, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s well worth the price. Everything across the board has been added. New guns, new vehicles, new enemy types, more quests, and perhaps most importantly, a much-needed raise in the level cap. I like how Gearbox has approached this, because instead of just tacking on 10 additional levels and calling it a day, they “turned it to 11,” as the great Nigel Tufnel would say. Good symbolism, if you ask me, especially when you factor in that you’ll be pretty much taking on an entire army, mechs and all.

You see, your buddies the Crimson Lance have been charged with re-taking control of Pandora to maintain supremacy. This push is headed by Gen. Alphonso Knoxx, a military “lifer” who’s not really evil, but he’s certainly bored enough to take it upon himself to kill you. Your job, while being hunted by a team of female assassins and fielding work from everyone from Marcus to Moxxie, is simply to find the secret armory Knoxx was to use in his military re-takeover, fight your way in and blow it the hell up. That oughta get you your $10 worth, eh?

And it does. Right from the start you’re already looking for a new vehicle from Scooter’s “Catch a Ride” kiosks. From there, it’s clearing out Crimson Lance roadblocks, shooting jetpack troopers down and taking a leisurely trip to the world’s largest bullet. There are towering, sand-dwelling creatures called Drifters that can upend your car with a single well-placed shot, midgets who jump out of loot boxes, and hovering security drones that scatter items like a burst piñata when killed. Borderlands buddies are accounted for, too, with four-person vehicles and a raid-style boss encounter that you’ll need every gun you can get to win. See? Content rich, and delicious!

However, it’s not all smooth sailing. Driving was one element of Borderlands that never impressed, and it’s made no better by the fact that getting irreparably stuck on a wall or median in Knoxx is something that’s just destined to happen, no matter how hard you try to avoid it. I think Gearbox might have foreseen this happening, which is why there’s usually a car kiosk a stone’s throw away. Unfortunately, it was this design flaw that led me to another, more heinous blemish; clipping issues. I fell through walls on more than one occasion, and although it’s not considered clipping per say, I also fell into a few areas with no possible way of escape other than the suicide express.

Still, if you can avoid those relatively minor pitfalls, you’ll find that The Secret Armory of General Knoxx is more Borderlands than either of the previous DLC releases, despite some technical chips in the finish. If you still own Borderlands, you’d do good to give this a download. It’s not going to take you too long to finish the main story, but the raised ceiling everywhere else does well to stretch out the game’s legs.

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