Borderlands' first expansion is very good, delivering a new setting and new enemies while keeping the same good humor.
The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned – Jakobs Cove
Positive
+ An interesting story filled with some good humor
+ Great atmosphere which is wholly different from before
+ It's satisfying to kill zombies and collect brains
Negative
- The side missions are not all that fun
- No vehicles mean plenty of walking
The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned is the first expansion pack to Borderlands. Its name reveals it all. This zombie apocalyptic expansion is different than the original story with a creepy and diverse atmosphere, a myriad number of zombies to shoot and a surprisingly humorous and good story. This expansion pack is good, very good and in the end you'll wish there was more despite some minor issues not present before.
This short story is set in Jakobs Cove, once a small town built by weapon manufacturer Jakobs Corporation and now it's a deserted town beside a swampy area. Your job is to stop the zombie invasion, so Dr. Ned (not Dr. Zed) is the man you'll seek and he seems to be the creator of these zombies. After seeing his suspicious work, you investigate Dr. Ned's whereabouts to find the true truth. Truth be told, the story is quite good, much superior to the original's. The humor is great, from the coldblooded company representative's comments and the narrator narrating the story in the beginning and in the end, Dr. Ned's comments and even the bizarre recordings you'll find contain humor. The story is short since it's just an expansion, but you'll crave for more when you'll blast the final boss away and be left stranded because of the sudden ending.
One of the things I loved most in 'Borderlands' were the side missions. But it ditched the story for that. The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned redeems with a good story but fails to deliver entertaining quest, instead leaves mundane tasks like searching for scattered recordings and pointlessly searching for missing people. The side missions are still optional but taking them obviously extends the playing time, and considering the game is short they're worth doing. Doing so allows you to find out what happened to Jakobs Cove and get some secret recordings on the truth of the unfolding apocalypse.
You can jump into the expansion packs whenever you want, even if your level is low. Of course the weaker you are initially the tougher the game will seem, so beating the original adventure is recommended. Depending on your level, the zombies will have a similar level and that is a good thing. In the end, high leveled players will find the game a bit too easy in comparison with what Borderlands offered till the very end. Playing this expansion from level 0 results in the zombies being at least level 15 making the game a bit too difficult to manage.
The gameplay is basically the same, aside the fact that you'll be shooting down hordes of brainless (actually they have) zombies. Killing zombies is extremely satisfying, because it eliminates the cheap human AI altogether. The zombie variety is quite good, starting from the normal zombie that comes up close and spits, exploding zombies, and yes even psycho and midget zombies. Later even enemies like Wereskags and even Tankenstein (the toughest) appear in side missions. The strategy remains to kill them preferably in the head and if it's done precisely the dead zombie will drop a 'zombie brain' for you to collect. These are a reward for a good headshot. Also this expansion neglects any kind of strategic approach from before. Snipping is almost worthless as shoot one zombie; the others surround you before you know it. Their AI is pretty straightforward; almost all of them come at you. Typical zombie-like behavior.
There are a few new issues in the game unfortunately. The game gets tedious quicker, unsurprisingly because of the number of unentertaining missions, further worsened by the lack of vehicle usage in all of Jakobs Cove. There is only one New-U station, meaning that each time you quit the game and enter, you'll start from there and no teleports. There is a lot of walking, and this gets tedious and tiresome after a while. The map isn't enormous, but traveling through the same areas with the same enemies just isn't fun. It feels like Borderlands made us lazy. Also the loot may be unsatisfying if your level is too high.
Its impressive how different the environments and atmosphere are. The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned looks different thanks to darker and creepy feel to it. It still looks beautiful, even with the almost lowest possible settings. The environments do not seem like completely new; it's more like altered versions of existing areas which were arranged for this occasion. The enemy design is great and the zombies look and behave like a zombie is expected to. Enemies still attack as a group, so killing the ones around will likely eliminate all nearby. Sound offered is spooky and moody and some great voice acting (+ humor) fit well.
You'll wish there is more to this zombie expansion. It somehow manages to cure the two most noticeable problems in Borderlands; the lack of story and the irritating AI. But it loses the worthy side missions and the action becomes more tedious than before and the long traveling is a bit dull. Fortunately there are more ups than downs. It's almost a terrific expansion, packed with zombies, humor and atmosphere that it could deserve to be a game on its own.
Score = 82 / 100
Borderlands' first expansion is very good, delivering a new setting and new enemies while keeping the same good humor.